Significance of Stockbridge, MA?
Will714
music? I looked it up and the population is less than 2,000. I know that it
was the setting of the events of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." But then
I realized that James Taylor mentions it in "Sweet Baby James." Is there a
connection between Guthrie and Taylor, or is it just a coincidence?
amers
entire state of Massachusetts was covered with snow on the first of
December. The Mass turnpike, I-90, runs east from Stockbridge at the NY
border to Boston on the coast. Other than that, it's a beautiful area of the
state....whenever I'm driving out there I sing a lot more than I do bucking
downtown Boston traffic. :) The Boston Symphony takes up residence in
nearby Lennox each summer, and the Williamstown summer theater festival is
also close by. I don't know the history behind Alice's Restaurant, so I
couldn't comment on a Taylor-Guthrie relationship.
-Amy
CHERYLMHVA
>From: wil...@aol.com (Will714)
>Date: 4/13/99 10:40 PM EST
>Message-id: <19990413234047...@ng-cf1.aol.com>
Arlo Guthrie & James Taylor were friends. Arlo lives near Stockbridge & after
moving to his farm, he used to have James stay with him at his house. He wrote
SWEET BABY JAMES while staying with Arlo. Arlo tells this story in concert
sometimes. Maybe he could get on here & explain it furthur. Hope I've been of
help! Peace to all!
Peace & have a nice day! Cheryl Harrell
Personal Quote: "Cheryl, huh?" By: My folksinger friend ADG
"Support Finding A Cure For Diabetes". By: ME
****NO SPAM PLEASE! THANK YOU! **** :)
Stephen Suffet
>
> How did the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts become so important in
> folk music? I looked it up and the population is less than 2,000. I
> know that it was the setting of the events of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's
> Restaurant." But then I realized that James Taylor mentions it in
> "Sweet Baby James." Is there a connection between Guthrie and Taylor,
> or is it just a coincidence?
Greetings:
I believe James Taylor and Arlo Guthrie are in fact friends. More
important: Arlo Guthrie set "Alice's Restaurant" in Stockbridge because
that's where the real incident took place. And James Taylor mentions
Stockbridge because it lies at the western end of the Massachusetts
Turnpike (or Mass Pike, for short), with Boston at the eastern end. Re-
member the lyrics:
"The first of December was covered with snow,
So was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston..."
By the way, despite Mr. Taylor's calculations, the Mass Pike is not
10,010 miles long. :-)
Regards,
Steve
Tony Fisk
Stephen Suffet wrote in message <37146E...@worldnet.att.net>...
>
> "The first of December was covered with snow,
> So was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston..."
>
> By the way, despite Mr. Taylor's calculations, the Mass Pike is not
>10,010 miles long. :-)
>
TF
Mike Regenstreif
Will714 <wil...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19990413234047...@ng-cf1.aol.com>...
> How did the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts become so important in
folk
> music? I looked it up and the population is less than 2,000. I know
that it
> was the setting of the events of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant."
But then
> I realized that James Taylor mentions it in "Sweet Baby James." Is there
a
> connection between Guthrie and Taylor, or is it just a coincidence?
>
In the introduction to "Gabriel's Mother Highway Ballad #16 Blues" on MORE
TOGETHER AGAIN (Rising Son) by Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, Arlo tells the
story of buying his farmhouse in the Berkshires with his "Alice's"
royalties and of how James Taylor was staying at the house early on. One
day, as Arlo tells it, he wrote "Gabriel's..." and James wrote "Sweet Baby
James."
--
Mike Regenstreif
Folk Roots/Folk Branches -- CKUT 90.3 FM -- Montreal
mre...@vax2.concordia.ca
http://www.dejanews.com/~ckutfolk/
Debra Cowan
<Suf...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> By the way, despite Mr. Taylor's calculations, the Mass Pike is not
>10,010 miles long. :-)
>
>
> Regards,
> Steve
I drive the Pike quite a bit and it sure does seem that long :-)
Debra
Jack Cullen
I've driven it a lot, too. It's not; the Pennsylvania Turnpike is the
one that's 10, 010 miles long!
;-)
--
Jack Cullen
West Chatham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
-------------
Please send all replies to: JJoeJack1 "at" aol "dot" com
Larry Flanigan
fingers at least!! That's the story! Larry***
Chris Kergaravat
did, but it had moved to Lenox and was a very different kind of place.
James Taylor, on the other hand, became familiar with the area hwile combatting his
substance abuse problem (heroin addiction) at a private psychiatric institution,
Austin Riggs Center. It was there that he wrote Fire and Rain (allegedly to a
suicidal woman, Suzanne, whom he met there - "Suzanne, the plans they made put an
end to you.......but I never thought that I'd see you again")
Stella
about a girl he was seeing. He was on the road touring and friends arranged
to fly her to join him. She was killed when the plane crashed. Can
someone confirm?
WalterH796 <walte...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990414204403...@ng147.aol.com...
> >"Suzanne, the plans they made put an
> >end to you.......but I never thought that I'd see you again"
>
> That's "but I always thought that I'd see you again" ! :-)
Chris Kergaravat
Chris Kergaravat
From the JT FAQ (http://www.james-taylor.com/text/FAQ.shtml) :
"Quoting JT in a 2/18/71 Rolling Stone article:From the same FAQ (which, also, btw, includes some references to the story you heard, but no concrete, traceable links to them):
The first verse was a reaction to a friend of mine killing herself. . . The second verse of it is about my kicking junk just before I left England. And the third verse is about my
going into a hospital in Western Massachusetts. It's just a hard-time song, a blues without having the blues form. "
From Ken Kwartler (kmkl...@corp.sgi.com):
Quoting Flying Machine drummer Joel Bishop:
James wrote it after the album was pretty well done. There was this friend of my brother's - we both really liked her, and she had killed herself six months before. No one
had told James - they were afraid I guess. One night late we got drunk, and I told him because I'd wanted to. In a week and a half, he had that song written.From Carrie Schwanke (c...@gwis.circ.gwu.edu):
"Fire and Rain" was written about a friend of JT's, Suzanne. They met when they were in Austin Riggs for heroin addition. They became very close *friends*. After JT was
released, they spoke on the phone alot, helping each other out ("hours of time on the telephone line"). Suzanne was supposed to be released, but committed suicide very
close to her release date. The line "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" refers to JT's past--and the breakup of his first band (Flying Machine).From Ellen M. Roberts (eu...@cleveland.freenet.edu):
Actually, the song is sort of a mini-trilogy dealing with three bad times in his life.
Verse I -- in 1968 -- making his first record. A friend of his died -- her name was Suzanne and he got to know her when she was at Austin Riggs with him. She had some
surgery and didn't come through it. (Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you). He also refers to her in the refrain: I've seen lonely times when I could not find a
friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again. At the time of Suzanne's death, his friends didn't tell him because they felt he was too strung out to handle the news.
Verse II -- refers to the NYC drug scene
Verse III - refers to leaving NY to escape heroin. The flying machines in pieces on the ground refers to his original group breaking up after being together only a bit more than
one year.
WalterH796
That's "but I always thought that I'd see you again" ! :-)
Mike Regenstreif
Stella <ssme...@msn.com> wrote in article <OTJ#Cduh#GA.261@upnetnews05>...
> Sorry, but I had to jump in here.. I believe that the song Fire and Rain
is
> about a girl he was seeing. He was on the road touring and friends
arranged
> to fly her to join him. She was killed when the plane crashed. Can
> someone confirm?
>
According to an interview with James Taylor that I recall from 25+ years
ago, the song is about a friend who committed suicide while a patient in a
mental hospital.