Portrait CD
This album contains some of my original songs, either new to this album or from earlier albums of the folk group, The Boomers. I have also included some of my favorite folk songs from the folk revival of the sixties and seventies that I still love to sing at performances or just sitting around jamming with friends. I hope you enjoy the songs and that you might find some that especially speak to you. I dedicate my solo album, Portrait, to my sisters, Rita and Roni, who have been the most important painters and artists throughout my life.
Please enjoy these songs from the Portrait CD
along with the liner notes from the album.
along with the liner notes from the album.
A Rocky Mountain Memory [To John Denver] (words and music by Joe Lombardi): From The Boomers album Seasons.
This is my tribute to a singer-songwriter I consider one of the greatest of our generation. I’ve loved John Denver’s music over the years and always wished I had the vocal range to sing all of his songs.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica/Vocal; Sara Shumaker: Percussion/Vocal)
This is my tribute to a singer-songwriter I consider one of the greatest of our generation. I’ve loved John Denver’s music over the years and always wished I had the vocal range to sing all of his songs.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica/Vocal; Sara Shumaker: Percussion/Vocal)
Seasons (words and music by Joe Lombardi): From The Boomers album Seasons.
After having just written Seasons, I was listening to Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, where he was describing this guy as "...a ‘folk singer, you know, who writes about how life is like the cycle of the season and the flowing of rivers.’” I realized then I had just composed a folk song cliché.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica/Vocal; Sara Shumaker: Vocal)
After having just written Seasons, I was listening to Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, where he was describing this guy as "...a ‘folk singer, you know, who writes about how life is like the cycle of the season and the flowing of rivers.’” I realized then I had just composed a folk song cliché.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica/Vocal; Sara Shumaker: Vocal)
Darcy Farrow (words and music by Steve Gillette/Tom Campbell): From The Boomers album Cats in Space.
One of the first and perhaps on of the best of Steve Gillette’s (and Tom Campbell's) stellar array of original compositions. A true classic.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Banjo)
One of the first and perhaps on of the best of Steve Gillette’s (and Tom Campbell's) stellar array of original compositions. A true classic.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Banjo)
Spanish Is a Loving Tongue (Traditional): From The Boomers album Cats in Space.
From the poem “A Border Affair” by Charles Badger Clark Jr. published in 1915. I first heard and learned this version of the song from Ian and Sylvia on their Four Strong Winds album.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica)
From the poem “A Border Affair” by Charles Badger Clark Jr. published in 1915. I first heard and learned this version of the song from Ian and Sylvia on their Four Strong Winds album.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica)
Lady of the Mississippi Queen (words and music by Joe Lombardi) From The Boomers album Cats in Space.
I often introduce this song as a true story, but since I’d never been on a riverboat ride…it’s really not a true story per se. Perhaps it’s an imaginary journey taken from a true experience.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Vocal/Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Mandolin)
I often introduce this song as a true story, but since I’d never been on a riverboat ride…it’s really not a true story per se. Perhaps it’s an imaginary journey taken from a true experience.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Vocal/Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Mandolin)
Rain (words and music by Joe Lombardi): From The Boomers album Cats in Space.
Written for my 3-month old son, Aaron, on a rainy autumn day in Baton Rouge, LA. I think we go trough the process of falling in love with our children. If this were not true, none would make it through their teens!
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Mandolin)
Written for my 3-month old son, Aaron, on a rainy autumn day in Baton Rouge, LA. I think we go trough the process of falling in love with our children. If this were not true, none would make it through their teens!
