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It's Finally Here! Three years in the making, "Tramps and Mystic Revolutionaries" is finally available! This CD features a cross-section of a very experimental time in our history as a band, and has music running the gamut from world-beat to avant-garde jazz, to rock and blues.
"Tramps and Mystic Revolutionaries" features Tyson Bennett on keyboards, Dick O'Connell on guitars, Dugg Spalding on drums and percussion, Gus Chambers on bass, Ken Jones on didgeridoo and Richard Ball on woodwinds and bass.
This album was inspired by revolutionary heroes, such as the Dalai Lama, Ahmad Shah Masoud, Che Guevara, and others who have changed our thinking in the last century.
Below, you will find samples of all the songs on the album, and if you go the the free downloads page, you will be able to hear The Naked Mole-Rat song in its entirety, as well as see the video.
To get your own copy, click below on the links to Amazon.com or CD Baby. If you prefer to download, look for it to appear on over 60 download sites worldwide, including iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic and Napster.
  
Check our upcoming events page frequently to see where we are playing, and, of course, we will have CDs available there!
To make it easier for you who like to download, we have made the liner notes and information about the packaging available here on this webpage, so read on to learn more about the songs and a few of the revolutionaries to whom this project is dedicated... (interestingly, a lot of those revolutionaries fall into the tramps category as well.)
Song Sample
(One to Two Minute Clips)
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Face of Masoud
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My Name is José, I Want to Be Your Barber
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Che Guevara
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I'm a Chicken and I Don't Care
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Sacred Ground
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Let Me Blow My Nose Before I Say Goodbye
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Tensin Gyatso
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The Naked Mole-Rat Song
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Shocked Fish
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Tales of Great Men in Close Contact With Household Animals
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Tramps
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We're Old Now
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Click here for The Naked Mole-Rat Song
Click here for The Naked Mole-Rat Video
Click here for other Free Downloads
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Liner Notes for Tramps and Mystic Revolutionaries
Tramps and Mystic Revolutionaries marks a time of great change for Before the Rain and our music. Personally, a great number of things happened to each of us: Dick got married and built a new house; Tyson got married and had a child; Dugg has been involved in a number of interesting film making activities which have taken him to Africa. Richard has been pursuing some new musical venues and put out some solo CDs. Gus joined a new band, and we occasionally receive some threatening notes from Jim made out of little pieces of cut out letters glued to paper.
"Revolution" is a word meaning change. Often we think of this as violent and external, but it can as easily be quiet and internal. There were many people who have changed the nature of the world as we know it, and it is to those revolutionaries that this album is dedicated.
Musically, it has been a time of great experimentation as well. We have worked through almost fifty new compositions and sketches to come up with the pieces on this CD. We have tried a myriad of musical styles and ideas, and worked on bringing world rhythms and scales to our repertoire, some very successfully and some very unsuccessfully.
Furthermore, this album spans almost five years, and includes at least three distinct movements in our group. It begins with some compositions, including "The Naked Mole-Rat Song," "Shocked Fish" and "We’re Old Now," that were actually written during the time of recording our 2001 CD "Hitchin’ to Santa Fe," and which reflect more of a rhythm and blues sort of nature. After that there are a number of compositions which incorporate world instruments and world flavors, including "Tensing Gyatso," "Ché Guevara," "Tramps," "Face of Masoud" and "My Name is José, I Want to Be Your Barber." The final compositions, "Great Men in Close Contact with Household Animals," and "Let Me Blow My Nose Before I Say Goodbye," have elements of avant-garde and straight-ahead jazz.
The Naked Mole-Rat Song - This song was written using the text of a biology journal article about the elusive naked mole-rat. Gus is on bass, Tyson on the organ, Dick on guitar, Dugg on drums and Richard on vocals and harmonica. It was recorded "live" one afternoon in Richard’s basement after three or four takes.
Tramps - I had an old flute that I payed a lot for that I just wasn’t able to get a decent tone from. It was too airy. Then I came across this little motif while messing around one afternoon, and the airy flute seemed to fit. It gave it an interesting, indigenous sound. I wrote the guitar part for Dick and Dugg came up with a great drum line. Tyson listened and added the harp-like keyboard embelishment.
Face of Masoud - This may be the most difficult single line I have ever written! I knew I wanted something quick and interesting, and this is what I came up with. It is in 7/8 time, counted 1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2. Tyson and I have spent hours trying to get the unison line tight, and this is what we could do. Dick is playing a drone on the guitar synthesiser, Dugg is playing a clay dumbek and Ken is playing a low drone on the didgeridoo.
Ché Guevara - This was one of our experimental pieces. Dick is playing the guitar synthesizer and Dugg is on the djembe. I originally was playing a whole variety of flutes and kept layering and layering them until it became far too complex and sounded awful. Ken came up, and we pulled down all the flutes and had him lay a didgeridoo line over Dick and Dugg. Finally, I just played a simple, Native American Flute line over the whole thing, and then it came together. You can hear some of the layered flutes at the very beginning.
