Origins of “Cure for Pain”:
“Cure for Pain” is a song originally performed by the alternative rock band Morphine. It appears on their second studio album, released through Rykodisc in September 1993. The band’s frontman, Mark Sandman, was a key figure in shaping their unique sound

Morphine’s Distinctive Style:
Morphine blended elements of rock, jazz, and blues, creating a dark, smoky, and hypnotic musical experience. Their instrumentation featured a 2-string bass, saxophone, and drums, eschewing traditional guitar arrangements

Mark Sandman’s Mysterious Persona:
Sandman possessed a smooth baritone voice and an enigmatic demeanor.
He was an indie rock icon in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known for his work with Morphine

Inclusion in “Spanking the Monkey”:
Morphine gained fame when their music was featured in the 1994 film "Spanking the Monkey". The movie’s soundtrack introduced their sound to a wider audience:

Live Performances and Influence:
Morphine was renowned for their live shows, especially at venues like the Showbox in Seattle

Sandman’s bass playing style influenced legendary bassists like Les Claypool, Mike Watt, and Josh Homme

Mark Sandman’s Tragic Passing:
On July 3, 1999, Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a concert in Italy. His untimely death left a void in the music world

Autobiographical Elements:
Fans speculate that many of Sandman’s songs were autobiographical, although this remains unconfirmed. His secretive nature added to the mystique surrounding his lyrics

Robbery and Stabbing Incident: 
Sandman was once robbed and stabbed in the chest during a cab robbery. This traumatic event likely influenced his songwriting

Loss of His Brothers:
Sandman’s two brothers passed away, further shaping his emotional landscape. The song “No Reason” by his earlier band, Treat Her Right, alludes to these tragedies

Treat Her Right and Morphine:
Sandman was a member of Treat Her Right before forming Morphine. His experiences in both bands informed his songwriting

Musical Legacy:
Sandman’s slow and murky bass style redefined what a bassline could be. His influence 
extended beyond Morphine

Hi-n-Dry and Instrument Invention: 
Sandman founded Hi-n-Dry Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was also an inventor of unique musical instruments

Banjo and Bluegrass Influence:
JTSunrise, a Seattle-based band, blends grunge and bluegrass elements. Their cover of “Cure for Pain” pays homage to Morphine’s legacy

JTSunrise’s Rendition:
JTSunrise’s version of “Cure for Pain” captures the essence of the original. Their fusion of genres adds a fresh twist

Seattle’s Musical Scene:
Seattle has a rich history of influential bands, from Nirvana to Pearl Jam. JTSunrise continues this tradition by reimagining classic songs

Universal Themes:
Cure for Pain” resonates because it speaks to universal human experiences. Pain, loss, and longing are emotions that transcend time and place

Nostalgia and Authenticity: People today seek authenticity in music. JTSunrise’s homage to Morphine taps into nostalgia while introducing a new generation to a timeless track

Cure for Pain

Sell Me Mrs Rita

Back in the late 80s and before the 1992 Gin Blossoms song, Mrs Rita was an oldschool Tempe AZ psychic card reader home business in a small old bungalow along University Ave in Tempe USA. The house still has a sign out front advertising physic card palm readings. Mrs Rita is a remnant of Tempe before chain breweries, condos, office buildings, and corporate commercial mania took over and demolished and rebuilt much of the town, beginning in the late 1980s. The era of Mrs. Rita was from back when sticky floor cinderblock bars and cheap pitchers of Miller Light combined with chicken wings and late night live-music to produce influential mainstream bands with worldwide radio play. Tempe was like a mini Seattle with dry heat an desert sun and much friendlier 90s grunge kids 

Tempe’s Gin Blossoms are still at it and play this tune about the hometown roadside psychic - and she’s still down the street from where Long Wongs was, where they played that song hundreds of times. And that song can be still found on the radio every single minute of every day ever since and I’m doing my best to keep it going, not tired of it yet - will never happen 

