Artist: JEFF BLACK
Album: MINING
Release Date: 2008
Label: Lotos Nile Music
UPC: 859700988909

Jeff Black Vocals 6, 12 and high strung Guitar
Produced recorded and mixed By Jeff Black
Recorded December 2008 at Alvie’s Parlor
Mastered at Yes Master Studios
Mastering engineer Alex McCollough

All Songs Written by Jeff Black except
Clear As A Bell
written by Jeff Black and Michael Woody
©1992 Warner / Tamerlane Music Publishing BMI
Deeper In Your Debt
written by Jeff Black and Jon Veznor
©1992 Warner / Tamerlane Music Publishing BMI
Island written by Jeff Black and Judy Rodman
©1992 Warner / Tamerlane Music Publishing BMI
©2008 Lotos Nile Music BMI
©1991,1992,1993 Warner/Tamerlane BMI


Jeff Black plays LaBella Strings, Epiphone Masterbilt Banjos, Paige capos, Morley Pedals, Impact Picks, Palomino Blackwing and Blackwing 602 pencils.

Amazon.com

Don't be deceived-these aren't the latest gems from Jeff Black even though the Release Date says Oct. 2008. But they are all nuggets of pure gold---older gold. I heard that there was a demo CD floating around with 2 CDs of mostly unrecorded early tunes, predating Jeff's first 1998 "Birmingham Road" release---one of the CDs had the set list done with various other musicians and then there was a 2nd CD with Jeff doing the same set list solo and unplugged. Looks like this is the solo version and it is classic Jeff Black--probably more reminiscent of "B-Sides" in the simple acoustic format. Two of these 10 songs have already been recorded on "Birmingham Road": "Ghosts in the Graveyard" and "Carnival Song". They are simpler versions but maybe even more effective. "Ghosts" is a favorite that I thought couldn't be better than Jeff and a piano but the guitar version is equally haunting. Some of the remaining songs have made it onto Black Tuesday podcasts and bootleg tapes of early live shows ("Round and Around", "Misty Morning Dream", and "Never Did Say Goodbye") and Sam Bush recorded "They're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone". There were several songs I had never heard anywhere and a couple are new favorites. "Deeper In Your Debt" and "Island" made me a little teary which seems to be a most common reaction to my favorite Jeff Black songs. I don't understand why Jeff has no mention of this collection on his web sites. I stumbled across "Mining" by accident and these songs deserve more respect and attention than that. May have been a little production but these are big songs with a big heart!

E. Taylor - The Authority

Standing Still

here comes that highway honey
ain't much behind us but the road
let's hit that high road running
the morning sky shines of blue and gold
pretty soon we'll cross the line babe
we should have left a long long time ago

I'm pulling out of the slow lane
I don't know what we've been waiting for
I do admire patience
sometimes I've got to ask for more
this ain't no treadmill baby
this here's a trip around the world

I won't pass on no curve
I won't pass on no hills
I won't pass until I'm sure
I can pass them like their standin still
I can pass them like their standin still

blow a kiss and wave goodbye babe
roll the window down and touch the wind
I know you worried honey
that you won't see that place again
what with all these odds here against us
I promise babe the distance is your friend

It's time
now you and me we've paid our dues
let's fly and find our place in the sun
where our dreams come true

I won't pass on no curve
I won't pass on no hills
I won't pass until I'm sure
I can pass them like their standin still

(additional verse)
absence makes the heart grow fonder
so you and I don't have to wander far
see ourselves as one together
you look so brave and beautiful
this ain't no treadmill baby
this here's a trip around the world



Never Did Say Goodbye

You came in and out of my life
Like lightning in a storm
And by the time the thunder rolled in
I reached for you and you were gone
I guess I barely got to know you
Guess I hardly know myself
I still have some things here for you
That I cant give to no one else

Never did say goodbye
I never did tell you
How you changed my life
About the time you came along
We got caught out in a storm
And I got lost without your light
Now every time they call for rain
I reach out to touch the sky
Maybe I'll see you again
Maybe that's the reason why
I never said goodbye

I get so tired of pretending
That you never flew away
Seems like I'm always defending myself
And how I think of you this way

If I can see you in my mirror
Then maybe you can see me too
On a sunny day I'm feeling better
On a cloudy day I look for you



Misty Morning Dream

I want to run past the old tree line
past the farmers field and the old grapevine
where shadows fall on a diamond dew
in a misty morning dream of you

where the african violets have a place to hide
where the hollow lays low and so do I
waiting for my rose to bloom
in a misty morning dream of you

in the light of the day the world seems right
in the deep woods shade streams of light
shine on me and my aim is true
in a misty morning dream of you

I can see past the rise and fall
of a foolish heart that wants it all
I'm a simple man and i don't want much
just to see your face and to feel your touch

but I know that may never be
see there's nobody here but me
I'm kind of happy and I'm kind of blue
in a misty morning dream of you

in a misty morning dream sometimes
we're far away and hard to find
my life is in line and the world is new
in a misty morning dream of you



The Carnival Song

I’ve been quite the traveler
ever since I hit the road
and the sullen county carnival
has been my earn in gold
I’ve been quite alone
since I remember when
I turned my ultimatums
into chips and cashed them in

I used to run the ferris wheel
but that would be hard to prove
I can’t stand to see a rolling wheel
propped up so it can’t move
I used to run the carousel
hell that’s just round and round
and I never liked them ponies
painted up and bolted down

the only thing that’s keeping me
from staying here is leaving
the only thing that saves me from it all
is I’ll be gone
and just when I could trust
in all the things that i believe in
I had to pack it up and move along
and I’ll tell you boys i’m not the only one

