Tunes & Player List

1. Red Rockin’ Chair—trad. arr. Peter Rowan (5:21) *

This song is a standard in the Appalachians and has a number of variants. This is the first I’ve heard to use an island groove. To Dave Grant, groove was paramount. As with most of the cuts on this cd, the tune opens with guitars, joined by bass and foam banjo setting the groove. (Foam banjo is a banjo with a piece of foam rubber placed under the strings right next to the bridge. This deadens the strings and replaces harmonic resonance with percussion. You’ll hear other instruments getting the foam treatment throughout the cd.) Peter Rowan sings lead vocals with his brothers Loren and Chris singing harmony. Peter used a modified version of this cut on the Rowan Brothers cd. Dave’s bass part is really a counter melody that subdivides and syncopates the rhythm beneath the layers of the other instruments and the vocals. In Dave Grant land, the 1/8th and 1/16th notes, as well as most of the variation, come from the bottom up. Dave made sure we knew that this cut came from the first take, ‘cause that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

2. Hold Me Tight—Johnny Nash (3:28) *

This is probably the only version of a Johnny Nash song that features bowed psaltery, foam banjo, and Mediterranean mandolin fills played on an unplugged 12-string Rickenbacker electric guitar. Tim O’Brien’s smooth vocals, Tom Mitchell’s guitar and banjo groove and Mookie Siegel’s accordion floating out of Leslie cabinets wrap around Dave’s bouncy bass romp and Johnny Gilmore’s polyrhythmic drumming.

3. Soul Shakedown Party—Bob Marley (6:41)

Bob Marley’s tune begins here with almost three minutes of a groove setting vamp where the instruments are introduced and converse. Emphasizing the primacy of percussion and rhythm, Dave has arranged to have TWO foamed banjo ukes and a foamed pedal steel! TA really shines on the lead vocal. TA is a great singer who formed several Charlottesville bands with Dave Grant, most notably, Wolves in the Kitchen. TA uses his voice as a total instrument, not only laying out the melody, but using words percussively, syncopating his phrasing to match or complement the rhythm layers of the other instruments.

4. Grapevine Twist—traditional (2:58) *

Again, Dave’s bass line is a counter melody, mirroring Tony Trishka’s banjo line. When Tony plays the half notes of the A part of the melody line, Dave plays a series of eighth notes. As the tune twists around, slightly off balance, you realize it’s one of the few banjo tunes where the bass plays more notes than the banjo.

5. Willie The Pimp—Frank Zappa (5:52) *

Dave shared a number of qualities with Frank Zappa. They both lived intellectually in a rarified realm. They seemed to prefer to communicate the insights they gained there in terms more seedy than sublime. I believe they both understood the depth of frivolity and the frivolity of depth.

There’s a lot going on here. TA growls and practically drools in a performance almost as theatrical as musical. He is Willy the Pimp cruising the nasty streets. The fact that Free Will Savage drummer, Spencer Lathrop, is playing a trap set consisting of trash cans and drywall buckets with the added effects of circular saws and electric drill, creates aural scenery. Matt Glaser’s brilliance on the fiddle is confined here to variations on one urgent riff and the climax comes with the entrance of Sam Bartlett’s wah-wahed tenor banjo playing in jig time against the insistent 4/4 theme.

6. Rosa Lee McFall—Charlie Monroe (3:34) *

This is an old Monroe Brothers song, often reprised by bluegrass and oldtime bands as well as the Grateful Dead. Again, a great reggae groove and a pedal steel stuffed with foam. This features Dave Nelson of New Riders of the Purple Sage fame on vocals. Barry Sless on steel and Mookie Siegel on accordion, both part of the currant Dave Nelson band, have recently been touring with Phil Lesh.

