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The Latest Release: Time to March! |
The last music I sent out via my website was Long Awaited, the album that was recorded entirely in Québec. Now, suddenly, like much of America, I had to think about actually moving to Québec…but I won’t be pushed out by the likes of DT. Where did this all come from? I have been happily living in Brooklyn for decades. New York City is an infinite inspiration for artists. It is a very diverse place. Every nationality, every walk of life. But there are always some people that you must choose to ignore. Donald Trump was just such a person. First of all, he has been an esthetic affront since I moved here. His buildings are ugly monstrosities that loudly proclaim themselves. I first noticed him when he tore down Bonwit Teller, promising the iconic limestone reliefs to the Met, then destroying them instead. He was a constant presence on the gossip pages with his continuous bankruptcies and divorces, and buying full pages in the New York Times to vent his racist views. I became aware that he was dogging Barack Obama with his birther lies, but give me a break. Who could/would pay attention to anything he said? It was just a different rotten take on the racism he had danced around throughout his life. But I can’t pretend I really knew very much about him beyond the headlines. I need to learn more. Much more. I had completely underestimated what a danger he is. While I wasn’t paying close attention, he was trying to take over our country. It is unfathomable and horrifying at the same time. This is scaring the hell out of me, Mama Dish, and everybody we know. I was very active as a songwriter during the W years. Those years were terrible for our country and for the entire world, but they inspired a lot of protest songs. It's been awhile since I've been provoked or inspired. The last outrage was expressed in my song Citizens United (The Song) That was followed by two instrumental albums. Now I am revved up again. “TIME TO MARCH AGAIN” is my opening salvo………………Papa Dish |
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Papa Dish and the Saint-Laurent LONG AWAITED
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I grew up in Scranton Pennsylvania. I started playing harmonica when I was 14, in 1964. In early 1965 I started playing guitar, and soon started playing them together. One man band style. I also wrote my first anti-war song that year. So this is roughly my 50th anniversary as a folk musician. I spent summers in New York City in 1967 and 1968 performing on the streets and in the basket houses. A few years later, after playing in The Bitter End, on several "Showcase" nights, (when performers were chosen for unpaid performances), I asked when I might play on a regular night. I was told by the manager at that time that, "Folksingers are a dime a dozen". Words to live by. This was undoubtedly true at the time, but it didn't mean I was going to stop. I just had a clearer notion of the chances I had of making a living with my chosen art. In early 1975 I met Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, who adopted me at a particularly adrift moment in my life. I spent the rest of that year on the road with them before I settled back in New York, and started to work for a while at a small record company. Through Sonny and Brownie I got to meet many people who had already had an influence on my music…or would in the future…Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Les Paul, John Hammond Sr., Benny Goodman, and Alberta Hunter. |
So this is my second instrumental album, Long Awaited, after Brooklyn Blues/Québec Muse. It is a bit more uniform than the last one, because, unlike the field recording aspect of the first album, this one was recorded exclusively in Québec with the same equipment. Even if the Blues pieces were primarily written in Brooklyn as well as some of the diatonic jazz themes, it was Québec that allowed them to run free. In the meantime, as the political clouds are again starting to darken, watch this space for more political music.......... Papa Dish VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
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"CITIZENS UNITED The Song" Music | Lyrics |
When I first heard about the Citizens United decision, I was horrified but not surprised. The majority of the present Supreme Court justices arrived there under murky circumstances. Two of them were appointed by Ronald Reagan. By most accounts, he gained his authority to appoint justices by negotiating with a foreign government, Iran, to hold back the release of the American hostages held by that government... until he could secure his election by defeating Jimmy Carter. Herbert Walker (Daddy) Bush became Vice President at the same time as a result of that complicity with Iran. He gained his authority to nominate Supreme Court justices after succeeding Ronald Reagan. After eight years as being Vice President, he still needed to engage in what is widely considered the nastiest campaign in modern presidential history. Lee Atwater, his campaign manager, later felt compelled to apologize for the conduct of that campaign. And of course, how that authority to appoint was used, choosing Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall, deserves to be the subject of another song. |
Which brings us to George Bush II. What can I say besides Florida? And that brings us two more illegitimate justices. So, as I said, I wasn't surprised. My most profound reaction was to that name itself, "Citizens United". I started writing this song over a year ago. As with my song, RIDING AROUND IN MY HUMMER, which was inspired the moment I saw a big, yellow, horrifying Hummer in my neighborhood, I started writing this song the first day I read about the decision. Unlike the Hummer song, which was completed and recorded in one day, this song took me well over a year to complete. It became what it is because of the profound guidance and direction from my beloved Mama Dish. The more I worked on it the more I realized that there was so much more to it than the desolate irony of its name.......... Papa Dish VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
