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The Bohemian Goddess (2010)

is the latest CD from The Mescaline Smugglers, recorded from 28th March - 4th April 2010.

The original plan was that it would contain 20 tracks, but sadly Davy caught a bad fever and lost his voice after just one day. Luckily he had recorded 16 vocal tracks on that first day. From those one was scrapped, one was lost in cyberspace and the remaining 14 were used as the basis for the new album.

The jazz influence is still there - and maybe there's a tinge of melancholy and reflection in the music and lyrics - hell, we're all getting older!

The beautiful cover is a photograph of a ceramic work by the wonderfully talented Melissa Silva.


PREVIEW — COMMENTS — COVERS — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS




The tracklist - and Davy's comments about the tracks:
All tracks by Davy McGowan

1. WHEN SHE SAID
- Maybe a companion piece to ‘She Said What?’ from the earlier ‘TOO BLACK BAD’ CD. Comparing love’s thrill to a dentist’s drill may be too much for those in the first flush of youth - but I’m not. Guitar is tuned in open G.

2. HURTIN'
- Lovely guitar solo from Pera on this one. I wrote this while I was infatuated in 1982.…God only knows why it should fall under my fingers again 28 years later. It’s a play Mississippi John Hurt’s name - hence the mention of country blues and his song, ‘Sliding Delta’. My guitar is again in open G.

3. WHERE LOVE LEADS
- This was the last song to be recorded and my voice had just about gone by then. However Jore liked my throaty rasp - so who am I to argue? I suppose it’s got a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ laid back quality. More nice work from Pera - he plays the lead lines I hear in my head without even knowing it. My acoustic is tuned CGCFCE with a capo on the 2nd fret.

4. ON THE BORDERLINE'
- I seem to write the odd cowboy song now and then. I think my first was called ‘Going Through The Badlands’ - round about 1985. The shot near the end is from a Colt 45 - so no one can say it isn’t authentic ….though Tuomas added a bit of a whistle effect on it. Nice nylon string from the dark-haired Mexican beauty called Jore. Guitar is tuned CGCGAD.

5. PICTURE THIS
- I like this. It turned out exactly as I wanted it to. Kind of dreamy - half sleeping, half awake - even if the lyric is Edgar Allan Poe meets Munch‘s ‘The Scream’. Great piano from Tuomas - he’s given so many of my songs an intangible quality that’s hard to explain. The guitar is tuned to open G with a capo covering just the 2nd and 3rd strings at the 2nd fret - it sounds crazy but it can be done if you turn one of those big metal capos round and use just the small part that’s supposed to be at the back of the fretboard.

6. GIMME LOVE
- I suppose this is as funky as we’re likely to get. ‘Got any wah-wah?‘ I asked Pera and he came up with a fantastic 70’s ‘superbad’ riff. Vocally some of it reminds me a morphing of John Lee Hooker and Ray Dorset from Mungo Jerry - I’m sure I stole the ‘Love love love’ bit at the end from a Mungo Jerry track. Guitar is tuned CGCGAD.

7. HIGHWAY SIGN
- More lyrics than usual here. But they’re sung fairly quickly, so I hope it’s not too tedious for listeners. I suppose it’s about being careful what you wish for….as you might just get it. Tuomas’s pino reminds me of Jack Neitzche’s playing on The Stones ‘We Love You’ - which can’t be bad….. in a heavy psychedelic sense. Nice bass too - not sure if it’s Jore or Tuomas. Guitar is tuned CGCFCE with a capo at the 2nd fret.

8. RIVE GAUCHE
- Pretentious title? Of course! A little cajun/folky track with Jore supplying great backing vocals, bass, mandolin and accordion - what a guy! A song of the bohemia of late 19th century Paris where artists got drunk, made love to their models then burnt all their paintings and cut their ears off….the first part of the equation sounds like fun. Guitar is tuned CGCFCE with a capo at the 2nd fret.

9. BY THE WISHING WELL
- A reflective song, a tad world weary….I must have been sober when I wrote it. Wonderful piano from Tuomas again. Yes, I like this - I like the ‘feel’ the guys have given it with the bass and piano. Guitar is tuned DADGAD with a capo at the 2nd fret.

10. ONE LAST CIGARETTE
- More reflection. Am I becoming Leonard Cohen in disguise? Very atmospheric mandolin from Jore. I think ‘The Glorious Dead’ is what’s written on the cenotaph in Bellshill. I never understood what was ‘glorious’ about being blown to bits at 18 in a mud filled trench - nor the ‘We will never forget’ thing….of course we forget….can you give me a list of names of ‘The Glorious Dead’ from The Battle of Agincourt? Answers on a postcard please. Guitar is tuned DADGAD with a capo at the 2nd fret.

11. SIGN OF THE TIME
- Jore & Tuomas give this a nice jazzy feel - the organ was a great idea from Tuomas. A song about age destroying memory cells and forgetting the words of ‘A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall’ and other such songs which were once so etched into my memory. Guitar is tuned to open G.

