All the Good Times are Past and Gone

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Description

A recording made aboard the sailboat Moody Blue. The photos are of the people that played in BlueMambo and the interesting people that I met along the way in Mexico.

The Song: Songs of misery and suffering first became popular around 1850 in the U.S. This song was written in 1930 by Fred and Gertrude Gossett and made popular in 1937 (during the first depression) by the Monroe Brothers (Bill Monroe). It has become a folk and bluegrass mainstay recorded by The Kingston Trio, David Grisman, Jimmy Martin, Ralph Stanley, Red Allen, Norman Blake, and many others.

The Recording: After returning to San Diego from my first sailboat trip, I took the AmTrack train to LA to retrieve my van. When I put my guitar in the baggage compartment of the train I noticed another guitar and a violin. We played music all the way from San Diego to LA. About midway we were joined by the train conductor who had a fabulous bluesy voice. This was one of the most memorable - spontaneous - musical moments of my life.

The violinist was David - a doctoral student in San Diego who had never played bluegrass or blues. I invited him to come by the boat in San Diego to record. We listened to several songs and he immediately wanted to record this one. I think that he captured the sadness perfectly.

When I was in Marina Del Rey in 96 and 97 there was a group of great friends that got together to jam on Larry Gardner's boat every week or so. This was always their favorite song to sing - complete with mourners crying and wailing in the background. Thus - after recording the violinist - I went back to LA and recorded the harmony vocals on Larry's boat. Larry Passed away from MS in 2005. R.I.P. my friend.

Mexico: The photos are of beautiful La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico - my home for 10 years. The quaint fishing village is now home to a marina and several resort hotel developments.

Gerrit Honings: Gerrit was a dear friend and a part of BlueMambo from it's inception until his untimely death in July of 2003. He is featured in several of these photos. Although he is not on this recording - he can be heard on several other videos - La Bamba, etc.