Los Angeles
8-29-00
1:30 am
I rumbled down that dusty cliff road in Big Sur, 3pm, and
turned south onto the Pacific Coast Highway-- a 3OO mile trip to Los Angeles was staring
at me through the window, down along the curvy roads of the California coast, to the
highway down to Ventura, running along the beach into Malibu, and then finally down among
the sky scrapers and the girls with the implants on Melrose Avenue...
I stopped for an overnight at my friend Brendan's in Ojai, a
beautiful little town in the mountains an hour north of LA. he's moving to Vermont with
his wife and kid-- I pulled up and the truck was full, house empty, it was his last night
there.
He says, he started missing the rain, and the cold, and the
change of the seasons and figured he'd about had it-- he quit the job, got the van and was
gone--
we parted with plans to meet at the Burren in Davis Square in 10 days...
My manager flew in for the show tonight in LA, and his
partner Lisa lives here in LA already, and it was a happy reunion at the club tonight...
nice crowd, I played acoustically just into the mikes and that felt very good, letting the
guitar sound the way the wood intended it...
The place I played is called Stink Fish, a recording,
performing complex put together by my old friend Vinx, one time Boston musician, now LA
mogul maximus.. It's a very cool place on Robertson Blvd, and we jammed 80 sweaty people
in there tonight, quiet, listening, me strumming and working up a near faint, mikes
throwing a warm tone over the audience... jamming with Vinx and Freddy at the end of the
night was a highlight for me, good to have friends along for the music. I play these songs
everyday-- usually alone, onstage, and these visiting players musical personalities are
comforting surprises for the songs, bending them, nourishing them in places they never
knew existed...
I performed "Speed of Trees" and "Dream of New
Orleans" for the first time, they both are keepers that will be carried into the
Fall... they have evolved even since the last postings... and thanks go to all those who
responded, I read them all, and hope to get a chance in the next few days to address
them...
Road Bound
We are road bound
we're chasing the sea
Pretty Girl in the front seat
and she's wrapped around me
You slept through Virginia
woke up in Tennessee
in a sleepy old town
on some old battleground
A statue brought the morning
with a fog rolling in
a general on a stone horse
the leader of men
and I'm glad I'm through fighting
the wars i can't win
and the fights I can't lose
I'm gonna pick as I choose
Packed a one way suitcase
with a map and a jack
we burned all the bridges
and we're not turning back
And if they come looking
we lied about facts
on an Arkansas phone
to the all folks back home
We're Road Bound
gonna swim in the sea
Touch the blue waters
let them crash over me
When we reach California
we'll fall to our knees
while Angels and palms
are singing Beach Boy songs
Angels and palms
singing beach boy songs
see you out there...
Ellis
talk to you soon... have good extended weekend...
Ellis
