Bill Morrissey & Greg Brown, Tom Dula, Whitefish Montana 1993

From gregbrownmusic.org:
an old friend of mine passed here not long ago also, bill morrissey. a wonderful storyteller & singer- i hadnt seen bill for a long time, a real long time, until last year, i saw him in portland & i knew then he was not long for this world. i admired bill-- music did not come easily to him, he had to work really hard to play & sing-- & he did. he loved it. he wrote a number of beautiful songs. booze got him.
bill was funny, he made me laugh so many times back when we used to hang out. seems like some of the saddest souls are also the funniest. he played an epiphone guitar, an older one that had a very thin neck. this life is an odd deal, not that we have anything to compare it to. we are here. & then we are gone, & as garnet says-- " in the end, only love remains". i believe that is true. bill added to the love pile. bill was kind of a literary cat in some ways. like i am. bill could have been a short story writer, if he had chosen that path, sometimes i think us literary types should stay out of music. songs are a lot more about the music part than they are the lyrics. they work better that way. but he & i both also loved the rhythm & the melody. so we wrote songs. there was such a sadness to bill, it tugs at my heart to recall it. but there was a lot of laughter in him too. i personally do not believe that we go any where after we die. i don't see why we should. i don't see that there is anywhere to go. what we are made of goes on. we are unique, & transient. along with all the rest of it. i just want to thank bill for all the music, & laughter, & i hope the day will come when we can see & say that it is enough to be here, & be grateful.
gb
Tom Dula (Trad.)
Hand me down my banjo, I'll pick it on my knee
This time tomorrow, it won't be no use to me
I met her on the mountain and she swore she'd be my wife
T'was on that mountain, there I took her life
Hanging down your head Tom Dula, hang down your head and cry
You killed poor Laurie Foster, poor boy you're bound to die
All the pretty girls in Memphis, just waiting there on me
If it hadn't been for Grayson, I'd a-been in Tennessee
Hang your head, Tom Dula, hang your head and cry
You killed poor Laurie Foster, poor boy you're bound to die
The tree being oak, boys, the rope being strong
This time tomorrow, reckon I'll be gone
Hang down your head Tom Dula, hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head Tom Dula, poor boy you're bound to die
Hand me down my banjo, I'll pick it on my knee
If you'd have heard her laughing, you'd a-done the same as me
Hang down your head Tom Dula, hang down your head and cry
You killed poor Laurie Foster, poor boy you're bound to die

[@gfsandy]

Thanks, Herve. And happy birthday on Sunday.

[@jamestillman5546]

Dang! What a version of this song. Sweet harmonies.

[@britpodnews]

Beautiful.. thanks for the share :)

[@stephaniebaldwin7645]

that's beautiful, thanks gb

[@acousticshadow4032]

Thanks, Greg. Bill could be a one-man riot, as anyone who's ever picked him up hitchhiking can surely attest.

[@mikemetague7973]

We got to know Bill thru 'Barstow' and the lyrics and 'girlfriend' names-mix-up on 'Grizzly Bear.' ...I'm grateful!

[@mikelord9860]

No lie about polka music - your musical anti-depressant! And a shout-out to WCFW in Chippewa Falls, WI ("...where FM means Fine Music!") - my wife's from the Chippewa Valley - you can wake up to 2.5 hours of Polka music every morning.

[@drewietube]

Actually, that was Whitefish, MT - Montana not MInnesota. I was at that concert at Grouse Mountain Lodge.

[@herveoudet3681]

thanks ; ) corrected.

[@kevinvanwicklin8800]

me too. i was one of Mark King and Friends who put on concert. RIP Mark and Bill.

[@SteveSmith-kc8rn]

I believe Greg loved Bill, and tried to help him not drink himself to death. And the way addiction works, that ended the relationship.

[@jeffb4416]

Steve Smith you may be right. I saw Morrissey at many gigs since 1982 in NH. I also saw these two on the last spot of their duo tour in circa 1993 (?) in Virginia and it was a disaster. They clearly hated each other by then. But I will note that Greg Brown's public post-humous note about Morrisey--'music came hard to bill' or something close--was nasty and rich given that Greg Brown is basically a beginner guitar player with a deep voice. overrrated in the extreme in my view.

[@drschiele]

@@jeffb4416 greg's a genius. his settings of blake alone show his musicality

[@jeffb4416]

@@drschiele Please.

[@mikelord9860]

PS: ...maybe polka would've kept Tom outta trouble...