12. WEAVING LEGENDS
- A fingerpicked guitar for a change - not a lot of them about in my songs recently. I know Jore misses them so I’ve promised to write more finger picking songs this year. This wouldn’t have been out of place on ‘Harlequinesque’. Quietly melancholy with a tinge of a nostalgic sense of missing something that I’ve never had…and don’t know what it is. The lyrics are all bollocks of course - I’ve got great friends.

13. YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU
- Highly original title. Pera gives it a 70s rock feel and I think it sounds pretty damn good in a minimalist, offhand, throwaway kind of way. It’s got a rough edge that I like. Guitar is tuned CGCGAD.

14. WHO MADE THE BOOGIE ?
- Back to the 12 bar basics. Tuomas deep bass voice is excellent on backing vocals. I finally play a little harmonica, Pera plays his socks off and Tuomas plays some mean piano. Is Jore on bass? Well either him or Tuomas. Nice upbeat ending to the album - thanks to Jore for deciding on the tracklist. Guitar is tuned to open G.



PREVIEW — COMMENTS — COVERS — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS


All lyrics by Davy McGowan (c) 2010

1. WHEN SHE SAID

When she said she won’t lie to me
When she said love will set us free
When she said love’s a mystery
I believed it all

When she said it was in the stars
When she said all those things in bars
When she said we’ll go far
I believed it all

But love’s such a strange thing
Love’s a deranged thing
Love’s an ecstatic thrill
With the pain of a dentist’s drill

When she said you’re the only one
When she said you’re my rising sun
When she said we’ve just begun
I believed it all

When she said I’ll give you my heart
When she said we won’t ever part
When she said it’s Cupid’s dart
I believed it all

But love’s such a strange thing
Love’s a deranged thing
Love’s an ecstatic thrill
With the pain of a dentist’s drilly


2. HURTIN’

I first heard him on the radio
He was pickin’ a country blues
The way he played really touched my soul
It was long before I met you
Mood music really sets the scene
If the time and the place are right
There’s mood music running through my head
Every time you come in sight
I’m hurtin’

Don’t tell me it’s a state of mind
And like all things it’ll pass
She slides easy like the delta
And there’s magic in her abracadas
God willin’ in the future
I’ll be movin’ down the line
I can’t tell how much more I can take
When I know that she won’t be mine
I’m hurtin’


3. WHERE LOVE LEADS

She’s just passing time of day
Ain’t got much to say
She ain’t at your service
Every time she walk on by
You been looking on the sly
She make you n - n- nervous
She’s a Mississippi Queen,
Know just what I mean
She gonna do you wrong
She can smile through all her lies,
Make your eyes dilate in size
Like in a love song

She’s a sweet Southern sister
She’s got you in tow
She’s your fate and your kismet
If you don’t already know
She’s the bullet with your name on
Best just bottle up and go
Where loves leads

She’s just full of danger signs
Dangerous curves are on your mind
She knows how to show it
She’s a high maintenance gal
Gonna leave your pockets empty
And you know it
She’s an earth shaker,
Painmaker, heartbreaker
Yeah, I know you heard it all
But you’ll still end up her slave
Give up thoughts of being brave
You’re at her beck and call

She’s a sweet Southern sister
She’s got you in tow
She’s your fate and your kismet
If you don’t already know
She’s the bullet with your name on
Best just bottle up and go
Where loves leads

And who knows where love leads?


4. ON THE BORDERLINE

Lone drifter, cool grifter
I saw him there from 20 yards
Poker faced, playing cards
Chewing on a cigar
On the borderline

Cantina, I seen a
Dark-eyed senorita there
Red rose in her coal black hair
Playing on a guitar
On the borderline

Pale rider, night hider
Dusty clothes from the dusty trail
Sheriff standing outside the jail
I heard a shot ringing out
On the borderline

5. PICTURE THIS

Picture this - you’re on a train heading south
Relatively free of stress and strain
You see a ghost of memory in the corridor
You leap up and call her name
But no one can hear your voice

Picture this - you’re on a boat down on the river
A baptism of fire, flood and foam,
A lady disappears as you draw near her
You shout out from the confines of your dome
But no one can hear your voice

Picture this - you’re on a highway heading north
Rain is crashing on the windshield there
All at once your headlights catch her like a statue
You hit the brakes and yell through the air
But no one can hear your voice

6. GIMME LOVE

Hiding in the shadows
I been living there too long
Gonna get a one way ticket
Back where I belong
You know we’re the future
Tell it from our past
You know we’re the only thing
That was meant to last
You gotta gimme love

I see it in your smile
Tell it from your glance
May as well stop fighting
And surrender to romance
We were fated for each other
Surely you can see?
I’m coming back to live my life
Where I was meant to be
You gotta gimme love


 7. HIGHWAY SIGN

When the sidewalk is glistening and nobody’s listening
To the tale you’re determined to tell,
And your mood is so blue, just don’t know what to do
And you wish that you could find a wishing well.
When the raindrops are falling and you hear your saviour calling
And the righteousness of Man has you in tears.
As you cruise down the freeway you realise there’s no way
You can run away from your own fears.

