About a year ago I came across a bootleg live version of Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) covering a song called “Blues Run The Game.” I thought it was beautiful, and consequently fell in love with it. For many months it didn’t occur to me that this was a cover, although it should have because no ridiculously obscure diction embellished the lyrics. Then one day I thought to look up the song to see if it had a studio version. I found that there was no studio version, not from Colin anyway. The song is originally by a folk artist named Jackson C. Frank. Frank was American born, and later in life he left for England to record with Simon and Garfunkel. He was very shy and reserved, and in fact demanded a screen be set up while he recorded so that people couldn’t see him. In England Frank enjoyed moderate success, yet in America he was a nobody, which would have been different in today’s world because he could have developed a cult following, but in the late 60s, he was doomed. So, I would like to post the song “Blues Run The Game,” because I think it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and he should be recognized.
2 comments:
I walked by the fivefivefour the other day, and heard a song i could have swore was the decemberists, but a decemberists song i'd never heard (which I thought odd and peculiar).
Must've been this!
You absolutely MUST hear the Nick Drake version, in my opinion it surpasses Meloy's and even the orginal.
Post a Comment