Reply
Sat 3 May, 2003 12:47 pm
I met a girl, by the name of Gwendolyn, immediately fell for her, and promised to write a song for her. Three days later I saw her and sang this to her.:
.....................................GWENDLYN...............................
(Slow tempo, bluesy ballad)
Hey did you see that pretty lady,
She walked up so smooth, I didn't hear a so-o-und,
She was so cool, and sophisticated,
And when she smiled, it was a gift to all aro-o-und,
I'm speaking of Gwendoly-y-y-yn,
To me she's more than just a Frie-e-e-end,
Of all the affairs that I've been i--i-i-in,
This is the one that will wash my si-i-i-ins,...I'm tryin' to tell you about, Gwendolyn,
And did you notice, those big dimples,
They caressed a smile, so sensu-a-al,
And I'm so sure this is no is no impulse,
God has sent me something wonderfu-u-l,
I'm speaking of Gwendoly-y-y-yn,
To me she's more than just a frie-e-e-end,
Of all the affairs, that I've been i-i-i-in,
This is the one that will wash my si-i-i-ins,...Don't think, I can do without, Gwendolyn,
Nice, honest, straightforward....just wondering, did you play it on a mando-lyn?
Wow, Boo. Love it. Not all blues songs are bad news songs. Now you got me thinking and I'll have to write something myself.
I'll concur, and raise you Letty.
...The two genre's most maligned for sadness or Blues, and country. but where else do you find more humor? Think about it.
and thinking is what I'll do, Boo.
Loved it, Boo. Gwendolyn is a lucky lady.
Blues has the best humor. Nina Simone could really put humor and irony in her songs as well as her voice. I shall miss her more than I can say.
Boo, don't leave us hanging!! Tell!
Diane,
...Are you talking about the riot thing?
Gorsh, Boo and Diane. I just found this:
http://www.boscarol.com/nina/html/where/strangefruit.html
Why can't I remember Nina's voice? Weird!
Booman<
I would expect from you a song with such loving emotion.
Would I be too personal to ask whatever happened to "Gwen," the name in the title? Or is she just an imagined lady?
WH,
...We had a brief lovely relationship. Those weren't my settling down years. It was all about the courtship.
Letty,
...It was on the "Pastel Blue" album. Billies version was sad. Nina's, was cold, and gut-wrenching. ..I had the album with me while stationed in Germany, in '66. there was racial tension. Not with the Germans, but among the soldiers. We were young and it was the sixties. I had just arrived, and didn't realize how bad things were. Had I known I wouldn't have played that song for the young Black soldiers in my platoon. They were rowdy, anyway, and the result was after hearing the song they went into town and mixed things up with random white soldiers.
Bets, Nina Simone is one of my all time favorite blues singers, but she was so much more; having been accepted at Julliard, but unable to finish because she didn't have enough money.
She was very active in the Civil Rights movement as the lyrics you found make clear.
One of her most famous recordings is Porgy.
But the blues--she could sing the blues with the kind of humor we were talking about earlier--sometimes raunchy, sometimes gentle and sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious, sometimes sly.
You should hear her sing "Buck." I don't know who Buck was, but I do know I'm in love with him just from hearing her sing about him.
She was an amazing woman.
Hey, booman, I second William Henry's request--only if you are comfortable telling us about her.
Look again Diane, I just answered both questions.
BTW Diane,
...I concur with what you say. I thought she had finished Juilliard, the way she plays. On that same album, is one of her few instrumentals, and it is awesome. (Do you remember "Four Women"?)
Thanks, boo--we must've posted at the same time.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace