Broadside Electric : Their Music : Liner Notes : Black-edged Visiting Card

Black-edged Visiting Card (1993)

Recorded in the fall of '92 and released January '93, this was the first Broadside Electric album. Includes the original folk-metal version of "Mosé Salió de Misrayim," the rich vocals of "Henry Martin" and "The Six Questions," and the runaway reels of "40 lbs. of Yarn." Available on CD (CS 1701D) and chrome cassette (CS 1701C).

1. New York Girls/Yoshke/Sailor's Hornpipe 5:57
A coming-of-age drama in which a young British sailor hears Klezmer music for the first time while being robbed in New York. A mainstay of our live set since the band's formation.

2. Drive the Cold Winter Away/Wild Mountain Thyme 6:25
One of the many thinly disguised folk songs about outdoor sex. Melissa had attributed the herbal setting to poetic license until she wound up in a field of it in Medusa, New York. "Cold Winter" is in Playford, but we found it on the excellent Horslips record of the same name.

3. Skewball 3:47
This Irish version of the legendary racehorse's story has him talking and raising his glass to the opposition. (Mr. Ed was never like this!) We learned this from a Steeleye Span album.

4. 40 lbs. of Yarn (reels): Sligo Maid/Growling Old Man and Cackling Old Woman/Red-Haired Boy/Kitchen Girl/Drowsy Maggie 5:33
These are some of Helene's favorite reels (comprising, you will note, a family of six). Some will recall "Red-Haired Boy" and "Kitchen Girl" from our arrangement of "Little Beggar Man."

5. Mosé Salió de Misrayim 4:18
A Sephardic Jewish song from Morocco. The lyric is in Ladino (a medieval Spanish written with the Hebrew alphabet) and Hebrew. This is our arrangement of the version by Voice of the Turtle, a wonderful Boston group who specialize in the music of the Jews exiled from Spain in 1492.

6. Henry Martin 5:54
Another coming-of-age tale; here, the youngest child is bullied into committing crimes for his brothers. But for the fact that most everybody dies horribly, this could be an after-school special. One of Tom's favorite ballads, learned in the womb from a Joan Baez record.

7. False Sir John/La Rotta 5:26
Our version of Child #4, in which a murderous seducer receives his lethal comeuppance. The tune and text are from Bronson, with a bit of editing. "La Rotta" is a 14th century Italian tune.

8. The Six Questions 7:04
A song about two people who have no business getting romantically involved with each other. As with "Sir John," this is from Child (#2), via Bronson.

All songs and tunes traditional, arranged by Broadside Electric.

Dramatis Personae

Melissa Demian:	lead and backing vocals, Appalachian dulcimer
Tom Rhoads:	lead and backing vocals, guitars, piano, soprano recorder, harmonica
Jim Speer:	bass, clarinet, saxophone, alto recorder, synthesizer, backing vocals
Helene Zisook:	violin, viola, mandolin, backing vocals

Recorded and mixed to DAT at Second Street Audio Production and Recording, Philadelphia, PA, Oct.-Dec. 1992. Engineered by Larry Freedman; produced by B.E. and Larry Freedman.

Digital assembly and editing by Ray Monahan at Digital Domain, Philadelphia, PA.

Disks and cassettes manufactured by American Helix, Lancaster, PA.

Special thanks to (in alphabetical order):

Larry Freedman for getting it all on tape.

Rachel Hall for her part in founding Broadside 2½ years ago, and for "Kitchen Girl," "Growling Old Man," lots of art and other good ideas.

Frances Rhoads for motivation and support, without which this record would never have existed.

Alan Rose for the loan of the 12-string guitar and Fender amp, for recommending Larry to us, and for freely loaning us his 4-track and lots of other gear, especially PA for our live shows; also for putting up with our rehearsing beneath his bedroom for two years!

David Schwartz for booking us over and over at the Red Raven, one of the most enjoyable places we've played.

Brownlow and Doris Speer for financial help with this project.

Thanks also to (in no particular order):

B. H. Bronson's Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads; Joanne at the Mermaid (and Lou from the Open Circle); Sarah Smith for T-shirt art; Alan Rose; Lori Lippitz of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band for "Yoshke;" Rhoda Gena and Gail Rundlett (Helene's and Melissa's teachers, respectively); Sam Williams for photography; Alan Rose; Mike Agranoff and the Folk Project; Dan Riles for sound, more photos and roadieing; Jeanne Braun; Philip Rhoads for business cards; Alan Rose; Freud and Marx; Regina Gordon; Voice of the Turtle; Andrea Cheng; and Alan Rose.

A final thank you to all who have turned out to see us play, from December 8th, 1990 to the present.