1. The Gold Doubloon (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal
Jore: pc programming, guitar, mandolin

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This is the title poem from my 2002 poetry book. I seem to have a pirate fixation, as I’m always writing about them - and food! A wonderfully atmospheric melody from Jore. --davy

As silver clouds obscured the moon,
Black Jack slipped Tom a gold doubloon;
"Take this my boy," he whispered low,
"And meet me in the room below,
But hearken! - make no show of haste,
Sip grog and savour every taste;
Depart at leisure - let none see,
Your journey leads you down to me."
And with those words Black Jack was gone,
And Tom sat quiet and mused upon
The old salt's words and crooked smile,
His fingers feeling all the while
The gold doubloon within his grasp;
He sneaked a look and gave a gasp,
It shone as only gold can shine;
He sqeezed it tight, "It's mine, all mine!"
But what price would he have to pay,
For such a sum to come his way?
Black Jack was rumoured to have plans
For journeying in foreign lands,
Where dogs could talk and dragons flew,
And men ate other men as stew!
Tom frowned and slowly sipped his drink,
And long and hard he paused to think:
The gold that he'd received from Jack
Might well be wisest handed back!
The clock ticked on as all about,
The drunken sailors staggered out;
Then all at once, his mind made up,
Tom sat up straight and drained his cup,
And quickly rising from his chair,
He ran his fingers through his hair,
But where he ventured, no one saw,
Save the beady eyes of an old jackdaw.

(c) Davy McGowan 2002

2. Nameday (McGowan)

Davy: guitar, tin whistle
Jore: fretless bass

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Davy's nice instrumental tune; one of the songs he wrote just like that - maybe just while waiting for me to come back downstairs. --jore

I called this tune ‘Nameday’ because it was written on June 26th - which is Jore’s name day. I suppose it’s influence could be Bert Jansch’s AVOCET album. --davy

3. Drinking All My Dimes (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal, shaker
Jore: pc programming, tibetan finger cymbals

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I made years ago many weird tunes by computer. This is one of them. Davy found a story behind it. - jore

This is one of Jore’s tunes which I put words to. There’s a big Tom Waits influence on several of the tracks on Cinnamon Salami and this is the first to feature it. --davy

Passing time of day with almost everyone you meet
Cause everyone's a winner down on Cemetary Street
I bought a case of bourbon from the guy at number 9
Four and twenty bottles are just sitting in a line
I'm gonna get a shotgun, I'm gonna buy some shells
I'm gonna load it up and then I'll blow them all to hell
I'm taking care of business, these are troubled times
I'm singing for my nickels and I'm drinking all my dimes

Take a thousand pages tell you half the things I done
Redford, Newman, Steve McQueen all rolled into one
I was on the TV back in 64
I used another name so they would let me through the door
I've been down in the jungle, I've seen the city lights
I had a ringside ticket for the Foreman/Ali fights
I was with Ben Casey and I solved a million crimes
Now I'm singing for my nickels and I'm drinking all my dimes

The girl I fell in love with, I fell for her too soon
She drank away her beauty every goddam afternoon
She never missed a target, she never missed a trick
She never even missed me when she up and left with Rick
There's some who say it's over, some say it's just begun
But I have seen the future and it's dumb, dumb, dumb
I'm making up excuses in the shape of nursery rhymes
I'm singing for my nickels and I'm drinking all my dimes

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2003

4. Crossing The Road (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal
Jore: guitar, midi keyboard ("acoustic bass", "pan flute")

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One of many little poems that Jore has put a melody to. He has a great knack of capturing the mood of the words with his music. --davy

'Take my hand,' said my father
As we walked across the street,
He was wearing his best overcoat
In spite of summer heat.
He'd a flower in his buttonhole
A hat upon his head,
And I held onto him tightly
As across the road he led.

I can see that picture clearly
In the camera in my mind,
I can see him looking at me,
He was brave and true and kind,
And long after we had crossed the road
That bright warm summer's day,
I was still holding on tightly
As we went along our way.

