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WHISTLE,
HARMONICA, BACKING VOCAL
TONY GILKYSON - LEAD GUT STRING & STELLA
GUITAR
JOSH GRANGE – ELECTRIC GUITAR, PEDAL
STEEL, BASS
DANNY MCGOUGH – PUMP ORGAN, WULITZER,
CONDOR
STEVIE BLACKE – CELLO
MIKE STAR – FIDDLE, MANDOLIN
VICKI HILL – BACKGROUND VOCALS
CHRISTA KNUDSEN - BACKGROUND VOCALS
CHARLIE MCGOVERN – PIANO SOUND BOARD
MIKE STINSON – DRUMS
produced by Charlie McGovern
-THE WEEPING CITY
2005
1. READY IN MY TIME
2. THE HIGH (click to listen)
3. THAT RING
4. TAKE A KEY (click to listen)
5.STONE ON THE WATER
6. MY BEAUTIFUL DREAM
7.HIGH AS THE SUN
8.ANGEL OF THE RIVER
9. WEEPING CITY
10.SOMETHING GOOD THAT LASTS
11.GOOD THINGS YET TO COME
PRODUCED BY CHARLIE McGOVERN
Charlie McGovern - bass, acoustic guitar, percussion, piano bass
Mike Stinson - drums, backing vocals
Kip Boardman - piano, Fender Rhodes, backing vocals
Joshua Grange - pedal steel, electric guitar
Christa Knudsen - backing vocals
Hydraulic recording and photographs done at Big Ol' Studios by
Charlie McGovern
additional recording performed at Heffington Electronic
All songs written by Dave Knudsen
When I was thirteen years old I was at a used record and used book store. I ended up in
the Blues section. In there I found Big Bill Broonzy’s original version of ‘Baby Please Don’t
Go’ but there was another record with a gold toothed man and what looked like an
modified acoustic guitar with an electronic pickup that got my attention. That was
Lightnin Hopkins.
I bought both the Big Bill Broonzy and Lightnin Hopkins records for half the price of
mowing my neighbor’s lawn.
Being 13 is a weird age. Feeling like every adult is against you, figuring out girls and
what the Hell you are going to do with your life. I could never sleep and wondering where
the universe ends has kept me up all my life. To Hell with School, I hated all my teachers
except for my woodshop teacher who believed in me enough to let me do my own project,
building a guitar. So everyday I returned to school getting that guitar closer to being
playable.
But the thing that got me through life at that time was that Lightnin Hopkins record. He
was singing about visiting and getting drunk with a gal friend and pissing off his wife. I
could relate to all of it, even though it wasn’t anything like my life.
It’s the only way I can think of to describe Dave Knudsen’s new record, ‘The Weeping
City’. No matter how hard I try I cannot keep myself from crying when I listen to this
record.
We recorded it here in Los Angeles in an old Apricot farmhouse during one of the rainiest
seasons ever, and it sounds like it.
This record might sound more like a Tim Hardin or Fred Neil record but I think it’s a Blues
record. In 30 years a 13 year old will pick this record up and will be able to sleep that
night.
-Charlie McGovern
July 23, 2005 North Hollywood, California
*************
(Boronda Records 2005) Review by John Hinshelwood Americana-UK.com
This is the kind of record which will probably highlight the absurdity of the way the music
industry operates, and how thin the line is between massive success and relative obscurity.
An initial, cursory listen certainly passed this reviewer's old grey whistle test, finding myself
continually humming bits and pieces all of the following day. Knudsen's songs are
deceptively simple in structure, but instantly memorable: predictable, yet profound, with an
indefinable magic which leaves the listener with a feeling of having just heard something
destined to be timeless. At times the sound is akin to Loudon Wainwright singing some
previously undiscovered out takes from Neil Young's "Harvest" or " Comes a Time "
sessions, but any suggestions of plagiarism are swept away as Knudsen stamps his
individuality on each and every song. Many of the arrangements are sparse, with Knudsen's
heavily reverb laden acoustic guitar accompanied by just one additional instrument. The
wistful " My Beautiful Dream" is a case in point, with some eerie pedal steel redolent of
Michael Nesmith's " The Hits Keep On Coming " album, and "Stone on TheWater" would not
have been out of place on " After The Goldrush ". When he opts for a fuller band sound,
such as on "The High" or " Angel Of The River ", the feel is very much live and loose. Mike
Stinson's drums, with strident , yet tasteful brushes to the fore, blend beautifully with some
glorious restrained ,yet telling guitar and steel licks, courtesy of Joshua Grange. The
production by Charlie McGovern, who also contributes guitar, bass and percussion, is
minimal, but effective. With the right promotion, this could become a huge selling record, but
whether this is likely to happen, is regrettably, debatable.