Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2006 21:54:04 GMT
Hi Michael I bought the album last week in my local record store in Sweden.I was just blown away!!!!!!! Its the best album Ive heard in a long time. Any gigs in Sweden??
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Mar 26, 2006 13:59:48 GMT
Hi Hannu,
T H A N K Y O U ! ;D >your words are very kind. I am proud of Lucky Charms and very happy that you are enjoying it so much. It really does make it all worthwhile to receive such a great compliment! To me it means so much more to hear from people who buy & enjoy the album, than to get a good review in a magazine from a music journalist.
I have no dates in Sweden because I have not got an agent in your country. Do you know who I could contact to get a tour or some festival dates in Sweden? (Please reply to this question as a private message)
Thanks Hannu.
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by Gerry C on Apr 12, 2006 21:53:41 GMT
Hi Michael. Just acquired a copy of Lucky Charms. What a fab album! I was really taken with the idea of samples etc the first time I heard your music (on Second Mind) although initially I had the kind of reservations associated with guys of my age (very much the wrong side of 21 but not yet eligible for a bus pass). BUT - it works! It grooves! It knocks me out!. Love the title track, Sunflower River and Steve Cropper. And while I know a lot of people will rave about your guitar playing, arrangements and sampling, to me what really makes the album is your singing: soulful and earthy and very enjoyable. Congratulations on a terrific album.
Gerry C
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Apr 13, 2006 9:49:05 GMT
Hi Gerry,
T H A N K Y O U ;D Much appreciated. As I said in my previous post; receiving compliments from the people who buy the album means much more to me than getting a great review from a music journalist.
Thank you Gerry. Keep in touch and enjoy the music!
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on May 17, 2006 17:33:13 GMT
|
|
|
Post by steadyrollinman on Dec 18, 2006 14:19:37 GMT
Michael, Really like the album, and the mood created by the background sounds. Where are the background sounds from?
Chris.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Dec 20, 2006 0:39:56 GMT
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your kind words. The background sounds are from various sources, most are from public domain recordings of blues singers & preachers and stuff that I recorded myself to create the effects...guitar riffs, vocals and all sorts. Plus as much tape hiss, amp hum and magic that we could get on to a one-inch reel of tape! If you like Lucky Charms I am sure you would enjoy Second Mind. I see these two albums as a pair. Lucky Charms was a continuation of the Second Mind sessions three years later.
Shine On, Michael.
Lucky Charms
I've got a bluebird's song I've got a banjo string A scrap of melody came from a pay-phone's ring I've got a piece of chrome came from a Ford 'Capri' It was my pride and joy when I was seventeen
Got a house full of lucky charms to keep away the blues I'd give them all to the devil for just one night with you
I've got a forty-five, the label say it's 'Chess' I've got a speaker cone the tubes are all a mess I've got a pair of shoes know how to walk the beat Got a permanent place down on sunny street
Got a house full of lucky charms to keep away the blues I'd give them all to the devil for just one night with you
Got a map to treasure that I've never used Got a heart and soul I know that I've abused I've got time on my side I've got a magic clock Got a James Bond speedboat waiting down at the dock
Got a house full of lucky charms to keep away the blues I'd give them all to the devil for just one night with you
|
|
|
Post by steadyrollinman on Dec 20, 2006 19:48:57 GMT
Thanks Michael, awesome lyrics too. The sunflower song also captures a real Mississippi mood. Was WC Handy the guy that heard Charley Patton singing at Tutwiler railway station?
As much info as you can manage would be most appreciated.
Regards,
Chris. AKA loud style O
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Dec 20, 2006 19:59:39 GMT
Hi Chris,
Good timing....five minutes after your post!
The lyrics of my songs are mostly written by my good friend and writing partner, Terry Clarke. Sunflower River was a song we talked about for many years. I always wanted to get a song that was about that legendary moment on Tutwiler Station when WC Handy first heard a musician playing slide guitar blues. It wasn't Charlie Patton, the identity of the musician is not known. The song ended up as a kind of musical postcard of Mississippi. Lucky Charms was one of Terry's own ideas that he sent me, as soon as I read the lyric I was hooked!
Here are the lyrics of Sunflower River (Clarke/Messer)
It's the Sunflower River It’s muddy down there Big sunflowers Popping seeds in the air
Look down the platform Tutwiler Station Train’s 9 hours late How d'you make conversation
With time itself Who’s keeping a log Out where the southern Crosses the dog
Big sunflowers Popping seeds in the air W.C. Handy Found the blues down there
Shine a light down to Dublin Beam on to Clarksdale Jump down and turn around The cotton's in a bale
Do catfish dream of mussels Old shoes dream of a shine Does blue dream of green Does eight dream of nine?