7. Can I Change My Mind—Despenza & Wolfolk (2:41)

This great Motown inspired groove made popular by Tyrone Davis as well as Delbert McClinton, offers another intense vocal by TA. TA really is one of the great discoveries you’ll make in listening to this recording. Dave loved playing with TA. The soulful vocal works perfectly with Dave’s Motown lines played on an upright bass, two piano accordions, and Art Wheeler’s Hammond organ. Art’s organ part was recorded by Dave and Kevin McNoldy in Pilgrim Baptist Church in Charlottesville, VA.

8. Kora Madness—probably Djimo Kouyate (2:05)

Dave and Bobby Read found the track of kora. We think it might have been the playing of the late great Djimo Kouyate. Dave loved music from all over the world. I remember many long road trips that Dave turned into fun by playing music he’d gathered from Greece, South Asia, and especially various parts of Africa. Dave said he loved music where he couldn’t understand the words. I took this to mean that when the listener is not distracted by a storyline, the vocal becomes another instrument, totally musical.

The fiddle part was added as a bit of an in-joke. When Dave and I were listening to music of far-off ethnicities, wondering if we might be able to work up a version of a song or tune, we would invariably use the litmus test of singing “Cotton-Eyed Joe” against the melody and groove of the song. “Yep, you can play “Cotton-Eyed Joe” with it; it’ll work.”

9. Shattered Love—Vince Farsetta (3:46) *

These next two tunes, to my ears, are the most brilliant on the record. I can’t imagine a better version of Vince Farsetta’s great song. Al Tharp, who played with Dave and me in the Freewill Savages and was for many years part of the Cajun band Beau Soleil, starts off with a searing riff of indeterminate ethnicity on a foamed 5-string banjo. The accordion, drums and bass pick up the groove and TA’s vocals maintain the visceral edge on every level. Dave plays off the great interplay between the clawhammer banjo and Johnny Gilmore’s drums, supporting a song that shreds the heart and an arrangement that amazes the ears.

10. Armagideon Time—Williams & Mitto (6:36) *

Dave’s brilliance is totally revealed in his arrangement of the Clash’s classic. Who else would see how perfectly harmonized bagpipes (actually Highland pipes, played by Chris Layer, and French bombard, played by Dave Cantieni) would work with the dark reggae groove. A tour de force for Dave as bass player and arranger/producer; add TA’s intense, inventive vocals and this track is just killer.

11. I Shall Be Released—Bob Dylan (5:15)

A nice reggae cover of Bob Dylan’s classic. TA can bring every genre into his orbit, and Bobby Read’s harmony vocal works with him. This is one of the more laid back cuts on the cd, so relax and enjoy it. Things will go wild again soon.

12. Four Cent Cotton—traditional (1:32)

This is a fiddle tune that was recorded by the Skillet Lickers of Georgia in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Dave used to call this kind of C tune, “Flatland Tunes”, but he loved the chordal variety they provided in an old time jam. Here he gets Dirk Powell, an original Freewill Savage, to give the tune a Mediterranean feel on the bouzouki. The rhythm, and Gray Larsen’s tinwhistle and concertina lend the tune a flavor more redolent of a Greek restaurant in Ireland than a North Georgia juke joint.

13. Give A Hand—Gregory Isaacs (5:34)

TA once again shows what a great soul singer he is on this Gregory Isaacs song. Dave’s bass, a Hohner Beatle electric here instead of the standup, again defines, supports and facilitates the conversation between drums, accordion, percussion and pedal steel, all the way to the minor coda.

14. Doucet Tune—Michael Doucet (1:53)

Here is the essence of the sessions: a bunch of musicians grooving, according to their own varied musical backgrounds, on a simple AA/BB riff that evokes multiple ethnicities, but seems familiar to all. Played full throttle, the melody instrument, here Michael Doucet’s fiddle, constructs a scaffold for the percussion and rhythm guys to go to work or get hanged. Michael is the fiddler and front man for BeauSoleil.