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Mike Schaefer: Lead guitar; Lynn Schaefer: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Guitar/Harmonica; Jim Herden: Mandolin)
Talkin’ Christmas Blues (words by Joe Lombardi)
I loved and would sing Noel Paul Stookey’s (of Peter, Paul, and Mary) humorous song "Talkin’ Candy Bar Blues." Then one evening around Christmas, I decided to write my own talkin’ blues. Little did I know that my grand nieces and nephews would request I sing it over and over during my Christmas visits.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Ralph McKenna: ‘Effects’)
I loved and would sing Noel Paul Stookey’s (of Peter, Paul, and Mary) humorous song "Talkin’ Candy Bar Blues." Then one evening around Christmas, I decided to write my own talkin’ blues. Little did I know that my grand nieces and nephews would request I sing it over and over during my Christmas visits.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Ralph McKenna: ‘Effects’)
The Roseville Fair (words and music by Bill Staines)
I’ve always liked this Bill Staines tune, but it was not until I heard Liam Clancy’s (of The Clancy Brothers) slower rendition that I felt the song vibrate through my heartstrings.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal; Ralph McKenna: Penny whistle)
I’ve always liked this Bill Staines tune, but it was not until I heard Liam Clancy’s (of The Clancy Brothers) slower rendition that I felt the song vibrate through my heartstrings.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal; Ralph McKenna: Penny whistle)
My Old Man (words and music by Jerry Jeff Walker)
With its touching story and simple enchanting melody and rhythm, this is my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker tune, and one I never tire of singing. My personal story may also be a subconscious source of the song’s allure. My father was a nightclub band leader and musician who met my mother, a dancer, and left before I had any recollection of him.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
With its touching story and simple enchanting melody and rhythm, this is my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker tune, and one I never tire of singing. My personal story may also be a subconscious source of the song’s allure. My father was a nightclub band leader and musician who met my mother, a dancer, and left before I had any recollection of him.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
Four Strong Winds (words and music by Ian Tyson)
Ian Tyson has reflected on occasion that this song, his first, was inspired after listening to Bob Dylan’s "Blowin’ in the Wind" one evening at the Kettle of Fish Café in NY City. A fellow Canadian of Ian, Neil Young, recounts how, upon first hearing the song on a jukebox, kept putting in coins to hear it played over and over. When I first heard the song on Ian and Sylvia’s first album, Four Strong Winds, I also played to it over and over and over…and over.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Ian Tyson has reflected on occasion that this song, his first, was inspired after listening to Bob Dylan’s "Blowin’ in the Wind" one evening at the Kettle of Fish Café in NY City. A fellow Canadian of Ian, Neil Young, recounts how, upon first hearing the song on a jukebox, kept putting in coins to hear it played over and over. When I first heard the song on Ian and Sylvia’s first album, Four Strong Winds, I also played to it over and over and over…and over.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Thirsty Boots (words and music by Eric Anderson)
Such a beautifully mysterious song to come out the civil rights protest movement of the early 1960s, and a favorite of one of Eric Anderson’s friends at the time, Phil Ochs.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Such a beautifully mysterious song to come out the civil rights protest movement of the early 1960s, and a favorite of one of Eric Anderson’s friends at the time, Phil Ochs.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/12-string guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Ramblin’ Boy (words and music by Tom Paxton)
Oh, how difficult to decide which of the many Tom Paxton songs that I both love and sing to include! "Ramblin’ Boy" is one of his earliest and, in my opinion, one of his best. I dedicate it to my scholarly and spiritual soul-brother, Al Case.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Oh, how difficult to decide which of the many Tom Paxton songs that I both love and sing to include! "Ramblin’ Boy" is one of his earliest and, in my opinion, one of his best. I dedicate it to my scholarly and spiritual soul-brother, Al Case.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar/Vocal)
Healing of Music (words and music by Joe Lombardi)
Written for a dear friend and fellow singer-songwriter, Kat Glisich, who was going through some rough times, but consoled by both friendship and music. What a healing effect music has on us.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar; Ralph McKenna: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
Written for a dear friend and fellow singer-songwriter, Kat Glisich, who was going through some rough times, but consoled by both friendship and music. What a healing effect music has on us.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Jay McDaniel: Guitar; Ralph McKenna: Vocal; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
Spirit (words and music by Joe Lombardi)
An autobiographical song of my youth as a camper and camp counselor in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania. Paradise Farms was a camp for children from urban Philadelphia. Though the effect of logging on the camp at that time was limited and temporary, the urbanization of those country roads, forests, and fields in that area of Pennsylvania over the intervening years is heartbreaking to those of us who knew it when.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
An autobiographical song of my youth as a camper and camp counselor in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania. Paradise Farms was a camp for children from urban Philadelphia. Though the effect of logging on the camp at that time was limited and temporary, the urbanization of those country roads, forests, and fields in that area of Pennsylvania over the intervening years is heartbreaking to those of us who knew it when.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar; Jeff Clanton: Mandolin; Mike Manion: Bass; Conrad Shumaker: Harmonica)
Nightdream (words and music by Joe Lombardi)
Unlike daydreams, which we recognize as imagination as they are occurring, dreams we experience while asleep feel quite real to us. We awake, and only then realize they were imaginary; but we still are appreciative of having had the physical and emotional reality of that experience.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar)
Unlike daydreams, which we recognize as imagination as they are occurring, dreams we experience while asleep feel quite real to us. We awake, and only then realize they were imaginary; but we still are appreciative of having had the physical and emotional reality of that experience.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar)
Portrait (words and music by Joe Lombardi)
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a song alluding to this specific metaphor, but I think we all can relate.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar)
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a song alluding to this specific metaphor, but I think we all can relate.
(Joe Lombardi: Vocal/Guitar)