New Jersey songs?

[journeybear]

Industrial north central New Jersey is an easy target for putdowns and lazy "humorous" potshots. (Admittedly, there are some odoriferous areas along the upper stretches of the NJTP - never mind which exit - which constitutes the only experience a lot of people have of the state as they are driving through.) Northern NJ, where it adjoins PA and NY, is full of lushly forested rolling hills; southern NJ has prairie land (indeed, there is a rodeo stadium there); the Jersey Shore has plenty of very nice beaches, culminating in Cape May National Seashore. There is more to the state than what serves for the butt of jokes.

[Dan Hoover]

i totally agree JB,use to go through Jersey all the time when i was on the road,my uncles wife ran a diner in Clinton,beautiful area..lived w/a girl from Asbury,use to go there w/her all the time to visit..wish i still had my pics from there....i use to live in Rehoboth,we would take the ferry into cape may,spend the day...truly a beautiful state..
bill evans was from jersey,i'm trying to remember a tune he did about jersey??maybe it was someone else? just rambling..

[Matt DeBlass]

Yeah, we do get a bad rap from the few terrible areas (and there are some legitimate problems, such as the near-impossible cost-of-living) but there are some great places. I know Clinton well, it's a great place.
Yep, Bill Evans is from around here, in fact, New Jersey has a much bigger presence in the world of Jazz than Folk as far as I can tell (Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie and of course David Grisman all have roots here), at least until I get famous ;-)

[MikeEdgerton]

Matt you are famous. We all know who you are.

[journeybear]

And let's not forget Hoboken's favorite son, Francis Albert Sinatra.

[JeffD]

I grew up in Neptune, which hatched both Jack Nickolson and Danny DeVito.

[Frank Silver]

Matt,

Stephen Still Live album (early 70's ??) the cut "Crossroads / Cant' Catch Me" has a great line about NJ Turnpike - oh, and I'm from exit 163.

/Users/franksown/Desktop/06 Crossroads _ You Can't Catch Me.mp3

[journeybear]

Hey - you sound like a Parkway guy, not Turnpike.

I was thinking about this on the drive home from my gig last night (I have two hours, lots of mind wandering time), and that "Garden State Stomp" popped up on my mental jukebox. I really think that deserves a run-through. Dave Van Ronk does some excellent fingerpicking, which contributes substantially to the overall feel of the song, but there should be some way to translate that to mandolin.

[Frank Silver]

... Not sure if my post went up ?

- Stephen Stills Live (early 70's ??) The cut named "Crossroads / You Can't catch me " has a great reference to the NJ Turnpike. Bye the bye I'm from exit 163 !

[MikeEdgerton]

It went up twice. I'm 10 miles off Exit 98.

[swampstomper]

Woody Guthrie mentions the Garden State at least two times

1. "Talking New York" ends with the line: "So long, New York. / Howdy, East Orange!" as he attempts to hitchike west (" rambled out of New York town. / Pulled my cap down over my eyes / And headed out for the western skies")

2. "This Land is Your Land" -- the "endless Skyway" is in fact the Pulaski Skyway (I like to sing it with that substitution) -- it's documented that he was impressed by the then-new project (it's still a pretty impressive piece of engineering, and if you like to view industrial America from above, it's still a fun ride)

[MikeEdgerton]

The Pulaski Skyway has got to be one of the scariest roads in New Jersey and I've been driving it for over 30 years. It was indeed a remarkable feat of engineering but it is nothing you ever want to break down on

[journeybear]

Woody Guthrie mentions the Garden State at least two times

1. "Talking New York" ends with the line: "So long, New York. / Howdy, East Orange!"

Hmmm? That's Dylan! He pays homage to Guthrie, of course (quotes a line from "Pretty Boy Floyd"), but that's Dylan.

If one wants evidence of cultural change and the evolution of popular perception, one need look no further than the Pulaski Highway. Its current state is a far cry from how Woody saw it. Hard to believe that scary stretch of road is what he had in mind. Was he living in Coney Island at the time?

[swampstomper]

Hmmm? That's Dylan! He pays homage to Guthrie, of course (quotes a line from "Pretty Boy Floyd"), but that's Dylan.

If one wants evidence of cultural change and the evolution of popular perception, one need look no further than the Pulaski Highway. Its current state is a far cry from how Woody saw it. Hard to believe that scary stretch of road is what he had in mind. Was he living in Coney Island at the time?

I stand corrected! Of course although Dylan wrote the lyrics the music is pure Woody, lots of his Talking.... blues (Talking Subway, Talking Merchant Marine etc.) also the various Pete Seeger takeoffs.

So it's still a song with reference to Jersey but now you have a Dylan on your list.

As for This Land, it is from 1940 and indeed Woody was living on Mermaid Ave. Coney Island then. The Joe Klein bio is essential reading.

As for the Pulaski Skyway, it was made for 1932's traffic and a 45 mph. Back then who could imagine SUV's let alone Hummers? The volume of traffic was also much less, most people could not afford cars (depression time). Similar designs are Bronx River Parkway, Interboro (Jackie Robinson) Parkway. But it was (and is) an impressive piece of engineering, and Woody liked that sort of thing (think Grand Coulee Dam).

[AlanN]

Then there's the story behind the neat little tune Powder Creek, off Roland White's Ridgerunner record IWBTRAR (But I Love To Cook). I heard he and Clarence wrote that at a rest stop off the NJT, after 'spying some hippies doing a little (rhymes with snow) next to a creek'.

New Jersey and You - Perfect Together.

[journeybear]

... I heard he and Clarence wrote that at a rest stop off the NJT, after 'spying some hippies doing a little (rhymes with snow) next to a creek'...

I wonder if that was the Joyce Kilmer rest stop? (I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree) The NJTP rest stops are named after famous Garden Staters.

... But it was (and is) an impressive piece of engineering, and Woody liked that sort of thing (think Grand Coulee Dam).

Speaking of which ... That was one of 26 songs he wrote in a month while living in the Pacific Northwest - originally working on a film, then when that went under, he was hired by the Department Of Interior to write songs about the Columbia River area and the dam project . The film was never released but most of the songs were, as "The Columbia River Collection." More about this and other aspects of this fascinating man's life here.

[MikeEdgerton]

Growing up in Oregon we all learned Woodie's songs. Heck, we didn't even know he was a communist and all that. We just figured Roll On Columbia was about our river.

[journeybear]

It was! And is! And it was written by a gummint contactor. It don't get much more Amurcan than that!

[journeybear]

So ... I was catching up on some episodes of the new Hawaii Five O, and about 9 minutes into Episode #9 "Po'ipu" there is a conversation in a car between Garrett and Dan-O about New Jersey (where at least this time around Dan-O is from) in which Dan-O finds reasons to stick up for his home state, including ... music. Clearly he is not as erudite as we are as he could only come up with Sinatra, Springsteen, and Bon Jovi before Garrett interrupted. Somewhat amusing - here is a link to the clip.

[billkilpatrick]

not forgetting that you guys in jersey have one of the best views in the world:

[billkilpatrick]

communication has ceased - hope no one was offended ... (';')

got one:

[Matt DeBlass]

Another classic, Bill. So I'm finding songs from the late 1700s, and from about 1920 to the present, I've just got a big gap from 1800 to 1900.

[billkilpatrick]

... I've just got a big gap from 1800 to 1900.

try cross checking historical events of the period with song titles. mining disasters and floods spring to mind but there may be up-beat ballads as well

[journeybear]

That is a gap big enough to run the Delaware River through!