Key PowerPoint summary list of take-away bullet items about the Gin Blossoms Mrs Rita:
* Mrs. Rita became famous when the Tempe band Gin Blossoms named the song after her. She is still there has been renting the same small 1920s house for three decades 
* I tried to go there for a reading one evening with some drunk friends circa 1991 but she said we needed an appointment and told us to come back later - I thought she would have known we were coming over, maybe she did…
* A nine-story luxury apartment complex with a Whole Foods was built across the street from Mrs. Rita's Spiritual Awakening Center in 2018
* Iconic psychic Mrs. Rita apparently didn’t see in the tarot cards that her longtime downtown Tempe house was listed by her landlord and sold shortly thereafter for $2.9 million. Her rent must be astronomical €£¥
* Fact: Mrs. Rita wasn’t aware the house was listed for sale when she was contacted by The Arizona Republic Newspaper - I did my research 
* The band’s guitarist Jesse Valenzuela posted the listing for the property on his Facebook page when he found out. His only comment: "Mrs Rita house for sale." One of his friends posted, "sell me Mrs Rita..."

Yelp Review Mrs Rita's Palm Reading - Tempe, AZ - https://www.yelp.com/biz/mrs-ritas-palm-reading-tempe

JTS

Mrs Rita

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

This hymn, originally in Latin, takes us back over 1,200 years to monastic life in the 8th- or 9th-century. Seven days before Christmas Eve monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in anticipation of Christmas Eve when the eighth antiphon, “O Virgo virginum” (“O Virgin of virgins”) would be sung before and after Mary’s canticle, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46b-55)

The Latin metrical form of the hymn was composed as early as the 12th century. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), the famous architect of the Oxford movement, discovered the Latin hymn in the appendix of an early 18th-century manuscript, “Psalterium Cationum Catholicorum,” with a refrain. Neale, a translator of early Greek and Latin hymns, included it in his influential collection, Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851)

British hymnologist J.R. Watson provides a context for the antiphons included on the second page after the hymn in the UM Hymnal: “The antiphons, sometimes called the ‘O antiphons’ or ‘The Great O’s’, were designated to concentrate the mind on the coming Christmas, enriching the meaning of the Incarnation with a complex series of references from the Old and New Testaments.”

Each antiphon begins as follows:

O Sapentia (Wisdom)
O Adonai (Hebrew word for God)
O Radix Jesse (stem or root of Jesse)
O Clavis David (key of David)
O Oriens (dayspring)
O Rex genitium (King of the Gentiles)
O Emmanuel

Put together, the first letter of the second word of each antiphon spells SARCORE. If read backwards, the letters form a two-word acrostic, “Ero cras,” meaning “I will be present tomorrow.”

All of the Latin attributions to the coming Messiah are from the Old Testament except “Emmanuel,” which is found both in Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23. Matthew quotes Isaiah virtually verbatim—“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel”—with the exception that Matthew adds the phrase: “which being interpreted is, God with us.”

The “O Emmanuel” antiphon was traditionally sung on the night before Christmas Eve, revealing the meaning of the liturgical riddle through the completion of the acrostic

John Mason Neale
Neale translated the opening line as “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel” for his volume of translations, Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences. It appeared in The Hymnal Noted, Part 2 in 1854 with a tune supplied by Thomas Helmore entitled VENI EMMANUEL

The heading in this hymnal stated: “From a French Missal in the National Library, Lisbon.” Scholars have not been able to locate the French missal, but Sister Thomas More (Dr. Mary Berry) located the tune in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, identifying it as a 15th-century “Processional” for French Franciscan nuns

The famous Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) used Neale’s revised translation, which continues to be employed in many hymnals. The block chords of the original musical were eventually replaced with more freely flowing plainsong settings

There are numerous textual variations in many hymnals, including even the order of the stanzas. Laurence Hall Stookey, recently retired worship professor at Wesley Seminary, retranslated portions of the hymn to reflect more accurately the original Latin

