patient & strong  grey bristle-haired & cute, stubborn according to legend, silent in speech except for their call, the horn-like voice, four feet on the ground, straw bound and watching always watching—swishing flies with their broom-like tails—the soft snoot the adjustable & attenuated pointed twitching ears, the huge forward teeth in rows chewing corn, hay, carrots—the silky muzzle—the forbearance of the animal—here in all being but a passenger amongst humans—no they’ve been passengered but carry men women & children on their backs—the odors of dirt & manure—hay & the dry breeze—in their little barn over the hill & dale of Caulkins’ farm—which was really just a place, a home, with donkeys—four of them that we’d visit—Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, the Kings enters on a donkey’s back, greeted by seismic crowds, waving palm fronds—was the little animal frightened? Did jesus ride side-saddle? Was the donkey rewarded in Heaven or on Earth? The wild burros of Hawaii, on the big island, wandering the black volcanic ash & fields by the blue ocean—life of a donkey equals low man on the totem pole—the respect and trust of Balthazar—traded & whipped from town to town—credited as living brick but a donkey can feel, is

definition:  “the inspired declaration of divine will & purpose”“an inspired utterance of a prophet” always heard a lot about prophecy, but never really understood what it meant—seeing the future, crystal balls, dreams, voices & lights, all figure in, but it seems that prophecy is also having the clear use of your senses & mind in the present, able to see the obvious—cars rolling down the highways by the millions: I predict—the day of the automobile will soon be over! insane irrational buffoons in power: I predict—disease, death, & sorrow will ensue—Blake was a prophet—he saw the disaster of a materialist world Was Ford a prophet? He saw how to manufacture that world. Visionaries? —distraction does not lead to prophecy—heat up your oven, your fire, stay engaged, ask—always ask & you will receive—was Dylan a prophet on par with Ezekial? compelling imagery—the art of art is getting anybody to listen & care— Same may go for prophecy—it’s so easy for me to lose track —the prophetic that now needs to be brought—stay tuned—attentive—seek higher direction—don’t be afraid to see & speak—don’t waste yourself on games & distractions. https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/04-Fortune-Teller.m4a

so white & dry & innocent but evil—the sweetness that creates a sucking sound—a light in every dark heart—candy lives that go down easy  attention spans that spin at the sour—the dirty truth you have to get down on your hands & knees to ride—the faint trail in the dust that leads out through the lines—white footsteps in the green wet grass straight to—SUGAR ISLAND where the deal goes down—kill for a mouthful to bury this turpentine taste—the big size drinks at the asphalt corner stand—in a big plastic sweating cup—each sip leads unbearably to the next ’til yr teeth fall out, your waist is dragging like a swollen hula hoop—yr breath is shorter than a fullback’s book report. Sugar has its spot at the very top of the pyramid, like King Tut or the Sphinx—sugar the universal solvent—more potent than alcohol? A brighter name in the Poison Hall Of Fame—oh we all love to lick the pan—let our tongue lead the way through wisps & crisps of alleys & chiffon floating sweetness—her voice was thin & pinched everybody called HER sugar & she gave them something very sweet that soon rotted their resolve—it’s a ballast without it I fall

After a long day worn out with the guys, rehearsing, yelling, working angles on each other and watching them develop, ducking figurative (and sometimes literal) punches, conforming and rebelling in equally stressed measure to the group think, my head doesn’t ache but my scalp is tight, my face hurts, I’m ready to go back to the second floor motel room I call home—a block and a half from the Capital Records tower—I go in and turn on the black & white—white plastic magnavox TV with the green tube & wobbly knobs—the tube flickers up to life growing from a dot, and reveals, Abbott & Costello fighting the mob, black & white & shades of grey, the actors   beat looking adults, they’ll always seem older than me, slicked back hair and pugnacious expressions with vaudeville timing, my mother told me once she’d seen them go by in Buffalo, a sighting she took seriously, wonder—stars—but—the safety, the comfort, of the late night movies—the plot creeps between used car ads—“come see Cal and his dog Spot!”—and Spot was a lion—a dream link—daydreams at night—relief—a dark room flickered and ghosted by Boston Blackie, the Mob, Detectives, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Natalie Wood, feet

“I tour playing music for a living, have done for years and years. It used to be the records mattered, (and they still do to me and a few others), but basically for most people they seem like an adjunct to the concert line, now. Once upon a time music was a gateway to the forbidden world, to magic, the invisible, to danger too… and the extent to which that is still true is a measure of its worth as a calling. It can’t be about the money. It’s gotta be about love, spells, the feel, where you get ’em, secret knowledge, turning the world around, freedom, true escape and redemption, or there’s no point in playing it, and less than no point for people to listen.”