You gotta take it on down to the highway sign
And set your spirit free
Take it on down to the highway sign
And love yourself just a little bit
Take it on down to the highway sign
And set your spirit free
Take it on down to the highway sign - just be.

When the fog finally clears after oh so many years
And you find the place you seen in your dreams
But there’s a sign on the door asking what the hell you’re here for
And the realization isn’t what it seems
Well there’s never been no doubt that you know the ins and outs
And you ain’t never let life stand in your way
But when the mystic awakes, gonna make your body shake
You’ll see more than you bargained for that day.

You gotta take it on down to the highway sign
And set your spirit free
Take it on down to the highway sign
And love yourself just a little bit
Take it on down to the highway sign
And set your spirit free
Take it on down to the highway sign - just be.


8. RIVE GAUCHE

I was a Parisian bum
Lived on the streets by the Seine
Drifted for days on vin rouge
Toulouse Lautrec was my friend
I kissed the girls of Monmartre
When I was young with no fears
Funny how life can turn out
After fifty five years

But oh how the river flows
Oh all the highs and lows
Oh how the time all slips away
I was a painter once too
But I burned all my paintings one night
Got drunk on absinthe and then
Got thrown in jail for a fight
But what the hell, c’est la vie
All of us go through the mill
And I’ll raise my glass to Life
While there is life in me still

But oh how the river flows
Oh all the highs and lows
Oh how the time all slips away


9. BY THE WISHING WELL

Now that I’ve had the time to think a little ‘bout my life
Probably just as well I never found me a wife
I’m just a dreamer, reality’s too much for me
Too much pain in the world, too much reality
By the wishing well

Now that I’ve taken stock of where my life has gone and been
And looked through the memories of everything I’ve done and seen
I understand better now, better than I did before
I know I know nothing now, yeah and I forgot even more
By the wishing well

Now that I’ve had the time to think about reality
I don’t think too much of it, I don’t like what I see
I understand better now, better than I did before
I know I know nothing now, yeah and I forgot even more
By the wishing well


10. ONE LAST CIGARETTE

Glass half filled with wine, one last cigarette
Gazing at the world, glassy-eyed as it can get
No real sense of being, no real tale to tell
Trying to get to heaven on the road to hell

Some miscalculations made along the way
Bound to all add up and knock you out somewhere someday
World moving so fast, progress left behind
A memory of you in a picture in my mind

I once heard someone say, ‘The world will break us all
It’s how you put the pieces back in place after the fall’
Rose tinted ambitions running round my head
Staring at the statue for ‘The Glorious Dead’


11. SIGN OF THE TIMES

It’s a sign of the times
When your pocket’s full of dimes
That aren’t worth saving
It’s a sign of the times
When you’re reading nursery rhymes
Just to break free
And all that talk of sharing
Just died from lack of caring
And the constant drip of life
Upon your soul

It’s a sign of the times
When you can’t remember lines
That once were sacred
It’s a sign of the times
When the ghost of Harry Lime
Knocks on your door
And all your great ambition
And lack of intuition
Has left its mark there
Branded in your heart

Flowers will bloom again in springtime
Youth will rush to answer Cupid’s call
Love returns anew in springtime
In the meantime - that’s all


12. WEAVING LEGENDS

Restless reams of magic flying through my head
Weaving legend as I lie here on my bed
I will rise and I will find my way back home

I never needed a friend
I never needed nobody

Sitting here beneath the tree beside the stream
Trying to separate reality from dream
I will rise and I will find my way back home

I never needed a friend
I never needed nobody


13. YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU

You know I love it when there’s sparkles in your eyes
You know I love it when you take me by surprise
You know I love it when you wear your turquoise blue
You know I love you

You know I love it when you take me by the hand
You know I love it when I’m under your command
You know I love it when you whisper like you do
You know I love you

You know I love it when we share a cigarette
You know I love it when we both get soaking wet
You know I love it and you know my love is true
You know I love you


14. WHO MADE THE BOOGIE ?

Who made the boogie for you?
Who made the boogie for me?
The blues ain’t nothing’ but
a good woman on your mind

Set ‘em up Joe, gonna move my feet
If my woman won’t chill then
I know her sister will

Who made the boogie for you?
Who made the boogie for me?
The blues ain’t nothing’ but
a love trapped in your heart

Set ‘em up Joe, I can dig that beat
If my woman won’t jive then I’ll find
one make me feel alive


PREVIEW — COMMENTS — COVERS — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS


Howdy,

I listened to the latest package "The Bohemian Goddess" by the Mescaline Smugglers. The first thing that came to my mind was that the music reminds me of J.J.Cale. and Cat Stevens (especially cd Tea for the Tillerman by CS). It seems to me that the atmosphere has been relaxed and cool when the guys have recorded this. The acoustic style, especially is the thing that I like when listening to this music. Therefore I can recommend this to anyone who likes music based mostly on the acoustic approach to music. The compositions are nice to listen to.

Ari Aakula,
Parola, Finland

Ari was not familiar us before, he just happened to read the story of Davy on the local newspaper and took contact. He also promised to do a review, and he kept his word. --Jore







PREVIEW — COMMENTS — COVERS — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS