Homecoming Records released John Stewart's "Teresa and the Lost Songs" on
April 1st. 1998 may turn into one of those bonus years for John Stewart fans.
In January Folk Era released "Bandera" a terrific live recording from Scotland
that was previously available only as an import. Stewart has a cut "Old Riley"
on the well received Pete Seeger tribute double album just released by
Appleseed. There are plans for Appleseed to release one or two new albums of
Stewart songs later this year, and folks who catch Stewart's shows in the UK
later this month have a chance to grab a limited release tour tape of works in
progress. Also, if I recall, Stewart and Steve Earle cut "Deportee" with Nanci
Griffith on her upcoming "Other Voices too" album.
But back to "Teresa." Over the course of an artist's career there are always
those "lost songs".... the ones that came between the record deals, the ones
that got left behind when the artist moved in another direction, the ones that
got bumped when there were just too many for the next release ... and over
Stewart's long career there have been many lost songs. The songs from "Teresa"
are a dip into that lost pool and span a good 30 years of writing, from before
"California Bloodlines" to the present. Some songs never before heard, some
such as "Lilly and Joe" and the treasure "Cooler Water, Higher Ground" were
concert favorites in the 70's. This is a mostly spare, acoustic album. Most
songs are just John and his guitar, some have a bit of bass and percussion.
Although many were written long ago they were recorded primarily between 1992
and 1997.
These aren't just songs for diehard fans, however. There is some incredible
stuff in here. There's a string of songs, "Lillie and Joe," "Annie Born and
Died," "Across the Milky Way," "Teresa," "Looking Back Johanna" and "Seek A
Newer World" that is one of the best runs of back to back goodies I could hope
for. "Across the Milky Way" and "Teresa" have been favorites of mine since I
first heard them a few years ago, and they sound great on this disc. "Teresa"
recounts an unfortunate incident at the Omega Institute in 1992. I'll let
John's words from the liner notes describe it:
"Teresa was written in August 1992 at the Omega Institute in New York State
where I was teaching a songwriting course. I was asked to bring the paintings
of Mother Teresa I was doing to display in the dining hall. After being up for
a day, the executives asked me to take them down as ",,,they didn't want
people thinking that's what Omega' is about." I always thought of Mother
Teresa as a great human being like Ghandi, not a symbol of the Catholic
Church. Anyway, I was not pleased. I wrote the song in about thirty minutes
and sang it there in a show I did with Tuck and Patti. The place went crazy
and they called more attention to he Mother than if they had left them
up...the power of songs."
So of that thirty minutes a moving song was born. I particularly like the last
verse:
"In the scheme of things it doesn't matter
crying children, there's a sound
Hungry people in Calcutta
Would never take the Mother down."
There are other good songs on here, including "Remembering the Sun" and a new
one "A Woman Rides the Beast" and I have no idea what it is about, but I love
the imagery in the song.
If you are already a Stewart fan you shouldn't miss this album. If you aren't
yet, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Ron Beffa
http://members.aol.com/clackclack/rebeffa1.htm