Lily of the West

[R. Kane]

I saw Tim O'Brien Saturday night and he sang this great old tune. The arrangement sounded very different from the Joan Baez arrangement that's widely posted (and included below).

Has anyone here worked out Tim's version or play it another way?

Tim played mandolin, guitar and fiddle, Danny Barnes played electric and banjer, Dennis Crouch on stand up bass. Rockabilly, gospel, folk, bluegrass, even some lounge music. I didn't like all the tunes they did, but didn't have to, and it was still one of the most entertaining concerts I've been to in a long time.

tia,

Richard


Lily of the West

# # Am # # # # # # #C # #G
When first I came to Louisville
# # F # # # # # # # # Am
Some pleasure there to find
#C # # #F # # # # # # # #G
A damsel there from Lexington
# #F # # # # # # #Am
Was pleasing to my mind
# #F # # # # # # # # # # G
Her rosy cheeks, her ruby lips
# # Am
Like arrows pierced my breast
# # # # # # # # # # # # #C #G
And the name she bore was Flora
# #C # # # # # Am
The Lily Of The West
[B]

[Lefty&French]

You can find "The lily of the West" there:
"Odd Man In" Tim O'Brien (1991 Sugar Hill Records), but I don't know if he did it the way you're talking about.

[glauber]

I don't know either, but Mark Knopfler does a very nice version in the Chieftains' "Long Black Veil" album.

[Martin Jonas]

No chords from me, but the melody in standard notation can be found here. There's also yet another good version by Show of Hands available as a free download from their web site (mandocello accompaniment on this one!). Their song book has the mandocello chords for their version, but I don't have that one.

Martin

[Fred's Mobile Homes]

Peter, Paul and Mary also recorded a pretty version of this song.

[glauber]

Interesting, there seems to be an American version where the girl's name in Flora, and an English version where it's Molly. The Show of Hands version is a mix, because it's set in England but uses the name Flora. (Cool band name, by the way.) The mudcat.org database seems to be down or overburdened right now; i'm sure there'd be some stuff there about the history of the song.

[sjus]

If you´re familiar with bluegrassbox.com, you can FTP some of Tim´s live-versions of Lily Of The West there.

obrien1991-08-11 - track 07
obrien1992-03-21 - track 11
obrien1992-08-08 - track 09
(there´s likely to be more)

I have never heard Joan Baez´ version, but I have a Dylan version somewhere in my dusty old collection of vinyls, and for some odd reason I´m sure he wouldn´t hesitate to steal hers...a-hem, and I presume that´s the well-known version mentioned above.
What Tim O´brien is doing in the live-recordings listed above isn´t so far from Dylan´s recording, which probably dates to early or mid 70´s. The chords seem more or less identical to me, while Show of Hand´s version is a "minimalistic" one, having fewer chords and a slower tempo than the American versions - at least the ones that I know of.

Did Tim O´brien really do something radical to that old song last Saturday?

---
Søren

[Lefty&French]

I don't know either, but Mark Knopfler does a very nice version in the Chieftains' "Long Black Veil" album.

Very very nice version indeed, Mark is a real good ballad singer, but the melody is (I think) "stolen" from another song, maybe "lakes of Ponchartrain" ?

[R. Kane]

Thanks for the links and references. Tim has a very generous taping policy.

Not surprisingly, Tim plays a Dylanesque version (at least as much as I remember of a live (bootleg?) Dylan version of the song from the Rolling Thunder period). He plays solo guitar on this one, and [mandolin content] Tim's mandolin vibrates sympathetically from the stand. He also did "When I Paint My Masterpiece", and "Tombstone Blues" on Saturday.

He plays the tune in Dm, so the progression goes:
Dm F C
Bb C Dm

I knew there was a reason to learn to throw a quick Bb.

[glauber]

I don't know either, but Mark Knopfler does a very nice version in the Chieftains' "Long Black Veil" album.

Very very nice version indeed, Mark is a real good ballad singer, but the melody is (I think) "stolen" from another song, maybe "lakes of Ponchartrain" ?

Really? I thought it was just minor melodic variation. Cool. The first time i heard that track, on the radio, i was travelling for business, driving in an unfamiliar city, and i was so immersed in the music that i became incredibly lost, and almost missed my appointment. Then i looked for the album for a long time before i finally found it. Later i heard it had sold out quickly, because it also had Mick Jaegger and Sting in it. Besides the aforementioned tracks, there are very nice versions of Dunmore Lasses (Ry Cooder) and Foggy Dew (Sinnead O'Connor) too.

[acousticphd]

I don't know either, but Mark Knopfler does a very nice version in the Chieftains' "Long Black Veil" album.

I really like this version too. #He plays in D , it sounds like capoed out of a C position - I think that's correct - so it would adapt nicely to mandolin. #

I thought the Sting and Jagger songs were less memorable, but some other nice cuts include He Moved through the Fair (O'Connor) and Love is Teasin' (Maryanne Faithful).

hey were you at narrows?

[R. Kane]

Second row center at the Narrows.

I think I've got a handle on this tune in Dm.

Dm = 2001
F #= 5301
C #= 5230

Bb = 3011
C #= 5230
Dm = 2001

Ring finger slides on the G string except when lifted for the Dm. This kind of chord linkage, moving as few fingers as possible, may be obvious to many here but I was happy to figure it out last night.

Itunes doesn't have all the songs from that Chieftains record. Anyone want to trade an mp3 of the Knopfler for a soundboard of ...................? #PM me.

[glauber]

I found an interesting facsimile of the words as published in an English "broadside". It's set in England, the girl's name is Flora, but the words are pretty much as in the Chieftains' album.