Thanks for subscribing and welcome to my thirteenth Newsletter.
My Help
I am a member of the Nashville Songwriters International Association (NSAI), Branch Co-ordinator (Bay Sy. George) for the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC), student at SongU, participant SongStudio – hosted by Rik Emmit and Blair Packham, member of Music Newfoundland and Labrador (MusicNL), and a member of SOCAN. I can honestly say that each and every one of these organizations has helped me to continually hone the craft of songwriting and I thank them!
Songs are the main vehicle by which a songwriter communicates with listeners. I will be sharing my songs, and stories about how they were written, in my newsletter. I will also be sharing additional folk art and personal interests.
My Music
My 4th CD, « The Only Sin » is finished and I am planning a CD release sometime in July. I am currently out of the loop in Brochet, Northern Manitoba. The CD will be released online at CDBaby with a pre-release at Amazon.com – watch for « The Only Sin » – the CD’s title song in June at Amazon.com
To date I have recorded 4 CD’s; A Field By The Sea, Blue Smoke, Life is Good and The Only Sin. You can sample songs from these CD’s on my CD Baby web page store. As well, some of the songs appear in the audio player on the top of each page on my website. Songs from The Only Sin will be available as soon as CDBaby as set the project up for early July.
My Reading
I have just finished Eric Larson’s « In The Garden of Beasts ». In my last newsletter I reveiwed Martha Stout’s « The Sociopath next Door. » While browsing in Chapters book store in Winnipeg I came across this work of « novelistic history. » I was intrigued by the term as I had not been familiar with it’s usage in spite of all of the books I have read. It also segued from my last reading by Martha Stout. Imagine a whole country run by sociopaths and imagine being there with relative freedom of movement and access to information while it was happening. Larson puts us right there in 1934/35 at the moment in time when Hitler could have been stopped and wasn’t. We are given a first hand view of how he and his conscienceless cronies were able to assume powere in Germany, a country weakened by the 1st World War. Despite the weaknesses of many leaders in Western democracies, their strengths of conscience and sense of morality should give us cause for celebration. Well worth the read for those who are still « seekers. »
My Favorite Jimi Hendrix Songs
The proof of the greatness of the music of Jimi Hendrix and classic rock can be found in any music store where re-releases of albums from the past with the label « digital re-master » drives the collector to purchase this great music – one more time! There are also releases of « new » Hendrix music giving us a retroactive look at where he was going with his music. The question is; which are the 3 best Jimi Hendrix rock songs of all time? Here is my list.
I suggest that the top 3 are:
· Voodoo Child
I have already written about this song in another article for EzineArticles under the title « The 3 Best American Classic Rock Songs of All Time. » it is impossible to write an article on Jimi Hendrix songs without including this one as number one on the list. The song contains two versions on the album Electric Ladyland. This song is the last song on the album, the shorter version and was released as a single.
· All Along the Watchtower
Written by Bob Dylan and released on his John Wesley Harding album, Hendrix was captivated by the possibilities of the song. A phone call to Bob Dylan and permission was granted for Hendrix to record what became one of his greatest songs. The guitar solo is second to none and the version arranged for Hendrix is the greatest version of what might have been a little known Dylan song. The Hendrix version is one of Rolling Stone magazine’s « 500 Greatest Songs of all Time. » Dylan, himself, was so dazzled by Hendrix’s interpretation of the song that he has subsequently always performed the Hendrix version as opposed to his own original version.
· The Star Spangled Banner
Scheduled to be the last performer at the famous Woodstock festival, Jimi had no way of knowing his performance would be to about 150,000 of the 500,000 who attended. Bad weather and delays ran the concert into the morning of the 4th day and that is when Jimi performed. Fortunately the cameras were rolling and the sounds and images of Hendrix performing the Star Spangled Banner at a festival designed for music and peace resonate today as the greatest single performance of the American national Anthem by any performer in rock history. It was breathtaking in its reach and power. If anyone can listen, and not hear the « bombs bursting in air, » they are not listening to the right version. This iconic version will remain forever, one of the indelible images of Jimi Hendrix as a « guitar god. »
Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best Jimi Hendrix rock songs of all time. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of one of his latest single for free.
