Between Five and Seven is (as the name suggests) the sixth studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. It was released in August 1996. It is the last of the five albums Gorka recorded for Windham Hill/High Street Records before returning to the smaller, Red House label. Gorka produced the album with John Jennings who also produced Gorka's previous record, Out of the Valley. Unlike the previous record made in Nashville, Tennessee, the recording was done at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota and the instrumentation has been described as "more acoustic, less pop-oriented."[3] Paisley Park is southwest of Minneapolis and is the studio designed and owned by the artist, Prince.
The album includes several lyrical portraits of Gorka's misfit characters, love songs, and philosophical musings. The songs are also full of the wordplay for which Gorka has become known.
The album features an impressive array of supporting musicians. Lucy Kaplansky and Jennifer Kimball add carefully placed harmony vocals to many tracks. John Jennings also brings along several other musicians who had worked with Mary Chapin Carpenter including drummer Robbie Magruder, guitarist Dean Magraw, and pianist Jonathan Carroll. Gorka's fellow MinnesotanPeter Ostroushko sits in on mandolin. As with many of Gorkas recordings Michael Manring plays fretless bass on nearly half of the songs. The tracks alternate between two different sets of instrumentalists which varies the pace of the music. The two bass players styles are distinct enough for the listener to recognize the difference.
Track listing
All songs written by John Gorka.
"Lightning's Blues" – 3:54
"Blue Chalk" – 4:41
"Can't Make Up My Mind" – 4:10
"The Mortal Groove" – 3:25
"My Invisible Gun" – 2:58
"Part of Your Own" – 3:29
"Two Good Reasons" – 4:07
"Airstream Bohemians" – 5:20
"Paradise, Once" – 3:09
"Campaign Trail" – 4:05
"Edgar the Party Man" – 3:27
"Scraping Dixie" – 6:27
Songs
This is one of few John Gorka albums without explanatory liner notes which leaves Gorka's source of inspiration for these songs unknown or up to speculation.
The title of "Blue Chalk" refers to the chalk used in billiards. The song introduces a pair of Gorka's characters a woman and a man. Gorka describes the male character's addiction:
He could always find the holes in the bottles Even with a blindfold on Never kept his seat on the wagon Rolling off like a rolling stone
"Blue Chalk" was first recorded by Irish singer Maura O'Connell for her 1995 album, Stories. More recently it has also been recorded by the New England–based bluegrass band, Northern Lights for their 2005 album, New Moon. It has also been covered in concert performances by Lucy Kaplansky.[4]
In "Can't Make Up My Mind" Gorka creates a song about indecision through a series of paradoxical statements. Some of these are humorous in nature. For example:
I have a lot of trouble My boss at work Yeah I'm still self-employed I'd better wipe that smirk
"The Mortal Groove" is one of only two tracks not to include drums. Michael Manring's fretless bass is featured as a lead instrument and is even given a solo. The late winter mood of the song is like the classic "brooding" often used to describe Gorka's earlier work. The lyrics also revisit the urban themes of blue-collar jobs and gentrification found in writing for his earlier albums such as Land of the Bottom Line and Jack's Crows.
Between Five and Seven was released just months prior to the 1996 U.S. presidential election, this song, however, appears to be several years older. "Campaign Trail" is spoken from the point of view of a candidate who is apologetic, but still seemingly insincere:
And I hope you will forgive me if I don't return your call But there's someone watching every move I make And I've got more hands than I could ever shake
At times the message appears to be of a more personal nature. Perhaps as a touring and performing songwriter, Gorka sees parallels between himself and the politician on the trial:
I pay my bills to the time collectors They're getting more from me each day I pay them off a few words at a time
Following his own forty-sixth birthday (nearly eight years after this album's release) Gorka proclaimed on his web site, "I am now officially older than Edgar The Party Man."[5] "Edgar" is one of Gorka's characters, a middle-ageddivorcé looking for a good time.
My name is Edgar And I am a party man I come from a party town I come in my party van
"Scraping Dixie" is by far the album's longest track. The song profiles yet another of Gorka's misfits, this time a war veteran working various jobs throughout the south to avoid winter's cold. The imagery in the lyrics include lines such as, "I'll be fighting 'till they put that tree suit on."
↑ "Off the Beaten Track: John Gorka, Between Five and Seven" by Rich Warren, Sing Out!, Vol. 41, # 3, Nov/Dec 1996/January 1997, p. 136 (article[permanent dead link] on IIMP)
Out of the Valley is a 1994 album by contemporary folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. This is Gorka's fifth album and unlike the previous four recorded in various places in the northeastern United States, Out of the Valley was recorded at Imagine Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. This is also the first of several Gorka albums to employ the talents of guitarist/producer John Jennings.
Writing in the Margins is the tenth studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. It was released on July 11, 2006, by Red House Records and debuted at number one on the Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart. One departure from previous recordings is the inclusion of a couple of cover songs that blend nicely with Gorka's own compositions. Gorka received some encouragement from Nanci Griffith to record Townes Van Zandt's "Snow Don't Fall", and pays tribute to a personal hero by covering Stan Rogers' "Lockkeeper". Gorka also shares writing credit with his wife, Laurie Allman, on several tracks.
State of the Heart is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Columbia Records on June 13, 1989.
Shooting Straight in the Dark is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Columbia Records on October 9, 1990. It rose to No. 11 on the Billboard's Country Albums chart, with four of its tracks reaching the Hot Country Songs chart: "You Win Again", "Right Now", "Down at the Twist and Shout", and "Going Out Tonight".
Stones in the Road is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Columbia Records on October 4, 1994. It became Carpenter's first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and first album to reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 10. It also contains her first No. 1 Hot Country Singles hit, "Shut Up and Kiss Me", which also reached No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other charting singles were "Tender When I Want to Be", "House of Cards", and "Why Walk When You Can Fly?" at.
Old Futures Gone is the ninth studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. It was released on September 23, 2003, by Red House Records. The album debuted at number two on the Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart and reached number one in October 2003. Gorka shares writing credit with his wife, Laurie Allman, for the lyrics of "Trouble and Care".
Temporary Road is the fourth album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. In 1992 there was some critical consensus that Gorka was one of the leading male voices of the "new folk" movement. As titles like "Looking Forward" and "Gravyland" might imply, the album has an overall optimistic tone. High Street Records produced videos for the upbeat "When She Kisses Me" and "I Don't Feel Like a Train", both of which received some airplay on CMT.
After Yesterday is the seventh studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. It was released on October 20, 1998, by Red House Records. The album marked Gorka's return to Red House, after five albums with Windham Hill/High Street Records. This was heralded as a homecoming-of-sorts as Red House had issued Gorka's debut, I Know in 1987. The album also marks several changes in the life of the artist himself. Themes of parenting and family life first heard here on songs such as, "When He Cries" and "Cypress Trees" have now become a regular feature of Gorka's subsequent albums.
The Company You Keep is the eighth studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka. It was released on March 13, 2001, by Red House Records.
Over the Hills is the sixth solo album by New York singer–songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, released in 2007. The album contains a mix of covers and original songs written with her husband, Rick Litvin.
Tango is an album by the American musician Patty Larkin, released in 1991. Larkin promoted the album by participating in the "On a Winter's Night" tour, with Christine Lavin and John Gorka.
Pilgrims on the Heart Road is an album by Peter Ostroushko, released in 1997. It is the second of the three albums Ostroushko calls his "heartland trilogy" — Heart of the Heartland, Pilgrims on the Heart Road, and Sacred Heart.
Hometown Girl is the debut album from American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released on July 30, 1987 on Columbia Records. The album did not produce any chart singles. It was produced by John Jennings, except for the track "Come On Home", which was produced by Steve Buckingham.
Somewhere Near Paterson is a 2000 album by singer-songwriter Richard Shindell. It was Shindell's first album for Signature Sounds. It was also Shindell's first album following the album and tour performed with the collaboration, Cry Cry Cry. His band mates Lucy Kaplansky and Dar Williams join with him here on Buddy and Julie Miller's "My Love Will Follow You".
The Red Thread is the fifth solo album by New York City singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, released in 2004.
Every Single Day is the fourth solo album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, released in 2001.
Ten Year Night is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, released in 1999.
Flesh and Bone is the second album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, released in 1996. The original release of the CD contained a hidden "Track 0" containing a cover of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" that could be accessed on some players by stepping back a track from Track 1.
Native American is an album by the American guitarist Tony Rice, released in 1988.
So Dark You See is the eleventh studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka, released on October 13, 2009. The album offers eight new examples of Gorka's own lyrical songwriting, two instrumental tracks, poetry of Robert Burns and William Stafford performed and set to music by Gorka, covers of songs by fellow folk musicians, Utah Phillips and Michael Smith, and Gorka's take on the blues standard, "Trouble in Mind".
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