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Length: 7:52
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And the sand it was a grayer shade of blue
Spirits held desire while my eyes they did admire
The evening that we only thought we knew
Further out to sea I heard the birds wings over me
the Vibrations in the air to my ears
The sun was rising slinking low the day was saddled up to go
The desert's lonely nightfall disappears
The raven who flies through the desert skies
Is wiser than you or me
The birds have a peace, the stillness a sleeve
And the Desert Raven he has poetry
Close your eyes and fly to let the diamonds make the night
Crystal blue will turn to ruby red
The plants become a maze under the heavens stary hazel
Pegasus he gallops overhead
The buffalo at night they follow close the river's edge while
saffron slowly grows inside the caves
The starry minds of hyacinth the moon below the sun's eclipse
The sandy canyon floats beyond the waves
The raven who flies through the desert skies
Is wiser than you or me
The birds have a peace, the stillness a sleeve
And the Desert Raven he has poetry
The raven would probably know that grammatically, the lyric should be "...wiser than you or I". Maybe that was the songwriter's point though.
Actually, "wiser than you or me" is correct

Taking me a while to process that Jonathan Spencer Wilson is younger that I am.
Normally I would feel the need for expletives to properly express how this song hit me.
as it is I am using line spacing and any other gimmick I can think of to convey how strongly this song felt like something I heard long ago and many times. In a good way.
Sorry for the rambling and grammatically incorrect words.
I hear a little CSNY FWIW. The song grows with additional listens so it cannot be that bad.
I concur with all parallels above and below... and now I'm even hearing David Gilmour singing this with early Floyd
Thanks RP for introducing me to someone I may never have heard otherwise. Again.
You are not the only one! Nor are we, apparently. I know I've heard that stringy guitar sound long ago, have never been able to place it ... maybe an old Seals & Crofts B-side or something. Anyway, it bugs me every time this excellent track comes on. 8.
or old, old Fleetwood Mac....
Taking me a while to process that Jonathan Spencer Wilson is younger that I am.
...
You are not the only one! Nor are we, apparently. I know I've heard that stringy guitar sound long ago, have never been able to place it ... maybe an old Seals & Crofts B-side or something. Anyway, it bugs me every time this excellent track comes on. 8.
Taking me a while to process that Jonathan Spencer Wilson is younger that I am.
Normally I would feel the need for expletives to properly express how this song hit me.
as it is I am using line spacing and any other gimmick I can think of to convey how strongly this song felt like something I heard long ago and many times. In a good way.
Sorry for the rambling and grammatically incorrect words.
I get it. This song has a very classic psychedelic feel. I was also thinking it seemed familiar, and that it would be much older. Very unexpected. Definitely enjoying this. Trippy!

That's knowledge, not wisdom.
Taking me a while to process that Jonathan Spencer Wilson is younger that I am.
Normally I would feel the need for expletives to properly express how this song hit me.
as it is I am using line spacing and any other gimmick I can think of to convey how strongly this song felt like something I heard long ago and many times. In a good way.
Sorry for the rambling and grammatically incorrect words.
a true genius which slipped from the majorites radar.
The raven would probably know that grammatically, the lyric should be "...wiser than you or I". Maybe that was the songwriter's point though.
I hear a little CSNY FWIW. The song grows with additional listens so it cannot be that bad.

Its all good baby baby, turn on tune in and drop out
Yeah I hate it. Took one rating point off for that.
Compared, just on this page, to:
Seals & Crofts, Fleetwood Mac, CSN, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Steve Miller, YES, El Chicano, Camel, Wishbone Ash, Dark Star, Eagles, America, Pablo Cruise, Eels, Moody Blues, Neil Young and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Wow!!!
Add Jefferson Airplane/Starship to the list! But in a good way...
Please make it stop

Through the sunset in your eyes
Trying to make the train
Through clear Moroccan skies

As far as we know, there are only two other groups of species that are capable of this advanced thought: humans and the great apes.

Segue wrote:



coloradojohn wrote:
Compared, just on this page, to:
Seals & Crofts, Fleetwood Mac, CSN, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Steve Miller, YES, El Chicano, Camel, Wishbone Ash, Dark Star, Eagles, America, Pablo Cruise, Eels, Moody Blues, Neil Young and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Wow!!!
Double Wow! I'm rating it an 8, +1 for the large number of "sounds like" artists - and it really does sound like it came from the 70s. Crazy good stuff here!
LONG LIVE RP! TRUTH PEACE LOVE HAPPINESS UNDERSTANDING
Compared, just on this page, to:
Seals & Crofts, Fleetwood Mac, CSN, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Steve Miller, YES, El Chicano, Camel, Wishbone Ash, Dark Star, Eagles, America, Pablo Cruise, Eels, Moody Blues, Neil Young and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Wow!!!
Familiar while not at the same time.
"Summer breeze, makes me feel fine..."
Yeah, I hear that.
Indeed, this must have been distilled from pure 70s essence.
Remember when you'd stay up for "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" (after SNL) and you'd hear stuff like this that turned rock music into a punishment?
This isn't so bad to listen to now, but I have to wonder why JW copied the 70s so slavishly.
Indeed, this must have been distilled from pure 70s essence.
Yeah I like it. Reminds me of Camel...or something...

or Wishbone Ash?
Yeah I like it. Reminds me of Camel...or something...

On purpose. His catalog is a nice homage to some great old musicians' styles.
Along the same lines maybe, and a cool tune too (Dark Star, that is)


I had to check the lyrics, the word is "asphalt".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJu-AnzyQBI
I think that would be Steve Howe's guitar riff on The Fish. Chris Squire would be responsible for those bass notes that sound like Godzilla's footsteps.

You're absolutely right about it! :))

Listen to "The Fish" from Yes' Fragile album - the guitar riff from Jonathan Wilson in this song is dangerously close to being a direct ripoff of Yes' work
It sounds like a descending scale (Phrygian?) — more like an exercise than a riff, but nothing dangerous about it. Who knows, maybe he's even heard that Yes song and was influenced by it?
You're right
I don't mind the bass, but there were points in the song when it was crying out for a change of gear and all we got was a very simple synth break on top of the same background.
Still gave it an 8 though - only second listen and for the second time it caught my attention enough to stop what I was doing and look at the comments

Good call. I'm hearing influences from early Fleetwood Mac (circa Future Games) and Dave Mason.
Listen to "The Fish" from Yes' Fragile album - the guitar riff from Jonathan Wilson in this song is dangerously close to being a direct ripoff of Yes' work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJu-AnzyQBI
So he's undertaken to "recapture" Fleetwood Mac Future Games? A "RECAPTURE BAND!" Jeez, dud- try something original. This is the kind of music that must leave foreign listeners saying "Jeepers creepers! All American music sounds exactly the same... you know- I been to the desert on a horse with no name badada dada da da dah...." "
ScottishWillie wrote:
Being pedantic I think Fleetwood Mac of the Future Games era still qualified as British music and as a 'foreign listener' I would never accuse American music of sounding the same.
I would agree that Wilson has “been to a desert on a horse with no name” to pillaged the early 70’s for inspiration. However I can cope with a pastiche when it sounds as good as this.
Also, "Horse With No Name" was written by Dewey Bunnell, who was born in Yorkshire, England.
Even the album art is from 1972




What's not to like?
I did get slightly annoyed at the very Rambin'-Man-esque repetitive guitar work toward the end there, but overall, I like it.
Being pedantic I think Fleetwood Mac of the Future Games era still qualified as British music and as a 'foreign listener' I would never accuse American music of sounding the same.
I would agree that Wilson has “been to a desert on a horse with no name” to pillaged the early 70’s for inspiration. However I can cope with a pastiche when it sounds as good as this.
Even the album art is from 1972
So he's undertaken to "recapture" Fleetwood Mac Future Games? A "RECAPTURE BAND!" Jeez, dud- try something original. This is the kind of music that must leave foreign listeners saying "Jeepers creepers! All American music sounds exactly the same... you know- I been to the desert on a horse with no name badada dada da da dah...." "

From his Amazon Bio:
"Wilson’s music is steeped equally in the woodsy contours of his Blue Ridge experiences and the atmospheric guitar reveries of Neil Young and Quicksilver Messenger Service. In fact, “Gentle Spirit,” an expansive double vinyl set, is remarkably evocative of that golden late ‘60s, early ‘70s period when rural and urban sensibilities colluded in producing some of rock’s most imperishable recordings.
It should then come as no surprise that Wilson, so resolutely committed to “old school” musical values, began recording “Gentle Spirit” in Los Angeles’s fabled Laurel Canyon. As a longtime student of “Canyon culture,” his ideas echo many of an earlier generation as the album embraces a unique blend of folk, country, rock and roll and pop elements, which enduringly create a sense of time and place."
Even the album art is from 1972
I think I actually said what the heck? out loud.
Good call. I'm hearing influences from early Fleetwood Mac (circa Future Games) and Dave Mason.
Good call on these references too. His other tune played on RP (Cecil Taylor) he comes across like Steven Stills.
Bill, let us hear some more tracks from Mr. Jonathan Wilson!
Good call. I'm hearing influences from early Fleetwood Mac (circa Future Games) and Dave Mason.
Apparently Jonathan Wilson produced and plays all the instruments on this tune. The bass line does not sound like a loop at all - especially in the instrumental parts. However, bass lines - as part of a rhythm section - generally repeat their phrases.
Most of album for free on Amazon Prime; I'm going to dig into this Jonathan Wilson more.
-Will (entertainscape.com)
As far as we know, there are only two other groups of species that are capable of this advanced thought: humans and the great apes.
Seems humans might be losing this ability with the advent of one click instant gratification on our mobile devices. Who needs to delay when you can have it all now?
I like this song. -> 9