King Django :: A Single Thread : CD
Release Date :: September, 2003
If you haven't noticed a pattern yet here at Megalith, it is that we continue to work with artists and musicians that have been a driving force in the ska scene for many years now. King Django has been doing the ska since the early 80's and continues to release a wealth of excellent tunes with a wide variety of bands. Besides singing and playing he is also a prolific producer for many of the east coast bands such as our very own Westbound Train and even performed some recording duties on the Mr. T-Bone release. If you are new to his sound, this release is the best way to hear all that he can do, from the straight up ska, to the experimental reggae to styles all his own. If you have heard him before then you will be glad to know that most of this material is currently out of print and there are even some new mixes on some of the tunes, including Reason and Hepcat Season. After hearing this album you'll want to track down every release these tunes came from!
Track List
1. Does He Love You
2. Rise to Find You
3. No Mas Errores
4. A Single Thread
5. Take Your Chances
6. You Knock The Wind Out Of Me
7. Lifeboat
8. Tired Of Struggling
9. Move Like Ya Gone
10. Precipice
11. Shtiklakh
12. Love Ain't Weak
13. Open Season
14. LKO
15. Nex Finga
16. Reason 2003
17. Steal My Thunder
18. Hepcat Season
19. Voodoo Altar
20. Thirsty
Line Up
King Django: Vocals, Trombone, Harmonica, Melodica, Percussion, Keyboards
Drums: Eddie Ocampo, Michael McDermott, James Blanck, Johnnathan McCain, Ivan Katz, David Alfaro, Eric Gut, Benjamin Herson
Bass: Victor Rice, Noah Shachtman, Pierre Romain, Manucel Butta, Matt Malles, Anna Milat-Meyer, Matthias Tobler, Dan Jesselsohn, Rob Jost
Guitar: "Agent" Jay Nugent, Dave Hahn, Euli Esaá Mendez, Luc Montini, Shane Gooding
Keyboards: Brandt Abner, Victor Ruggiero, Taggio Castillo, Marcos Viloria, Guyora Kats, Simon Hänggi
Saxophone: El Husey, Elinés Raymond, Dr. Faustus
Trumpet: Danny Dulin, Jason Glaser, Rolf Langsjoen
Trombone: Dave Nelson, Emerson Rodriguez
Very special thanks to all of the bands and musicians over the years who have made this possible:
Skinnerbox (Tracks 1, 6, 9, 15, 18)
Stubborn All-Stars (2, 5, 8, 13)
Roots and Culture (4, 11)
Don Khumalo (3)
Scrucialists (12)
Version City Rockers (20)
Liner Notes
It doesn't seem as long ago as it was, sitting on the steps of the Ortiz Funeral home on that hot sticky night on 2nd Ave. "Hey, what's going on?" I look up from my 40oz. Who is this guy? I know him, his reputation precedes him, good and bad. It's this guy Jeff Baker. The guys in my old band loved this guy. I've already played one of his songs, "Permanent Holiday," in a band I was in.. I think we were learning "You Knock the Wind Out of Me" when the band broke up. So his band now is Skinnerbox. They play Skatalites one day and funk the next. His old band was the mid 80's ska-rulers, the Boilers. But who IS this guy?
From the first I could definitely say that he was searching--for a place, a name, a persona--one he found in Django, someone who could be an icon, just like the ones that Jeff followed, from Jamaican heroes like Prince Buster, "Scratch" Perry, Desmond Dekker, to rock legends like Jethro Tull, Dr.John, Jim Morrison. Guys who took chances, who would insult you and uplift you in the same breath. "Take your chances, make your choice, choose your weapon, use your voice!"
Django! As much as he is the chatter who asks any sucker to TRY and take him on the mic, he is as much the ska self-help guru who'd write "Pick yourself up when the world puts you down, tackle your problems and turn them around." He is the ska everyman, or every-"boy" as that case may be.
"I gotta put myself into action, cuz I'm so tired of strugglin'" I remember these days, early days, sitting around thinking about all the guys in the neighborhood bands that WE'D wanna be in a band with. That was the Stubborn All-Stars. Music WE'D like, no bull-shitting, no half-stepping. This was my life around Jeff, going forward without worry if we were doing the right thing or if anybody would like it. We would like it! That was right. That was before "old" was cool.
Who's to tell you what the rules are? The boundaries? What you can do, what you can't? What was Skinnerbox if not that? If not the most stylishly unpredictable band, the weirdest band full of the most volatile personalities and best musicians you could ever hope to combine. If anything, Jeff's a great catalyst, a combiner of elements. Who else but him and the myriad musicians that comprised Skinnerbox over the years could cruise seamlessly from old ska and dubby reggae to moshed up punk or hard psychedelic funk in the blink of a dilated pupil--and then mix'em all up if you wanted? Who are these guys? Crazy. "Move Like Ya Gone!" Those were some gone cats. And then, after so many years of ambiguous morphing existence, they WERE gone.
And then Version City: trying all new things. DUB, RECORDING, MIXING, the mysteries of the universe unraveling. Sitting up all night, drinking, smoking, playing. Mixing dubs live for each other...to cassette. A non-stop party--creating, experimenting. Before gigs, after, whenever! Whoever! And Django was the host. He bought the equipment with the money he made off Rancid gigs (they asked for the only reggae-punk trombone player in NYC). Yes, this is my friend, these are my friends, all of us buried in a rat infested basement, all hours. "No Pissing In Bottles" tacked up on cardboard over the pile of bottles, somewhere to the left of the hole which gurgled alternately sewer water and soap. But the records that came out of that moment were all beauty, setting a new high mark for us. Something to compete with and something to try to out do: each other.
