Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Sept 26, 2002

MORE ABOUT "THAT SONG"

In last month's column I wrote about the frustrations of hearing a song during a television show and not finding it anywhere in the credits. Judging by the e-mail response from many readers, I am not alone in my frustration.

All the e-mails I received confirmed that the particular song in question, Hallelujah or Alleluia sung at the end the West Wing's season finale, is indeed a Leonard Cohen song. The first e-mail I received was from Sentinel writer Wallace Baine saying that he believed the song was sung by Rufus Wainwright, but others pretty much confirmed that the version of Hallelujah heard on the West Wing was sung by the late Jeff Buckley. Apparently, enough people e-mailed NBC to ask for the name of the song and the singer that the answer is now on NBC's website FAQ section. It was probably added after my husband tried to find it on the night the show aired in June.

As it turns out, Hallelujah is also in the soundtrack for the movie Shrek. According to the website for Shrek the song is sung by Rufus Wainwright, but in the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) it credits John Cale as the singer. Overall the song does have a sort of Lou Reed quality, and the lyrics are definitely in keeping with Leonard Cohen's dark style. It is truly a stunning song. If you haven't heard it, it's well worth seeking out for a listen.

Other folks wrote to say that they agree that songs used in television episodes sometimes add an equal impact to the story line and certainly should be shown in the credits. It's pretty much unanimous that the impact of a well placed song, or instrumental piece is far more memorable than what accounting firm kept the project under budget or who catered the meals.

Then of course, there is the issue of how they now scrunch the credits down to play a trailer for the upcoming programming. This practice keeps us from knowing all but the headlining stars' names, which we would probably know anyway.

A couple of tips that I can offer when looking for songs, or instrumental pieces used in the movies or on TV is to try their websites. Everything has a website. You might get lucky. For music used in commercials try www.songtitle.info, and type in the product company name. You can hope that one of these sites will furnish the correct answer and not add to the confusion.

MEMORIES OF THE OLD DAYS

A couple of weeks ago we attended a picnic and reunion in the Santa Cruz Mountains at what was once the Club Zayante, now a private residence. The Dirty Butter Jug Band played and old friends, many of who had not seen each other in decades, reminisced about the wild days. The were lots of adult children with their children in tow. They were accompanying their parents, who had partied at Club Z. all those years ago. It was a rather quiet gathering. The music was fun and the food was great, but I couldn't help wish that I had been here during the Club's hayday.

Club Zayante, along with the Town & Country Lodge in Ben Lomond, the Boulder Creek Theatre and the Chateau Liberte up off of Summit Road were the happening places in the Santa Cruz Mountains to hear people like Jill Croston (known now as Lacy J. Dalton) and other folk, rock, Cajun and country acts. Many of these artists, like Jill, were just starting out. Others, like Zydeco legend Clifton Chenier, had solid reputations. It was one of the joys of living in the mountains to see these performers close-up without having to drive into Santa Cruz or over the hill. Aside from bringing an impressive roster of performers to the local mountains all of these places have something else in common. They are all gone.

The Boulder Creek Theatre is a pizza place and the Town & Country is an antique store. The Chateau Liberte and Club Zayante ceased operations too many years ago to count. There has been an attempt to homogenize the little towns along Hwy. 9, which so far is meeting with enough resistance to preserve their character.

We can be thankful that Henfling's Tavern in Ben Lomond and the Brookdale Lodge bring first rate performers to our mountains and in this way have kept the flame burning for the places that now live only in our memories. And I personally can be thankful that my original connection with Santa Cruz came about though a booking at the Boulder Creek Theatre in 1977. At least I got to see a little of the mountain music scene.

THE `60s FOLK-ROCK REVOLUTION

If you're interested in a good read about the history of `60s folk-rock, check out Turn, Turn, Turn by Richie Unterberger, published by Backbeat Books. This is the first of two volumns covering this exciting musical era and loaded with interesting tidbits of information and interviews with the musicians who were there.

One of the things he brings up is how folkie sounding many of the Beatles' early songs were and how this ultimately contributed to the developement of the music that became folk-rock. The are also eye-witness accounts of the infamous scene when Bob Dylan "went electric" at the Newport Folk Festival.

The sequal to Turn, Turn, Turn will come out next year and will be titled Eight Miles High:Folk-Rock's Flight From Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock. I'm sure you can find Turn, Turn, Turn in local book shops.

LETTERS FROM THE ROAD

In mid October we will be leaving for a six week road tour of the midwest and east coast. Fall is my favorite time to travel and I'm happy to say that we have managed to book quite a few gigs.

Last October we took a 10 day trip to Virginia to do a small tour. It being less than a month after September 11, there were American Flags draped and hanging everywhere and not much other news on the radio. But driving out across the stark beauty of the prairies and deserts was a great comfort and I came to the realization that somehow there was still hope for all of us here on this earth.

The next two columns will be letters from the road, with observations about some of the places we go and people we meet.

That's it for now. Stay in touch. Happy trails.

Mary McCaslin can be reached at roundup@marymccaslin.com