CB sent me a link to this song and I liked it on the first listen. It didn’t need to grow on me or take time to gel…first off I liked it. I started to listen to more of the album and again…first time I heard it was great.
Colin Linden is a great Canadian guitarist who has played with many artists. To name a few Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Kevin Gordon, Colin James, Emmylou Harris, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King, The Band, Keb’ Mo’, Charles Esten, and last but not least Bob Dylan. He now makes his home near me…in Nashville.
Colin fulfilled a dream with this recording. He was always a huge fan of The Band. Garth Hudson and Rick Danko are on this song with him. If you listen to near the last verse you can hear Danko’s unmistakable harmony voice that he was so great at. Danko sings the last verse right before the solo. Along with that, you can hear Garth Hudson playing like only Hudson can…not many keyboard players have a certain sound…but Garth sure does. Danko and Linden met each other in 1985 in Toronto at the Diamond Club. Linden was opening up for The Band at the time. They got along well musically and personally.
As soon as you hear Rick Danko sing near the end he turns the song into Americana by just opening his mouth. The end of the song has a cool music breakdown of Linden’s guitar and Hudson’s organ taking the song in a really cool direction. Every song should have an ending like this one.
This song was the title cut to the album released in 1988. Danko, Hudson, and Levon Helm contributed to it. Along with his solo career he played with many artists on the way. He has released 14 albums in all beginning in 1980 and the last one called bLOW in 2021. He has also won multiple Juno awards for his contributions.
Colin joined Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing in Hamilton, Ontario to form Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. I’ll be covering something by them soon.
The lyrics were nowhere to be found. After transcribing them I got an assist from CB on them…a thanks to him on that.
Colin Linden: “Rick’s way of looking at things is very much in keeping with what I feel about priorities, he’s a very Zen guy and he has a very positive aura about him. He looks at the world in a truly unjaded way–and he sees a lot of shit. The prospect of playing with him was so appealing to me because he treats life with a lot of respect, and that’s a perfect vibe for playing music and playing it well.”
When The Spirit Comes
When the spirit comes, electrons will charge through your veins
It won’t take any money, it won’t give you a name
When the spirit comes, you’re going to ride the fastest rail
And whatever you may try, no way you can fail
You will feel like superwoman, like you just discovered electricity
Here ye I’ll wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes
When the spirit comes, it will catch you mostly off guard
It will make things seem so easy, the same things that once seemed so hard
But you can’t force the spirit inside you, like you can’t force the dead to rise
And you can’t be on 10, and be ready when the spirit comes
When the spirit comes, sit down by your plough and be ready
When the spirit comes, throw away your crutches and be ready
When the spirit comes, put away your sheep suit and be ready
Be ready
Be ready
Be ready
When the spirit comes
When the spirit comes, you are gonna jump straight up in the air
And you will see the world from great heights, and you won’t have to travel anywhere
And there will be no tears or no funerals, and no preachers on TV
Just an intermittent spark that will let you know when the spirit’s come
Here ye I wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes
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CB, Colin, The Band and Max all in one post. Thats a super group if there ever was one!
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We will make a stop in Thunder Bay just for you Deke!
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I guess you could say I’m a casual Linden fan and I really appreciate his talent, he was in town recently and I missed him. I had tickets for Blackie & TRK but it got canceled during one of the lockdowns. Max I don’t know this song. What s as line up of talent. Thanks to you and CB for the post!
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Do I like it? Hell yes, so good!
The name Colin Linden immediately rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember the context, in which I had encountered him before. So I did what I pathetically do in these situations – search my own blog! 🙂
Two hits came up: Bruce Cockburn’s most recent album “O Sun O Moon”, on which Linden plays, and “Until the Heat Leaves Town”, a song from Linden’s most recent 2021 album “bLOW”, which I included in my weekly new music review at the time.
Thanks for reminding me of Linden. Sounds like I should do some more listening, starting with the entire “When the Spirit Comes” album!
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I love this album Christian…and thanks for giving it a shot. This was the first song I heard off of it and I liked it right away. I started to listen to the others…and it was like…I like this one, this one, this one…etc…
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When I sent you this cut it was just an example of Blackie and the boys. Man it hit you like it first hit me. You described it perfectly. What a combo and what music they came up with. Made me long for more Band music. Good stuff Max.
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It didn’t need to grow on me at all…boom right away.
Speaking of wanting more Band music…I have never checked out Danko’s solo things at all much…a few songs here and there is it.
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Danko is floating through the ozone towards you right now.
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not a bad track, I think I’d heard it occasionally along the way. Linden is a guy who’s name was always around in Toronto (as were Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) but I didn’t hear much of his music. I guess he was more of a live act , in terms of popularity.
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The guy has played with everyone I believe. His guitar playing skills are great. I love this song because his voice is great and when Danko comes in….it really sounds like a Band song.
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Good tune and of course am thrilled to hear Ricky and Garth on it.
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To show you how dumb I can be…I didn’t realize it was a spiritual song until I had to transcribe the lyrics.
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That’s why we take a closer look at songs, to find out just such things. It doesn’t make you dumb, just a seeker ❤
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Thanks Lisa…It’s positive in a non preaching way so I like it.
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Yep, thats one on the traveling list. I agree, it grabs you. There’s parts that Samantha Fish used in ‘Bulletproof’ that I hear here, but this has more layers. A winner CB and Max.
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Thanks Obbverse… right off the bat I liked this one…it is a positive song.
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