It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you're building your house deep in the desert
Are You living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.
Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?
Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
But she never turned up I mean Lili Marlene
And you treated some woman to a flake of your life
And when she got home she was nobody's wife.
Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --
She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you oh what can I tell you
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.
If you ever come by here, be it for Jane or for me
I want you to know your enemy is sleeping,
I want you to know that your woman is free.
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.
And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
i lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me
the room filled up with mesquitos
they heard that my body was free
and i took the dust of a long sleepless night
and i put it in your little shoe
and then i confess that i tortured the dress
that you wore for the world to look through
and i showed my heart to the doctor
he said, ‘you just have to quit’
then he wrote himself a perscription
and your name was mentioned in it
then he locked himself in a library shelf
with the details of our honeymoon
and i hear from the nurse that he’s gotten much worse
and his practice is all in a ruin
i once knew a saint who had loved you
i studied all night in his school
he taught that the duty of lovers
was to tarnish the golden rule
and just when i was sure that his teachings were pure
he drowned himself in the pool
his body is gone, but out here on the lawn
his spirit continues to drool
an eskimo showed me a movie
he’d recently taken of you
the poor man could hardly stop shivering
his lips and his fingers were blue
i suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
and i guess he just never got warm
but you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice
please let me come into the storm
Waiting with you at the railway station
Moonlight filling the gaps in our conversation
Wondering when the next train comes
Late night on the platform we were the only ones
You said this place has had enough of you
That we should get on the next train and ride the whole night through
You wrote a letter to your lover
Left it on the fireplace for her to discover
And as you told me this I looked at you
And I could see I'd better stay with you
So I'll stay with you
When you walk it makes no sound
But I traced your footsteps on the ground
Out to a cabin by the trees
You let me in and we shot the breeze
You said you still don't have your head on straight
That we should get out of here if it's not too late
You lit a burner on the stove
You left it burning and off we drove
And as I watched you drive I thought to myself
That I should give you what I bought for myself
So I'll give it to you
Yeah, I'll give it to you
You stood still in the desert wind
You held a hand out for a friend
And then the sun slipped away
I saw you smile and try to say
That you won't always need me by your side
That when the night comes there'll be no need to hide
I knew just what you planned to do
So I took one last look at you
You know your image it still stands on my shelf
You know I always loved you more than myself
Though I couldn't show it
No, I never knew how to show it
I guess it's a little too late to show it
When you walk it makes no sound
But I'll trace your footsteps on the ground
This WayBack Wednsesday offering comes from the 1974 release, Queen of the Night, Maggie Bell's first solo effort after her stint with Stone the Crows. Hailing from Glascow, her vocal prowess was often compared to Janis Joplin.
A Woman Left Lonely
"From a musical family, she sang from her teenage years, leaving school at the age of fifteen, to work as a window dresser by day and singer at night. Bell was introduced to Leslie Harvey, by his older brother Alex, after getting up on stage to sing with him (Alex). Leslie Harvey was, at that time, a guitarist with the Kinning Park Ramblers. Bell joined the group as one of the vocalists. After the band split up, Bell moved to the Mecca Band at the Sauchiehall Street Locarno, and later to the Dennistoun Palais Band.
She then rejoined Harvey, forming a group, initially known as Power, eventually travelling to Germany to sing on United States Air Force bases in the mid 1960s. Peter Grant, who was managing The Yardbirds at the time, spotted Power playing at one of these bases, and agreed to produce and manage them, impressed by the vocal ability of Bell and the guitar playing of Harvey. Power was renamed as Stone the Crows, an expression used by Grant upon hearing this band.
This group lasted until 1973, finding that Harvey's death from accidental electrocution, on 2 May 1972, took too much out of the group for them to continue. The live chemistry between Bell and Harvey was missing. Peter Grant remained as Bell's manager after the split, and organised her first solo album, Queen of the Night, which was recorded in New York with record producer Jerry Wexler.
Although critically feted in the U.K., Maggie Bell never quite achieved the commercial breakthrough everyone had so expected -- always a bridesmaid, never a bride."
-Wiki
From the Archives:
Maggie Bell stretches John Prine´s "Souvenirs" to the max with Steve Gadd ably assisting by splashing the drums as deep as Bell's vocals. Her up-tempo version of J.J. Cale´s "After Midnight" is more captivating than Eric Clapton´s; she oozes that Etta James sexuality while Reggie Young throws some tasty guitar into the semi-calypso groove.
Souvenirs
After Midnight
Queen of the Night
Bell's identity is unique on much of the material, but a couple of tunes have her paying tribute to some of her sisters. The title track, "Queen of the Night," is drenched in gorgeous harmonies by The Sweet Inspirations and is pure Genya Ravan, but conversely, the cover of "A Woman Left Lonely,"(HEARD ABOVE) embraced totally by Janis Joplin on "Pearl", is a sweet vocal and totally alien to how Joplin ripped the song to shreds so wonderfully. It works on an entirely different level on "Queen of the Night" -- Bell's voice is an instrument that slips into different styles on a moment's notice. She takes the fun but silly RingStarr/Vini Ponica number five hit from the same year and gives it some style, then turns around with Deadric Malone´s "As the Years Go Passing By" and delivers another brand of quality sound. Cornell Dupree's fabulous guitar leads cook in the background -- the frosting on the cake for "As the Years Go Passing By." Intense and beautiful, it is the real sleeper here.
As the Years Go Passing By
While Merry Clayton was singing back-up on Ringo Starr´s "Oh My My" and ex- Black Oak Arkansas Ruby Starr would track Paul McCartney´s "Maybe I'm Amazed," Bell broke through her Stone The Crows image to cover a range of ideas, giving even David Clayton Thomas some respectability, taking his original "Yesterday's Music" to new heights with a Bonnie Bramlett-style touch of gospel. From Will Jennings to Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen, Bell's Queen of the Night is a stunningly marvelous mix of blues, pop, soul, and Southern rock. "We Had It All" builds with a smoldering tension that gives Bell a platform for her inspired phrasings. Sager must've been over the top when she first heard this version of "The Other Side." This is music straight from the heart, which concludes with "Trade Winds," piano, drums, and Bell's voice tapering off like the end of a great set at some intimate nightclub.
I remember holdin' on to you
All them long and lonely nights
I put you through
Somewhere in there I'm sure I made you cry
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere or just too high
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
I only miss you every now and then
Like the soft breeze blowin up from the Carribean
Most Novembers I break down and cry
'cause I can't remember if we said goodbye
But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I will never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere or may be just too high
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
No I can't remember if we said goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye
