Sincere thanks to wonderful Greg Castillo, Professor at the Department of Architecture, College of Environmental Design, at the University of California at Berkeley, who has been doing the first academic research and writing about Living on the Earth.
Yesterday he sent me this message: “I was just procrastinating from writing by doing some internet research on a subscription based site called Independent Voices, a database of alternative publications. I typed “Alicia Bay Laurel” into the search bar and came up with a number of reviews of Living on the Earth that you might not have.”
In the 2003 and 2004, as the US invasion of Iraq was raging, I campaigned for peace activist, US Representative, and former Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich‘s presidential primary run on the Big Island of Hawaii, where I was living then. That’s me in this photo, with one foot in the street, at a demonstration in Hilo.
With my tribe of fierce peace and environmental activists, we offered voter information from booths we set up at farmers’ markets (“Dennis is the only necktie in Washington that represents YOU. He’s anti-war! And he’s a vegan!”), got trained to offer voter registration and then offered it everywhere, including in the theatre lobby during a three-week screening of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Palace Theatre in Hilo, and, later, got trained to be a poll watcher at our local primaries. While engaging in these actions, I wrote my rant/waltz, America the Blues.
Our campaigning worked! People that had never voted before turned out in droves and swamped the normally tiny Democratic Party caucuses, giving Kucinich 60% of the vote in the Puna District, 50% of the vote for the Big Island (Hawaii County), and 33% of the vote for the state of Hawaii, which, along with the state of Washington, were the two states that sent Kucinich delegates to the 2004 Democratic Party National Convention in Boston.
Those of us that had organized this victory suddenly found ourselves officers of our precincts, writing resolutions and platform planks to present at the Hawaii State Democratic Party Convention in Honolulu, which I attended.
I wrote nine resolutions – one to outlaw GMO crops in Hawaii, and eight for election reform. One of these resolutions not only passed the vote on the convention floor, but also passed the vote in both houses of the Hawaii state legislature and was signed into law by the Republican governor, Linda Lingle. That is why all forms of voting in the state of Hawaii must produce a hand-countable paper trail. You’re welcome.
I had the pleasure of meeting Congressman Kucinich a couple of times during and shortly after the campaign. Here’s a photo from 2006 in which he graciously posed with me after a giving speech in Kahului, Maui, on behalf of Senator Daniel Akaka’s re-election campaign, in which he ennumerated Senator Akaka’s achievements in limiting the use of nuclear weapons.
I then presented this brave peace activist politician with a poster print of my painting, Peace Girl, which he liked very much.
Dennis ran again in 2007 and 2008. I would have liked to campaign for him again, but, during those years, I was responsible for my mother’s end-of-life care, and, afterwards, with addressing the various types of chaos she left behind. Even so, I posted about Dennis’ campaign, his platform and his speeches on this blog during those years.
I was pleased to reconnect with Dennis Kucinich again in 2020, on Facebook. I had replied to one of his posts on his wall that I had been a volunteer on the Big Island of Hawaii during his presidential primary campaign in 2003 and 2004. I did not expect a reply, since I was one of thousands of volunteers and voters that he met during those busy years, but, to my astonishment, he sent me the following message:
Dear Alicia,
I treasure your brilliant, memorable art, and your support.
I still have it. It is extraordinary, incandescent, as are you. Yes, I remember.
Seven fortune-telling cards commissioned by Creomoir, an aromatherapy and massage spa in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Please click on the images to enlarge them.
Drawing printed on Creomoir’s catalog cover and canvas tote bag.
Illustrations for souvenir ceramic tea mug set and organic cotton bath towel, featuring Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess carrying the sun over Mount Fuji, for the Artist Power Bank Music Festival, 2018, Tokyo, Japan. The double-sided saucer/lid bears a Pagan proverb, “As above, so below.”
Drawing, wording and lettering for 25th anniversary commemorative canvas tote bag for People Tree, a fair-trade fashion and craft import company and chain of stores, Tokyo, Japan.
Logo drawing for Miho Ogura’s hula studio, Tokyo, Japan
Illustrations and lettering for Orie Ishii’s cookbook, Rainbow Sweets: Cover, title page, end papers, chapter headings.
