The Crocodile and the Chihuahua
Irreverent songs of love and loss
David Michael
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The Crocodile and the Chihuahua | |
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Introduction by David Michael: The Crocodile and the Chihuahua is completely unlike any of my previous productions. Those of you who know me as a harpist can now discover my guitarist/singer/songwriter side. Stylistically, this is a batch of sardonic ballads about love gone wrong, served up as Swing, Country, Folk, Blues, '60s Rock etc. with a hefty helping of comic gags and a Mexican theme. There is also a heart-warming finish to the CD, highlighted by a song about love gone right...very right! If you're still having trouble imagining the sound of this record, take Dan Hicks, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Tom Lehrer, David Bromberg, Tom Paxton, shake them up together and voila ... This irreverent collection of songs of love and loss. A few years ago I resolved to be involved only in things that were either 1) really fun, 2) really rewarding or 3) absolutely necessary. Creating The Crocodile and the Chihuahua was about having fun ... or not ... but always trying.
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A little while back (after an almost 20 year hiatus from writing songs with lyrics) I was inspired to write a very sad lament after the dissolution of a passionate love affair lasting several years. At the time, I wasn't having any fun at all. Believing the song to be as fine a piece as anything I'd ever written, I decided I had to create a whole new collection of songs so the lament could have a place somewhere on a CD. (Obviously it wouldn't fit on one of my instrumental harp CDs) So this was to be a new chapter in my singer/songwriter/guitar accompaniment stuff. I recorded a very soulful version of the tune, along with some other songs I started writing. Then an interesting development occurred. I decided to arrange the songs with a fun backup band (mostly drawn from an immensely talented pool of local Port Townsend musicians). After writing and arranging an hour of material, I realized the lament no longer fit in! It was just too sad and would have been the only set of lyrics in the collection that was utterly humorless! So ironically, the very song which inspired the inception, got cut out at the finish!
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VICTORY REVIEW: (August 2004 DAVID MICHAEL: THE CROCODILE AND THE CHIHUAHUA Purnima Productions, PPCD-1017) After a dozen and a half albums exploring the limits of all things stringed and creating a fantastic fusion of Celtic harp and world music, Victory veteran David Michael serves up a surprise: a breezy vocal album of light jazz and blues. As the touching liner notes explain, it was time to celebrate his recent travels and marriage and acknowledge the joys and sorrows of past trips and trysts: hence the album's subtitle "Irreverent Songs of Love and Loss." Except for the ex that stuck him with her worldly goods ("Garage Sale Blues"), Michael seems to be on good terms with his old flames, and even the wistful observations illicit warm smiles. What really makes the album a joy, a sunny aural afternoon in a hammock, is the music, which often references Central and South American excursions, especially his honeymoon in Mexico, but which returns each time to old time jazz. The tunes are swingy and saucy with crisp contributions from trombonist David Ritt and clarinetist Paul Becker. The musicianship throughout is absolutely impeccable and the new Mrs. Michael, Dari, is a beautiful singer whose backing vocals grace several tracks and who duets with David on the funny-if-it's-not-frightening "Plenty of Time". This is a splendid album that opens up new avenues for one of the Northwest's most formidable talents. (Tom Petersen) |
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| Story and Lyrics | Playing time | Play MP3 | ||
| Stumbling Mantras | 6:25 |   | ||
| Moonlight Flight | 7:16 | | ||
| The Crocodile & the Chihuahua | 4:10 | | ||
| Warring Parties | 5:08 | | ||
| Thirty-four Questions | 5:57 | | ||
| The Fourteenth Night | 4:39 | | ||
| Plenty of Time | 4:49 | | ||
| Zihuatanejo | 2:22 | | ||
| Garage Sale Blues | 5:08 | | ||
| Here You Are | 5:19 | | ||
| Playa la Ropa | 3:38 | | ||
| Let Your Hair Down | 4:21 | | ||