Regular readers of this column will note that many hymns found in our hymnals transcend centuries, cultures, translations and many variations until we find them in the form that we sing. With this hymn, the essence of the original Latin text remains. By singing “O come, O come, Emmanuel” with the antiphons interspersed, Christians today may participate in a sacred Advent ritual at least 11 centuries old

Author - C. Michael Hawn, D.M.A., F.H.S., a University Professor Emeritus of Church Music and Adjunct Professor and Director, Doctor of Pastoral Music Program at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University

O Come Emanuel

O Come Emmanuel - Instrumental - Gothic Americana

JTS rendition of Cure for Pain. Song from the second studio album by alternative east coast rock band Morphine, released through Rykodisc in September 1993. Morphine and frontman Mark Sandman were made famous when their music was included in the movie Spanking the Monkey, a 1994 American sick comedy film written and directed by David O. Russell. It was filmed in Pawling, New York, worth finding and how I first heard them. Tracks from Cure for Pain are used throughout the film, including "In Spite of Me" which plays over the end credits

Morphine was one of the best live bands to see in the 90s, especially at the Showbox in Seattle, saw them twice a few years apart, last in 1997, show live audio recording￼: https://youtu.be/tyAeM5qEXPo

Mark Sandman (b. September 24, 1952 – d. July 3, 1999) was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctively smooth baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon in the Boston/Cambridge music scene and best known for Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry

On July 3, 1999, he suffered a heart attack on-stage during a concert in Italy and died instantly

He was highly regarded by legendary bass players for his unique "slow and murky" style, with Les Claypool, Mike Watt, and Josh Homme all citing Sandman as an influence. Bass was my first instrument and his playing style changed how I think of what a bassline is. Sanman was also responsible for he 2-string bass of Chris Ballew of the Seattle Supersonic super band TPOTU$A

Sandman was born to a Jewish American family in Newton, MA. He graduated from the University of MA and then worked a variety of blue-collar jobs, including construction, taxi driving, and commercial fishing. Sandman once noted he would often earn considerable overtime pay, which allowed him to take leave of work and travel outside of New England to places such as rural Colorado—the setting for a number of Treat Her Right and Morphine songs penned by Sandman, including "Thursday," "The Jury," and "I Think She Likes Me”

Two tragic events affected Sandman's life and would later influence his music: he was robbed and stabbed in the chest during a robbery in his cab, and his two brothers died. These events would later be recounted in the Treat Her Right song "No Reason." His mother, Guitelle Sandman, later self-published Four Minus Three: A Mother's Story, a book about the loss of her three sons

Fans have speculated that many of Sandman's songs were autobiographical, which to this day remains unconfirmed. Sandman was secretive and served as spokesman for Morphine, he avoided answering questions about his personal life or his professional experiences outside of the music business. Sandman was particularly secretive about his age, becoming angry with any reporter who expressed an interest in revealing it publicly, perhaps because he was 10 to 20 years older than most of his indie-rock contemporaries

Along with Morphine (formed in 1989) Sandman was a member of the legendary band Treat Her Right,  he also formed the bands Sandman, Candy Bar, and the Hypnosonics, and The Treat Her Orange Supergroup with The Presidents of the U$A frontman Chris Ballew and the Pale Brothers. He also performed with the Boston jazz band Either/Orchestra

His instruments were altered and built himself. In Morphine, he played a 2-string slide bass electric guitar tuned to a fifth, and sometimes a unitar (named after the one-stringed instrument in American blues tradition), and a three-string slide bass with one bass and two unison strings tuned an octave higher (usually to A). He sometimes paired bass strings with one or two guitar strings, creating the "basitar" "tri-tar" and "guitbass." His alternative stringing and tuning innovations continue to inspire the next generation of rock, jazz, and blues

