Chip Taylor and Paal Flaata What a way to end the tour!!! Thanks Katey and Tim for being so cordial .. and thanks “H” for the good sound I love playing this place. It remind me a bit of the Mercury Lounge in New York.. a few hundred attentive comfortably-crowded people standing facing the stage.. The show It was just Goran Grini accompanying me to start the show.. Goran was so warm and soulful the entire night.. When we hit the stage It seemed like everybody in the audience was a friend .. we were all in it together for some higher purpose other than just playing a bunch of music.. I felt totally connected sharing thoughts about my induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame .. my father’s take on the first song I wrote at 12 years old.. about growing up listening to the Motorola radio… then sharing a 1950’s Monday with mom and dad and my brothers with the song Charcoal Sky . Then the song Dance With a Hole In Your Shoe took us to present and uncertain times …it felt so good to play that.. Block Out the Sirens of This Lonely Word.. was a highlight tonight .. I get chills singing this every night.. Then it was the tribute to my wife Joan… with Joan Joan Joan.. The audience absolutely love this and s few asked Joan to stand and take bows ..it was so cute!! We ended our set with another song for Joan… a touching version of A Song I Can Live With .. Part II Then Paal Flaata joined me on stage and this was a love-in from start to finish!! A rockin’ Folsom Prison Blues.. I Forgot To Remember To Forget Her.. a soulful Towne’s Flying Shoes .. a haunting and prayerful Spiritual… then a beautiful Angel Of the Morning .. Paal is one of a kind and so revered .. he showed why with his great interpretations of these songs and warm interaction with this great audience .. Goran was so magic all night .. and the audience showed him their appreciation all night!! We ended with s rockin’ Wild Thing and a total sing-a-long on my song for the prisoners.. Fuck All The Perfect People What a magic night!!! Thanks to all who were there Had a chance to say hi to several including: Hi Hartvik.. so good to see you again.. hi Oistein, Magne .. thanks for those inspiring words ..great to talk to you guys Hi Bjorne and Peter… Formally from playground… And lovely girlfriend Randi.. good to see you guys! Hi Christer and Hans.. and Tore.. hi Tronde!! So good talking to you… good to see you Jan.. Hi Ragnhild.. very nice talking with you, hope to see you again.. hi Morton.. hi Frode and Ele and Dagfin.. Great talking to you… Thanks for the kind words.. hey Christer.. thanks for informing me about the distribution… I appreciate all your help!! Hope to see you soon! Hi Magnus and Hans.. and Jeff.. and Elvira .. so nice meeting and talking with you big thanks for the beers! .. hi Harald and Jeff and David and Magna and Julie Sorry I missed some of the names… I wrote some down that I cannot read.. appreciate your warm spirit!!! Hope to see you all again… This was a special night for Joan and me!!! PS .. Joan and I have a night off before heading home! We are going to really love relaxing with our friends at dinner then heading to see a concert of the great band Midnight Choir … featuring our friend .. the great Paal Flaata! Hope to see you soon!
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Great to be in the hometown of Paal and Goran and revisiting many friends here. We are playing at a cool little pub owned by Stephen, a good friend of Paal and Goran. We make a quick sound check at 5:15 with a terrific sound man named Tommy… then our kind host escorts us to an Asian restaurant to have a little healthy food before we perform. Thanks Stephen. The venue has been sold out for many weeks… it a shoulder to shoulder in in the club when we get back from dinner… Great to see Goran’s wife Katrine and step son Christian before taking the stage. We decided to divide the Show in two parts. The first half would be featuring me and Goran .. the second half would have Paul joining us for some of his solos and our duets. It seemed to work perfectly. Part one I told a little bit of my family story about growing up a Voight boy… and the importance of the Motorola radio in the household…. and the recent events of being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Each story was followed by a song and the audience seemed to be absolutely into the songs and stories.. We started with the Real Thing and then Charcoal Sky and then Dance With A Hole In Your Shoe … which was certainly a magical tonight… Crazy Girl has been connecting throughout the tour .. and it was no different tonight… you could hear a pin drop … there is something magical about this one Folks loved meeting my wife Joan in the story and song of Joan Joan Joan…she is so much a star on this tour!! The focus on her continued with the story of the title of the album and her influence on it with the song A Song I Can Live With. . I felt the audience was totally with us during this part of the show They certainly love Paal and Goran, but I feel like .. in some manner .. I am included in the mix … and it’s a wonderful feeling!!! huge thanks to these great folks Part two Paul joined us on stage and we blasted off with Folsum Prison Blues .. then shifted to a duet on I Forgot To Remember To Forget Her. Paal then played magical versions of Mercy of Maria.. Bless Us All .. and finally Spiritual.. All met with huge response by the audience…. I added a harmony or two here and there then came our final three songs of the