My CD Exchange
If you are an artist, indie or otherwise and would like to build your collection of Indie music by exchanging CDs, please e-mail me at smokinjoewiseman@hotmail.com I would be pleased to exchange music with you.
I have made my 1st exchange with Brian Volke of Calgary, Alberta. I met Brian in the summer of 2012 ay SongU in Toronto, ON.
My Family
My son Waylon is currently a veterinarian in Brisbane, Australia.
My son Jim is in his last year of med school in Dumaguette (the city of gentle people), Negros, Phillipines.
My daughter in law, Kathleen Mae Lano Wiseman, has just achieved her Master’s Degree in Public Health and is employed as a nurse in Dumaguette, Phillipines.
My wife Marie is currently teaching Grade One at Brochet School in Brochet, Manitoba. For her, the teaching of reading is a passion as opposed to a vocation. She loves her work, and the children, and they love her. That’s how it should be in a Grade One classroom. Marie’s idea of a good workout is a 2.5 hour snowshoe in -25 degree weather. Not bad for someone who is finishing a 40 year career of teaching. I am truly a lucky man.
I have just purchased a winter residence in Port Charlotte, Florida. Not a condo on the beach but a condo within a short drive to the beach. We are looking forward to the pleasures of Charlotte County, Florida.
My Tale of a Song
I am a longtime blues music fan and released « Blue Smoke » as a project devoted to that genre. There are many great blues songs out there and blues artists cover the great ones. I wanted to write my own and have written a couple dozen or so blues songs. One of the songs was a co-write with another singer-songwriter in my home town, Gerald Butler, one of many local artists who are friends of myself and my son Waylon. « Do the Time » featured Waylon Wiseman, Gerry Flynn, Andre Savidon, Bonny O’Keefe, Stan Gallant and Shane Card . What fun it was! « Gettin’ Over You » was written by myself and Gerald. I often marvelled how Gerald could take two guys and in a live performance make them sound like a full band. The studion version of « Gettin’ Over You » is available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby and many other music download sites. Have a listen on my Facebook Artist page. Send me an e-mail – smokinjoewiseman@hotmail.com and let me know what you think.
My First Little Bay Islands Song
My first Little Bay Islands (ancestral home of my parents) song ia « Love of a Hometown Girl. » The song was written as an anthem to the emotions of the « floaters » and « schoonermen » who made a living, fishing off the coast of Labrador. A « floater » was a fisherman who lived aboard his/her schooner from the time he/she went to Labrador in early summer until he/she returned home in the fall. Check out the acoustic version (with fiddle) at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/smokinjoewiseman12
Recent developments in Little Bay Islands, an isolated Newfoundland outport foreshadow the disappearance of this beautiful island paradise. Resettlement to the mainland of Newfoundland is inevitable. I hope you enjoy my tribute. There is another song with a Little Bay Islands theme « Bound For Hell » to be included on my 4th CD « The Only Sin.
My band Keltic Jam, play some of my songs locally and a version of Too White to Sing the Blues, my first blues release, is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub-QVR- TIPs&feature=share&list=PLJnIFXD-E5j6NGSdQhePM16xeU1HHS-ov Hope you enjoy!
Smokin Joe radiates the soul of Johnny Cash, the sensuality of Jim Morrison and the style of Woody Guthrie wrapped up in a folk/roots package! He’s somewhere between « Ringo Starr and the Grateful Dead » His songs are “real life gritty”, not “Nashville pretty”!
Contact Info and Websites
http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com
smokinjoewiseman@hotmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smokin-Joe-Wiseman/124634987594733?v=wall&filter=1
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/SmokinJoeWiseman1
http://www.songu.com/members/smokinjoe
http://www.reverbnation.com/smokinjoewiseman
http://www.youtube.com/smokinjoewiseman
http://www.myspace.com/smokinjoewiseman
http://www.musicforte.com/member/smokinjoewiseman/
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/smokin-joe-wiseman/id253012691
http://www.twitter.com/tjwiseman
http://www.flickr.com/smokinjoewiseman
Future Topics
- Labrador Retrievers
- Places to Visit
- Smokin Joe Updates
- Photography