(c) Davy McGowan 2005

5. Age (Croce)

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Tuomas: vocal, backing vocal, midi keyboard ("piano")
Davy: guitar, backing vocal
Jore: bozouki

A song from the late Jim Croce. Tuomas wanted to record this one --davy

6. Cypress Tree Rag (McGowan)

Davy: vocal, guitar
Jore: mandolin

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I never knew Davy could do such perfect tunes! (Sorry, Davy!) I was sure this was an old famous blues/rag standard, which Davy has thousands in his storage. -- jore

This started out as an instrumental - but words came to me as I played it one day. Skip James’ ‘Cypress Tree Blues’ was probably in my subconscious that day. --davy

I had a gal and a gal had me
We settled down by the cypress tree
I had a gal name of Polly Anne
She was my girl and I was her man

Sun shining down from the sky above
Me and my gal we were so in love
Suddenly blue sky turned to grey
Run through the corn on a rainy day

Down by the cove there's a place I know
Somewhere for me and my gal to go
We can look out at the falling rain
Kissing and kiss and kiss again

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2005

7. Mercury Blues (Geddins/Douglas)

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Davy: vocal, backing vocal, guitar, slide guitar, tablas
Jore: guitar
Tuomas: kantele

The booklet says kantele is by Davy, but it is by Tuomas.
(As if someone could find this interesting!) --jore

I heard this on a Ry Cooder bootleg and fell in love with the song
straight away. --davy

8. Peregrinations (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Jore: vocal, guitar, banjo

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I love this banjo! Once again Jore has created an atmosphere
that fits this poem like a glove - as does his vocal. He’s a bit shy
when it comes to singing - but who could imagine this without his voice! --davy

Yeah! They fooled me somehow to sing MORE songs than Tuomas does! Sick, I would say. Sick, wrong and unnatural! --jore

Let me take you on a journey to a land where nothing's new,
Where the people know the same things that their grandparents all knew,
And we'll see the shire horses and the man holding the plough
As we wonder how these people lived not knowing what we know now.

We will look through frosted windows, hear a thousand vendors yell,
But it seems to me they got along quite tolerably well
Without mobile phones, or fax machines connected to the web
For the world seems such a busy place now all of them are dead.

And we'll see the summer harvest as along the road we go,
See the ripe apples of autumn and the fields covered with snow,
For the world moves with the seasons and the seasons move in turn
Till the springtime once again brings light and life with its return.

When we reach our journey's end we'll enter through the old inn door
Where the fire will be burning in the hearth, like oft before,
And we'll call for pipes and matches and we'll call for cakes and ale
And we'll talk of what we've seen as we traversed o'er hill and dale.

(c) Davy McGowan 2005

9. The Sly Auld Dogs (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal, backing noises
Jore: pc programming, guitar

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I should really be shot for this kind of thing - but it’s a just a bit of fun. Some of Jore’s melodies have a very ‘Celtic’ sound to them - and,as I was brought up with Scottish and Irish folk music, verses like this come easily to me. --davy

Teddy's me name I'm a tinker man
I'll mend your pots as quick as I can
Sure and here's my friend, it's humpty Dan
We'll buy you a drink if you drink like a man

We'll watch the lassies sit and spin
We'll kiss their cheeks and tickle their chin
And we'll sport and play and make sic a din
And we'll buy you a drink if you care to come in

We're the boys from the Emerald Isle
Whatever we do, we do it in style
We'll work through the day, ah but after a while
We'll buy you a drink with a wink and a smile

We're the boys to drain a glass
And sit by the fire wi'a bonnie wee lass
Telling her tales she’ll ne’er hear at mass
And we’ll buy you a drink the first time you pass.

Teddy’s me name, you’ll know me well
Ah but where I’m bound there’s none can tell
There’s nobody knows save Dan and masel
And we’ll buy you a drink ‘fore they’re ringing the bell

Teddy's me name, I’m a roving lad
I went to the devil, he said I was mad
Twixt Dan and masel there’s mair good than bad
And we’ll buy you a drink if you fancy a tad

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2004

10. Sally, Free And Easy (Tawney)

Davy: guitar, vocal, backing vocal, bodhran
Jore: bozouki

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I always liked this song. This is loosely based on The Corries version
Although I worked out a new arrangement for the guitar.
A sad story of a sailor in love. --davy

11. The Haunted House (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Tuomas: vocal
Davy: vocal
Jore, guitar, vocal

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We all sang in the same mic, as in good old days. But mixing this was too difficult. Still, imagine that we are on stage and you are on the other side of the stadium fence. --jore

Sounds more like a haunted song! A bit of a throwaway type number With a ‘live’ feel to it! Imagine it’s a bootleg of The Weavers live at Carnegie Hall in 1963! --davy

chorus:
There's a ghost down there and he's in his prime,
He's been there since 1849,
When an accidental quirk of Fate
Made it all too true when he cried, "Too late!"