show… A sort of duet of Angel Of The Morning.. with a focus on Paal’s great vocals.. a totally rockin’ Wild Thing… featuring an amazing solo by Goran.. which was met with great applause .. actually Goran was so soulful all night!!! We finally said good night with a sing-along on the song I wrote for the prisoners, Fuck All The Perfect People… It seemed like everybody in the room knew this song and sang it loud and clear …as they did with Angel Of The Morning (without any prompting) Loved this show… So did Joan… It was so great to see and to sing with Paul again and to have the three of us onstage together And it was so good to meet Goran’s wonderful wife Katrine and terrific stepson… My great friend… Christian before the show… And to say hi to so many after the show Note: somehow all my notes of the names got lost and I am doing something from memory I know it is not nearly enough .. but hi to all ..appreciate your support so much tonight… What an amazing audience!! Hi to: Host Stephan and Tommy who did a great job with the sound and Kim who met us at my NY bar Parnell’s a couple years ago on the Super Bowl night… Great to see you again!! Hi Sondra nice talking to you… hi to Paal’s Great friend… She calls him his son… Turin.. Nice talking with you .. Ellen good to see you . Stephen.. thanks for all your stories and your hospitality in general .. nice meeting your lovely wife, Hanne, at the end of the show hope you got up in time to get your daughter, Iben to school!! Hope to see you again! Big hello to my new friend the strawberry farmer Peter and his girlfriend whose name I have forgotten (can’t find my notes ) I know it’s three letters.. I will try to think about it some more and also to Peter’s friend Paal and his lovely friend Heidi Hi to my new friends Christine and Kristine.. so good to see you both… and take pictures with you both! That was nice!!! Hi to Roger on my left from the stage… Nice talking with you and your lovely wife Barbro There were so many nice people whose names I wrote down… But I cannot find my notes… I hope I do find them, so I can say thank you to you more directly.if not I just want you to know you made this a very special evening for all of us… huge thanks !!!! Big thanks to Espen for the great sound and fast sound check! Goran and I arrived at the venue around 5:30 and the sound was in place within 10 or 15 minutes so we could relax at our hotel for a little bit before the show .. what a blessing!!
Before the show Just before showtime I met a sweet young lady, Marianne, who said she had been waiting to see me for 35 years she and her new husband Obe (Jonny) met me in the back of the room and asked me if I would sing “nothing like you girl”… Which I haven’t sung in a while in a while .. I told her I’d give it a try. The show This was absolutely magic… We played in a room that was very long and narrow, so the fear was that the people in the back might not be able to hear it. But the sound system was very good and the people in rear heard perfectly so the communication was not a problem at all. I am driving to our next stop now and there is not much time to explain the show except to say it was one of my favorite ones . it was extraordinarily intimate and because the audience was so warm and kind they got the best of Goran and me. Goran was so soulful all night !!!! I loved this from the very beginning ..Charcoal Sky gave me chills ..as did so many of the others including Block Out The Sirens Of This Lonely World.. Dance With A Hole In Your Shoe.. Trying To Let The Angels Know.. My wife Joan was the focus again tonight.. folks loved my tributes to her.. Joan Joan Joan …. and the title song to my new album …A Song I Can Live With.. Somewhere toward the end I sang Marienne’s requested song… Nothing Like You Girl… And that was a special highlight… And something I will remember for a while for some magical reason I remembered all the words all of a sudden!! After a sweet version of Angel Of The Morning and a rocking version of Wild Thing… We ended with a total church like sing-along Fuck All The Perfect People and finally another sing-a-long in a prayer for the refugees , Refugee Children. Again.. I loved this night so much… The audience was so warm kind and loving… This town means so much to me… Thanks to all who were here… Hope to see you soon again !! Hi to friends, Tor and Brit and Magnus .. Kai.. Great to see you always.. thanks so much for being here.. Best regards to Oscar.. hope to see you soon again Hi to Eva and Erving and Steiner and and Gerd Hi To my new friend Ellen her terrific mom and dad with the difficult names… was it Tor Ivar and Kjersti??? something like that… And kind husband… whose name I have forgotten… And I can’t seem to find my notes from the show.. but I remember all your kind words and appreciate them very much… Best to all… Thanks for all the support tonight hope to see you soon. Joan sends her love. PS I’ve been waiting to take Joan to Butt’s Indian restaurant.. my favorite resting/eating place in the world. We go there every night when we record in Halden which we often do. There is a table in the restaurant with a plaque naming the table in my honor… It was nice to visit there with Joan and have dinner with my special friends Goran, Hakan, Tom and Turid and say hello to Butts and cohort Omar and kind waitress, Celine. Somewhere between the Oslo airport and Holden Norway… In the countryside ..there is a wonderful little restaurant/pub run by a woman named Mona that every so often caters to a musical