"Let The Rough Side Drag..."

That's the title track to one of Jesse Winchester's albums, from 1976, and pretty damn good advice. 

Jesse Winchester died of bladder cancer on April 11th.  He was an enormous treasure in my generation's musical legacy, and his songs will continue to be sung for years to come.  And yet I'll wager that, at the most, 10% of you reading this right now know that you know him (as Donald Rumsfeld might say), or at least his work.  It may be true that "talent will out," but that outing doesn't necessarily lead to a trip to the bank to deposit scads of money.

He was an Army brat, born on Barksdale Army Air Base in Louisiana in 1944.  He graduated from Williams College in 1966 and in 1967 made a life- and career-changing decision.  At the height of the War in Vietnam, he moved to Canada rather than serving in the armed forces.  Certainly sizable numbers of young men made the same decision, or at least the decision to refuse induction, and all paid a price.  Perhaps the best-known of them was Muhammad Ali, also in 1967, who famously said "I ain't got nothin' against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me 'nigger.'"  Yow.

I want to say right now that this week it is not my intention to be controversial; I simply want to write a nice little introduction to a life and pay tribute to someone who I feel is deserving of much greater notice and appreciation.  But, given that one of the most salient facts of Jesse Winchester's life is that he chose to leave his country and become a citizen of Canada, that needs to be addressed, especially as it made me admire him (and Ali) more.  The Vietnam War tore my country apart when I was in my teens, and I don't think the scars have yet really healed for a lot of us.  I do not mean to attack, even by implication, those who fought:  all men of a certain age had a terrible decision to make, and each required its own moral calculus and its own sort of bravery and came with its own set of consequences.   I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have to make the choice.

Jesse Winchester's choice, as I said, had immediate and, I believe, lasting consequences for his career.  While he met Robbie Robertson of The Band soon after moving to Canada, and Mr. Robertson played on and produced his first album, Winchester was of course unable to tour the States behind it, or any of his next several records, and you couldn't really carve out a successful career with that restriction.  Yet, in a remark that I think shows his character as well as anything he ever said or wrote, upon being able to return to the US in 1977 after Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to all who chose to leave rather than fight, Winchester said "It doesn't seem fair to turn your back on your country and then come back when the coast is clear and make money."  Imagine the inner conflict and turmoil that would lead to that way of thinking.

Anyway, as I said, you may not know that you know him, but I'll bet you've heard his songs.  Here's a partial list of artists who have covered Jesse Winchester:  Patti Page(!), Anne Murray, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Buffet, Joan Baez, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash, The Everly Bros., Jonathan Edwards, James Taylor, Jerry Garcia, Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nicolette Larson, Brewer and Shipley, and Wilson Pickett(!).  Quite a disparate and wide-ranging group.  You should check out a YouTube video of his appearance on Elvis Costello's way-too-briefly-aired show on Sundance, "Spectacle," where Winchester moves Neko Case, seated next to him on stage, to tears with his rendition of "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding," which title doesn't give you the impression that the song would have that sort of power.

It was also on that show that Winchester, wholly characteristically, gave another inadvertent glimpse into his character.  In talking about the songwriting process, he let drop that "The Brand New Tennessee Waltz" was the first song he ever wrote.  It was said only in passing, to make a larger point, but Costello stopped him, staring in disbelief.  "You mean to say that that was actually the first song you ever wrote?"  Jesse sort of dropped his gaze in an embarrassed, "aw, shucks" way, and sheepishly said yes.  Costello just shook his head.  Listen to the song, and you'll see why.  It's just one reason that Bob Dylan said "You can't talk about the best songwriters and not include him."

This week, then, on Tuesday, from noon till two, on WOOL FM, 91.5, or wool.fm on the webs, two hours of Jesse Winchester.  I own his entire discography, and it was very difficult not to play all 150-plus songs.  What I chose:

All Of Your Stories
Baby Blue
The Brand New Tennessee Waltz
Dangerous Fun
Do It
The End Is Not In Sight
Evil Angel
God's Own Jukebox
How About You
How Far To The Horizon
I Turn To My Guitar
If Only
Isn't That So
Lay Down Your Burden
Let Go
Let The Rough Side Drag
Lullaby For The First Born
Mississippi You're On My Mind
Twigs And Seeds
Wake Me
Yankee Lady
That's What Makes You Strong
Blow On, Chilly Wind
Defying Gravity
My Songbird
North Star
Nothing But A Breeze
The Only Show In Town
Payday
Pharaoh's Army
Rhumba Man
Rosy Shy
Say What
Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding
A Showman's life
Silly Heart
Talk Memphis
Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt
That's A Touch I like
Third Rate Romance
A Touch On The Rainy Side

"...And let the smooth side show..."