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news from
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20 September 2003

Greetings:

Yet again! True North announced two tourdates today, Santa Fe
represents a change from November 11 to November 10, but the location
remains the same:

NOV 10 SANTA FE NM THE LENSIC PAC
NOV 12 DENVER CO THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE

The Cockburn Project e-chatted with Bernie Finkelstein, Bruce's
manager, and the #1 man at True North Records who said they are
considering dates in Australia and New Zealand, but there's nothing
confirmed. When asked about Florida he offered, "Not sure about
Florida but certainly we would like to get there."

He also shared some incites into the choice of additional tracks for
the High Winds, White Sky reissue due out October 10th. It will
include two previously unreleased tracks, It's An Elephant World and
Totem Pole. Bernie offered these notes which will appear in the
reissued cd:

"These two recordings may the earliest known live recordings from a
then, very young Bruce Cockburn. They were recorded at the Bitter
Grounds Coffee House in Kingston Ontario on January 23, 1970.
Brucešs first album simply titled Bruce Cockburn had been recorded
but not yet released. It was to come out a few months later in
April of that same year. Bruce was already doing many of the songs
which were to appear on High Winds White Sky, his second LP, during
his live shows. An also very young aspiring recording engineer,
Doug McClement approached Bruce with the idea of recording his show.
Doug was still in high school at the time. Bruce said yes. The
recording was done directly to a cassette player using just one
microphone. Although the recording is very rudimentary it captures
Bruce at the very beginning of his solo career and shows the
beginning of his now legendary style. These two songs had been
thought to be lost but when Doug heard we were doing a series of
reissues he went back to his archives and discovered this tape. Both
of these songs were originally considered for High Winds White Sky
but were never recorded during the sessions. Oh yes, Doug McClement
and his company LiveWire Remote Recorders has gone on to be one of
North Americašs leading remote recording engineers. His work can be
heard on live or remote recordings by many artists including Leonard
Cohen, Steve Earle, Oscar Peterson, Blue Rodeo and Stevie Ray
Vaughan."

And the lyrics? Here they are:

Itšs An Elephant World

Somebody made off with my favourite toy
That I bought with my government grant
The world situation seems to be taking
A definite turn for the worse

Somebody put me in reverse

What fence would hold my pride and joy
Unless he was a man-eating plant
That mother is asking to wind up basking
In fame in the back of a hearse

Somebody made my bubble burst

Call in the guard, hešs out in the yard
been lax in his duties for real
Take him to task for being so crass
As to let someone in who would steal

Great thrills are in store for us all
While the world is on such a slant
Though hešs a bit funky
The girls love his trunk
Hešs a hit without deodorant

But somebody stole my elephant

If you should meet him please give me a call
The number is inscribed on the bathroom wall
Youšre bound to see him
At the beach or the be-in
Even though some people canšt

Get used to believing in elephants

Call in the guard
Hešs out in the yard
He bungled this job up for sure
He blew it in style
But hešs just a child
Wešll send him away for the cure

And wešll all go away for a cure

Totem Pole

Crows are flying baby and
Išm tired of the cold
Crows are flying baby and
Išm tired of the cold
So honey come and help me build this totem pole

The lantern in the window
beamed me right to you
The lantern in the window
beamed me right to you
So honey come and help me
And Išll try and help you too

My heart's been hanging up too long
My soul is wearing thin
My heart's been hanging up so long
My soul is wearing thin
So honey come and help me build a house
to put it in

So honey come and help me build this totem pole.

So there you have it, previously unknown lyrics/songs. I think I'll
be adding THIS reissue to my 'must have' list!

Peace,
Suzanne Myers
editor@...

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