For Mark: https://youtu.be/Fgh-mF6xM64

JTS

Cure For Pain

You shall find, if you are a Seeker

Fun to have: 

https://youtu.be/wZf41UudAbI

The Seekers, an AAAmazing band worth knowing

https://youtu.be/U02chTrnU6w

JTS YOUTUBE SONG VIDEO. RIP SEATTLE, ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE: https://youtu.be/uRwkh6N7Jqc

Morning Town

Morning Town Drive

She Went Down To The River Alone - “ Down To The River Blues “
Traditional American Blues Song written by Camille Bordelon - find my Blues Sister from a different mister on SoundCloud 

Bluesman version with lyrics adulterated by JTSUNRISE 

Em, Am, E, B7

She was gonna kick the habit of all the rotten 
trifling men
She was swearin on the Bible 
When the weekend came again
She went down to the river alone

She said my love for her was heartbreak
It didn’t matter where She turned
She kept on trusting all the wrong ones
She kept on getting burned
Then She went down to the river alone

It didn’t matter who She choose 
She was born
Born to lose 

She kept on loving all the mean ones while the nice ones slipped away 
Thought She was trying to break that cycle and do things a better way 
But She went down to the river alone 
   
They found her with all her pockets 
Full-a pebbles rocks and stones 
She sank straight to the bottom 
So she’d leave those boys alone
She went down to the river alone

It didn’t matter who She choose 
She was born
Born to lose  

They found her with all her pockets 
Full-a pebbles rocks and stones 
She sank straight to the bottom 
So she’d leave those boys alone
She went down to the river alone

She said her love for me was heartbreak, didn’t matter where I turned
I keept on trusting her, I kept on getting burned
Then She went down to the river alone
She went down

Played into the bricks while sang into the tin can by JT on his 1934 small bell body Kalamazoo KG11 parlor guitar made by Gibson during the Great Depression, see photo

1934 was the year after OG VLSunrise (AKA Biscuit Roller) was born 

1930s blues guitar legend Robert Johnson played whatever guitars he could get his hands on. Johnny Shines, one of Johnson’s traveling companions in the mid ‘30s, said in interviews before he died that Johnson liked the Kalamazoo guitar, a budget brand made by Gibson, and also Stella guitars

In the first photo the world saw of Blues Father Mr. Robert Johnson, discovered in the late ‘70s by Steve LaVere and published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1986, the guitarist sits for a photo booth self-portrait, a cigarette dangling from his lip, a Kalamazooo flat-top guitar in his hand. The identifying features of the KG model is 14 frets to the body, five dot markers, binding inside the sound hole, and a black ebony nut

Kalamazoo guitars, made in by Gibson factory in Kalamazoo MI, are thought by blues enthusiasts to be the guitars that Johnson played during his recording sessions. Johnson’s first recording session took place in San Antonio, Texas, on November 23, 1936

My early “dark burst” top (ebony black finish elsewhere) KG11 was similar to the KG14 Johnson was photographed with. KG11 has a shorter body. Early dirty thirties Kalamazoo flattops did not have pick guards. There is an unused mother of tortoise shell pick guard in the original case (mother of toilet seat is what blues guitarists called the swirled plastic used on cheaper model guitars). The case is mostly dust. Guitar has an Adirondack spruce top (aged the old-fashioned way…88 years). Has Honduran mahogany neck, back, and sides. Brazilian rosewood board, triple-bound sound hole, bound top, tapered headstock, and original ebony-stained Brazilian rosewood bridge. The signature ebony nut width is 1-3/4ths with a big OG blues guitar “V” neck…and oh, the sound…dang!  Less refined to play than my old Martins, but the dusty mahogany tone gives that ethereal vintage woody vibe at its finest! 

