Songs From Cedar Street	1974-1978

Cedar Street in Little Rock runs one block over from the main campus of the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. When I started there late in the summer of 1974 it did not take long (standing in line at registration the very first day, in fact) to learn that there were quite a few other musicians in our class, some of whom had been playing professionally for years. It only took a few weeks more to find that many of us lived within a couple of blocks of each other in the older, small, rental houses along South Cedar Street. Before long a couple of the living rooms in particular became the settings for regular music sessions....sessions that continued until our graduation in 1978 when we all started residency training and went separate ways.

Those houses on that part of Cedar Street are now long gone, replaced by new buildings and parking lots as the medical school campus has steadily grown. Sadly, some of those classmates are gone now too…but the memories have remained, and are as fresh to me as yesterday.

Home recording technology circa 2014 has allowed me the luxury of revisiting those times in a way by recording a few of the songs that we played together back then. To my friends, classmates and fellow musicians…those who are still here and those already gone on...I cannot thank you enough for all the good times in which you let me share and for all of the great memories. 

I still hear you guys in every one of these songs.

Angel Band

Fire On The Mountain

The Man Who Picked The Wildwood Flower

Death Of An Unpopular Poet

Kanaka Wai Wai -- Savior, Like A Shepherd Lead Us

Angel Eyes

Louise

Let Him Roll

Ballad Of Spider John

The Last Thing On My Mind

Panama Red

Rita Ballou

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Paradise

Friend Of The Devil

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc

Bright Morning Star

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


Jambalaya (On The Bayou)

Please Don't Bury Me

Cosmic Cowboy

Yellow Roses

Satin Sheets

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

This photograph was taken back stage after Flatt & Scruggs played a show sponsored by Martha White's Flour in the auditorium of Springdale Junior High, Springdale Arkansas, on the night of January 8th, 1969. Two of their songs are in this collection....and that music ties me to a whole ‘nuther set of stories. (Hint: this song is about moonshine)

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


Hot Corn Cold Corn

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

The photograph you see on this page is of the two oldest of my banjos, one from the 1850's and the other from the 1860's. When you see the wear patterns on the neck of each it’s easy to imagine all the hands that held and played them before me, every player adding to the history of each instrument and to all the stories they could tell. You can hear the older banjo on the left on “Carve Dat Possum” and “Buckley's Jig”, tunes written in 1875 and 1860 respectively. It's not hard to imagine that both tunes were played many, many times on each banjo before they found their way to me. The music of that era has been a part of my stories, first going back at least as far as the Civil War Centennial in the early ‘60’s...and then again from the late 80’s onward.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


Carve Dat Possum - Buckley's Jig

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

This is one of the modern era tunes I and my pards in the Civil War re-enacting unit I was active with in the 80's and 90's, Cleburne's Division, used to sing around the campfire late at night. Sometime it would be soft and almost reverential, sometimes pretty boisterous depending on the mood in camp. I've arranged it along with one of my favorite fife and drum tunes of the era, "Old 1812" (known in the time of the Revolutionary War as "Welcome Home Again"), performed by The Camp Chase Fifes and Drums. To all my pards in Cleburne's - I wish I could have had all y'all gathered around the microphones for the choruses...and could still see us marching down another dusty road giving it all our best. Old times are definitely not forgotten.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


Old 1812 - The Rebel's Last Request

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

This is one of the modern era songs I and my pards in the Civil War re-enacting unit I belonged to through the 80's and 90's, Cleburne's Division, used to sing late at night around a campfire. Great memories, incredible experiences...thank you all for letting me be a part of Cleburne's.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc



Legend Of The Rebel Soldier

Wind Chimes And Nursery Rhymes

Riding Alone

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11627706


Tecumseh Valley

Ride Em Cowboy

Jamaica Say You Will

Beauty In The River

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have all been part of the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

The photograph was taken back stage after Flatt & Scruggs played a show sponsored by Martha White's Flour in the auditorium of Springdale Junior High, Springdale Arkansas, on the night of January 8th, 1969. Two of their songs are in this collection....and that music ties me to a whole ‘nuther set of stories.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


Jimmy Brown The Newsboy

All The Stories

In the end, most of us don't remember our lives as the average of our days...which are, after all, mostly average. What we do recall are the stories. All the stories that weave together to make up our histories. All the stories that help us remember the paths our lives have taken whenever we stop to take a deep breath and look back.

Each of the songs in this collection tells a story of its own. But each also connects me to specific times, places and, most importantly, to people that have been part of all the stories of my life…and so are now special to me.

I hope you'll enjoy this collection of music...and, please, be sure to tell your own stories however you can and as often as you can.

FBMc


The Stories We Could Tell

My version of a favorite oldie from the 50's, with homage to one of my favorite covers from the early 90's.

Here's to clear sky-blue waters, palm trees, warm breezes and the girls on St. John.

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