Take my tip then you'll never stray
Down Dumpling Road, past Pudding Way,
There's a place down there where no one ever goes
And a house on the hill that's full of woes,

chorus

Don’t go wandering past that place at night
For chances are you may well die of fright
There are things down there that men should never see
It’s a house where no sane man should ever be.

chorus

Now there's more than one wants the house burned down,
For they say it's a plague on their nice, clean town.
But another school of thought will say,
"Just leave well alone and go on your way."

chorus

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2005

12. Above The Clouds (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Jore: bozoukis, vocal, midi keyboard ("cello", "brightness")

Another of my poem’s which Jore has attached a melody to. I wrote this the plane home from Finland in 2003. --davy

I got a melody about ready since 2003 when Davy sent the lyrics over to me, however when I decided to put that along the collection, this totally new melody crawled out of the bozouki. --jore

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Above the clouds the river flows
Between the melting ice and snow
The sky is blue as blue can be
Above the clouds far out to sea.

Above the clouds from way on high
I thought I heard an angel sigh
I thought I heard an angel sing
Above the clouds upon the wing

Above the clouds and in my mind
I’ve left the real world far behind
There is no sadness, pain or woe
Above the clouds as on I go.

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2005

13. Black Jackdaw (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal
Jore: pc programming

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Another ‘new’ Scottish folk song Jore and I came up with.
Short and simple……like most of the women I’ve dated! --davy

Here's a health tae ain an' a'
Afore we gang awa
We're bound for California
On board The Black Jackdaw

We're nothing but the claes we're in
We've scant excuse tae craw
We're off tae seek our fortune now
On board The Black Jackdaw

'All aboard,' the Captain cries
As the wind then fills the sail
With ne'er a thought of what we leave
We're on the golden trail

Here's a health tae ain an' a'
Afore we gang awa
We're bound for California
On board The Black Jackdaw

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2004

14. Seminole Blues (McGowan)

Davy: vocal, backing vocals, guitar, jug, mandolin, jew's harp, kazoo
Jore: banjo-mandolin
Tuomas: midi keyboard ("piano")

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I love the old time jug band music and this is an attempt to capture the feeling of the anarchic studio recordings those bands made in the 1920’s. --davy

McGowan tune, huh? I was sure this was from Memphis Jug Band.
Davy never tells me anything! --jore

Sitting by the river with a fishing pole
And every fish I catched was saying, ‘Bless my soul’
Seminole blues, Seminole blues are mine
I got the Seminole blues I gots them all the time.

I was standing on the corner talking to my brown
She’s the prettiest gal in the whole damn town
Seminole blues, Seminole blues are mine
I got the Seminole blues I gots them all the time

I’m going down to a place I know
You can starch my overalls ‘fore I go
Seminole blues, Seminole blues are mine
I got the Seminole blues I gots them all the time.

I only ask one thing of you when I die
Lay me on my face and kiss my ass goodbye
Seminole blues, Seminole blues are mine
I got the Seminole blues I gots them all the time.

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2005

15. The Woodcutter's Daughter (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Tarja: vocal
Jore: pc programming, guitars, mandolins

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Ah! Doesn’t Tarja just melt your heart? She sings these sentimental songs quite beautifully, oozing innocence and sex appeal! --davy

Deep in the forest a shadow falls,
On the woodcutter's daughter who gently calls,
For her father to rest and take bread and cheese,
As she pours out some wine in the breeze.

Down by the river she walks awhile,
Dreaming of love with a soft, sad smile,
And she whistles a tune like an echo that's heard
After the band has gone home.

And she waltzes in time with the melody,
As she dreams about love and its mystery,
Lies herself down in the warm summer sun
And she plays with a lock of her hair.

Will a prince come to her on a milk white steed?
Will the love she will find be true love indeed?
And she whistles a tune like an echo that's heard
After the band has gone home.

Deep in the forest her father rests,
Wiping sweat from his brow on the hillcrest,
Then he sits sipping wine on an old hollow log
With his only companion, his dog.

Down by the river she's fast asleep
Dreaming of dancers with nimble feet,
And the tune that she hears is the echo that's heard
After the band has gone home.

And she waltzes in time with the melody,
As she dreams about love and its mystery,
Lies herself down in the warm summer sun
And she plays with a loch of her hair.

Will a prince come to her on a milk white steed?
Will the love she will find be true love indeed?
And she whistles a tune like an echo that's heard
After the band has gone home.

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2003

16. Low Fat Blues (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal, kazoo
Jore: guitar, shaker. Sound effects used.

