Unearthed Vol. 9 - April '20

Unearthed Collection
Written By Matt Williams
“A young girl in a parkin’ lot
Was preaching to a crowd
Singing sacred songs and reading from the Bible
Well, I told her I was lost
And she told all about the Pentecost
And I seen that girl as the road to my survival”
— Duncan, Paul Simon
 

You can enjoy the Unearthed Vol. 9 playlist in its entirety on Spotify. Just click on the included Spotify plugin.

Featured Find: Duncan - Live 1973, Paul Simon (w/ The Jessy Dixon Singers & Urubamba)

Duncan tells an admittedly, well… a peculiar tale. I’m not going to endeavor to explain what the song is all about - I’ll leave that to someone much better qualified. Paul Simon is an exquisite storyteller, but I chose to feature the song less because of the story it tells and more because of the stories around it. In digging into its backstory I discovered some great anecdotes about the song and its performances.

Duncan originated on Simon’s self-titled studio album released in 1972, but the cut that I am featuring here is a live one played alongside The Jessy Dixon Singers and the Andean folk music group, Urbamba. This version was released as part of Paul Simon in Concert: LIve Rhymin’ in 1974. Jessy Dixon is a gospel singer and musician credited with writing songs for Amy Grant and Cher, among others. Simon played with The Jessy Dixon Singers on multiple occasions including on the 2nd-ever episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975, which he hosted. You may recognize Urubamba as well: they provided instrumental backing on Simon & Garfunkel’s version of El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could).

Another story surrounding Duncan happened when Simon was playing the song during a 2011 show in Toronto. A fan in the crowd, one Rayna Ford, barked a request for Duncan to be played saying that she had learned to to play guitar with that song. Simon invited her up on stage with a hesitant and then insistent wave. He handed her a guitar and stepped to the side to see what she could do. As she starts singing, you can see Simon smile and then nod with approval. Rayna sang and played the whole song from memory. What most impressed me was that Simon barely played a note in the whole song, but rather stood to the side egging her along and letting her have her moment.

I discovered Duncan thanks to a recommendation from my brother - he had the song included in a playlist that he shared with me featuring 34 of his favorite tunes. Come to find out, this was one of a handful of songs my dad had recorded on a casette tape for us to enjoy on road trips as kids, when I was not much more than a toddler, which explains why it was so hauntingly familiar. That small gesture on my brother’s part highlights what Fresh Cut Finds is all about: building connections that faciliate the discovery and enjoyment of music.

If you have an idea for Fresh Cut Finds, would like to contribute in some way, or just have a song or playlist recommendation, please email us as freshcutfinds@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you… after all it’s just the two of us hanging out in separate Atlanta apartments… in quarantine. What better time to connect?

What is Unearthed?

You might have seen that we recently launched a new playlist series called Planted and Enchanted. We described that series as being akin to a search through your junk drawer, a series of discoveries and re-discoveries. Well, if that is the case, then our Unearthed playlist series is more like a relentless hunt through a flea market to find that next treasure. You might dig up something that is truly valuable, or perhaps something that is simply priceless to you. I bought my first vinyl record at an antique store. On another trip, I found a fox hunting painting that brought cascading memories of similar art in my grandma’s home (titled Picking up the Scent, it now hangs proudly on my bathroom wall). And on still another, I stumbled across a Lionel Barrymore etching in the theme of my family’s long-time vacation haunt.

Discovering music feels very much the same way to me. It is something that is both incredibly personal, but also has the potential to connect me to the memories, experiences, and people I treasure most. I spend countless hours listening to albums, playlists, and podcasts each month, searching for that next great treasure. With the Unearthed playlist, I want to share the latest discoveries I’ve made with you in the hopes that you too might find a song that resonates, sparks a memory, or catches you at just the right moment. Unlike antiques, a great song unearthed can be shared over-and-over again.

Each month, we put together a playlist of our favorite discoveries new & old. Each playlist will be about the length of a mix CD (80 mins) and will be sent on the 1st day of the month. Subscribe with your email address to receive the monthly Unearthed playlist, plus other occasional speciaty playlists.

Matt Williams
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Off the Beaten Path: Vol. 1 - The National
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Planted and Enchanted: Vol. 2 - March '20