Shocked Fish - I was so intrigued by a story Dick told us about shocking fish to count them in a Colorado mountain stream, that I thought a song should be written about it. The bass part came first. It is a reggae type line with one extra beat added, so that it is in 9/8 time to give it an oddly syncopated feel. This piece was recorded "studio style" - that is, everyone played their part separately, and we were never all together for the recording. First Dugg and I did the drum and bass parts. After that Ken put down the didgeridoo. Dick played his part a few weeks later, and then I put down some saxophone parts. Tyson came in to do his part, and then it sat for three years. Finally Tyson came in and put down the piano solo, and we considered the piece done!
Tensing Gyatso (The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet) - This piece was written using one of my favorite scales, the minor-major scale. That is to say it has a minor third giving it a minor feel, but a rather dissonant major seventh is added. Dick is playing the guitar synthesizer, Dugg the djembe and I am playing a regular flute. To make this sound like a Tibetan temple, we had Ken add a part where he makes the didgeridoo sound like a Tibetan temple horn, and I add some bells and shawms to complete the illusion.
My Name is José, I Want to Be Your Barber - This piece is based on a Spanish flamenco dance called Bulerias. It is a twelve beat pattern with accents on 12, 3,6, 8 and 10. In jazz musician style, we simplified it to 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2. Dick and Dugg are laying the foundation on the guitar and djembe. I am on flute and Tyson on the piano. I later put down the bass track and some additional percussion with the cajón and hand claps.
Let Me Blow My Nose Before I Say Goodbye - This piece is sort of two pieces woven together. The first part is an avant-garde motif with some free playing from Dugg and myself. Dick is playing a loop, which he recorded at the beginning of the song and which then repeats, freeing him to play chords and other sounds over it. Tyson is playing some industrial sounds on his synthesizer. Suddenly from the confusion emerges a tonal progression, played by another loop thanks to Dick, and the song suddenly becomes a rather "pretty" piece. There is no written melody to this piece, like many of our others, so the melody is improvised. There is a sax solo and a piano solo. I played the bass on this one after the rest had been recorded "live."
Tales of Great Men in Close Contact With Household Animals - The title of this piece came from a series of two-part inventions I was working on in college, I scrapped the music, but saved the title and the idea of many pieces. There are 11 short pieces which sort of abruptly begin and end here. It was recorded "live" after about three takes in Dick’s basement. Dugg is on the drum set, Dick on the guitar and looping, Tyson on the piano, and I am playing sax, flute, Native American flute, eagle-bone whistle and Aztec death whistle. Oh, and I sing the intro and conclusion.
Sacred Ground - I had to write something about 9/11, and so this is it. I am on the Native American flute, Dick on the guitar, Dugg on drums, Tyson on piano and Gus on the string bass. This was a relatively simple piece recorded live in my basement.
We’re Old Now - This was the first piece written for this album and the last piece recorded. We tried to record it for the last CD, but couldn’t get it. And it took about three hours to record it this time! Tyson is playing the bass line, with Dugg on the drums, Dick on the guitar, and I am singing as best I can. I wrote this as a parody of the music I listened to as an adolescent. Sort of about middle aged angst to an adolescent angst tune.
Liner notes by Richard Ball.
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The Revolutionaries pictures (from inside the CD)
1. Ché Guevara - Perhaps the most recognizable revolutionary of the 20th century, Che Guevara was Fidel Castro’s right hand man during the Cuban revolution. He was then the minister of education, and was killed several years later by the CIA while trying to start a similar revolution in Bolivia.
2. Ghandi - Ghandi lived in India during British occupation and promoted the idea of non-violent protest, which spread to later revolutions, like the American Civil Rights movement.
3. Ahmed Shah Masoud - Leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, he could perhaps have been the first elected president of Afghanistan. After fighting the Russians and then the Taliban for Afghan freedom, he was assassinated only weeks before the U.S. joined the struggle against the Taliban.
4. Thomas Jefferson - Third president of the United States, diplomat, author of the Declaration of Independence, inventor, scientist and revolutionary. John Kennedy once remarked to a group of scientists gathered in the White House "Never has so much intelligence been in this room, except when Thomas Jefferson stood here alone.
5. Sojourner Truth - After escaping from slavery, Sojourner Truth became one of the earliest and most outspoken abolitionists of the 19th century, paving the way for the end of slavery and the future Civil Rights Movement.
6. John Coltrane - Revolutionized jazz by moving beyond be-bop and cool jazz to incorporate deep spiritualism and free expression into his music, making jazz more of an expression of self. Also revolutionized the technique of playing the saxophone itself.
7. George Washington Carver - This inventor overcame the oppression of African Americans just after the abolition of slavery and invented over 300 products from peanuts, including peanut butter.
8. Mary McLeod Bethune - Established some of the first schools for African Americans.
9. 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet - This world leader has transcended the limits normally given to spiritual leaders, and has travelled the world speaking of matters from politics to child-rearing. He is the 14th reincarnation of the part of the Buddha associated with compassion, and has promoted the use of compassion in all facets of life.
10. Susan B. Anthony - Devoted her life to pushing for voting rights for women. Though she never lived to see that day, without her, it may have been many years before women were given the right to vote.
11. Shirley Chisholm - The first African American woman elected to congress, and 1972 presidential candidate, she showed the world that African American women can succeed in a world previously thought to be the domain of white men.
12. Nelson Mandela - Leader to end apartheid in South Africa, spent many years in prison for his beliefs, and later became the first person to be elected by a congress with both black and white representatives.
13. Miles Davis - Miles revolutionized the music world at least five times, creating be-bop, cool jazz, hard bop, electric jazz, and fusion movements in the jazz world. He broke many barriers for an African American artist, and for the art world in general.
14. Maya Angelou - Revolutionized the use of the word in poetry and prose!
15. Benjamin Franklin - Statesman, diplomat, inventor, writer, publisher and more! Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod & bi-focal glasses among other things. He served as the U.S. ambassador to France following the American Revolution, and wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac, to which many of our American colloquialisms can be traced.
16. Chuck Berry - Invented rock and roll, despite what others may say.
17. Buddha - Developed a philosophy that the meaning of life is to overcome suffering.
18. Frederick Douglass - An escaped slave, he traded his food for an education and later became an advisor to Abraham Lincoln. He wrote a number of books which shed light of the experience of slaves, codifying the abolitionist movement.
19. Chief Ouray - Ute leader, he set out to work with politicians in Washington for a peaceful resolution to the American-Indian conflicts.
20. Thurgood Marshall - Civil Rights lawyer who fought for racial equality. Became the first African American Supreme Court Justice, where he continued his crusade.
21. Joan of Arc - Lead troops in France, was put to death by the church she attempted to defend.
22. Abraham Lincoln - Abraham Lincoln lead a nation divided against itself. Lincoln stood for the principles he thought right, and the country reunited.
23. Ornette Coleman - Revolutionized jazz. Ornette Coleman developed a system of music that was completely free, calling on the musician’s ability to improvise and to interact immediately with his surroundings, with little or no preconception of where the music would take him.
24. Ghenghis Khan - United the Mongol tribes into the largest empire in the world. Considered a scoundrel by the west, he is still a great hero in the east for the unity and reformations he brought about.
25. Cesar Chavez - Union organizer and civil rights worker. Cesar Chavez devoted his life to seeking rights for immigrant workers. He founded the United Farm Workers union and became a hero on the big political stage, but never earned more than $4000 a year his entire life.
26. Ho Chi Minh - Stood against the French and later the Americans in an attempt to see a united Vietnam free from foreign influence. He devised a Vietnamese constitution based on the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
27. Aristotle - Founder of western thought, Aristotle developed the scientific method. Empiricle thought is rooted strictly in Aristotle’s work.
28. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - Burmese civil rights leader, she used non-violence to stand against the oppressive Myanmar military government. She was the winner of the nobel peace prize, and has spent the last decade under house arrest in Myanmar.
29. Winston Churchill - Held the U.K. strong against the Nazi war machine. He inspired his countrymen to not give up when all was thought lost over and over again.
30. Mark Twain - Mark Twain challenged everyone in his day with "a pen warmed up in hell."
31. George Washington - Leader of the American army during the Revolution and first president of the United States, he is responsible for the freedoms we experience in the United States every day.
32. Walt Whitman - Painted pictures with words, using language in a way as never before, Walt Whitman captured the American experience and inspired us to continue to pave a unique path celebrating the individual.
33. Chief Joseph - Indian activist who perhaps has best verbalized the Native American experience. Used non-violence as a tool long before anyone else thought of the idea.
34. Bob Marley - Used music as a political tool to bring peace to the often violent dueling parties in Jamaica. Also brought international focus to the tiny Island.
35. Harriet Tubman - Lead slaves to freedom along the underground railroad, she put her life in danger, freeing almost 300 slaves.
36. Valdimir Vysotsky - Russian actor and singer, Vysotsky opposed the Soviet regiem. Though his music was outlawed, Vysotsky’s music has a wide distribution through the black market. Almost half a million people came to his funeral, and still today, his grave sight is covered with flowers from those appreciative of his ability to speak the truth again the oppressive regime.
37. Andy Warhol - Changed the way art was made and perceived. Using silk screens and other mechanical devices, Andy Warhol captured an over-mechanized America where individuality was thought of as a threat rather than a gift.
38. Malcom X - Originally taking a racist stance against white America, he went on the Haj, where he saw people of all races embracing his God. He returned and took up Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of equality and non-violence.
39. Steve Jobs - Invented the personal computer, revoltutionizing the way we get information, communicate, process art and music, and the list goes on!
40. Patrice Lamumba - Stood against the Belgians as they occupied the Congo. Was tied to a tree and shot when he was finally captured.
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