Logo for Orie Ishii’s organic vegan bakery, Rainbow Caravan (used on packaging and website), as printed in her cookbook, Rainbow Sweets:
Logo and commissioned drawing for AO Birth Clinic, Tokyo, Japan:
New illustrations for the two author introductions to the 2019 Spanish translation of Being of the Sun (Ser Del Sol), hand-lettered by the translator.
Logo and hand-lettering for Good Earth Sandals, Hilo, Hawaii. Used on signage, stationery, advertising, web site and stamped into the sandals.
Juan Antonio Martínez Sarrión, who had translated, relettered and published (in 2017) Living on the Earth as Viviendo en la Tierra, was translating and relettering Ser Del Sol, a Spanish edition of Being of the Sun, with the idea of also publishing it through his company, Kachina Ediciones, when he painted the cover art on an old, traditionally styled house in the ancient Moorish village of Milinicos, in the mountains near the city of Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha.
A panorama of Milinicos, with the mural of the Being of the Sun cover.
TOP 12 DIY PICKS by Mare Wakefield, Indie Music Editor
What Living’s All About—a title that’s appropriate for a woman who has lived her life with such gusto. A Bohemian artist, Alicia Bay Laurel lived on a houseboat off Sausalito and a commune in Sonoma before spending 25 years on Maui. In addition to her music, she’s worked as a cook, collage artist, yoga instructor, wedding planner, underwater photographer and she’s the author of a New York Times bestseller, the whimsical Living on the Earth, first published in 1971.
The rich tapestry of her life translates to her music. In the Billie Holiday-esque “Floozy Tune,” Laurel plays the role of the Sunday School teacher turned barfly. In “America the Blues” she dishes out scathing political commentary to the tune of “America the Beautiful” (“America, America, greed sheds disgrace on thee / You don’t need nukes, you don’t need slaves, you don’t need gasoline”). She has fun with the smart “Aquarian Age Liberated Woman Blues” (“Seaweed for breakfast is good for you”) and the gospel-imbued “Doctor Sun and Nurse Water.” Laurel’s jazzy Earth-mother sound will seduce and inspire.
Just a quick note from London. I have reviewed your last CD at ejazznews.com. It is excellent. As I wrote in the review, by far one of the best for 2006.
I get close to 200 CDs a week sent to me, but yours stood out because of its transparently high level of musicianship and sincerity – qualities which are very rarely found combined these days.
Kind Regards,
John Stevenson
Alicia Bay Laurel: What Living’s All About, Jazz Blues & Other Moist Situations (IWS)
With a provocative title like this one, Ms. Laurel will certainly catch the attention of any reviewer! This is most certainly one of the most audacious, heartfelt and honest discs I’ve put in my CD player for the year. Alicia (who sounds like the artistic love child of Joan Baez and Tom Waits) brings a folk-singer’s sensibility to bear on jazz and pulls no punches: On America The Blues, she declaims: America, the beautiful/you’re thorny as a rose:/Radiation, global warming/Poisoned food from GMOs./ She also sings a delightful version of Eden Ahbez’s Nature Boy. The accompaniment from guitarist Nels Cline, bass player John B. Williams and pianist Rick Olson is divine.
Alicia Bay Laurel conveys life’s sudden shifts and jarring juxtapositions on What Living’s All About (Indigo With Stars 003). Sandwiched between the opener, “Floozy Tune,” and “Aquarian Age Liberated Woman Blues,” two formally classic blues that could have come from Ma Rainey if not for the namechecks (belly dancing, astral projection, The I. Ching, bee pollen candy and natty dread), comes “America the Blues,” with strident references to economic inequality, environmental rapine, corporate greed, and political corruption. Laurel moves from girlish singing on the Twenties-style songs to this doomy incantation, the arrangement taking full advantage of the jaw-dropping talent of avant-guitarist Nels Cline (best known as Wilco’s secret weapon). With cuts such as “Doctor Sun and Nurse Water” (a gospel-drenched number with oddly matched lyrics), and the Fever tribute of the title track, Living will strike some as too California in its outlook. But lovely touches abound, such as the stately, quietly anthemic “Love, Understanding and Peace,” and Doug Webb’s beautiful alto work on “Zero Gravity.”
All would-be writers who have studied how to write know the rule: “show me don’t tell me.” Visual artists find this advice easy to do and musicians are, perhaps, the same way. When the creative instrument does not rely solely on words, showing is not too difficult.
