Parkland

Sun through the window like a boogey man

Unfinished curtains on the nightstand

Alarm clock bounces off my head

Phone is ringing beside my bed

My son is dressed and waiting on the step

It’s the head nurse calling from Parkland.

I got a kid and his name’s John-John

Born the same day as the President’s son

Today is the day of the big parade

But they’re short at work and it’s double pay

That means a new scooter on your birthday

But the president will have to wait….

Take public transit 109

Bounce out at the Parkland sign

Bring him to work and show him around

Grab that bucket. Mop and gown

Towels and bedsheets, blankets and diapers

Wheel him around in the laundry hamper

John was the Prez, a mop was Jackie K.

We were a two-man motorcade

A girl stopped skipping to watch us shoot past

He blew her a kiss and then through the glass

Of the emergency doors we turned to see

Blood and roses, guns and grief

Bring him in and lay him down

John, bring the surgeons gloves and gowns

Through the black suits darting to and fro

I could see her shaking and alone

John-John put that bullet back

And offer Mrs. Kennedy your hand

Hold it tight ‘till her cryings done

And don’t look back, I won’t be long…

I brought fresh linen for the President

I watched the doctors pronounce him dead

Then a light voice said, “Is this your son?

He held my hand and my cryin’s done.”

Then John-John said, “You better get along,

You’ve got a birthday party to plan when you get home.”

She bent down and kissed my John-John’s face

Smoothed down her bloody dress into place

And with her son’s love as her staff

She lifted a nation on her back

She turned and nodded, we nodded back

As they carried her husband from Parkland…John-John put that bullet back

LeE HARVeY OsMOND
      
A Quiet Evil

(Latent)
 
Let’s see here… released on the Cowboy Junkies’ own label; produced and recorded by the CJ’s Michael Timmins; features both Michael and sister Margo, with the other members of the Junkies making guest appearances; includes a cover of an obscure CJ tune, “Angels In the Wilderness”; even mastered by the Junkies’ longtime cohort Peter J. Moore; must be a Cowboy Junkies side project, right?
 
Not exactly. LeE HARVeY OsMOND is the brainchild of Tom Wilson, from Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, who conceived of the project as a kind of Canadian musical collective – hence the involvement of the Timminses et al, not to mention fellow Rodeo King Colin Linden, members of the Skydiggers and a handful of others. Wilson wrote or co-wrote most of the material and sings and plays guitar, so it’s clearly his baby, although as the notes above suggest, Cowboy Junkies fans and band trainspotters will find much about A Quiet Evil to cheer. In fact, several tunes have a familiar opiated twang and nocturnal ambiance: the spookywoozycool “Blade of Grass,” with its hushed vocal and backwards guitar swirl; the quietly intense, fuzztone-flecked blooze of “Summer Girl”; and of course pedal steel/B3-powered weeper “You Drove Me Crazy (Now I’m Gonna Stay That Way)” – how’s that for a great song title – which features Wilson and Margo Timmins in classic country duet mode.
 
All that aside, A Quiet Evil ultimately lives up to its titular suggestion; there’s an understated quality here barely masking a lurking sense of desperation and malevolence. From the simmering “Lucifer’s Blues” (check Wilson’s part-spoken, part-sung vocal, which with his deep voice suggests a cross between Chuck Prophet and Dave Alvin) to a searing, edge-of-psychosis cover of Lou Reed’s “I Can’t Stand It,” the record’s steeped in a kind of gothic noir ambiance. This is only made all the more unsettling by the demented cover art, a Satanic-looking dog/rabbit mutant with sharp fangs and jutting phallus. And what’s up with the upper/lower case lettering scheme of the band name? Is there some kind of subliminal messaging going on?
 
Wilson may or may not have spent time in that part of Canada where the weird sunlight schedule has been known to drive folks a little bit crazy, but on the evidence of this album, he’s definitely a lotta bit twisted, so beware. Twisted in a good way, of course…
 
Standout Tracks: “Queen Bee,” “Blade of Grass,” “Angel In the Wilderness,” “I Can’t Stand It” FRED MILLS

http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/review-lee-harvey-osmond-live

If you haven’t already checked out “A Quiet Evil”  you should do so…I’m pretty sure you’ll like it….

Lee Harvey Osmond is the brainchild of Tom Wilson who has been on the music scene as long as we have. His new creation includes a whole lot of Latent friends including Josh and Andy from The Skydiggers as well as a couple of duets with Margo, Alan and Pete doing their thing and me playing some wacky lead guitar and sitting in the producers chair. It’s and incredible album and something  of which we are all extremely proud.

Lee will be touring with us in October and he is as engaging live as he is on cd. Check out this live clip if you don’t believe me.

Please take the time to listen to the album and if you like it, buy it. You’ll be doing your part to support inspired independant music.