Operation 365... Blog 346

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 352 Jefferson Jay Band "Good Graces" 8-19-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy8rPmhTDlI


So today is the day, 11-11-11. There's than 2 weeks left in the Operation and my CD, "Gift To Be Alive" is available for the world to enjoy. Here. Now.

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/

I have decided to make it available for free. Well, name your price actually. You CAN pay if you want to. I am not against it. Our CD Release party is tonight at The Griffin, 1310 Morena Blvd. It starts at 9PM. My friends, Charbra and Chris Zach's band, For the Faint, open. It is a big night in town. Lots of things are happening. I wish to being my healthiest mindset and play the best I can. I want to have fun. That seems obvious, I know, but there's a lot of pressure in one of these shows. I am taking a break form all that today.

I am very proud of this CD. The music. The message. They come from my heart. I am playing with fiends who I respect, admire and enjoy and I think it is reflected in the sound. I love recording and making music. When I do it I feel I am doing what I was meant to do.

I have saved all 13 tracks off the CD for the Operation's finale. Today, we share Tune 1, "Good Graces." We will go in order through the rest. I hope you will enjoy a copy of "Gift TO Be Alive." That is why it's there.

I think it was 2006. Soul Man and I had a gig at a church for Christmas. I had worked up a rendition of "Silent Night" and as I showered before the show, this song popped into my head. It was my answer to "Silent Night" in that it espoused what I believe. We are all one. We will emerge victorious and celebrate by pulling together, uniting our spirits, appreciating nature and the example it sets for us and how to be.

This version of "Good Graces" was recorded at The Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on August 19, 2009, Janet Truesdail's birthday, Don's mom.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 352 "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDhN2ImzYhM


This song makes you wonder, what exactly will be coming around the mountain? Fame? Fortune? Attention? Awareness? Understanding? Peace? It's impossible to say really and thus is the nature of life. Unpredictability and quests for perspective.

Got some good news on my Dad's health. There's a lot to be thankful for. For instance, the ability to have perspective. It's a gift to be alive. Congratulations to Peter and Cory, who got married today in a lovely ceremony on the Ocean Beach Pier.

Go around that mountain.

I used to play "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain" back in the old days. It's always a fun one to play. What the hell were those people talking about? These are the originals lyrics. I swear. I guess she's coming.

I just looked up what this song really meands on wikipedia. Gotta be real careful with research. It can really bum you out. I'just let wikipedia tell you,

"She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" (also sometimes called simply "Coming 'Round the Mountain") is an American folk song often categorized as children's music. It is a derivation of a Negro spiritual known as "When the Chariot Comes".

The song refers to the Second Coming of Christ and subsequent Rapture. The she refers to the chariot the returning Christ is imagined as driving.

Sample lyrics:
O, who will drive the chariot When she comes? O, who will drive the chariot When she comes? O, who will drive the chariot, O, who will drive the chariot, O, who will drive the chariot When she comes?

That's not quite as fun, is it?

Decided last second to add this weirdness too (also from wikipedia)

Carl Sandburg, in The American Songbag, suggests that "she" refers to union organizer Mary Harris "Mother" Jones going to promote formation of labor unions in the Appalachian coal mining camps.

Currently the song is usually sung in collections of children's music with slightly different lyrics. The song has been recorded by musicians ranging from Pete Seeger to Barney the Dinosaur.

Harking back to the original lyrics of "When the Chariot Comes", the song is sometimes referenced in relation to the end of the world, most notably in The Illuminatus! Trilogy and the comic book Promethea.

...Great! More crap to look up...

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Outtakes - 352 Jefferson Jay Band "Good Graces"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck_IDqVWErI


I am focusing on the first track off my new CD "Gift To Be Alive," "Good Graces." You can have it here for whatever you decide.

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/

I hope you like it. It meant a lot to me to make.

This version of "Good Graces" was recorded at Portugalia in San Diego on January 28, 2009.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 352 Jefferson Jay Band "Good Graces" 3-9-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnrHuVGQrZc


This version of "Good Graces" was recorded at my old workplace, Portugalia in San Diego on March 9, 2009.

"Good Graces" is the first song off my new CD,"Gift To be Alive," which was released today, 11-11-11, and can be had here now.

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/

Peace Love and thank you