show. Tonight that show is ours and these folks could not have been nicer. With great friend Hakan Olsson at the wheel , we negotiate the snow and light storm and arrive in town around 5 o’clock. Our show was promoted by a true music lover named Rune… who hosts an extremely respected roots web site in Norway (with a big assist from his wife Gunn). Rune has been spreading the word about roots music on his blog for quite a while. And the fact that this show is sold out is a testament to the respect folks have for his efforts. Special thanks to wonderful young singer/ songwriter named Kenneth… who did a terrific job as sound man tonight. Thanks Kenneth!! Best of luck with your own music! The Show Rune said a few words to start and we began this magical show at a few minutes after 8:00. This audience was special from the beginning .. warm, kind , interested.. The kind of audience that will bring the best out in an artist .. that’s the way it was tonight.. Goran Grini was so magical .. we just glided from song to song with a certain inspiration from each other and this great audience. If someone asked for the highlights tonight it would be very difficult to say.. it seem like the entire show was one big highlight… there was no song that didn’t feel inspired on stage and in the audience responded like they were totally into the performance and message of the song… Just a nice thing. It doesn’t get better. We started about stories of the family growing up in the Voight household then quickly shifted to some new songs from the new album A Song I Can Live With. At some point I told the story of how my wife Joan and I met .. got married / divorced and married again.. Joan flew into Oslo yesterday and tonight was the first time she witnessed one of my shows in Europe.. I introduced her to the audience and played a song dedicated to her from the new album Joan Joan Joan and it certainly was one of the favorite’s of the night. Joan was sitting side-by-side off to the right with my friend Hakan.. it was great to watch her reaction to listening to the song in the story about her…. great having her here! Other songs that gave me s physical chill tonight… Which is what I am looking for all the time on stage or in the studio or writing a song.. were Dance With Hole In Your Shoe, Block Out The Sirens Of This Lonely World, Charcoal Sky, A Song I Can Live With, Angel Of The Morning, Fuck All The Perfect People and Refugee Children, Thanks to all who attended…This was as magical as it gets… And we were in it together from start to finish. It was wonderful playing for all of you … I hope to see you soon again in the same spirit. Said hi to several Hi Ingrid and Gunner and Olav and Bjorn.. thanks for all the kind words from all of you… hi Stig and Jan and Finn .. Hi Morten and Webche and Tor.. and Kjeisti Mona .. Love your wonderful place.. and thanks for the delicious dinner tonight Joan is still raving about the spirit of the place and the food and your kindness. Also wanted to say hello to the great staff .. the kind and lovely young ladies .. loved meeting you… hope to see you again! Big thanks again to Rune and Gunn (and their great kids.. Emma, Martha we were very proud to be here with all of you.. hope to see you again! Great to be with old friend and music guru Hakan Olsson,, who is totally responsible for letting people know about me and developing my fan base in Sweden and Norway over the last 18 or 19 years .. he is our tour guide and road manager for the rest of our tour… What a blessing !! Back to our show tonight This very cool little supper club is run by two terrific women… Actually sisters… Karin and Maria.. well known country singers in their own right this is one of the most unique venues we played on the tour.. The sound is simple… But the audience here is just unbelievably warm and kind and music lovers all The show I’ve developed a bad cold over the last few days and it’s hitting pretty hard tonight, but Maria brings tea to the stage every so often and helps me keep going, Despite the cold this was one of the most special shows on the tour. Goran Grini was so warm and soulful on the ballads and rocked big time on the up-tempo stuff. There was a certain warm reverence in the air tonight; This sort of spirit is something you normally expect to find in church… But it was here in spades.. And so the ballads.. often prayerful ..were among our favorites… Charcoal Sky.. Crazy Girl, NY in Between, Hey Lou, Nothin Comin’ Out of Me That I Like,,. Block Out the Sirens of This Lonely World.. Fuck All The Perfect People and the closer .. Refugee Children. all had an amazing silent power,,,, this kind audience had tons to do with that Another super highlight was the story and song dedicated to my wife Joan,, who will join me in Oslo in the morning !!!, her song Joan Joan Joan has brought warm smiles at every show we’ve played! Wild Thing .. Track 224 ,, Big River ,, Clean Your Own Tables .. with it’s great audience sing-along .. all felt good to me …. so the mix of all of that and a chilling Angel Of The Morning… made for one very special show ! Thanks to all .. hope to see you soon again! Hi to: Hi to old friends Agneta and Per Olaf.. and Mats and Lennartand Ole and Thomas.. thanks for all the special words you guys said ..that meant a lot to me Hi Suzanne and Martin.. A huge Johnny Cash fan ..so good to see you guys… hope the pictures came out ok.. special hello to Ava and Veronica… From Baltimore my thoughts are with you this morning,, thanks for your warm