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Little Victories

by Sid Griffin

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1.
When I'm Out Walking With You 03:26
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Raven sings through the sky, corn grows higher than high Field sweeps towards the sun, and my heart races and runs And my heart races and runs Clouds shift in the wind, as I fall in love all again And I try to tell you I do, when I'm out walking with you When I'm out walking with you When I'm out walking with you, it's a dream, it's a dream Alone in a world as we two, country lanes, me and you Farm houses pass by, old farmers wave hi To everyone saying hello, I wish you felt what I know When I'm out walking with you, it's a dream, it's a dream Alone in a world as we two, open skies, me and you Leaves race 'cross the ground, love's lost and then found You kick at a stone, and I feel so much at home And I feel so much at home
2.
Jimmy Reed 04:00
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Midnight tolls its bells again, gathering clouds around Smiling faces, dancehall floor, one face weas a frown, one face wears a frown The Golden Spur is packed again, the Orbit lounge is full Smokey rooms where singers play, the air is thick as wool, the air is thick as wool Jimmy Reed is on the bandstand, the circus comes to town Jimmy Reed tonight in person, they're watching a good man drown, oh Lord They're watching a good man drown Midnight monas out 12 again, midnight calls its friend For some the night has just begun, for some it never ends, for some it never ends Somewhere the night is falling, somewhere a lamp's cut low Somewhere a widow's weeping, somewhere a blues plays slow, somewhere a blues plays slow Jimmy Reed is on the bandstand, with his gentle rolling sound Jimmy Reed tonight in person, we're watching a good man drown We're watching a good man drown
3.
Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today 04:14
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They loaded up the Model A with the trailer hitched in the yard When they'd seen she'd hold and wouldn't slip they packed her tight and hard For our lazy little journey westward where our lives would go so far We'd leave our dirty aging home all patched and marked with tar If it were'nt for the rocks in its bed, you know, the stream would have no song If it were'nt for the dreams my father held we'd just have moped along Now some men kinda crawl through life never asking why My Ma, she chose a restless type always reaching for the sky Good times tomorrow, a few hard times today I can hear his voice right now explain bad times away Good times tomorrow, hard times today Every stream has got a song, like a stream we'll roll along Hard times won't touch this family At the port of entry a brown-suit man waved us to a halt Said we were Tuesday's thousand-sixth as if it was our fault So we pulled into this camp they had for dirty men and kids and wives Where we thought of Oklahoma and what's come of our lives Now some men kinda crawl through life never asking why My Ma, she chose a restless type though she'd never seen him cry Good times tomorrow, hard times today I can hear his voice right now, his hair turned silver grey Good times tomorrow, hard times today Every stream has got a song, like a stream we'll roll along Hard times won't touch this family Hard times won't touch this family Hard times won't touch this family
4.
The Rate Of Exchange 03:26
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Time to run, time to hide, the cost of living's costing me my pride Call my name, call my number, losing sleep now is it any wonder Hey ho, where does the money go when all the money's down the drain It's the rate of exchange Pounds to marks, a yen for buckage, knowin' all the while you're losing luggage Got no pesos, got no guilders, empty pockets leaving me bewildered Hey ho, where does the money go when all the money's down the drain It's the rate of exchange Bundesbank, World Trade Centre, their door is locked, please tell me how to enter Calling Rome, calling Brussels, backstreet boys in pinstrip flexing muscle Hey ho, where does the money go when all the money's down the drain It's the rate of exchange
5.
I Wish I Was A Mountain 04:52
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I wish I was a mountain old as time itself Within my inner prisms were chambers full of wealth And all my soil was splashed with gold And led into a mother lode with all my secrets deeply hid Kept away from every bid If I would be a mountain instead of me I wish I was a catfish swimming so inscrutably Cruising with my brothers floatin' all around me Stem to stern our lessons learned In rivers rolling to the sea, with hooks and toxins set upon In fouled waters we would spawn I wish I was a catfish instead of me I wish I was an eagle soaring high as I could see Espying signs of failure on landscape beneath me And swooping down upon your town I'd fix all things for free I'd liberate and integrate from sea to shining sea I wish I was an eagle instead of me I wish I was a rattler a desert snake at play Searching for my lover and other signs of prey From Yuma to Saragosa I'd wind and twist and reel Anything to find you and tell you how I feel And shakin' with emotion I'd click and clack and hiss Coiled tight upon my belly with venom such as this I wish I was a rattler instead of this And now I stand in opera my crown is slipping down Falling to my shoulders and soil is on my gown No prophecy or promised land Could deal me cards, a better hand No ancient task could yet endure This weight pound down to prevent cure I wish I was a rattler I wish I was a catfish I wish I was a mountain instead of me
6.
Distant Trains 03:11
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I can hear the sound of distant trains Chugging slowly through my brain Which one of them takes you away from me I can hear the sound of distant planes Searching through the fog again Which one of them takes you away from me Which one is it going to be? Tell me how will I know? Tell me once again That one good reason why I cannot go I can hear the steamboats turn upstream Churning through the sights I've seen Which one of them took you away fom you I can hear the sighs of yesterdays Coming back in their soft ways Which one of them took you away from me I'll pay the cost of reason against the rising of my will If you say you're staying and we've both got time to kill Pay me now or pay me when I can use your dues my friend I'm leading no parades that's for sure I'll leave you with this thought in mind I hope to God you're always mine I hope to God you'll stay behind with me But I hear the sound of distant trains Chuggin' slowly through my brain Which one of them takes you away from me? Which one of them takes you away from me?
