I'll Take the Hills: Banjo
Dan's Songs of Vermont
Vermont Songbag (VSB 101 [Cassette]) 1987
...an album of original music by one of Vermont's most enduring performers and talented
songwriters...recorded in Vermont and duplicated on high-quality Chrome tape.
-AVAILABLE- on CD (See Ordering
Info)
Cover woodcut by Mary Azarian (13 years before she won the Caldecott Medal)
The Artists:
Banjo Dan (Dan Lindner)
The Mid-nite Plowboys, present (Alan Davis, Peter Riley, David Gusakov) ... and past (Will
Lindner, Dan Mahoney, Peter Tourin)
The Lonesome Road Band (Paul Miller, Gene White, Rich Sicely)
and special guests Jaye Lindner, Tim Jennings, Frank Orsini, Gordon Stone
Sometimes we newcomers (I've only lived in Vermont 17 years) are called
"Vermonters by choice." I couldn't have made a better choice. I figure I've
lived the best part of my life here, and that the really important things are those I've
learned since settling in the Green Mountain State. Things like raising chickens, cooking
on a woodstove, making cider and maple syrup. And writing songs.
I'd been around bluegrass, folk and country music for a long time, but had never done
any composing. Something in these hills gets the creative juices flowing (just ask Mary
Azarian, whose original woodcut graces our cover). Al, Willy and I formed Banjo Dan and
the Mid-nite Plowboys in 1972, and right from the start featured original songs. I guess
I've penned a couple hundred by now.
My recent efforts have focused on Vermont as a theme. This is a fascinating place, rich
in history, traditions and natural beauty. There are all kinds of things to sing about,
and on this tape you'll hear tales of ghosts and soldiers, loggers, farmers and even banjo
pickers. We've also recorded a couple of Al's fine songs, including his classic
"Snowfall."
I've had a great time putting this music together, working with some wonderful and
extremely talented people. There are outstanding vocalists here, plus some fine work on
fiddles, guitars, mandolin, Dobro, bass and concertina, as well as the instrument that
bears my name (or is it the other way around?). If you love Vermont I'm sure you'll enjoy
this album. Every song tells a story, and there's a story behind every song....
- Welcome to Willoughby (the Peregrine's Return)
(By Dan Lindner: Dan, banjo and lead vocal; Pete, bass and vocal; Jaye,
vocal; Al, guitar; David, fiddle; Willy, mandolin.)
In 1985, years of dedicated work by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Cornell
University's Peregrine Fund paid off when a pair of peregrine falcons was seen nesting on
the rocky cliffs of Mt. Pisgah, high above beautiful Lake Willoughby. The peregrines had
been eradicated from ancestral nesting territories in Vermont and the rest of the eastern
United States during the 1950s, victims of DDT and a general hostility toward predatory
species. The successful reintroduction of these incredible birds thrilled Vermonters from
all walks of life. I thought the falcons, and the people who helped them return to
Vermont, deserved a special song.
- I'll Take the Hills
(By Dan Lindner: Al guitar and lead vocal; Dan, lead guitar and vocal;
Pete, bass and vocal; David, fiddle.)
A lot of Vermonters feel a deep tie to the land. I don't know if we still have more cows
than people, but there are still plenty of folk-old farm families and lately arrived
back-to-the-landers who would rather work the land and feel close to something real than
move to town and go for the big bucks.
- Widowmaker
(By Dan Lindner: Pete, bass and vocal; Dan, guitar and lead vocal; Tim,
concertina; Gene, fiddle.)
There's a famous bluegrass song called "Widowmaker" about a truck driver who
gives up his life to save a pickup full of kids stalled on the road. Here in the North
Country loggers know a widowmaker as a snag--dead wood hanging in a tree, likely to crash
down with little or no warning. This tale recounts the heroics of a French-Canadian
woodsman named Jacques Dubois.
- The Saint Albans Raid
(By Dan Lindner: Danny, Dobro and lead vocal; Dan, banjo, guitar and
vocal; Pete, bass and vocal; Gene, fiddle.)
