- Back Porch Bloomington is underwritten in part by a grant from Cook Incorporated. Tired of living the
- way I've been, gotta get back to my roots again. Blackboard house ain't a good use car, take me back
- with a plainote saw.
- and Jones and Johnson and Brown, a couple long moves that you can't pronounce. Welcome me back to the
- neighborhood with a casserole dish and a neighbor cook. Folks next door, the kids grown up, inviting
- me down to the Polish club. Drink a little beer, maybe play a little cards. Take me back where the plain
- folks are.
- 12 on Friday night, Saturday morning head outside, paint the shutters, say mow the lawn, I say watch
- a car with the radio on, any outside round 6 also for a home-cooked dinner then a TV show, back on the
- front porch, stare at the stars, take me back where the plane folks are.
- My eyes think what I've learned. Open them up and the calendar turn. Folks grow older, they move away.
- Thinking about facts from day to day. So when I'm tired of the life I've lived. Sick of living inside
- my head. You find me talking about a brand new start. Take me back where the plain folks are. Take me
- back where the plain folks are.
- Thank you. Raise this mic a bit so my posture is good. Sister Mary Evangelist would appreciate that.
- I thought so. We don't play this tune very often because there are not many places we play that have
- a nice, slightly out of tune piano like this one.
- slightly out of tune being an absolute necessity if you're playing with us. And you're a piano. Yeah.
- Nones taught me on one of these too. Ready. Dial that saxophone. One, two, a one, two, three, yeah.
- to the deep light sequence. Whatever the good lights thirst. You know what sounds the right to dance.
- It's here you determine they're worth. They got their ears on blue to the broadcast. They groove to
- the static tones. They got a cause and a recognition as they're running to the telephone. Hear the footsteps
- coming from the back of the room.
- A dial that saxophone A dial that saxophone Now you've heard them blow slow on the radio A dial that
- saxophone A dial that saxophone A dial that saxophone Now you've heard them blow slow on the radio A
- dial that saxophone
- light in an airless room from a building south of the bank town. It's a blinking light from a thousand
- feet. A big song passing around. Their heads all shaking to the broadcast. They groove to the static
- tone. They had a cold sweat of recognition as they're running to the telephone. They hear the boys keep
- singing as the phones keep ringing.
- A dial that's saxophone. A dial that's saxophone. I have heard him roll slow on the radio. Dial, dial,
- dial, dial, dial, dial, dial. A dial that's saxophone. A dial that's saxophone. I have heard him roll
- slow on the radio. A dial that's saxophone.
- They are the cause for the recognition.
- that was in one of the newspapers hidden on page three or four. Whenever it's sort of bad news about
- the country, they put it in three and four. This particular piece of news was about what they expect
- the workforce to be like. In the year 2000, not very good news, especially if you like benefits and
- working full-time and working for more than four bucks an hour. Oh, by 2000, we'll probably be up to 550.
- Anyway, I don't think it will affect your paper route, no. Well, this tune is entitled, I Need a Job,
- and it's about crossing the strike line. One, two, one, two, three.
- I left home to job last Friday night Where houses built for us ain't last Work 16 hours, get paid in
- cash Work 24 hours, go home and strive Picking line was stretching long outside I need a job, but not that bad
- People strike and they got no work. Poor families are the first ones hurt. Maybe better hours, or better
- pay. Maybe it's the worse of any work. Now do I lose the only friends I have? I need a job, but not
- time to time.
- A job but not that bad, pal. Jump a vine and cop a gun to make me mad. So I stopped the car and I turned
- around. I've gone to the engine, went back to town. It's another week without something, sure.
- I don't want to work for no firm like that. I need a job and I've had it bad. Mark Robinson.
- So I stopped the car and I turned around.
- I want to work for no crime I'd like I need a job, but not bad, bad I need a job, but not bad, bad I
- need a job, I need a job Yeah.
- dedicated to Shirley Temple Black entitled Curly Little Shirley.
- I've seen her in the movies, I've seen her in the magazine. I remember love eternal even when I work
- a handheld dream. Well, she looks so good in lipstick and a strona pose. I was helpless as a baby when
- she starts her pose.
- She was frozen on a pussy, we'd grown up as a child, couldn't be. Well, I must have been a pal when
- I was younger than this. The only thing I'm looking for is one little kiss. Sometimes she acts precocious,
- I know she's just an average girl.
- She might be six years out of diverse, but to me, she's still a bride to me. Well, I know that in the
- 40s, she'll mean nothing at all. By then, I'll probably graduate to law and book hall. Got cars born
- in the spring and know my taste good.
- I wish you were mine. I know she's just an average girl.
- Thank you. Our guest for tonight, Mr. Art Heckman.
- This is a song called Real.
- doesn't care how you feel. It just stacks the deck. It doesn't deal. No, but it's real life. Real. I
- was just a boy.
- a bunch of other boys underneath the palm trees. We used to sit in the sand and speculate about the
- real world waiting back in the states. And then we all went home to no applause.
- Nobody cheers for a soldier in the lost cause. So welcome to the real world, but it ain't pretty, but
- it's real. It may not be in your best interest, but it doesn't care how you feel. It just stacks the
- deck, it doesn't feel.
- free.
- the Lord I found her. My day is not right if I can't put my arms around her. Still I lie awake at night,
- trying to comprehend the worst dream I ever had. I'll never fall in love again. And I stay out late.
- just to be alone. When the music stops, there's no place to go but home. Now that's real love. Well,
- it ain't pretty, but it's real. May not be in your best interest. It doesn't care how you feel. It's
- just actually there because you
- as is he.
- This next tune is definitely a song for this season. It took me a year, most of the year to write it,
- through a wet spell, into a dry spell. It seemed like the completion was the essence of the song, and
- it's called I Wish It Would Rain.
- I wish it would rain just to wash the air I hate to complain but what else can I say When the blue sky
- reminds me of blue wings
- I wish the clouds would cover the skies And I wish it would rain I wish it would rain Just to wash away
- my tears They're all that remain Of this sadness that appears When the sun shines
- And all I can see is her face As I stare into space I wish it would rain With the sun bearing down A
- shadow keeps following me But it would surely fade If a little rain could remain
- I wish it would rain just to clear the air. They're set on the dust, stirred up by this last affair.
- But it's so dry, sometimes it binds me with a catch in my throat. And I can't sing another note.
- And I wish it
- it would rain just to clear the air and settle the dust stirred up by this last affair cause it's so
- dry sometimes it binds me with the catch in my throat and I can't sing another
- I can't sing another note and I wish it would rain I can't sing another note and I wish it would rain
- This next tune, it's one of my attempts at writing a Hoagy Carmichael tune
- You can't do that anymore, of course, but you can't kill a man for trying. So this tune is called The
- Street Sweeper Song.
- Here come that old street sweeper Sweeping down the street He got a smile upon his face For all he means
- People merely passing by He don't even know
- always look them in the eye and smile and say hello. Sometimes he'd do a little dance, shuffling his
- feet. And you can see the people, they're all laughing.
- As the way he makes his living the whole day long Sang in that street sweeper's zone
- little dance shuffling his feet and you can see the people they're all laughing as the way he makes
- his living the whole day long singing that street
- song.
- It's called Will's King. Milton Brown and the Brownies. That's right. The tune's called Fanning, and
- it's not inappropriate for this time of year.
- If this song's too hot, cool it if you can. You better run out and get yourself a five cent. Fan it,
- fan it. Fan it, fan it and cool it, honey, till the cows come home. I got myself a new gal, and her
- name is Sue. She said to make me love you, honey, tell you what you do. You just fan it, fan it, fan it.
- the cows come home. My mama's in the kitchen, just heard that back door slam. I'm out of that kitchen,
- honey, quit your scorching that ham and just
- I spent six months in jail, my back turned to the wall
- What's the cause of it all? So just ban it, ban it, ban it and cool it, honey, till the cows come home.
- I'm going to do a little hometown music. This is a tune I wrote with my good buddy Eric Rosser, sort
- of over the telephone. It's the only song I ever collaborated with anybody with. I guess it takes that
- much distance to do that.
- This is the Bloomington song. Traveling on a bum or on a Queen Mary You're so very precariously far
- from home Sleeping on the ground or in a Waldorf Astoria
- You wonder what's in it for you when you're all alone You long for the glories, the stories, the quarries
- Of a certain fair city Named in this little detail Oh, Bloomington, Bloomington Rocking chair and a
- bottle of gin
- Singing the blues in the moonlight on an old stone porch Taking a swim with your sweetie in the reservoir
- And if you ever chance to roam Well you can ride to the place that you call home 47401 Indiana, USA
- Lounging by a pool
- Looking out on the ocean at the palm trees in motion from a tropic breeze. Eating papaya, drinking piña
- colada, a resounding zanada puts your guests at ease. But your satisfaction with this action is merely
- fractional compared to your best turn.
- In a city midwestern, oh Bloomington, Bloomington Rocking chair and a bottle of gin Singing the blues
- in the moonlight on that old stone porch Taking a swim with your sweetie in the reservoir And if you
- ever chance to roam Then you can ride to the place we all call home
- 47401 Indiana 47401 Indiana USA
- Thank you. Thank you. You're very kind. So if Kathy Norton and Yadio are around here, they could help
- me do this next.
- though I may try and try no one can satisfy this longing in me I'll never be free from your smile so
- tender sweet surrender of your eyes how can I be free when I still
- remember how you thrilled me with a sigh just like a chain bound to my heart. Your love remains when
- we're apart. Each kiss I gave to you made me a slave to you. I'll never be
- never be free from your smile so tender sweet surrender of your eyes how can I be free when I still
- remember how you thrilled me with a sigh just like a chain bound to my heart your love remains
- Each kiss I gave to you Made me a slave to you I'll never be free Each kiss I gave to you Made me a
- slave to you I'll never be free
- done with.
- That was one of the questions. Will we be able to tell when I take Cathy's cord and plug it into mine?
- You didn't notice, did you? This is a tune called Take It or Leave It.
- Did you leave it be the way it was? You're taking my love with all your tongues I'm giving it up with
- open arms Don't you mess with my love, did you leave it? Don't start what you can't finish, says my
- mama Leave well enough alone, don't be a fool While you're making eyes at me, remember
- My love is no exception to the rules. Well, now take it or leave it, just the way you found it. Take
- it or leave it, be the way it was. Well, you've taken my love with all your charm. I'm giving it up
- with open arms. Don't you mess with my love, take it or leave it.
- Is it all a dream or am I falling? Head over heels in love with you Tell me I don't need to worry darling
- Tell me that your love for me is true Take it or leave it just the way you found it Take it or leave
- it be the way it was
- my love with all you've done. You're giving it up with open arms. Don't you miss my love? If you're
- gonna leave it, take it more.
- Take it or leave it just the way you found it Take it or leave it be the way it was You've taken my
- love with all your charms I've given it up with open arms Don't you mess with my love Take it or leave
- it I said don't you mess with my love Take it or leave it Don't mess, don't mess with my love Take it
- or leave it
- Thank you. Thank you. This next tune, I wrote for some good friends of mine who were getting married
- for both of them for the second time around. And you know, it's good to know when you get to be my age,
- which isn't real old, you understand. Thanks, Lenny. I knew I could count on you.
- I kept quiet, you notice that. It's just a little bit younger than you are, Lenny. Not much. That you
- can still fall in love and still get swept off your feet. And this is what this is about. It's called
- Never Have I Known a Love Like You.
- Other times and other places have I lived before Other looks and other faces linger here no more But
- there's no need for explanation
- I managed to survive Playing parts and guessing answers Never knowing why You took the time to understand
- me Your gentle love came through Never have I known a love like you
- Your smile begins a melody Your touch completes so lovingly Your eyes reflect a part of me
- playing parts and guessing answers never knowing why you took the time to understand me your gentle
- love came through never have I known a love like you
- like you. No, never have I known a friend
- We've got one more tune for you. This is a tune that I co-wrote with a good friend of mine, David Frauman.
- I have to give him half credit for this. It's a rock and roll tune called I'm Not in Love Anymore.
- Thank you. Very pretty and talented, too. Kathy Spiaggia, Kathy Norton. We had a...
- explain this little piece of hardware here on the piano. It's a bowling trophy, the American Legion
- President's Award in 1985. And I'm ashamed to say I bought it at the Salvation Army for 75 cents. But
- my bowling game ain't bad. It's genetic to Polish people that they can bowl halfway decently. I've got
- a good hook.
- put it up here for inspiration alright this tune is I bowl these games for you
- You must know it's true. I love you, baby. You must know it's true. For over 15 years, I've only saved for you.
- The TV set that matched the crystal set I want them all for you You spend those nights alone But ain't
- it nice to know You helped to win them too I get scared when I told that lie
- Think back on your sweet face. I feel fine. I love you, baby. You must know it's true.
- I know this one. You know I can't be found I'm sitting here all alone
- If you can't come around, at least on the telephone, now don't be cruel.
- made you mad. A little something that I might have said. Oh, please let's forget the past. Because the
- future looks bright ahead. Now don't be cruel.
- way hard it's true
- Oh, honeybunch. Yeah, honeybunch. Why don't you sell that joint and come away with me? Today you got
- a phone call from that man downtown. He wrote that letter you threw away. It's Monday, 9 o'clock. He'll
- tell you what they found. On it that his office made a year of taxes you haven't paid. Honeybunch. Yeah,
- honeybunch.
- Why do you do those things you do now the government's hounding you? Oh, honey bunch, yeah, oh,
- honey bunch, why don't you sell that joint and come away with me? Back Porch Bloomington is underwritten
- in part by a grant
- from Cook Incorporated.