I have two more songs by Jim Coates, this time played without vocals.
"Hi Ho Rally Ree" is actually a song with my lyrics, but I won't print them here at this time.
hi ho rally ree (no vox).wma
http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/nbXLFo5Z/file.html
This one is Jim's own work. Rivers Avenue is the main thoroughfare in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Mendel Rivers, a Democrat, represented the 1st SC District in the US House of Representatives from 1941 until his death in 1970. He made his political career initially by supporting the residents of the unincorporated area north of Charleston against the corrupt party machine that ran the city. In office he was instrumental in 1948 in getting "the North Area's" first paved four-lane highway -- named Rivers Ave. in honor of his effort.
The rivalry between the city and the North Area continued for decades. When I lived there, in 1972, after a bitter court fight, North Charleston incorporated as a separate city and vigorously moved to annex other outlying areas, more than doubling its population in its first year. By 1976 it had become the state's third largest city.
rivers avenue blues 8th.wma
http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/rP4vaQll/file.html
Duane, your mention of Mendel Rivers is apt. When I wrote the song in 1970 the original 1st line was "I got dem ol' Rivers Avenue blues, Mendel ...."
ReplyDeleteIn the song, you can "go down the corner" to Reynolds Avenue, a cross street that led to the Navy Base. The sailors could "take the pleasures of the harbor" (Phil Ochs) on Reynolds. "MacMillan" in the song is a nearby street with some housing projects with some very scarey people living in them. The narrator of the song lives in the projects and feels safe from the police there.
I wrote another one back then that mentioned Rivers, "Talking Charleston":
"Now Charleston was built by Mendel Rivers
and just thinkin' 'bout it gives me the shivers.
Ol' Mendel put Charleston on the map
of prime targets in the event of a nuclear attack!"
Oh, those were the days!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't in Charleston when you wrote the song but I fondly remember hearing you play it. And I have a lot of good North Charleston memories. The last time I was in the neighborhood, in the early '90s, things had changed a lot. I probably wouldn't recognize anything now.