15. Inner City Blues—Marvin Gaye & James Nyx (4:17)

The Marvin Gaye song has a sinister feel right from the beginning. Bobby Read, on organ, Chris Leva on electric guitar, and Dave on a 7/8 upright tuned with a low B, set up a wicked, steadily building propulsion. TA’s vocal begins conversationally and, egged on by the wildly keening sax, also played by Bobby Read, sax player in Bruce Hornesby’s band, evolves to some amazingly emotive screams and groans. The key change, guided again into marvelous dissonance, and eventual dissipation, is also led by the shrieking sax, arpeggiating to worlds unknown, and the steady bass. One can imagine Marvin Gaye’s “cool” undergoing a Coltrane transmutation to something sought, perhaps attained, beyond banal definition. The final croon is a nice touch.

16. “Ramblin’ Mon”—Hank Williams (4:42)

The Freewill Savages were practicing at my house. I took a break to put my son, Jeb, to bed. As usual, I sang him some songs. The last was Hank William’s “Ramblin Man”. When I returned Dave said, “That would be a good tune; it’s only got two chords.” “Right,” I said, knowing Dave wasn’t a great fan of country boom-chick rhythm. “What should I do?” I asked, and started playing a riff on the fiddle that implied a more Dave-friendly groove. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s it.” And so it is.

17. Mamma Boulet—Vince Farsetta (4:41)

Well, here we are at the end (pretty much). This is another song written by Vince Farsetta, who plays banjo on this cut. This gets the full Dave Grant/Bobby Read studio treatment, especially the fragmented intro, and features Dave Matthews on vocals. Dave Grant had hopes of hometown celebrity, Dave Matthews, singing this tune, but never garnered the nerve to ask him. After his death, TA did call him and Dave Matthews took time out from his busy schedule to record “Mama Boulet”. You don’t need me to tell you about Dave Matthews or his singing; just listen. Bobby Read deserves mention for putting together this great arrangement, especially Jeff Saine’s steel part and the backup vocals of Terri Allard, Judy Coughlin, Sara Read, and Estela Knott.

19. Rosa Lee McFall—dubmix (4:02) *

Wait, didn’t we already hear this one? Not quite like this. Dave loved to fool around in the studio, and he and Bobby would reach altered states of consciousness working up tracks like this. A fitting reprise.

* Edited arrangements and mixing by Dave Grant and Bobby Read. All other tunes edited and mixed by Bobby Read.

Above liner notes by James Leva.

It’s been a great pleasure to have had this opportunity to finish Dave’s cd, odd as that may sound. Completing a project of music by a friend who’s no longer with us is challenging, especially when it’s Dave Grant, who I considered a great friend. It was definitely tough to get going on it at first. Dave had very strong vision, opinions and confidence with which he went about making this music. Many years were spent collecting raw material – “swathes of cloth” he would call it. He would drag his frequent house guests, a cross section of the who’s who of acoustic music, into the studio on the morning after to capture some takes of whatever they had come up with, stuffing foam into various instruments to get the required thump. His tastes in production, however, predated his access to the means of production, namely random access editing. It wasn’t until the last year of his life that Dave and I started chipping away at the mountain of material, sculpting the songs one at a time by basically taking out the bad bits and making more of the good bits, looping things and rearranging until it was mostly all good bits. Then we’d set about working up a mix, in which his tastes invariably would take us closer to a reggae and remix vibe than to how ‘acoustic’ music would normally be mixed. So at the end of his last year we had 7 songs done, with a backlog of another 20 or so. Knowing that there were many gems in the rough, I undertook the cutting, adding to and polishing process, aided and abetted by Dave’s musical cronies and his own very present spirit, to create a completed collection of the strongest candidates which you now have in your hands. I’m biased, I know, but I think this is really great stuff. I’m really sorry Dave isn’t around to hear it. I hope somewhere he’s kicking back with a cold one and a pair of headphones and finally getting to check out his cd.

– Bobby Read

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