Last Sunday April and I went to the Mucky Duck in Houston to see one of our favorite singer-songwriters, Greg Brown. I think that part of Brown’s appeal to us is that he is a liberal Midwesterner who grew up (like us) in a working class family and so we relate to him in a very unconscious way. He sings a lot about small communities in the Midwest like the ones we lived in and grew up in. (In fact he mentions my hometown, somewhat unfavorably, in one of his songs which I drew his attention to after the show and we both had a laugh about. “Oh yeah,” he said, “I said something about it being full of ‘dope fiends, blown whores, and methamphetamines’ right?” Yep, that was it!)
He also sings a lot about religion and I think we relate to him there too. To hear him talk about it he is very liberal in terms of religion, but he feels strong ties to the old time religion he grew up with. One of our favorite songs of his is “Billy From the Hills” that he wrote for his father. He often mentions in concert that his dad was a Pentecostal minister when he was growing up. (“He spoke in tongues, and healed by laying on hands. Yeah… we moved about once every two years or so.” – From his description on his album The Live One.) Then he lets the audience know that later in his life he became a Baha’i. Again from The Live One: “I guess you could say his life was an opening up. Interesting guy my dad.” At this show he also mentioned that late in his life his dad took great pride in doing the electric work for a Baha’i church in Illinois. (Greg is from Iowa.) Then he launched into a great version of “Billy.”
As I said he makes it very clear that he is religiously liberal but he loves the old time religion too and feels connected to the passion those folk bring to their faith lives. On Sunday he treated us to one of those songs “Poor Backslider.” They work very well with folk like us who have known people just like (or barely removed) from the one he is describing and even introduces some fairly serious concerns many of us have with atonement theology and delivery from “original sin” by Grace rather than works.
I'm a poor backslider in the pit of sin
I try to crawl out. I slip back in
Come Savior save me--get a hold of my hand
Please don't let me slide back in the dark again
Well the preacher told me hope was never gone
I combed my hair with water and put my white shirt on
One Sunday morning I put the family in the car
dropped them down at church and went on down to the bar
Audrey left me and she took my kids
I miss them children--I'm sorry for what I did
When I get drinking I lose control
When you lose your family it's like you lost your soul
Now the mill is failing, I'm on shifting sand
I sit in my trailer and I wring my hands
No children's voice, no woman's touch
Just a whiskey bottle, some shotgun shells and such
Should not have let that woman get me so annoyed
Should not of hit my girl; should not of struck my boy
Should not of took off running like a turkey through the corn
Should not of bought this gun; should not of ever been born
The preacher told me Jesus laid down his life for my sin
Well I'd lay mine down too if I could do it like him
Three days in the grave--that sounds good to me
I just have some problems with eternity
I'm a poor backslider in the pit of sin
I try to crawl out. I slip back in
Come Savior save me--get hold of my hand
Please don't let me slide back in the dark again
(From the 1990 album Down In There.)
Now the character in “Poor Backslider” may be far removed from myself and (I suspect) Greg, but he grew up in the same environment as we did and I recognize him. He might have lived down the street from me... Greg Brown wrestles with religion in a way that is recognizable to me and his songs provide a welcome place to hear music reflecting an outlook on religion and life that seems somewhat akin to mine. He straddles the line of the small town traditionalist and the progressive radical – the same line I have straddled since I left home for the university.
Greg was very on from the start of the show down singing several covers and old folk songs alongside his originals. There was even a Dylan connection – he sang a song he attributed to the Mississippi Sheiks but he sang the Dylan arrangement. For the oral tradition folks among you, you can tell because the Mississippi Sheiks version is actually called (from the early 1930s) “The World is Going Wrong.” When he recorded it for an album in 1993 Dylan updated it to the more pessimistic “World’s Gone Wrong” on his 1993 album World Gone Wrong and Greg sang the Dylan version. He also did some old blues, some Mose Allison (though not his own excellent “Mose Allison Sang Here”), and a very funny Randy Newman song.
The Mucky Duck is a wonderful venue and if you are in the Houston area and love folk music do give it a try. But get your tickets early – it is a small place where you sit and eat dinner. Maybe a 150 people can fit in, so we had to buy tickets about 6 months in advance and even then one of the two shows had sold out. It was well worth the wait.
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