7.
Sailors And Soldiers 04:02
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Sailors and soldiers, uniformed soldiers They're growing older, over the sea Troops they are leaving, firmly believing There's no reason for grieving, over the sea Far from the banners, far from the glamour Far from the planners who sent them to die Herded like cattle they head for the battle Their rifles will rattle, over the sea Too young to be shaving but the flags are a-waving For the fury they're braving, over the sea Far from the banners, far from the glamour Far from the planners who sent them to die Proudly paradin' with their medals they're laden But their glory is fading, over the sea Sailors and soldiers, sailors and soldiers Sailors and soldiers, sailors and soldiers Sailors and soldiers, sailors and soldiers Sailors and soldiers, sailors and soldiers
8.
The Man Who Invented The Blues 04:23
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It wasn't WC Handy it wasn't WC Fields It wasn't nobody in Memphis to tell me the way that I feel It wasn't part of a movie it wasn't in the last reel It wasn't writ in some novel though I guess that's part of the deal If it's the very last thing I do I'd like to get some credit from you I stand here quiet before 'ya I'm the man who invented the blues It wasn't Daniel Quayle who said get on your ship and sail It wasn't Mahailia Jackson who said I want no more of your action It wasn't Paulina Poritzkova who said I'll have to think it over It's all on account of you I'm painting in the key of blue I even scratched the sky but it didn't tell me why Probably be quite famous I hope the press don't blame us Like Salk and his penicillin Like capturing the villain Like Moses to the Jews I'm the man who invented the blues Take down all the lights somehow they don't feel quite right Take down that damn tree it means less and less to me Take back all of those gifts stop playing that same riff Don't call me on the phone I'd rather be alone I might do myself in but I won't tell you when You'll read about it in the paper you'll hear how I didn't hate her Mark my words right now I'm gonna get that girl back somehow Don't tell me 'bout paying dues I'm the man who invented the blues
9.
Monk's Mood (instrumental) 01:32
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10.
Flak Jacket 03:38
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I'm a St Paul's squarehead in this jar of a hole On a rainy Nicaraguan night I'm a scared little soldier from New Orleans Holding his rifle tight I'm a tough luck joker in some deck o'cards Playing to win with might I'm a veteran from the Falklands just here to help out Hoping the dice roll right We're in a ditch by the side of the road hoping to get out of the fight Our spirits churn as we watch our jeep burn some kids got a hell of a sight You can talk about your Spartas and your civil wars Your civil disturbance that grows Your Peloponnesians or the Basques in Spain The terror some people know 'Cause there ain't much worse to be lying in dirt Listenin' while your life's on hold Though the gasoline burns as the night still turns We're getting quite a good show Say what you want about my country here shakin' a velvet hand I wanna get home where the buffalo roam it seems a happier land I got my flak jacket tighter than the skin of a snake It's keeping me together as well I got a helmet and some rations and a heart in my throat I'm hoping nobody can tell The tempo often changes in these brotherhood wars The conductor's head can swell They sent me off to battle, I ain't sure of myself I think I hear tolling bell The flames fly high as I see the sky start to form a friendly face I pull my flak jacket tighter as I reach for my lighter I want to get out of this place I want to get out of this place
11.
Alma Mater 03:21
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Make me believe in a town that's a home Make me believe in something I own And give me the time and the sense that it's real And pull me away from the sad things I feel Then begin the music which signals it all The sounding of trumpets, the clarion call The dull and the bad nights, the smell of the crowd The roar of us lonely when we're singing aloud I can believe in a dream that's so new I can't conceive of a day without you Tell me when there is this ocean between Is it part of the daylight or part of the dream As we walk through life will we waltz on clouds Same as the day when we took our vows Here is the sand where I'm sticking in our flag On this good earth where I intend to prove my worth Knowing full well that the road is paved to hell The road is paved to the road is paved to hell The road is paved to the road is paved to hell Give me the time and the sense that it's real Pull me away from the sad things I feel The dull and the bad nights, the smell of the crowd The roar of us lonely when we're singing aloud
12.
Jerusalem Road 04:19
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Will you help me brother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road Will you help me mother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road It runs right by the factory n' its brown and turgid streams It lays right by the crooked brook n' its smokestacks full of steam Its pavement full of pounding hoofs n' concrete cracked so mean Its cobblestone past quiet homes filled with small town dreams Will you help me brother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road Will you help me mother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road When favoured sons with all their guns have to lay down swords When Washington sleeps in the sun peaceful with no chore When foreign lands with desert sands can feed all of their poor When every living breathing thing won't have to cry for more I can see it in the evening as the night comes fadin' in I can feel it in the morning as the day wakes to begin Will you help me brother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road Will you help me mother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road If everything is said and done n' paid out at the till If thoughts were trials and some of us suffered for free will If one and one and one and one added up to nil If all the love that's in this world could just once hold her still Will you help me brother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road Will you help me mother? walkin' down Jerusalem Road Jerusalem Road Jerusalem Road
13.
Cadillac Elvis 03:34
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14.
The Man Who Invented The Blues (Live, Berlin Independence Days, Quasimodo, Berlin, 26 October 1992) 04:28
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15.
Why Not Your Baby 05:02
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about

