Steve Forbert: Streets Of This Town 1988

 

Steve Forbert is one of the few artists who can mesmerize a crowd with nothing but a distinctive voice,

an acoustic guitar and his trusty harmonica slung around his neck. More than four decades have passed since Forbert first made his way to New York City from Meridian, Mississippi and his intimate verbal imagery, paired with a roots-rock musical approach, struck a chord with millions of people during the transitional period between ‘70s folk-rock and ‘80s New Wave.
                        

[Steve Forbert began his career as auspiciously as any young artist could have possibly hoped -- a recording contract by the time he was 23, a critically acclaimed debut record, and a hit single from its follow-up. On the flip side, in just five years he found himself in record industry limbo when his label

wouldn't release what would have been his fifth album, while at the same time refusing to free him from his contract. Following a drawn-out legal battle, Forbert, with the help of E Street Band bassist Garry W. Tallent, returned nearly six years later with 1988's Streets of This Town. As producer, Tallent succeeds in capturing Forbert's folk-rock at its best, with just the right mix of muscle ("Don't Tell Me [I Know]," "Wait a Little Longer"), pop ("Running On Love," "Perfect Stranger"), and insight ("I Blinked Once," "Search Your Heart").
              

He also brings a cohesiveness to Forbert's sound that had been lacking since his first recording. And while there are understandable bits of frustration and anger throughout, there's also a prevailing feeling of "Hope, Faith and Love" (a song title), as well as a refreshing sense of perspective. Just the fact that

he kicks things off with the buoyant "Running on Love" and closes with the beautifully uplifting "Search Your Heart" lets you know that this isn't whiny, singer/songwriter fodder. At 33, Forbert is wise enough to know that what's done is done, and the only way to move beyond it is to look forward. Despite a welcome reception at the time of its release, Streets of This Town never quite fulfilled the commercial hope set for Steve Forbert back in the late '70s. Still, it was a strong comeback, and his best since Alive On Arrival was issued ten years prior.
By Brett Hartenbach]

Steve Forbert – Streets Of This Town
Label: Geffen Records – 9 24194-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Classic Rock, Country Rock

TRACKS

                      

01. Running On Love    3:32
02. Don't Tell Me (I Know)    3:33
03. I Blinked Once    4:45
04. Mexico    3:30
05. As We Live And Breathe    3:18
06. On The Streets Of This Town    3:39
07. Hope, Faith And Love    3:41
08. Perfect Stranger    3:33
09. Wait A Little Longer    3:45
10. Stretch Your Heart    4:38

CREDITS

Bass – Danny Counts
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Bobby Lloyd Hicks
Electric Guitar – Nils Lofgren (tracks: 9)
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Paul Errico
Lead Guitar – Steve Forbert (tracks: 2, 9)
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Clay Barnes
Mixed By – Bob Clearmountain (tracks: 7, 9), Jan Topoleski (tracks: 4), Michael Frondelli (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 6, 8, 10)
Mixed By [Assistant] – Gary Solomon (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 6, 8, 10), George Signore (tracks: 4), Jay Healy (tracks: 7, 9)
Percussion – Ernest Carter (tracks: 2)
Producer – Garry Tallent
Recorded By – Jan Topoleski
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica – Steve Forbert
Written-By – Steve Forbert

MP3 @ 320 Size: 92 MB
Flac  Size: 236 MB

Steve Forbert Albums on Urban Aspirines HERE 

Steve Forbert: Little Stevie Orbit 1980

 

Steve Forbert is one of the few artists who can mesmerize a crowd with nothing but a distinctive voice,

an acoustic guitar and his trusty harmonica slung around his neck. More than four decades have passed since Forbert first made his way to New York City from Meridian, Mississippi and his intimate verbal imagery, paired with a roots-rock musical approach, struck a chord with millions of people during the transitional period between ‘70s folk-rock and ‘80s New Wave
                                                      

Forbert’s debut album, ‘Alive On Arrival’, became one of 1978's most acclaimed records. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild recently reflected that “now or then, you would be hard-pressed to find a debut effort that was simultaneously as fresh and accomplished,” comparing it to “a great first novel by a young author who somehow managed to split the difference between Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger.”
                                                                                                                

One track from that album, “Grand Central Station, March 18, 1977”, earned him a spot on the 2014 Village Voice list of The 60 Best Songs Ever Written About New York City, along with many musical heavyweights like Jim Croce, Tom Waits and Frank Sinatra.
                                                                                                          

Hailed by The New York Times as “an introspective, homespun philosopher,” Forbert's second album,

Jackrabbit Slim, released in 1979 achieved RIAA Gold record status on the strength of its hit single “Romeo’s Tune,” which reached #11 on the Billboard charts and helped cement his status as a genuine craftsman. Jackrabbit Slim was re-mastered and re-released in 2019 by Blue Rose Music to commemorate its 40th anniversary.                                          

​"Little Stevie Orbit" is the third album by American singer-songwriter Steve Forbert.
Forbert’s songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, from Keith Urban and Rosanne Cash to

Marty Stuart and John Popper. Forbert also appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her iconic music video for ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’!
Forbert has released 20 studio albums, including a Grammy-nominated tribute to Mississippi legend, Jimmie Rodgers. In 2017, An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert was released, featuring renowned musicians like John Oates and Robert Earl Keen, performing his songs.
                                                                                          

In 2018, Forbert published his memoir Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock.  “Like the earlier Bob Dylan and Patti Smith books, Forbert has a warm way of describing the pull of NYC and the ensuing challenges of getting traction, against the context of a small-town upbringing. He offers a sparkling observation about the pull of music as excellent as any I have seen,” says Entertainment Today.
                                                                              

This year, Forbert was the recipient of the 2020 Governor’s Arts Award in his home state of Mississippi, having already been inducted into the  Mississippi Musician’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

Anyone who reviews Steve's catalog of music can see the writer in the musician. His songs are as literary as they are musically vibrant. Brutally honest lyrics delivered with sensitivity create an uncommon trust with his listeners. Excelling in every decade of his career, Forbert exemplifies the heart and soul of the troubadour tradition.
                                                           

On May 1, 2020 via Blue Rose Music, Steve will release a cover record of 11 of his favorite folk-rock songs, entitled Early Morning Rain. "I recorded this album in an attempt to renew people's appreciation for the fine craftsmanship these songs represent," says Forbert, "and as an acknowledgement of how much good ‘ol songs like these have meant to me.”

TRACKS

01. Get Well Soon     3:53
02. Cellophane City     5:33
03. Song For Carmelita     1:55
04. Laughter Lou (Who Needs You?)     3:10
05. Song For Katrina     3:30
06. One More Glass Of Beer     4:20
07. Lucky     1:12
08. Rain     3:10
09. I'm An Automobile     2:58
10. Schoolgirl     3:01
11. If You've Gotta Ask You'll Never Know     2:15
12. Lonely Girl     3:23
13. A Visitor     4:27

Personnel

Steve Forbert – guitar, harmonica, vocals
Paul Errico – organ, accordion, piano on "I'm an Automobile" and "A Visitor"
Robbie Kondor – organ, piano on "I'm an Automobile" and "A Visitor"
Shane Fontayne – lead guitar
Hugh McDonald – bass
Bobby Lloyd Hicks – drums, percussion
Barry Lazarowitz – drums on "Lonely Girl"
Bill Jones – saxophone
Kenny Kosek – fiddle

CELLOPHANE CITY LYRICS

It Ain't no big secret, the trouble you're in
You wear a thin mask and it smiles and it grins
Can't get no credit can't get a loan.
It's heard at the parties yes and over the phones.

Because it's cellophane city and everyone knows
There's no secret, nothing and that's how it goes.
Cellophane city, you try as you may
There's no secret nothing, it's all on display

He stood in the kitchen, she told him a lie
She left around 7 and kissed him goodbye
She snuck across the town to a rendezvous bar
Well he knows who she is with
Yes and he knows where they are

Because it is cellophane city and everyone knows
There's no secret nothing and that is how it goes
Cellophane city, you try as you may
There's no secret nothing, it's all on display

You try to be jesus, you try to be boss
You pulled a few tricks and you hang on a cross
This sepualchre is emptying, yeah all is at peace
We know your with magdalene and you're sailing for Greece

Because it's cellophane city, and everyone knows
There's no secret nothing, and that's how it goes.
Cellophane city you try as you may
There's no secret, nothing, it's all on display.

(Evgeny Ches, from Moscow, Russia, uses plastic wrap fixed between two trees or columns as his canvas and spray paint to create the incredible animal portraits.)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 106 MB
Flac  Size: 271 MB

Albums and info about Steve, on this Blog HERE

Steve Forbert : Alive On Arrival 1978

Samuel Stephen "Steve" Forbert (born December 13, 1954) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 said Forbert has "One of the most distinctive voices anywhere.”

His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart. It also spent two weeks at No. 8 in Canada. His other singles have all charted on Billboard. Forbert's first four albums all charted on the Billboard 200 chart, with Jack Rabbit Slim certified gold. In 2003, his Any Old Time album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk category. Forbert has released nineteen studio and three live albums. 

 [By Mike DeGagne 

Steve Forbert's youthful features and boyish voice certainly become misleading once his lyrics are heard. His folk-rock styled songs are usually centered around life's ups and downs and the problems of adulthood, portraying him as an artist who's just trying to get by.

Alive on Arrival is an album full of earnest tunes about loneliness, self-worth, aspirations, and disappointments. Forbert's wispy, innocent sounding voice floats gently (and cuts roughly) over his acoustic guitar to homespun ditties with a down-to-earth feel.

This album represents Forbert's music perfectly, and even though his latter albums sound less subtle, it is Alive on Arrival that so aptly personifies him. "Going Down to Laurel" has his voice aching about the dirtiness of the city and the beauty of his true love, and "Steve Forbert's Midsummer Night's Toast" is an interesting musical jaunt through the bittersweet world of growing up. Forbert really comes to life on "What Kinda Guy?," humorously explaining what a simplified, easygoing chap he is.
The kick-back aura of Alive on Arrival puts the emphasis on the down and out Forbert while feelings of sentiment and adolescence slowly emerge with each passing song. This album makes for a great late-night listen.]

Released on CBS Records in 1978, “Alive On Arrival” was heralded by fans and critics alike. Rolling Stone raved that on the album Forbert “attacked his acoustic guitar fiercely, took raw, careening harmonica solos, and sang in a manner nobody had heard before--hoarse, almost whispering at times, but with a sure command of texture and nuance and a sense of high drama.” Paul Nelson, in the Rolling Stone review of the record, said that “Nothing in this world is going to stop Steve Forbert, and on that I’d bet anything you’d care to wager.”

Was there ever a debut album more fittingly titled than Steve Forbert‘s astonishing 1978 release Alive on Arrival? From the opening harmonica intro for the folk rocker leadoff track, ‘Goin’ Down to Laurel’, to the closing notes of the powerful, bluesy, ‘You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play’, what music fans heard was a fresh and vital singer/songwriter who was infectious, intelligent, and musically inventive. Forbert was immediately saddled with the moniker “The New Dylan”, an evaluation that has cursed a hundred talents.

Alive On Arrival was an auspicious debut. He had traveled from his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi to New York City, playing in small clubs and in front of any open mic that was available. His first release reflects those learning experiences as the music and lyrics have a raw and gritty feel despite the gentle nature of his approach.

His early songs explored pain, humor, regret, his philosophy of life, and the world around him. “It Isn’t Gonna Be That Way” is a catchy folk tune that remains in your mind long after the song ends. “Big City Cat” is an emotional ride through his life at the time. “Goin’ Down to Laurel” remains a fine introduction to his music.

Label: Epic ‎– ZK 35538, Nemperor Records ‎– ZK 35538

Format: CD, Album, Reissue

Country: US

Released: 1987

Genre: Rock

Style: Folk Rock

TRACKS

All songs written by Steve Forbert

01. Goin' Down to Laurel – 4:39

02. Steve Forbert's Midsummer Night's Toast – 2:49

03. Thinkin' – 3:25

04. What Kinda Guy? – 2:34

05. It Isn't Gonna Be That Way – 4:55

06. Big City Cat – 3:50

07. Grand Central Station, March 18, 1977 – 4:13

08. Tonight I Feel So Far Away from Home – 3:14

09. Settle Down – 3:46

10. You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play – 4:33

Personnel

Acoustic Bass – Brian Torff (tracks: 8)

Alto Saxophone – David Sanborn (tracks: 6)

Bass – Hugh McDonald

Design – Ed Lee

Drums, Tambourine – Barry Lazarowitz

Engineer – Glenn Berger

Engineer [Associate Engineer] – Charles Clifton

Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Harvey Shapiro

Lead Guitar – Steve Burgh

Other [Production Assistant] – Candice Smith

Photography By [Back Cover] – David Gahr

Photography By [Front Cover] – Danny Fields

Piano, Organ – Robbie Kondor

Producer – Steve Burgh

Technician [Technical Assistance] – Bruce Maddocks

Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica – Steve Forbert

Written-By – Steve Forbert

IT ISN'T GONNA BE THAT WAY LYRICS

You've traveled so far, the wind in your face

you're thinking you've found the one special place

where all your dreams will walk out in line,

and follow the course you've made in your mind

Well, it isn't gonna be that way

It isn't gonna be that way

I came on my own

and felt much like you

i thought i was king

and knew what to do

but everything burned

and fell from my hand

i had to turn back

and build a new plan

Cause It isn't gonna be that way

It isn't gonna be that way

If i were a god

id give you a clue

this minute would crack

and id go through

and id walk out in time

where no one has been

and come back to you

and tell what id seen

But It isn't gonna be that way

It isn't gonna be that way

youll just have to live

and see what you find

take it from there

and follow the signs

think you can live

and dream your own fate

you think you can wish

 and walk through the gate

It isn't gonna be that way

It isn't gonna be that way

Links for Steve Forbert

MP3 @ 320 Size: 87 MB

Flac Size:245 MB

Steve Forbert : Jackrabbit Slim 1979

Anointed "the new Dylan" upon his recording debut, Country-rock singer/songwriter Steve Forbert was born in Meridian, MS, in 1954. After learning guitar at age 11, he spent his high school years playing in a variety of local bands before quitting his job as a truck driver and moving to New York City at the age of 21.

There, he performed for spare change in Grand Central Station before working his way up to the Manhattan club circuit.

After signing to Nemperor, Forbert debuted in 1978 with Alive on Arrival, which earned critical acclaim for its taut, poetic lyrics.

The follow-up, 1979's Jackrabbit Slim, was his most successful outing, reaching the Top 20 on the strength of the hit single "Romeo's Tune" (allegedly inspired by the late Supreme Florence Ballard).

However, both 1980's Little Stevie Orbit and a self-titled 1982 effort fared poorly, and Forbert was dropped by his label.

He spent much of the decade in Nashville, where he continued honing his songwriting skills and performed regularly throughout the South.

On Stage at World Cafe Live appeared in 2007 from Decca Vision as well as a new studio set, Strange Names and New Sensations, from 429 Records that same year. The Place and the Time arrived in 2009.
(All Music)

The Band :

Drums : Roger Clark (tracks: A1 to A4, B3 to B5)
Guitar [Lead] : Joe Goin
Organ, Accordion : Paul Errico
Piano : Bobby Ogdin
Producer : John Simon
Saxophone : Bill Jones (5)
Trombone : Dennis Good
Trumpet : Ron Keller
Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica : Steve Forbert

TRACKS

1. Romeo's Tune 3:28
2. The Sweet Love That You Give 3:35
3. I'm In Love With You 4:47
4. Say Goodbye To Little Jo 3:52
5. Wait 5:31
6. Make It All So Real 5:54
7. Baby 4:12
8. Complications 3:41
9. Sadly Sorta Like A Soap Opera 3:40
10.January 23-30, 1978 4:37

Label : Epic EPC 83879
Year : 1979
Format : Vinyl LP
Made in : Holland
Nemperor Records

This is one of the best Country-Rock Albums I've ever heard .
Trust me !!!

"The world is new in your newborn eyes
You got no shame and you tell no lies
Your slate is clean and your mind is free
Your soul is pure let it shine on me"

Take it HERE
MP3 @320 Size : 101 MB

Flac  Size : 236 MB
 

Παιδιά μην τον βλέπετε γλυκούλη στο εξώφυλλο .
Ο τύπος δαγκώνει , και μάλλιστα πού άσχημα .
Ρίξτε μιά ματιά στο "The Oil Song" λίγο παρακάτω απο αυτό το Post

Steve Forbert : The Oil Song - 33 1/3 Rpm Vinyl Single 2010

Steve Forbert (born Samuel Stephen Forbert, December 13, 1954) is an American Country Rock music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.

Even though the sleeve of the album Jackrabbit Slim (1979) states that "Romeo's Tune" is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard," the song is not really about the Supremes singer who died in 1976.

The song was actually written about a girl from Forbert's home town of Meridian, Mississippi, but was dedicated to Ballard because, as Forbert explains, "That seemed like such bad news to me and such sad news. She wasn't really taken care of by the music business, which is not a new story."

Critics hailed him at the time as the "new Bob Dylan", given a similar vocal timbre and thoughtful songwriting.

THE OIL SONG Lyrics
(These are the complete uncensored lyrics of the song only in the concerts of Steve Forbert )
May 2010

“Oh, the engine’s gone dead!” cried the men who were there
And she passed up the dock on the wide Delaware
Then the ship ran aground and the oil got away
And they did not report the big spill on that day.

And it’s oil, oil,
Yeah Drifting to the sea
An' it's oil, oil,
Don’t buy it at the station,
You can have it now for free,
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be.

It was hundreds of thousands of gallons galore
Stretching thirty-two miles down the Delaware shore
There were geese in the marshes out looking for food,
They got stuck where they stood in the oncoming crude!

And it’s oil, oil,
Drifting to the sea
An' it's oil, oil

In the well-charted waters of the Nantucket shoals
Was a ship run aground, full of oil we were told
In a week’s worth of rough winter weather and waves,
The boat started cracking and it could not be saved.

It was seven point six million gallons this time
Consider the danger and think of the crime
As it poured out a slick stretching into the tide
for over one hundred miles, it came deep, it came wide!


There's talk of some writing found in the ship's log
saying one of the helmsmen's unfit for his job
and the ship's gyro compass was six degrees shy
Their charts were outdated but they tried to get by


It was oil! oil!
Pouring in the sea
Oil, oil,
Don’t you buy it at the station,
You can get it now for free,
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be.

Now both of these ships , like great many more
got registed in through Liberian doors
Inspections are quick and regulations are few
Just sign on the line and go find you a crew , yes

One of these ships was the Olympic Games
The Argo Merchant was the other one’s name.
If things don't get better
then they probably get worst
if you can't drink the oil
you must die of thirst.

( It’s sad but it’s true, things got worse for the seas,
Along came a craft called Amoco Cadiz
Amoco Cadiz between England and France,
Big supertanker out taking a chance
With his one hundred thousand black tons of the slime,
Amoco Cadiz spilt the most of all time! )

Now down in the Gulf east Mexico way
There's something gone wrong , so the papers say
A Mexican oil well is leaking it's goo
They say it's the worse that things have ever come to

Gallons of sludge, sixty million and more!
Sleazin' and easin'; towards many a shore
A Mexican oil well went leaking its goo
At that time the worst things had ever come to!

It was oil, oil,
Creepin' in the sea

Hey, the captain's now free and his case it is closed,
The Exxon Valdez wrecked itself I suppose;
What's left of the life in the Prince William Sound
Might not condone what our court of law found!

And it’s oil! oil!
Creeping in the sea!
Oil, oil,
Don’t buy it at the station,
You can get it now for free,
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be.

Saddam Hussein was a pretty strange man,
Look what he's done for his trusting homeland,
With sanctions and bombing he'd no way to sell
Crude from his captured Kuwaiti oil wells
He sat down to think and came up with a scheme
One that he thought might protect his regime
Covered the Gulf in a blanket of black
Thought it might hold a few battleships back!

REPEAT CHORUS
It was oil, oil,
Creepin' in the sea,

Registered in through Liberian doors
Passin' the Shetlands near Scotland's cold shores,
A single-hulled ship with his engine broke down
Drifted five hours and then ran aground
Right where the wildlife preserve chanced to be
And twenty million more gallons got free.
But don't worry, folks, "It's light crude!," they did say,
"It'll prob'ly break up and be gone right away!"

REPEAT CHORUS

They're banning those single-hulled tankers we hear,
Phasin' 'em out in the next sev'ral years
There's one called The Prestige won't be junked in that heap,
It stalled off of Spain and it sank down the deep
One million gallons of fuel reached the beach,
Nineteen more sank in some tanks that weren't breached
If air's trapped inside 'em they'll burst any day,
If not, they'll just sit there to rust and decay…

Till it's oil! oil!
Creepin'' in the sea...

The Delaware River was back in distress,
This time the captain did not cause the mess
The paint on his ship was the same as the type
That divers found scraped on a fifteen-foot pipe
Therefore the pipe was the cause of the hole,
The hole in his hull was beyond his control;
Hey, whomever knows how that pipe got stuck there
Thanks for the half-million-gallon nightmare!

REPEAT CHORUS
Which was oil, oil,
Yeah, creepin' to the sea,
It was oil. it was oil...

The Israeli Army was bombing Beirut
Cause Hezbollah kidnapped some Israeli troops
The Lebanese oil was in tanks near the sea
Cause that's where those oil storage tanks tend to be
The Israeli bombs hit the tanks on the shore,
The oil isn't stored in those tanks anymore
The Mediterranean tourism buzz
As per The Holy Land ain't what it was!

REPEAT CHORUS
Now it's oil, an' it's oil,
Creepin' in the sea...

A barge full of oil hit a tanker last night,
The good news I guess is the tanker’s alright
The barge broke in two and so old New Orleans
Got stuck with what newscaster teams call a “sheen”
The riverfront walk was a-funk, yeah, with fumes,
The Coast Guard was rollin' out red plastic booms
To block off the spill and contain it … (good luck!)
Four hundred thousand thick gallons of muck!

REPEAT CHORUS
It was oil, oil,
Creepin' to the sea...

We're pumpin' out petrol, no matter what cost
And now that eleven men's lives have been lost
The price is as high as rig workers can pay
Payin' the price for the U.S. of A.
A deepwater rig called Horizon went down,
No way to seal off its pipe has been found
So south Louisianans all wait for to see
Just what the landfall of this spill will be...

People, oil, an' it's oil,
Creepin' in the sea,
Don't buy it at the station,
You can get it now for free,
Just come on down to the shoreline
Where the water used to be.

If things don't get better
then they probably get worst
if you can't drink the oil
you must die of thirst.

From The Oil Song 2010, released 12 May 2010
Original Release Date: April 13, 1993
Format : Viynl Mini LP
Rpm : 33 1/3
Made in : Holland
Label : Epic Records

Steve Forbert : acoustic guitar
Steve Allen : twelve string acoustic guitar
Charlie Chadwick : bass and drums
Will Barrow : accordion

Dedicated to Nuzz Prowling Wolf
 Flac  HERE