Cover Up The Facts!!!! : Volume 2

Thanks to everyone for the huge response to the 150th G-Man Playlist yesterday. It was great to see so many people visiting the blog for the first playlist of the year. It also got me thinking at to how far the blog has come since its inception way back in April 2009.

To say it was haphazard in the beginning is an understatement but I think I have some sort of system going on at this stage (you may strongly disagree).

Skimming through the first posts I came across some ridiculous posts but one that called out to be reborn from the ashes was an article called Cover Up The Facts. It never made it past Volume 1 so I have decided, nearly two years later, to unleash Volume 2 on the world. Well more slide it in gently than unleash but you get the picture I hope.

“Satisfied Mind” was co-written over fifty years ago by Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes. A country lament from the world of John Steinbeck , the song was covered by greats such as Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash but most never ventured away from the three-chord standard.

How many times have you heard someone say,
If I had money I would do things my way.
But little they know that it’s so hard to find
One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.


Money can’t buy back all your youth when you’re old
A friend when your lonely or peace to your soul
The wealtiest person is a pauper at times
Compared to the man with a satisfied mind.


When my life is over and my time has run out,
My friends and my lovers I will leave, in no doubt
But one things for certain when it comes my time
I’ll leave this old world with a satisfied mind.

Most famous for a renditon of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah”, Jeff Buckley officially released just a single record (Grace back in 1994). His tragic death in mysterious circumstances in 1997 coupled with the fact that he was the son of Tim Buckley (who died himself of an overdose at just 28 years of age) packed together with the unlimited potential which can be heard on Grace helped to create one of the great Rock and Roll myths/stories of recent times.

This myth sometimes takes away from or glosses over the fact that Jeff Buckley was :

1. An unbelievably talented singer with a range similar to his fathers.

2. A great songsmith in his own right. Check out “Last Goodbye”, “Grace” and “Everybody Here Wants You”. No straight forward pop songs there.

3. A super talented guitarist. The majority of his songs were born out of open tunings and few (if any) involved just strumming the guitar like your average folk-singer.

From the very first twang of the electric guitar you know that the Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk version is something special. Alternating between blues guitar licks and soaring vocals he shows what most of the greats have in abundance : supreme control. As impressive in a whisper as he is when hitting seemingly impossible notes (for a male anyway) this recording breathes both youth and energy (as well as a tinge of melancholy) into a timeless tune. If you are going to cover a cover you have to do it like this.

http://www.jeffbuckley.com