Peter Case: On The Way Downtown: Recorded Live On FolkScene By DOUG COLLETTE October 28, 2017 Peter Case’s On the Way Downtownreminds how prolific the once and future frontman of the Plimsouls has been during the course of his solo career. Recorded Live On FolkScene captures Case just as he was gaining traction during that phase of his career and offers keen insight into both his writing and performing. What’s most noticeable right away is the ease with which the man sings. Always fluent with his vocal delivery and perhaps never more so than on stage, it’s nevertheless remarkable how effortless he sounds throughout “Spell of Wheels,” just to name one of the eighteen tracks. And while the lack of affectation is notable (and laudable) on its own terms, it’s also important as the foundation for the sound of his music, especially in the stripped-down format of this two part snapshot. Tracks one through nine come from a session on the folk radio program on March 1, 1998 where Peter Case is accompanied by a quintet whose sparse playing is as meticulous as the craft of the frontman’s songwriting. And like all great bands, self-sufficient or in a supplemental role like this, the five

On the Way Downtown to Show Business, Baby Posted By Peter Stone Brown On November 1, 2017 @ 12:36 am In articles 2015 | Comments Disabled Peter Case and Tom Heyman, are both musicians and singer-songwriters who’ve been writing and playing music for decades, who happen to coincidentally currently reside in San Francisco. Both make music that is aware of tradition and musical history, and both have been through the ringer of the music business and keep on doing it anyway. Peter Case’s new album On The Way Downtown (Omnivore Recordings) consists of two live-in-the-studio sets recorded on the radio show, “FolkScene,” broadcast on KPFK in Los Angeles. The first nine tracks recorded in 1998, find Case backed by a small band featuring ace guitarist, Greg Leisz; Andrew Williams, guitar, harmonium, vocals, Tony Marsico, bass; Don Heffington, percussion; and Sandy Chila, drums. They are the perfect backing group for Case, with Leisz’ superb slide work happening at exactly the right moment, creating exactly the right mood. On the remaining nine tunes recorded in 2,000, Case is accompanied by David Perales on violin and vocals who is equally sympathetic. One of the best examples of what this group is capable of happens on “Honey Child,” which continually builds

When I was a kid John Lennon was one of my biggest heros. At 16 years old I read the Rolling Stone interview, and JL said something like ‘I’m the kind of person, when I have a hero, if I find out they wear green socks, I’ll run out and buy green socks’  and  I immediately started to wear green socks myself. Wore ’em for years. I know that’s fucked up. He did a photo spread in Look Magazine, with Yoko, it must have been around the time of  the making of the White Album, and the pictures made a big impression on me. Him and Yoko were posing in a big empty house that they’d just moved into. She was sitting with him and he was playing the guitar, and  I just really admired him, with his girl and guitar in a big house where nobody could tell him what to do. It was one of the things that clarified, at the time, my ideas about life. Of course, my image of him was rubbish. He was mad, painfully insane, destroying his mind with drugs, about to break up his great band. But that flux was part of what

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/03-Anything-Closing-Credits.mp3 Los Angeles, California: Peter Case in his studio (Photo: Ann Summa).

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/10-Many-Roads-to-Follow.m4a I learned how to cure the spins. I learned how to split a quarter in half. I learned how to tie my shoes while running. I learned 37 names for the police. (the fuzz, newts, the royals, the peelers, rocket boys, black & whites, G-men boys-in-blue, bobbies, john law, rangers gumshoes, the gang, officer krupke constable, the chaperones, mounties catchpole, beagles, roundsman, feds mace-bearer, tip staves, beadles, coppers blue coats, bull, flatfoot, gendarmes, shamus, dick, pigs, flattie, Dogberry, New York’s finest gestapo & The Man.) names for G-O-N-E: • cheese it! vamoose! head for the hills! scram—make like a tree—jam—vanish alacazam! dive—scat! git—be gone! get along! away with you! get a hot dog! on your way! get out clear out! allez-vous-en shoo! “stand not on the order of your going but go at once” “go and hang yourself” buzz off! skidoo—skedaddle—make yourself scarce—get lost! take a walk! take a hike! go chase yourself—go play in the traffic— shove off—step off—stand off—push off take a powder—blow—& I mean, split! • what kind of magic could I bring to you, who knows all the answers? magic: illustrious, glorious, brilliant radiant, resplendent, bright shining, charismatic, glamorous luminous numinous & alacazam I learned