John McCutcheon's Concert at Nighttown

John McCutcheon, America's great folksinger, had an intimate concert for between 80 and 100 people last night at the Nighttown Tavern in Cleveland Heights. John has played many huge venues (Wolf Trap, for example), so it was a treat to be about 20 feet away from him in this warm and cozy tavern.

I was lucky to talk to him briefly right before he went on stage. I told him how we saw him in concert near the beginning of his career, in Pippa Passes, Kentucky (a tiny town in a county that didn't have a single stoplight!). John smiled broadly and said, "Alice Lloyd College!" Then he bounded out to the stage. He began the concert with the first song he ever learned on the banjo--an "Old-Timey" banjo tune written by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground." John met Bascom when Bascom was about 90 years old--and still playing his music. John's old-timey style was simple, old-timey plunky.

John weaves stories in and out of his music. The stories are wonderful and often hilarious. One great story was set in his Wisconsin home in 1963 when John was 11 years old. In the middle of the day his mother invited him to sit next to her on the couch as they watched the 1963 March on Washington, that featured great music (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary) and the amazing "I Have a Dream" speech of Martin Luther King Jr. John's mother was deeply sympathetic to this--and you can clearly see the love John still holds for her and how profoundly he was affected by her. [John's song about this can be seen below.]

John played for 2 hours, his own songs (like "Christmas in the Trenches"), and songs by his masters like Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn!" (accompanied by a hilarious story) and Woody Guthrie's "Joe Hill" and "This Land Is Your Land." A very short video clip from "Turn, Turn, Turn":

My favorite song all night was a beautiful one he did about his mother, "One in a Million."  Here are the lyrics:

I remember that August
1963
A half million gathered
On our small TV
The moment was magic
With dreams in the air
My Mom watched in wonder
And said, “I wish I was there”

But there were babies to diaper
And a whole house to clean
So she watched the world change
On that black-and-white screen

She was one in a million
Who did her small part
And she carried that banner
Held high in her heart

She taught me the Bible
Each chapter and verse
How the meek shall inherit
And the last shall be first
She said, “God leaves God’s work
“To me and to you
“When you’re meek and you’re ready
“What will you do?”

Though she seldom traveled
Far from her front door
She watched the world change
In the children she bore

You are one in a million
You each have a part
Always carry that banner
Held high in your heart

Bridge

Those children now scattered
Like ships on the sea
Mounting adventures
That she’d never see
I never once doubted
What she said was true
I saw miracles mounting
And small victories counting
And it’s all worth recounting
This work that we do

Each Mother’s Day sadly
I look to the chair
Now fifteen years empty
And wish she were there
So this year I traveled
As her eldest son
To a Washington March
Just as she would have done

I marched for the future
In a million mom sea
I was marching for her
I was marching for me

I was one in a million
Just doing my part
And I carried her banner
Held high in my heart

©2000 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP).

During the concert John played 8 instruments: 5-string banjo; 6-string guitar; 12-string guitar; hammer dulcimer; autoharp; piano; fiddle; and jaw's harp. The jaw's harps, which he had gotten from Pete Seeger's brother Mike, were incredible. John also has a beautiful voice. But most of all, he has this wonderful humanity and passion. He lets his music and storytelling serve both beauty and justice. He stands up for what is right, just like his friend Pete Seeger and his mentor Woodie Guthrie.

John McCutcheon is a national treasure, and I'm so glad Linda and I could see him play in the wonderful, intimate venue of Nighttown.

Linda, at Nighttown.

Lyrics to John McCutcheon's Song, "Calling All the Children Home"

I am so excited about the chance to hear John McCutcheon in concert tonight (Nighttown in Cleveland Heights). One of my favorite McCutcheon songs is "Calling All the Children Home." The song clearly seems autobiographical about growing up in a big Catholic family in Wisconsin. It is so evocative of childhood, including my own. And it shows the power of good parenting because good parenting can offer children a sense of security. And this security empowers them go out beyond their own family and address the needs of others. In John's song, it is the needs of other children throughout the world, many less fortunate than him. The lyrics below show John's wishes for all the children of the world. These are wishes I have for my own kids:

"Calling All the Children Home"

Song credits: 

Words and Music by John McCutcheon

"John, Mary Claire, Lulu, Jeanie
Kevin, Jeff, Patty, Nancy, Rob"

Shadows growing longer, light is growing dim
Supper's on the table everybody come in
Been playing at the river and I'm tired to the bone
She's calling all the children home

CHORUS:

Home to the table and the big, black pot
Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot
No one is forgotten, no one is alone
When she's calling all the children home

Everybody's sittin' in everybody's place
With their fresh-scrubbed fingers and their fresh-scrubbed face
It's quiet just a minute while sister says a grace
Like she's calling all the children home

CHORUS

BRIDGE:

I could hear her voice in the middle of a crowd
It was never too late and it was never too loud
Smelled just like home by the time we hit the door
There was always just enough but there was always room for more

So, out in the desert, down by the sea
Hear the voice calling "Allee, allee in free!"
From the city to the forest where the wild beasts roam
We are calling all the children home

LAST CHORUS:

Home to the table, home to the feast
Where the last are first and the greatest are the least
Where the rich will envy what the poor have got
Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot
No one is forgotten, no one is alone
When we're calling all the children home
Gathered 'round the table and the big, black pot
Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot
No one is forgotten, no one is alone
From the sacks in Soweto to the ice of Nome
From Baghdad City to the streets of Rome
When we're calling all the children home

"Moishe, Isabelle, Sipho, Kim
Mohammed, Mikael, Red Hawk, Tim"

©1990 by John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP).

Album Reference: 

Live at Wolf Trap

The Great Folk Singer John McCutcheon Coming to Nighttown Tavern on Thursday, March 27th

John McCutcheon

I can hardly think of a more wonderful night out--John McCutcheon, the national treasure folksinger, playing his instruments and singing his songs at Brendan Ring's great pub in Cleveland Heights, Nighttown. It's happening tomorrow at 8 pm.

I first met John back in 1978, at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. John did a little concert then came to a party afterwards. I have seen him in concert a few other times. Once in a church in Kent, Ohio; once at Lakeside (Ohio's Chautauqua) near Marblehead, Ohio. And I think at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. John comes originally from Wisconsin, but has made his life and career around Virginia. Of course, much of the time he is touring the country and the world. All of his songs are fun, and some of them are very focused on social justice issues. He accompanies himself on guitar, banjo, fiddle, hammer dulcimer--and probably a dozen other instruments.

John has an interesting website: John McCutcheon On his site you can read his bio, sample and purchase his music, and look at his concert schedule.

One of my favorite John McCutcheon songs is "Calling All the Children Home." I didn't find a great version of that on Youtube, but I did find a nice performance, with John playing hammer dulcimer, of "Step by Step":

Happy Bloomsday 2011!

The action in James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place on a single day in Dublin, Ireland--June 16, 1904. It is said that that day marked James Joyce's first outing with his future wife, Nora Barnacle. In the book, the protagonist is Leopold Bloom (his wife is Molly Bloom). Ulysses may be the great novel written in the English language; it may well be the greatest unread novel in English, along with Moby Dick.

It is a great book even if not the most accessible. The final chapter of Ulysses is a wonderful lyrical love poem, the poem of "Yes." (Read it to find out what I mean.)

There are events celebrating Bloomsday all over the world (and the day has been celebrated beginning in 1954, the 50th anniversary of June 16, 1904). One event going on in Cleveland is a marathon reading of Ulysses at Nighttown, the great pub of Brendan Ring in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Of course Brendan's pub is named after the redlight district of Dublin that James Joyce knew and featured in his novel.

There was a nice article on the Nighttown reading of Ulysses that appeared in the Plain Dealer, the storyt is available at cleveland.com at this link:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/06/fans_of_irish_writer_james_joy.html

To your memory and artistry, James Joyce. Slainte!

The Great Karan Casey at Nighttown Tonight, 7 PM

The greatest Irish singer, Karan Casey, is singing with her band at Nighttown tonight (Nighttown is located in Cleveland Heights at the top of the Cedar Road hill---www.Nighttowncleveland.com). Karan Casey formerly sang with the Irish group "Solas," and has in the past years worked solo and with her own band.

I heard her sing at noon today on Dee Perry's show on 90.3 FM. I wept while driving my car as she sang a traditional Irish tune. One of the greatest gifts on earth is a beautiful voice singing a beautiful song--and that's what you get from the great Karan Casey!

I have Casey's latest CD, Ships in the Forest. On that CD she sings an old Joni Mitchell song, "The Fiddle and the Drum." How could this song ever be sung more poignantly, more beautifully?

Get Ready for Bloomsday, June 16th!

On June 16th we celebrate "Bloomsday," named after Leopold Bloom, one of the two main characters in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. The novel celebrates a day in the life of Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly, and is set in Dublin, Ireland. A nice discussion of this novel is available on Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel). There is also a discussion of Bloomsday on Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsday.

I have received an email telling of a Bloomsday event at the Cleveland Heights tavern/nightclub called "Nighttown." Nighttown is run by Irishman Brendan Ring, and is named after the red-light district of Dublin mentioned in Ulysses. Between 4 and 6 PM on Tuesday, June 16th, people will read Episode 10 of Ulysses at the pub (I'd prefer reading the incredible ending of Episode 18!).

Nighttown is one of Cleveland's treasures--and probably one of the great jazz venues in the country (not just jazz, but Irish music and other kinds of music). The pub has its own website: www.nighttowncleveland.com. The pub's address is 12383 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106. Phone 216-795-0550.