and kind words Hi Ingemar.. good to see you…hi Hampus.. thanks for saying hello,, Hi to another Goran.. good to talk to you… hi John and Lars I hope to see you at Parnell’s .. two that I missed you last time you stopped by Again… Big thanks to Karin and Maria… You guys work so hard and do everything with so much love… It’s good to be a part of that! ps .. The dinner was so delicious! Thanks for that!!! Please say a personal thanks to the new helper in the kitchen. She had a nice way about her. Feb 3, 2017 I have been writing all this in our van on the way to Oslo to pick up Joan… This will be special!! This is the home of my great friend HåkanOlsson so it is great to see him and his wife Monica and daughter Elin before the show. Also wonderful to know that there are so many old friends in the audience tonight as well as many new ones it is a full house tonight The Victoria is an old beautiful theater with extremely good acoustics so it doesn’t take much to get rich sound and sound man Diego made it sound rich and good in a very few minutes.. Big thanks Diego! The show I paid special tribute to an old fan that I have seen over the years who recently passed away ..so this show. Is dedicated to the memory and honor of a wonderful woman named Maria.. and to her husband Anders as well… I am glad to see him he is sitting in the first row right below my microphone stand We start with the Real Thing as usual and Goran sparkled pretty big… folks just love his playing!! We then went into a series of songs that were punctuated with songs from the new album Until It Hurts, Dance With A Hole In Your Shoe were magic tonight…as was a very haunting Crazy Girl Somewhere in there we played a cool rendition of Johnny Cash’s Big River then drifted to a tribute to Joan in the song from my new album, Joan Joan Joan. After the show Goran would tell me that this was his favorite performance of the night. Audiences seem to love the spirit of Joan who will arrive in two days ..can’t wait! One of my favorites of the first set was certainly was Block Out The Sirens Of This Lonely World. the audiences seem to love this one all the time and it gives me a chill all the time. We ended with a beautiful version Angel Of The Morning again .. Goran was simply magical through this whole first set . Set 2 We opened up with the song that I wrote for Johnny Cash ..Clean Your Own Tables. it’s a fun drinking song. The audience learned all the words very quickly and sang along… They did a great job… This was so much fun! We shifted gears on the next and I played the song Nothing Coming Out Of Me That I Like .. from The Little Prayers Trilogy… And this one really struck home to me. It is striking home with many folks every night. Then Track 224… With Goran’s brilliant solos took down the house!! At some point we shifted back gears to the prayerful, Try And Let The Angels Know. .. I can see from the stage it’s effect on the audience. It has the same effect on me. I don’t want to play any show without playing this song .. it is totally a prayerful thing for me. Somewhere around here we played Hey Lou… Which is another from the brand-new album. And it is another that seems to touch everybody in the place including me… Another wonderful moment for me ..good for my soul. and especially good tonight with thoughts of Maria in all these prayerful ones. We ended with a very, very cool Wild Thing that had a silent-like-chorus going from start to finish it was dedicated to the spirit of Jimi Hendrix and Reg Presley and was extraordinarily rock ‘n’ roll from beginning to end. From there we drifted to the song I wrote for the prisoners, Fuck All The Perfect People… Again that was lots of a silent-like chorus going on throughout the song and by songs end it had just a wonderful church-like chorus vibe. We finished the show with a rocking version of I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee and said hi to many Hi To : Hi Anders.. wonderful to share this with you. Maria’s spirit will be with me and we are totally in this together. thanks so much for coming tonight .. it must have taken a bit of effort… it was great to click glasses at the end will do it many more times Hi Larz and Chritina and Benny and Annette.. and another Benny .. thinking about you did coral with condolences… Thoughts of your playing Seven Days In May at his funeral .. that was very touching.. thanks for sharing that with me… Hi Gunilla. And Johan and Dan.. my heroes.. great musicians that came to my rescue a couple years ago! Great seeing you guys! Hi to another Johan and Gert and Sven and Mats .. big. hello to old friends Lard and Marita and Jan Ake.. it has been a lot of years it’s a wonderful connection we all have that includes Anders and Maria and Runer and Irena.. so special to see you guys here and later at the restaurant… It is a special one for me. Every time I travel over here I am always looking forward to seeing this wonderful group of friends… Thanks for being there all the time… A special thing for me Hi to Inger and Thomas and Kirsten and Sasha Much love to my great great great friends Monica and Elin so good to see you tonight Feb 2, 2017 Ps I was fighting a cold last night it is now morning and we are heading for Gothenburg and the cold really kicked in bad last night so I’m just hoping I can get through with the shows coming up. |
Chip Taylor's road journalRead Chip's words about life on the road, recording in the studio and much more... Road Journal
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