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I’m very much against ‘political correctness’ Fat is Fat and that is that! I enjoy my food and have no plans to change that - no matter how shot to hell my cholestoral levels are. --davy

Who the hell eats margerine?
That's what I'd like to know.
Give me butter every time
And cholesterol high, not low

Who the hell eats yoghurt when
There's pie and beans to scoff,
If someone gives you salad cream
Just tell them to 'Bog off!'

Who the hell eats meusli stuff,
It's like mice droppings dried!
I couldn't put it in my mouth
No matter how I tried.

Who the hell eats fish and chips
With loads of mushy peas
And cakes and biscuits by the score
I'll tell you who - it's me!

(c) Davy McGowan 2005

17. The Bluebell Wood (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocals, guitar, bodhran
Jore: guitar, mandolin, bozoukis, midi keyboard ("acoustic bass")

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This started life as a quiet little poem - but Jore came up
with a folky tune which I speeded up and the result
was a bit more raucous than was originally anticipated. --davy

I went out to the bluebell wood,
To the wood I went one day,
Twas a fine May morn and the sun shone bright
As I made my merry way.

Yes the sun shone bright in the clear blue sky
And the fields were green and gold,
As I wandered down past the trickling stream
Where the water lapped and rolled.

I'd some bread and cheese in my old knapsack,
And an apple, plum and pear,
With a book of tales of pirates bold
I could read when I got there.

And the winding road led me on an on
As the sun rose in the sky,
And I met no one on the road that day,
Save a red-winged butterfly.

(c) Davy McGowan 2005

18. Drunk As A Monkey (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Jore: vocal, midi keyboard, guitars

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Do monkeys get drunk? I daresay they do if the whisky is
left out. Anyway, it’s a common expression in Scotland. --davy

"Don't say I didn't warn you!"
The organ grinder cried,
To the brown capuchin monkey
Who was sitting by his side.
"It was always going to happen -
Go and lie down in your bunk -
You should never do the splits
When you're so obviously drunk!"

(c) Davy McGowan 2002

19. Fair Eileen (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocals, backing vocal, kantele
Jore: pc programming

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I stand accused of moving into Kenneth McKellar territory here…and must plead ‘guilty as charged’. Maybe someone wearing a kilt will sing this in the far distant future…… --davy

I don't know what went into me the day I made the melody... I must have felt quite innocent, simply and happy...
The original name was "Parade"... --jore

Here's a health tae fair Eileen
The bonniest lass you've ever seen
Shining eyes and smile serene
Aye she's the jewel of Islay

Born but sixteen years ago
In wintertime when the cold winds blow
But mark me well, where'er she goes
The sun will shine there on Islay

A'the lads are easily led
For she's the lass tae turn their heads
He'll feel a king, the one she'll wed
Fair Eileen Roe of Islay

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2004

20. Alabama Jubilee (Cobb/Yellen)

Tuomas: vocal, backing vocals, recorders
Davy: vocal, backing vocals, kazoo
Jore: guitar

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Based on the Leon Redbone recording. We had some fun
recording this. Maybe the bottle of Glenfiddich we were
sharing contributed to the feeling of ‘bonhomie’! --davy

21. You (McGowan)

Davy: vocal, guitars, tablas, drums
Jore: shaker... and fretless bass!
Tuomas: midi keyboard ("piano")

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This is my contribution to the ‘bossa nova’ genre. Tuomas sounds like a ‘juiced-up’ Antonio Carlos Jobim and I was really pleased at the way the song turned out. --davy

Out walking
Nothing but the blue sky above
Out walking
Thinking 'bout the woman I love
And out in the midday sun
There's nothing but blue overhead
Out in the midday sun
There's nothing but you in my head
You

(c) Davy Mc Gowan 2005

22. The King of the Gypsies (Heikkilä - McGowan)

Davy: vocal, bodhran
Jore: guitar, mandolins, midi keyboard ("acoustic bass"), rhythms

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Another of my poems with a melody by Jore - again a folky one.
I think he’s really a ‘born again Celt’! --davy

The King of the Gypsies came one day
From over the hill and faraway,
And as he sat by the campfire bright,
I chanced to wander by one night.

He called me over with a smile,
Smoking his pipe all the while.
His face was brown - as berries are,
His moustache the shape of a handlebar.

In two tin cups he boiled up tea
Saying, "One for you and one for me,"
And he told me tales the whole night through,
About love and life and the things men do.

(c) Davy McGowan 2005