Violets of Dawn

There was a time (shortly after Rev-ola released this cd) when I'd listen to "Violets of Dawn" for hours on end.  That's not a figure of speech, either. I did actually listen to it over and over and over.  In a world of thousands upon thousands of wonderful songs and recordings, to listen obsessively to just one song may seem like a bad use of time but just listen to Mary's voice and you'll hear why I had to.  Have you ever heard a voice so pure in all your life?  Chuck's voice, too, is lovely - soft but certainly not weedy - and the guitar playing and its placement in the mix is perfect.  I'm so glad they didn't crowd the recording with additional needless, distracting instrumentation.   Shamefully, I know nothing about the song's writer, Eric Andersen (time to get reading!), but I do know that his song as recorded in late 1968 by Chuck and Mary Perrin is one of the most bewitchingly beautiful and endlessly comforting things I will ever hear.

Read a little about the lp, including an unexpected namecheck for The Shaggs!) on Chuck's site.  Time-Lag currently has a decidedly non-Mint copy for 450 quid!

Not Knowing You

I went walking down the Byres Rd
I was hoping to find you there
I counted all the people who hadn’t met you
And those that had didn’t seem to care
Fools don’t know what they’re missing
Not like I do
Fools don’t know what they’re missing
But this fool knows he’s missing you

I bumped into a handsome guy
I hate for just being your type
With his perfect skin
And his flat little stomach
How I wish that’s what I was like
But he don’t know what he’s missing
It seems a little cruel
That he don’t know what he’s missing
While this fool knows he’s missing you

And this ribbon is a medal
For my stupidity
And my chain is a reminder
Of the day when you loved me

Duglas T Stewart's best song?  Maybe.  It's certainly one of his most affecting as is his vocal.

From "My Chain" (Rev-ola)