Alicia Bay Laurel wrote Living on the Earth, a cult classic and the first paperback on the New York Times Bestseller List (spring 1971), which has sold over 350,000 copies. She has also written five other books. Laurel is a talented, trained musician. She grew up playing classical piano, switched to guitar in her teens and learned open tunings from legendary guitarist John Fahey, a family member. On this latest album, What Living’s All About, she works with some of the best musicians in the field, including avant garde guitar hero Nels Cline.
Alicia Bay Laurel tries to show and tell by weaving feelings, melody and an occasional diatribe word. She celebrates the Earth (nature) and embraces her sensuality. She also loudly laments the destruction of the environment, as in her song “America the Blues,” where the listing of our environmental sins drags a bit. At the same time, the song is strangely effective. The entwining hypnotic music ended with a smashing guitar rift, followed by a spine tingling sound of whale songs and a Native American Chant. This is an excellent protest song. Alicia Bay Laurel and Al Gore should be friends.
“Zero Gravity” is a haunting song about a city at night, reminiscent of Ground Zero in New York City where the Twin Towers used to be. Laurel talks about sex in this CD and does it with class, sometimes with gentle humor, like “Floozy Tune.” However, you won’t know what she’s talking about unless you listen closely. This blend of jazz, blues and gospel is a powerful feminist statement. It’s fantastic!
Review by Patricia Ethelwyn Lang
“Floozy Tune” Wins Song Contest
7/9/2007 4:38:10 PM
“Floozy Tune”
Status: Selected
Congratulations, you have been selected as a Top 20 Finalist in the Jazz Category of the 11th Annual Unisong International Song contest. Results are at http://www.unisong.com/Winners11.aspx.
This year featured the highest overall quality of songs, lyrics, and writers ever submitted by far, with the most diverse and varied entries from a multitude of countries representing every continent on Earth except Antarctica (and songwriting penguins out there).
The judging therefore was extremely competitive and to be singled out anywhere in the top 15% of all songs submitted was no easy feat.
Review of What Living’s All About by psychedelic folk radio DJ, Gerald Van Waes. His show, Psyche Van Het Folk, is on Radio Centraal, Antwerp, Belgium.
Like one of my favourite heartfelt singer-songwriter singers (Heather McLeod with ‘Funny Thing’, 1997), also Alicia went to more towards (slightly standard) jazz territories, but as a former hippie, it is clear this is not done as a compromise to please/tease a public. Her interpretations (-most songs are self penned-) are with great feelings, and a certain light happiness beyond each other idea or emotion. She describes the style mix well on the cover as “jazz, blues and other moist situations”. With additionally a a bit of New Orleans influence on “Floozy Tune”, and a bit of gospel on “Doctor Sun and Nurse Water” (about what the environment of Hawaii did to her), she wrote inspired something between jazz and jazz-blues and something else soulful. I like the idea on “America the blues” saying “America, don’t wave that flag to con us with your jive…”..”we’re all family on this planet”.. (Just imagine how America is built upon so many nationalities and bought talents from everywhere, unfortunately mostly still chosen from what are seen as the trustworthy countries and areas (so practically still excluding preferably the French, Spanish, and several Arab-speaking countries and native Indians for economic concurrence, racist, nowadays partly religious, and a few other reasons)… Potentially, I realize America still has all opportunities and a certain openness to experiment for those who succeed to start to participate in the system. This track, like a few tunes elsewhere has some, for me, rather amusing freaky electric avant-garde guitar by Nels Cline (Wilco,..). Alicia, for having experienced a certain earthbound process, matured, she still has the happiest aspects of the hippie; this sum must having benefited the soul and music of the singer, who on her recent photograph on the back cover still looks 25 or so, so I guess the message of this lies somewhere as a benefit hidden in the music. Rather brilliant as an interpretation I think is “Nature Boy” (originally by Nat King Cole, but also covered by Grace Slick), in an emotionally calm contrapoint-driven moody jazz style, with the help of John B. Williams on upright bass and Enzo Tedesco on other instruments. A really fine and enjoyable album.
