Tag: Colin Linden

Blackie and The Rodeo Kings – Step Away

CB introduced this band to me a couple of weeks ago. I started to listen to them and ran across this album and as soon as I heard this…I liked it.

This song is beautiful… the band was making an album and put a call out to many female singers to do duets. Some of the women they got were Lucinda Williams, Amy Helm (daughter of Levon Helm), Patti Scialfa (wife of Bruce Springsteen), Pam Tillis, Rosanne Cash, and more. One of the “more” is Emmylou Harris. She is the one who is singing in Step Away.

Last Sunday I posted a song named When The Spirit Comes by Colin Linden. Colin is part of this band that includes Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing. They started the band in 1996 as a tribute to  Canadian folk artist Willie P. Bennett. One of Bennett’s albums was called Blackie and the Rodeo King. They wanted to get one of Bennett’s songs down on an album and this is the one. Colin Linden said, “I wanted a Willie P. Bennett song on the record, and I couldn’t imagine a better honor to bestow on someone we love as much as Willie than to have Emmylou Harris sing on one of his songs. I don’t think there’s ever been a better singer on the planet; I’m so glad she said yes.”

This album is called Kings and Queens and it was released in 2011. I’m also including a song they did with Rosanne Cash that was released as a single off the album called Got It Covered. Linden said, “Rosanne’s a real supporter of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and I knew she was a fan of Ron Sexsmith. Ron came in with an idea for Got You Covered and we wrote it in a hotel room in Austin, Texas in a matter of a couple of hours. He’s brilliant a pretty easy guy to write with. It’s like riding in a Cadillac, writing with that guy.”

Got You Covered has an older soul feel and Cash sounds fantastic in this one. In my next post with these guys, I’ll get to more of the edgier ones.

Tom Wilson on Willie Bennett: “Willie articulated the sensitivity of a fifty-year-old guy and he represented the rebellious ‘fuck you’ attitude of a sixteen-year-old. Willie managed to be more punk rock than any punk rocker I have ever met and, at the same time, could probably break your heart in two. He was a true poet. His wings were a little dirty. He wasn’t afraid of living life and taking chances. When you’re a young guy and you’re looking for an influence, there’s your man right there.”

Step Away

I’m just a step away
Turn around, see where I’m standin’
I’m a step away
From your heart
I’m just a step away
I might stand here forever
I’m a step away
From your heart

Some people act kind; some people act cruel
Some people act blind when they see the Golden Rule
If you ask me, I’d say you’re a nervous wreck
I’ve got me to share if that’s what it takes to get

Just a step away
Turn around, see where I’m standin’
I’m a step away
From your heart
I’m just a step away
I might stand here forever
I’m a step away
From your heart

Reelin’ from a brand new lost love affair
You weren’t so lucky this time; somebody got scared
Maybe you’re like me and you can’t be nobody’s pet
I’ve got love to share if that’s what it takes to get

Just a step away
Turn around, see where I’m standin’
I’m a step away
From your heart
I’m just a step away
I might stand here forever
I’m a step away
From your heart

I’m just a step away
Turn around, see where I’m standin’
I’m a step away
From your heart
I’m just a step away
I might stand here forever I’m a step away
From your heart

A step away (step away)
A step away
Just a step away

Colin Linden – When The Spirit Comes

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