Released in 1997 the UK and in 1998 in the USA by Country-Town Music this album is Sid Griffin “unplugged” with a collection of new material with the third track being an acoustic reworking of a Long Ryders classic.

Recorded with a core band of Sid and UK C&W star Wes McGhee, it includes duets with Billy Bragg and Steve Wynn. The album also features an unreleased track from the late, great Phil Ochs entitled Sailors And Soldiers.

credits

released July 2, 2020

Little Victories - Sid Griffin


Produced by Kevin Stokes
Recorded at Spot Watkins Sound Recorders, Hampstead, London NW3.
Engineered and mixed by Kevin Stokes with Sid Griffin

Sid Griffin: lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, autoharp, percussion
Wes McGhee: lead guitar, dobro, bouzouki
Kevin Stokes: percussion, harmony vocals
Rob Childs: pedal steel guitar
Rob Stone: piano
Pat McGarvey: bass, harmony vocals


Special guests -
Billy Bragg: lead vocal on Sailors & Soldiers
(Billy Bragg appears courtesy of Go! Discs)
Steve Wynn: lead vocal, guitar on The Rate Of Exchange
Kate St. John: accordion, harmony vocals
(Kate St. John appears courtesy of The Dream Academy)
Dave Roberts: snare drum
Ian Thomson: harmony vocal on The Man Who Invented The Blues
(Ian Thomson appears courtesy of Lindisfarne)
The Jules Singleton String Quartet appears on The Man Who Invented The Blues

No varmits or critters were harmed in the making of this album.

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Sid Griffin London, UK

Yep, I'm the guy from the Americana founders the Long Ryders in 1980s L.A. & the guy in the first ever alt-bluegrass act, the Coal Porters, recently out of London. You bet make solo albums & perform singer-songwriter gigs, I’ve toured solo from London to Los Angeles to Sydney to Hong Kong to Helsinki too. Million Dollar Bash is my well-received book on The Basement Tapes and I've never met Dylan. ... more

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