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"Man of Sorrows" is a remake of a classic hymn by the prolific hymn-writer Philip P. Bliss. This recording was the closer on my FIRE album www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnnyjblair2). In January 2013, it was used as a music bed for a short documentary about gun control: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxUe9IPCYDw.

Bliss wrote this short­ly before his death. A few weeks prior, Bliss had vis­it­ed the state pri­son at Jack­son, Mi­chi­gan, where, af­ter a ve­ry touch­ing ad­dress on “The Man of Sor­rows,” he sang this hymn with great ef­fect. Ma­ny of the pri­son­ers dat­ed their con­ver­sion from that day.

The chords and melody I did bear no resemblance to the original hymn. My goal was to re-imagine it as if Ray Charles sang it over a "loop" of chord phrases from George Gershwin's Second Piano Prelude Andante con moto e poco rubato. After the final verse, and the call-and-response with Monette Newsuan (a gospel artist in her own right), I played the melody of "Amazing Grace" over Gershwin's chords, then converted the left hand to the bass line from Duke Ellington's "Doojie Woojie" (one of Duke's overlooked gems).

It's no longer a secret about the hidden track: A phone message from Davy Jones and a neighbor kid. That is a glimpse of family life from back then...

The painting attached to this download is Albrecht Durer's "Man of Sorrows."

Tim Breon mixed and mastered this in Williamsport PA.

lyrics

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/a/halwasav.htm

credits

from HALFWAY TO DAKOTA (limited edition EP), released January 29, 2013
Cassie Blair: vocals & co-arranger
JJB: bass, piano, keyboards, lead vocal
Monette Newsuan: vocals

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Johnny J Blair "Singer at Large" image

Johnny J Blair "Singer at Large" San Francisco, California

"Johnny is a virtuoso"--Brian Wilson
"Pop music with a conscience.”--Goldmine
“the Harry Houdini of rock and roll.”-- Spotlight. Listen to Johnny's fast-paced mix of old school soul, psychedelia, punk/new wave, & classic pop/rock. Singer-songwriter in his own right, he was also a sideman for Davy Jones and The Monkees + performed with David Cassidy, Al Stewart, Buddy & Julie Miller, & others. ... more

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