"ELIZABETH WARREN'S WORDS" Music | Lyrics |
I have long admired Elizabeth Warren for her clear-eyed assessment of the current state of our economy. |
Once I heard it, I couldn't get it out of my mind. I decided to use her words as the basis of a song. I looked up the text, and decided that it was pretty near perfect. I really couldn't add or take anything away. I'm sure that she never could have imagined her words would become song lyrics, but it is innately musical. I needed to make some minor changes for an artistic fit, but very few. And I invite those who pretend to disagree with Elizabeth Warren's words to write their own song. - Papa Dish .........so, this is the song: And this is a link to the video that inspired me to write the song: |
"The Time is Now" Music | Lyrics |
THE TIME IS NOW! Click to download or play the MP3 © 2011 Papa Dish We can all agree that political corruption and institutional corruption is at the heart of our current sad state of affairs. But more than that, it is complacency that is our greatest enemy. Waiting for others to rise up is not the answer. We must do what we can to bring about change. We have the tools. It's up to us. |
VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
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Brooklyn Blues / Québec Muse |
This album represents recordings which were done between 2002 and 2010. Some elements of the music were conceived as early as 1968. One was actually written in 1978, while traveling over the Tappan Zee Bridge in the back of a van. I was on the way to open a show for my friends Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee at a club in Woodstock, New York. Most of this music, though, was written in Brooklyn and Québec, my geographical muses, close to the time they were recorded. I am not sure what inspires me so much almost exclusively in those two locations, but it must be the proximity to the sea. Having grown up in the mountains, I have always been drawn to the sea. If the Midwest is America's Heartland, New York harbor is its greatest valve, and still carries all the inspiring power and energy that Walt Whitman wrote about so eloquently. And the Saint-Laurent, the great estuary that drains the Great Lakes and opens up to its majestic gulf, holds a power over me that can best be described by the music I have written in its valley. The synchronicity of my son Pete Tridish giving me one of a new generation of recording devices in 2000, and the "Stolen Election" followed by the tragedy of September 11th, opened up the most productive time of my life as an artist. It was political protest that was always my greatest motivator. As a political songwriter, no period called for action as much as the last decade. With the constant collaboration and support of my beloved Mama Dish, the musical drive was so strong, the issues so imperative, that music spilled out of me and into recording devices, even beyond the political songs. This collection is from that musical overflow. There is a certain unevenness about this album. Since it was recorded in two different countries, at different locations, with different recording devices and different instruments it is unlike the studio recordings of today. Even with my modern digital recorders, it is more like the field recordings of early folk music collections. I am perfectly happy about that because my identity as an artist has always been as a folk musician Papa Dish |
Papa Dish: composing and performing progressive folk and blues. Papa Dish Music produces and distributes limited edition home-made CD's and graphics. (Revolution Through Office Supplies.) Click on the links below to hear the newest royalty-free downloads from Papa Dish and to read the lyrics. All songs copyright Papa Dish 2010. VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
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The Time is Now! music |
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Brooklyn Blues/Québec Muse Song Selection |
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In yet another sordid tale so familiar to the morally bankrupt Bush administration, we learn about the brothers Krongard, Howard "Cookie" and Alvin "Buzzy". Read more... |
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Livin' in a Red State with the Blue State Blues (for Bill & Marilyn Blizard) Papa Dish provides a balm for Democrats who feel as though they're all alone in their Red states. music | lyrics |
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We Are an Unruly People The second collection of Papa Dish favorites. A record of that slog from 2004-2006. Hopefulness about a new election, devastation with defeat...anger, sadness, disbelief. Then, there are the local political corruption stories that Brooklyn is famous for. It's time for a revolution...local and national. Song List |
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No More Years! |
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They Can't Keep Their Eyes Off Chavez
The democratically elected leader of Venezuela having a mind of his own just doesn’t cut it with the bullying neocons and their lust for Venezuelan oil. music / música | lyrics Y para nuestros amigos latinos, la letra en español... |
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Dr. Bruce Comes to Town |
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The September 11th Song |
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Papa Dish Plays the White House
The new compilation album of Papa Dish's latest songs |
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That Howard Dean |
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Valley Free Radio Launch
music The Valley Free Radio Low- Power FM Station Launch/Grassroots Radio Conference, hosted by The Prometheus Radio Project. Soundtrack of the closing day festivities by PapaDish. Image by Phyllis Wrynn. |
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If you want to contact Papa Dish, please email papadish@earthlink.net All songs copyright 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2010 Papa Dish "The September 11th Song" cover photograph "Scale in New York City" ©2000 George Forss |
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