Out on Moon Lake Waves start to shiver 29 Civil War boats Sunk in the Yazoo River
Big sunflowers Popping seeds in the air W.C. Handy Found the blues down there
From Florence, Alabama Rolling on the tar Blue pearl the size of buckshot Pink pearl size of a star
Moths around the station clock Timetable in a frame The blues get home tomorrow On a day that has no name
Tunica and Falcon And Indianola Davenport and Dundee Hear Tony Joe's wah-wah
Big sunflowers Popping seeds in the air W.C. Handy Found the blues down there
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by steadyrollinman on Dec 22, 2006 17:42:06 GMT
Hi Michael, took your advice and went for second mind. Really quite knocked out by the whole thing. Inspired me so much I find myself itching to play live again. The song "Love" really does hit a rock n roll groove a la early stones. Nice electric rhythm work.
Thanks again and merry Christmas.
Regards,
Chris.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Dec 22, 2006 19:42:07 GMT
Thanks Chris - your words are much appreciated. 'Love' was a song based on some stuff I had told Terry about my experiences and he in his inimitable way turned them into this song, which is one of my favourites too. Bukka White's National guitar was for sale in Gruhn's Guitar store which is just a few doors along from Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. I did take the 'D' from the Daisy Theatre on Beale Street, Memphis. It was late 70s and Beale St was pretty run down. We parked on the street and walked around, nobody was there, just a few old drunks. I couldn't believe how they had let the Daisy and its surroundings crumble to the ground, so I nicked the great big 'D' neon that hung over the front door! I still have somewhere...'Got a house full of Lucky Charms!'
The arrangement was definitely a nod to the Rolling Stones. I love Ruby Turner's voice on this track, she got that right on the money.
Love - (Terry Clarke) I took the ‘D’ From the Daisy Theatre They were all watching the matinee Took the spoon from the sugar bowl It’s …’ D’ For Sugar Daddy today … I’m Daddy Spoonful of love One day I’ll take the ‘G’ from Graceland Nail it to the wall above your bed You were named after your mother Should’ve been called Grace instead … You’ve got Holy love
I took the gold tooth from a dead man Who died of love in vain It’s hanging in my window Catching reflections of the rain … It’s raining on my love One day I’ll take it to a jeweller Have it fashioned as a wedding ring It’s true Dead men cannot talk But I swear I’ve heard them sing … Singing of dead man’s love
Bukka White’s guitar in a window Humming with the beat from the ‘Orchid Lounge’ Price tag’s just three figures You could probably beat him down … I’ve got beaten down love One day I’ll take the ‘L’ from ‘Loveland’ Lay it on your sheets at night On your pillow a neon rose Everybody loves a gospel light … You’ve got holy love
Shine On (Ruby sings great on Shine On too!) Michael.
|
|
|
Post by steadyrollinman on Dec 30, 2006 11:01:20 GMT
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the lyrics. Can you remember the asking price for Bukka White's guitar? and did you buy it?
Regards,
Chris,
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Dec 30, 2006 23:24:52 GMT
Hi Chris,
It was 1978 and in Gruhn's Guitar Store in Nashville they had Bukka White's National Duolian. It was in a hard case with his name and address in white paint on the front. There were also some picks, slides, capo and other bits'n'bobs in the case. The asking price was....I think....$700 USD, which back then was a high price. Somewhere in a file in my house I have the original catalogue that I picked up in the store that day, it has the price and a description. I didn't buy it because I just couldn't afford the asking price. I bought a 1965 red Fender Mustang for somewhere around $60 USD. So $700 was a lot for me. I wish I knew what I know now.....I would have sold my grandmother into slavery and raised the money!
Sometime in the early 1990s I heard that it had sold here in the UK for a figure of 10k (UK pounds). I heard that Gary Moore was the buyer, but I don't know if that is true. Since then, 1993, I haven't heard anything about that guitar.
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by steadyrollinman on Dec 31, 2006 22:39:37 GMT
Michael,
I read in a guitar magazine a few months back, that the guitar is now owned by Derek Trucks.
Best wishes for New Year and thanks again for your encouragement at the LRC workshop.
Regards,
Chris.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on Jan 1, 2007 13:15:29 GMT
Hi Chris,
That is an interesting update to my story. I will do some research on that one.
Happy New Year!
Shine On, Michael
|
|