This is a true story about the northernmost action of the Civil War. In a desperate
eleventh-hour move, a small band of rebels-mostly escaped prisoners of war-filtered down
from Canada and raided this small Vermont city twelve miles from the border. In part they
were seeking revenge for the devastation of Southern towns. They were also trying to
capture funds to supply their struggling armies, and hoped to create a panic in the north
and draw manpower away from their homeland. Twenty-one dashing young men, having convinced
the St. Albans citizens that they were salesmen, preachers and such, suddenly turned bank
robbers and arsonists, shot up the town, and high-tailed it for the border. Most were
eventually tracked down, but after court proceedings lasting over a year were declared
innocent of any felonies. Canada refused to allow their extradition to face Union justice,
proclaiming their deeds legitimate acts of war.
- The Cider Song
(By Dan Lindner: Dan, guitar, banjo and lead vocal; Pete, bass and vocal;
David, fiddles.)
Anything you make at home, even if it takes a lot longer than it should, and even if your
methods are a bit crude, seems vastly superior to the store-bought variety. We've always
made our own cider, from the wormiest-looking apples, on the creakiest old press. And it's
the greatest.
- The Ghost of the Gold Brook Bridge
(By Dan Lindner: Paul, guitar and lead vocal; Jaye, ghost vocals; Dan,
high guitar and mandolin; Pete, bass; Peter Tourin, cello.)
Lots of folks really believe that old covered bridge outside Stowe is haunted. Apparently
a woman named Emily died there long ago. There are several versions of the story, but all
involve a jilted maiden whose life ended tragically.
- Snowfall
(By Alan Davis: Al, guitar and lead vocal; Danny, Dobro; Pete, bass and
vocals; Willy, mandolin; Dan, banjo.)
This song, written by Al Davis, has been the Plowboys' theme song for fifteen years. The
title cut from our first album, recorded in 1973, it has become a Vermont classic and is,
truly, requested wherever we perform. After all these years I felt it deserved to be
recorded once more.
- Old Dan
(By Dan Lindner: Paul, first vocal; Dan, guitar and second vocal; Pete,
bass and tenor vocal; Frank, fiddle; Gordon, pedal steel; Willy, backup guitar.)
Losing a life-long partner is the hardest thing any of us has to bear-and this goes for
horses as well as people. Listen to old Tom tell you about it.
- Camel's Hump
(By Dan Lindner: Dan, banjo; Pete, bass; David, fiddle; Willy, mandolin;
Al, guitar.)
What would a Banjo Dan album be without just one rip-snortin' banjo tune? This one is
named for my favorite mountain.
- Vermont Ladies
(By Alan Davis: Al, guitar and lead vocal; Willy, mandolin; Pete, bass;
David, fiddle; Dan, banjo and vocal; Peter Tourin, vocal.)
Here's a song dealing with one of the favorite topics of Vermont musicians (male). Big Al
wrote it, and the Plowboys featured it on live shows during the seventies. It don't mean
much; it's just a fun one to pick and sing.
- Song for Margaret
(By Dan Lindner: Pete, bass and lead vocal; Jaye, vocal; Dan, guitar,
tiple and banjo.)
In a far-off corner of Montpelier's Green Mount Cemetery stands an incredibly lovely and
poignant sculpture of a young girl. Undoubtedly crafted by one of nearby Barre's immigrant
stone-cutting artists, she leans on a granite rail, with granite flowers at her feet,
wistfully looking out over the hills. Her cupped hands usually hold a few pennies, left
there by passersby. Her name was Margaret Pitkin. She died in 1899.
(Pictures of Margaret's gravestone)
- Goin' Downstate
(By Dan Lindner: Dan, banjo and vocal; Rich, electric guitar; Gene,
fiddle; Paul, guitar; Pete, bass.)
I'd never heard of "downstate," "crosslots," "Jeezum Crow,"
or a lot of other Vermontisms before I settled here. But now I can sling 'em with the
best, and there's been many a weekend with nothing better to do when I'd throw the old
five-string in the pickup and head downstate to pick and sing and carry on.
Recorded at Clic Records, Stowe, Vermont May 19-30, 1987
Engineer: Bill Kinzie; Digital Master Sony PCM-F1
Produced and mixed at Clic by Bill Kinzie, Dan Lindner and Pete Riley
Cover Art: Mary Azarian; Photo: Bob Silverstein
Package design and layout: Leahy Press, Montpelier, Vermont
All songs published by Grand Reverb (BMI)
Special thanks to Bill Schubart of Resolution
Next album in discography: Green Mountain Skyline
(1986)
www.BanjoDan.com