Jeff, Django, now they had morphed, they were one--the man of many faces, Gangsta, Rude Boy, Hippie-Mystic in the park with nothing but a pair of drawers and his trombone. The man of many tongues, what is he singing? Spanish, French, German, Patois, New York--and beyond words, the lyrical melodies, "Lifeboat"...come to my rescue... What did he used to say in the Stubborn days? "We're out there every day trying to save each other's lives..."
It's been ten years or more since the Ortiz Funeral home and what's come of it? Records and records, over 40 musicians. Believe me, 20 tracks don't even begin to touch it. And are we rich? Not in dollars. Are we tired of struggling? Are we even more that than back then? When half-baked bullshit is still the flavor of the week and pretty boys and pretty girls still fly up the charts? And we ask, "Well who is THAT GUY?!" The one with all the glitters and lights around him? Is he bigger? Stronger? Smarter? Richer? Better looking? Maybe...
…but does he love you?
...Django does.
Liner notes by Victor Ruggiero
All songs written by King Django except:
(3) by Manuel Butta, Euli Esaa Mendez and Manucel Butta
(7) by King Django and Dunia Best
(10) by King Django and Scrucialists
Produced by King Django
All art layout and design by Jeremy Patton © 2003
www.megalithrecords.com
Megalith Records
POB 352
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
Thanks to Django for keepin' with the ska after all these years! Big Up!
www.kingdjango.com www.versioncity.com www.stubbornrecords.com
MEGA008 This release copyright © Megalith Records 2003.
Please visit www.megalithrecords.com for more great ska music releases.
All music copyright © Jeff Baker 2003.
All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
Lyrics
:: Does He Love You ::
Is he big? Bigger than me?
And is he strong? Stronger than me?
And is he tall? Is he taller than I man?
Good looking? Better looking than me?
And does he love you?
Is he smart? Smarter than me?
And is he good, girl? Why don't you keep it to yourself.
And is he hurt, doll, did you hurt him how you devastate me?
And does he love you? Does he love you like I do?
Does he love you?
:: Rise to Find You ::
The moon in the sky lights up your eyes like the backdrop of heaven
And this tune I describe, girl, it could match your beauties never
But baby, I still haven't seen you, though maybe one day I will rise
To find you by my side
The sun greets the dawn to find me thinking about your treasures
And by night I dream on, on to the day that I might taste your pleasures
But baby, I still haven't seen you, though maybe one day I will rise
To find you by my side
I've got a yearning in my heart and a hole in my soul over you
I'm like a king that's sitting on an empty throne
I've got to hold you, hold you close to me
I long to find you, find you by my side
:: Take Your Chances ::
Every time you hate, it's a chance to love
Each time you fall is a chance to get back up
Every conflict is a chance to understand
And free will is what it means to be a man
Every chance to fight is a chance to make a friend
Every breakup is a chance to make amends
Every chance for war is a chance for peace
And free will separates man from beast
So take your chances, make your choice
Choose your weapon, use your voice
Cry out loud and I hope that you choose to cry out love
For each chance that you take may be your last
:: Tired of Struggling ::
I've got to drag myself into action but I'm so tired of struggling
Wake up in the morning alone in my bed
Just want to go back to sleep but I've got to forward
I feel so tired, tired of struggling
And I feel so weary that I just want to lay down and die
But I've got to drag myself into action 'cause I'm so tired of struggling
Late in the evening after walking home
My house is empty and my bed is cold
I feel so tired, tired of struggling
And I feel so weary that I just want to lay down and die
But I've got to drag myself into action 'cause I'm so tired of struggling
:: A Single Thread ::
A single thread, a very fine line
Without beginning or end
For a time with others entwined
Then separated again
Oh don't we weave a splendid tapestry
But it's hard to see
We're much too close until we're dead
A single thread
A braided rope, though thick and strong
Begins to fray at the end
You can hold on tight but when it breaks
You'll be falling again
A lady sits and weeps for her man
Lost all she's ever had
Just waiting for the day that she will follow
When it won't hurt so bad
When she thinks about her husband's smile
The tears well in her eyes
She can't bear to live if he is dead
A single thread
:: Move Like Ya Gone ::
Move like ya gone, move like ya gone
This dance gonna carry you away to I
Inner sphere so won't you dance with me
Move like ya gone and move inside of me
I move inside of you, neither one nor two
Bigger than the both yet smaller than you'll know
I would take you with me or I would follow where you lead
We can be anywhere as long as we believe
So move like a one, move like a one
I would try to soothe you with the sound of Jah song
For the taste may be bitter and the journey long but
Jah music is love and his power is strong so
Sink in the beat, tension release
Easing into inner peace
:: Precipice ::
Always got to tell me
Why something's impossible
You keep on trippin'
Over every little obstacle
Your life could be so easy
If you'd just learn to say that it's OK
You've got to jump over the precipice,
Don't drop into it
Because your lack of confidence, that's your nemesis
Don't get started, you won't have to quit
And if you're always going to tell me
Why something can't be done
Always got to dwell
On every little problem
And you're only going to tell me
Why something's wrong
You've got to jump over the precipice,
Don't drop into it
Because your lack of confidence, that's your nemesis
Don't get started, you won't have to quit