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1. |
Come Along Now
04:18
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By the time the FOBs disbanded, Bill Bennett had seen so many ups and downs that he started looking for a place without seasons, which he found in Costa Rica. This song says it well: a truck is a truck - unless it’s a lifeboat. Great groove and ensemble singing, but stylistically too different to be included in the FOBs last album (San Francisco Sounds). In the rear view mirror it sounds huge. Words and music by Bill Bennett.
Come along with me, come along with me now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind
Come along with me, gotta set yourself free now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind, leave it behind
A truck is a truck, unless it's a lifeboat
Horizon's the limit but you never get there
The road is a river, as long as you can float
And if you can dream it, someday you'll know where
Come along with me, come along with me now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind
Come along with me, gotta set yourself free now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind, leave it behind
It's not that we're runnin' we're choosing a pathway
a trail to take us to the water side
We'll drive til tomorrow, hoping that someday
Our sails will billow on the running tide
Time can be hard on those who live in the senses
too much to remember to forget
Time comes to leave it all to climb the last fences
So hard in the leavin' to go back yet, no not yet, c'mon!
Come along with me, come along with me now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind
Come along with me, ya gotta set yourself free now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind, leave it behind
Come along with me, come along with me now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind
Come along with me, ya gotta set yourself free now
Come along with me, leave this evil behind
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2. |
Another Summer of Love
04:54
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The 1967 Summer of Love was unsustainable - as all seasons are - but coming together in peace and harmony is something worth trying over and over, “every year, from now on, and just in time”. Bert wrote this new anthem in 2006 - in anticipation of the Summer of Love’s 40th anniversary. The studio recording was produced by T Bone Burnett for a FOBs album that never happened. Words and music by Bert Keely.
Maybe it starts with being ready to rest.
Gandhi, he knew, martyrs usually do
We met this bird in a summer of love, between winters of war
Our brothers were burnin', fueling a fire
We needed that dove to lift our gaze higher
Maybe a summer of love, we need another summer of love
A season that comes on the beat of a drum
Every year from now on, and just in time
A white dove, one wing stretched
The other wing hides a beast in the breast
Now it's winter again, and there's sand in the wind
And this could be humanity's test
When you're ready for rest you don't escalate, you just move along
Get your lift from the air, not from others' despair
And you stay strong, and you share
Stay strong and you share
Maybe a summer of love, we need another summer of love
A season that comes on the beat of a drum
Every year from now on, and just in time
Maybe a summer of love, we need another summer of love
A season that comes on the beat of a drum
Maybe a summer of love, we need another summer of love
A season that comes on the beat of a drum
Every year from now on, and just in time
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3. |
Road to Here
09:29
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Great songwriting takes something deeply personal and makes it universal. Roger McNamee is a great songwriter. This recording was produced by T Bone Burnett for a FOBs album that never happened, with Bert’s vocal recorded much later. The outro is a full three minutes of magic moments, between Barry’s pedal steel, Bert’s acoustic guitar, Jimmy’s drums, and Bill and GE’s basses. Words and music by Roger McNamee.
The road to here from Baltimore had many twists and turns
No map to guide us, only hints so few and far between
Memories in the rear view mirror, like boxcars on a train
Objects are much smaller than they seem
The road to here has had its share of potholes stones and dust
The monuments and vistas are what I remember most
The twists and turns don't phase me now the way they used to to
As long as i can share the road with you
The road to here from Davenporrt took us through the snow
Black ice and whiteouts, they ruled the plains that day
Frigid winds screamed across the prairie like bad news
We stayed on course and never lost our way
The road to here has had its share of potholes stones and dust
The monuments and vistas are what I remember most
The twists and turns don't phase me now the way they used to to
As long as i can share the road with you
From Baltimore to Davenport, from anchorage to here
The road twists like a dancer on benzedrine and Everclear
No matter where you come from, or where you are today
The road ahead is a brand new game, so deal the cards and play
The road to here from Anchorage was the best we've ever known
Peaks of wonder, minds under the spell of ancient song
Guided by the northern lights, we see the future now
A road that is both beautiful and long
The road to here has had its share of potholes stones and dust
The monuments and vistas are what I remember most
The twists and turns don't phase me now the way they used to to
As long as i can share the road with you
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4. |
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The FOBs did an incredible amount of touring for a group all holding down day jobs. We quickly learned that visiting a local radio station to play a few songs on the air was a great way to promote the next day’s show, and an especially great way to get to know the community. The crown of Santa Cruz airwaves was KPIG. The gem at the center of that crown for all these years has been Sleepy John Sandidge, who recorded this on-air performance of George Harrison’s classic in 2006. Words and music by George Harrison.
I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how nobody told you how to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you, they bought and sold you
I look at the world and I see it's still turning
While my guitar gently weeps
For every mistake we must surely be learning
While my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how you were diverted, you were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted, no one alerted you
I look at the world while my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all, still my guitar gently weeps
While my guitar gently weeps
Still my guitar gently weeps
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5. |
Forever Young (Live)
05:56
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This musical toast written by Bob Dylan is the song Bert has sung far more than any other. Even more than Happy Birthday. It doesn’t need a band, it just needs a guitar and a friend becoming a little less young. In this live recording at Sabala’s in Portland Oregon, Bert is singing to the young Lil Kingery (“may your hands always be painting”). She is now Lillian Malek, and has an album of her own you should check out - also on Manhole Music. Also in this recording, the man who played guitar for Bob Dylan - GE Smith - takes a passionate solo. The impact GE had on the FOBs cannot be overstated. He’s on all but two of the tracks on Bert’s Brew.
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others, and let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young, may you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young, may you stay forever young
May your hands always be painting
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful and your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young, may you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young, may you stay forever young
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6. |
Old Friend (Live)
09:58
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In 1979, Bert made a record album before deciding to work in tech rather than depend on music for a living. That album is prized by vinyl collectors and has been licensed twice for reissue in the 2000s. Old Friend was the second song on that album - an unrequited love song except for the fact that he eventually married that old friend and raised a family with her. As performed by the FOBs in 2002 at San Francisco’s Last Day Saloon, the song morphed several times into grooves none of us had heard before, nor have we since. It must’ve been the magic of GE Smith, who takes the first solo and had been coaching us all week in a gathering that Roger called Band Camp. Words and music by Bert Keely.
Now was it Tuesday morning I got your call?
A ringin' in my ears that brought me stumbling down the hall
I answered with a silence as a dream still lingered on
You broke it with a burst of laughter kinda like the sun at curtain call
And it was good to hear you say
That we'd been letting too many good nights slip away
Old friends should keep in touch, the others never mean as much
But drift into the darkness of an evening that will never turn to day
Well now it's far too soon to be saying goodbye
And packing up your things - don't let me see you cry
Though you never blew your cover I was sure you had another
Someone else to be your lover and carry you beyond the darkening sky
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7. |
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This classic written by George Harrison is so classic that Bert's Brew includes two versions. Here’s how we did it electrically, with back-to-back solos by Bert and GE.
I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how nobody told you how to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you, they bought and sold you
I look at the world and I see it's still turning
While my guitar gently weeps
For every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how you were diverted, you were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted, no one alerted you
I look at you all, while my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all, still my guitar gently weeps
Still my guitar gently weeps
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8. |
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One of the DJs at now-defuct KWJG-FM requested we end our show at the State Fair in Ninilchik with a slow dance written by Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Close your eyes when Berry Sless starts his pedal steel solo, you can hear the Alaskan sun setting on the FOBs.
I'm wasted in the afternoon, waitin' on a train
Woke up in pieces, and Elisabeth - she disappeared again
I wish you were inside of me, I hope that you're ok
I hope you're resting quietly, just wanted to say
Goodnight Elisabeth, goodnight Elisabeth goodnight
We couldn't all be cowboys, some of us are clowns
And some of us are dancers on the midway
We roam from town to town
I hope that everybody can find a little flame
Me I say my prayers, and light myself on fire
Walk out on the wire once again
Goodnight Elisabeth, goodnight Elisabeth goodnight
I'll miss you down in Baton Rouge, and down in New Orleans
I'll miss you while she slips in something comfortable
And I'll miss you whle I'm slipping in between
But if you wrap yourself in daffodils, well I'll wrap myself in pain
And if you're the queen of California, baby I am the king of the rain
Yeah
Goodnight Elisabeth, goodnight Elisabeth goodnight
Goodnight, the moon's a satellite yeah
So won't you fall down on me now, won't you fall down on me
Won't you fall down on me now, won't you fall down on me
Cause I'm all alone, you ain't comin' home
Just settle down, down, down into bones
Yes I'm all alone, you ain't comin' home
Just settle down, down, down into bones
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Circle Back! a new box set featuring the Flying Other Brothers San Francisco, California
Three new albums for 2021. Skywriting revisits the best of six songwriters from the studio albums, Bert's Brew gathers 8 live and studio FOB tracks previously unreleased, and Alive and Grateful collects Dead-related gems from Bert's projects before and during the pandemic. ... more
Contact Circle Back! a new box set featuring the Flying Other Brothers
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