“Experts” have yet to confirm the KG and Stella models that Johnson used in the 1930s. He also liked the Kalamazoo arch top 

More on that https://youtu.be/LCPljsfaKmA

JTS

Everyone would have clicked-off too soon if I put this up top - THE ORIGINAL GANGSTER Camille Blues Sister Version https://on.soundcloud.com/9HPZZx8oa1Kvit1j7

She Went Down Blues

Down To The River Blues - OG Son Of A Biscuit Roller JTSunrise Sings Solo Bluesman Guitar

Closing credit song from the film Spanking the Monkey - Song written by Mark Sandman of Morphine, rendition by JTSUNRISE 

Spanking the Monkey is a 1994 American sick comedy film written and directed by David O. Russell. It was filmed in Pawling, New York 

Fresh from the low-fi basement, open A and dubs on oldschool 4-track 

In Spite of Me by Morphine on Cure for Pain, 1993

**Note**
Simple, plaintive, and timeless.
A protagonist reminiscing on his lost love, made even more sad by the agony he's going through.
The original track features a picked mandolin carrying the melody but these chords are a good approximation.
**

[Intro]
D     G

[Verse 1]
     D                            G
Last night I told a stranger all about you
     D                          G
They smiled patiently in disbelief
  D                                G
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried

[Chorus]
      C               G              D       G
And I know you did it all in spite of me

D     G
In spite of me

[Verse 2]
          D                              G
Still I'm proud to have know you for the short time that I did
D                                    G
Proud to have been a step up on your way
D                          G
Proud to be part of your illustrious career

[Chorus]
      C               G              D      G
And I know you did it all in spite of me
            D      G
In spite of me

D     G

[Bridge]
C                               G
Late last night I saw you in my living room
    C                          G
You seemed so close but yet so cold
      C                                 G
For a long time I thought you were coming back to me
      D                          G
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
   D         G
So cruel

D     G

[Chorus]
      C               G              D     G
And I know you did it all in spite of me
            D     G
In spite of me

**Fade out… … … … . . .   .    .       .          .              .                 .                  .            .          

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114235088124?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=3n2YBfozSfC&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=pTQ775BHQg2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

In Spite of Me

An American folk performer with roots in the 90s Seattle and Tempe music scenes, JTSunrise weaves classic tunes and tales from the heart with modern images mixed with fingers and breath - - - Genuine Gen X Folkspunk Seattle Americana acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, uke, autoharp, harmonica an old school stringband songs recorded down home

If you're an acoustic player/singer-songwriter of any kind please get in touch. 

All Music Matters
Your Music is Real
Thank You All
God Bless You
See u in the Pit (ole$chool punk $aying)

     JT
7777777

Angel Number 7777777 indicates that new chances have arisen in your life due to your hard effort

Engage in things that feed your spirit. If you pay attention to your guardian angels, they will lead you along the appropriate path

jtsunrisemusic@gmail.com

https://youtube.com/@JTSunriseMusic?si=21HSR6c2ucTSjE4C

https://www.instagram.com/jtsunrisemusic?igsh=MWNtZzBoMW5lNGNpZQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

https://www.bandmix.com/jtsunrise/

https://www.thebash.com/folk-acoustic-guitar/jtsunrise

https://www.facebook.com/groups/43340809594/

I don’t buy anything, process anything, or sell anything- i don’t process anything sold or bought or processed, or sell anything to be bought or processed or sold

JTSunrise, like a cryptic melody echoing through the mist, A silhouette against the dawn, veiled in an enigma’s twist. Their chords weave secrets, harmonies untold, In the dim-lit corners of the soul, they unfold

Is it the owl reflection of their eyes, the echo of forgotten lullabies? JT strums the strings of mystery, A troubadour in the shadows, lost in history

Their lyrics dance on the edge of dreams, Whispers of forgotten realms and moonlit streams. Enigmatic, they wander through star-kissed nights, A minstrel of the cosmos, chasing celestial light

Perhaps they’re a riddle wrapped in stardust, A cosmic wanderer, both mortal and just. JTSunrise, elusive as the morning mist, Their music lingers, leaving hearts gently kissed

**In the gentle strumming of strings and the raw authenticity of JTSunrise’s compositions, you’ll find echoes of love, nostalgia, and the human experience**