MP3 Daisy DeBolt - Lovers & Fantasies DCD 107
Solos & duets - whole journey in sound, somehow encapsulated, somehow integrated, somehow set before us with disarming simplicity.
9 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk-Jazz, BLUES: Acoustic Blues
Details:
Lovers & Fantasies
Produced and Arranged by Daisy DeBolt and Paul Benedict
Recorded, Mixed, Mastered at Benedict Studios
The bed track for "Oh Mother" was recorded in a swamp in Northern Ontario, near Paul''s camp. Was quite a trek to get there, portaging over 5 beaver dams, "Are we there yet" I must have asked a hundred times. My fingers dipping in the wake of the canoe. Thanks to the crickets who changed pitch with me, or did I change with them? Loons on a distant lake, Mom''s spirit ever so present. This was the beginning of a deep friendship with Paul and it was his vision to keep it simple and acoustic.
I have been asked many times over the years to do a stripped down recording of my songs, which is how I often perform them. So here they are, each one a special memory to me. George Koller and Margaret Stowe are so wonderful to play with and these duets come out of live performance, with the exception of Lovers & Fantasies which George and I wrote on the fly and in the studio. Thank you Paul, George and Marg, you make my songs blossom. Hey! OK!
Oh Mother 2002
words & music - D.M. DeBolt
Daisy - vocals & mandolin
This poem I wrote to my Mother Marjorie, these were the only words that Mother Nature would accept. Sitting on a rickety old dock in a swamp, the song reflected back from the rockface over the water, Paul recording on one mike, so simple & pure.
...this song is for you Jacob my son.
Log Boogie 2002
words & music - D.M. DeBolt
Daisy - vocals & guitar, George - bass
...Log was crying out for a bluegrass reprieve ( see Log below).
Lovers and Fantasies 2002
words - D.M. DeBolt, music - George Koller
Daisy - vocals, George - guitar & bass
...George had this music he was writing on the tour bus on his wonderful new guitar. I had a lot of lyrics floating around looking for the blues.
Crooked Heart Highway/aka Midnight Highway 1977
words - Michael Ondaatje, music - D.M. DeBolt
Daisy - vocal & guitar
Michael appeared backstage at a concert we gave at Aspace when I was 6 months pregnant with my son Jacob. Later when our friendship grew he brought me this folder of poems and said "see if you can put any of these to music". This is one of four songs that I put music to.
Log 1993
words & music - D.M. DeBolt, words - Jacob DeBolt.
Daisy - vocals & guitar, George - bass
Written at Barry''s Bay, Ontario on the way to Ottawa. Larry Stanley and my son Jacob put up the big tent for the first time. They got eaten alive as I cooked a gourmet meal on the open fire, the stars came out... the Northern Lights... the sounds of the night, was so perfect.
Joe Christmas 1977
words - Michael Ondaatje, music - D.M. DeBolt
Daisy - vocal & guitar, George - bass
This is definitely a Toronto song, so a few references may mean nothing to you. But the literary man is quite well known in literary circles...will he never shut up! OR SOBER UP!
Prairie Love 1974
words & music - D.M. DeBolt, words - Cal Bailey
Daisy - vocal & guitar
I wrote this song out west, I was in love/out of love, so terribly young. The prairies, the only one who understood. To speak of honour at that age seems to me now naive and prophetic.
Matchstick Man 1968
words & music - Allan H. Fraser
Daisy - vocal & guitar
This song of Allan''s I consider my own, I''ve played it for so long. This is the way I learned it more that 30 years ago. It is possible that I have drifted from the original.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow 1939
words & music - Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen
Arrangement - Margaret Stowe
Daisy - vocal, Marg - guitars
Marg encouraged me to sing this song for a "Jackie Washington" benefit. It was like the room stopped breathing the first time we performed it, a magic sign! A mature contemplative version. This is for you Jackie!
Daisy
Lovers & Fantasies - Jeffrey Aarles (play-write/actor)
Okay, something I should probably say straight off is that I''m a
long-time fan. I met Daisy around a campfire somewhere between Dreams
Cost Money and Soulstalking, a strange and wonderful accordion-equipped
angel magically in our midst. And yeah, that''s really how it felt.
And after the campfire had gone out, I kept an eye open for Daisy and
what she was up to. And I never ceased to be fascinated by her choices
and the trajectory of her music. From the solid and intelligent
polka-folk-reggae and serious fun of Soulstalking to the deep honesty
and searching of the Myles Davis-tinged I Can, through the beautiful mad
mandolin poetry of Mountain Songs and the lush big-band sound of Live
Each Day With Soul, an investigation into classic blues and jazz. I no
longer remember just where along the line I discovered the
groundbreaking work she and Alan Fraser had done early in her career
when she was half of Fraser & DeBolt.
There is much in all this music, not least the terrific musicians
she''s worked with to admire, but what I have admired most over time is
the fact that Daisy has not for one moment stopped seeking, stopped
exploring, stopped reaching for what she intuits is next around the
musical bend. And because of that, her style has shifted and changed
fairly radically. And let''s face it: she''s probably had fans who weren''t
able to keep up with her. For example, people who were super comfy
cuddling into the earlier folk sounds might not have been ready for the
hard edges of some of the tunes on I Can. It''s a real fact that a
musician who''s not content to stay put musically will lose some of their
audience along the way. And gain others, of course. But it is just this
restlessness, this searching, that is for some of us one of the most
wonderful of Daisy''s attributes. A new album is always a new adventure.
Which brings me to Lovers & Fantasies. As a long-time fan, I can''t hear
this album like someone who has never heard Daisy sing. I can only hear
it from the position of someone who''s been watching and listening for a
while, who''s liked some stuff better and some stuff less but who''s
remained a loyal fan partially because of a fascination in -and a
respect for the search. And I had no idea what this particular
adventure would be, because I hadn''t been able to catch a concert for a
long time and hadn''t listened to the clips on the website.
So, here''s what I think: I love it. I think that maybe, just maybe
it''s the best thing she''s ever done, and that''s saying something.
As I''ve said, I''ve loved and admired the search and enjoyed the music
all along. What''s great about this album is the fact that somehow, all
the many steps she''s made are here in one place. I hear the sweet honest
cadences of that younger Daisy who sang with Alan Fraser. I hear the
power of the emerging folk goddess from Sudbury. I hear the rich poetic
blend that came from her time adjusting back to both big city and harsh
mountain realities. I hear the jazz exploration. I hear it all, the
whole journey in sound, somehow encapsulated, somehow integrated,
somehow set before us with disarming simplicity. I hear a voice with
power enough to fry the speaker wires caressing the airwaves with
extraordinary control and restraint.
I''m not going to talk about individual tracks. Listen to it all. Soak
it up. It''s a whole life''s worth of sound, and it''s really bloody
beautiful.
Jeffrey Aarles
People who are interested in Annie Lennox Judy Collins Dory Previn should consider this download.