I played a straight man at the ring toss
but that was just a jaunt
I can’t see throwing rings around things
you don’t really want
I would run the rollercoaster
but that just breaks my heart
so much hard traveling
just to wind up where you start
now I just work the gateway
and I’m pretty satisfied
my little booth is red and blue
and i just sit inside
I just take your money
and i give tickets out to trade
I think about my life
and all the promises I made

and I’ll tell you boys my work is never done
so like a sweet and salty gypsy kiss I’m gone



Island

when you need to find a cure
and your remedies are failing
and you'd like to say for sure
but your confidence is fading

you're about to give it up
and you know it won't get better
and you need a little love
I will promise you forever

when your burden's heavy
I will be your strength
when your well is running dry
I will be your rain
and when you need a shoulder
I will be your friend
when your spirit's drowning
I will be your island

for every sea of tears
you know they say there is a reason
but it's hard to see the good
when you're in the water freezing
the ocean rises up
and the waves crash all around you
just remember there's a place
you can leave the storm behind you



Round and Around

I sit by myself all alone
for so long out in front of this place
folks look at me like I'm
some kind of vagrant they don't see my face
man I feel empty inside now surely
this ain't what I planned
I'm going to steal something someday
there are things you can't hold in your hand

I may never see the ocean
I am so far from the sea
but I can feel the rain sometimes
falling down on me
then the run off hits the river
and the river just takes us all home
and the power of the sun provides
a cycle for the storm

Yes I grew up around here and
my story is boring at best
I went to school yes and I found a job
and you know the rest
round and around I go
how I get off I don't know
I might appear on the outside content
but what's inside sometimes I don't show

my whole life I've waited so
for someone to say go man go
precious time has come and gone
and left me here with no place to run

anxious and weary I lie to myself
that it won't be too long
'til I can get out of this place
with goodbye I start singing my song
bottle of whiskey bottle of wine
bottled up notions might die on the vine
I really don't know what I want
and I guess that's what throws me inside



Deeper In Your Debt

You brought me up into this world
with your pain with your labor
and after all I put you through
I still felt like your favorite
as you laid me down to sleep
you prayed for me until I learned to speak
if I should die before I wake
you made sure heaven saved a place for me
you did it for me

I am deeper in your debt
for all that you have given
I can only pay you back
with this sweet life I am living
that's the gift I got from you
to live life full and true
without guilt without regret
I am deeper in your debt

sometimes as I walk this road
I feel like I am falling
when I need someone to lean upon
that's when I hear you calling
In my dreams I see your face
as you stand with amazing grace
even through the darkest night
you're always there to shed some light for me
you're right here with me



Clear As A Bell

for miles down the road I seen it coming
I always fear what I don't understand
I blow it all out of proportion
trying to hold on to what's out of my hands
lifted a weight off of my shoulders
when we cut the ties that bound our love
now I'm only human I still long to hold her
but now that's a feeling I can rise above

It's clear as a bell
I hear it ringing
sweet as the sound of a brand new day
simple and free like children singing
I know everything is going to be okay

out of the dark and into the morning
the world goes around with a natural change
I guess we got tired of riding the storm out
now I follow my heart and just get out of the way
even the hardest times turn into memories
just like the blackest night turns into the dawn
it looks like a rainbow coming through my window
yes the light of the sun that's a powerful song



Ghosts In The Graveyard

in the summertime in our neighborhood
of an evening into the night
we used to play ghosts out in the graveyard
just beyond the backporch light
late one night when I was hiding out
up in a weeping willow tree
I seen a meteor just fade away
and man it made a change in me

I thought we would live here forever
I thought we would learn to fly by now and not fall
and all the time we spend together
really ain’t no time at all

from my nest up in the willow tree

I could see them ghosts run through the light
and I heard mothers call their children home
to come on in out of the night
so one by one they started running
so I hurried down to say so long
but before i hit the ground to say goodbye
they were gone
I hear echoes in the evening
I see a weeping willow tree
and I tell them ghosts out in the graveyard
don’t be scared it’s only me

the roses bloom and then they fade away



They're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone

I never thought that I'd be hanging around
this damned old town
I always thought the world was flat
so I just kinds hung around
I got a job but it ain't much
sure keeps my feet down on the ground

I was born here I was raised here
so I'm bound to be appraised here after while
I thought that I was real cool man
they missed me at my high school by a mile
everything I learned I let it burn
with no return in that old fire

someday I'm gonna draw my own map honey
I'm gonna nail it to the wall
chart my course dream a lot and save my money
they're gonna miss me when I'm gone
they're gonna miss me when I'm gone

man if I have to drive this truck around the square
one more time I'm going to bust
everybody follows everybody around
some silly kind of trust
yeah I've trusted destination long enough
it rains a lot I'm going to rust

I sit down in the parking lot of the Hy-vee
after midnight and I cried
yeah that old sorrow's getting to me
but tomorrow I still won't be satisfied
I'm feeling all unraveled man
I throw a lot of gravel when I'm wild

everyone in town here
tells everyone around here what to do
man I just can't go for that
I can't stand for that when they do that can you?
well my best thinking has kept me here
so I best think of ways that I can move

All lyrics and music written
and/or arranged by Jeff Black *except where noted
© Jeff Black | Lotos Nile Music BMI
All Rights Reserved