Alicia is a self-proclaimed “hippie chick” who I met through (drummer) Joe Gallivan. She had a hit book back in the 60s called [stay tuned for title – forgot it], which she says “was in practically every hippie commune outhouse in the west” (no doubt right next to “Be Here Now”!). This is, I believe, self-released, and is quite an odd but strangely entertaining, original, and disarming recording. It has some amazing L.A.-based session/jazz players like (saxophonist) Doug Webb, who reaches beyond his Coltrane-esque tenor to turn in some beautiful post-Desmond alto, brilliant drummer Kendall Kay, and bassist John B. Williams, whom many may remember as the Fender player on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson for many years. There is a choir on here! The songs are sort of 1920s-30s era swing, acoustic swing blues, and… Well anyway, when someone like Alicia asks me to do tons of Hendrix-inspired shrieking and psych looping (“America The Blues”) or fuzzed out adversarial commentary (“It’s Not Fair”), I figure that when the disc comes out that the stuff will, as it usually is, be buried or cut out altogether. I was amazed when I heard this that Alicia REALLY WANTED these sounds and that THEY ARE REALLY LOUD! I don’t know what people who know my music will think of this, but there is something so wry and self-deprecatingly amusing about Alicia’s hippie anthems, protest songs, and tales of failed romance that I find myself grinning. Hmmmm…Oh yes, I also play slide, lap steel, and acoustic guitar on this. I’m on 4 or 5 tracks.
Review by Platinum-selling singer/songwriter Joe Dolce
I think this is a very creative record with a lot of wonderful ideas and performances and some pretty extraordinary playing, and endearing vocals all over the place. I like it a lot!! I liked all the songs much better on the second listen. A keeper. Good work.
The album is eclectic, diverse musical styles. Therefore, I can relate to it! What holds it altogether is Alicia’s musical ‘personae’ – the complex character she is creating, through her voice and ideas. As you get to know this character more and more, as the songs and ideas progress, you trust her more and it allows you to enter more easily into whatever type of musical style is coming next. (Also this trust is a reason to want to go back and listen again.) Also the IDEAS are clear. The lead vocals are strong with a lot of presence. The musicians are all brilliant and the soloing is tasteful and creative – no cliches or stumbling around musically anywhere to be found.
Re: “Nature Boy.” I believe that if you can take the listener to a unique Hilltop, and give them a view that they will never forget, even ONCE in a recording or performance, that is enough. One brilliant moment builds a bridge of trust between you and them that will allow them to be more open to whatever you do from then on, even if they don’t relate or understand it. (You may never be able to take them to that High Point again but it doesn’t matter – it’s like great sex or great playing- you may not be able to LIVE with that person, but you will NEVER forget that encounter.) This track took me to that Hill. I feel different now about the whole recording.
Re: “I Could Write a Book.” This track is the track where I first gasped: genius! What an amazing idea. A track like this makes me have to listen to the whole CD over again to see if I missed anything the first time around on those opening tracks. A totally inspired idea that works. No one else has ever done something like this with a standard. Perfect. I played this one for Lin. She liked it a lot, too. (She didn’t think her publisher would like it though! ha ha!) Joe Dolce
Melbourne, Australia
This year I am having a multi-decade solo art exhibition from September 1 through 20 at fashion designer Aya Noguchi’s Sison Gallery in Daikanyama, Shibuya, Tokyo. The opening event will be recorded as part of a documentary about my work by Setsuko Miura’s environmentalist television show, Kotonaha No Midori.
My concerts are also CD release parties for my newest recording, “Alicia Bay Laurel: Live in Japan,” which you can buy here.
Here is the tour schedule in Japanese and then in English:
2018年9月17日（月・祝）コンサート＆新作CDリリース・パーティ。場所：大阪茶屋町URBAN RESEARCH DOORS（エコ・ファッション・ストア＆カフェ）。カフェでのライブ：19:30～20:15。住所：〒530-0013大阪府大阪市北区茶屋町15-31。電話：06-6485-0178（コーディネーター：Ryoko）
Here is the English language version of tour schedule:
08/11/2018 New Moon concert and CD release party and vegetarian dinner. 18:00 start. SHIRAHAMA TOFU FACTORY. 1500 yen. Address: 1477 Shirahacho Takiguchi, Minami Boso-shi, Chiba https://www.facebook.com/events/242954323164704/
08/18/2018 Concert and CD release party and macrobiotic dinner at Lungta Yokone. 18:00 start. 1500 yen. Address: 217 Kyonan-machi, Awa-gun, Chiba-ken https://www.facebook.com/events/257584581504181/
09/01/2018 Art Gallery Opening Party for Alicia Bay Laurel’s solo exhibition, “Dancing with Nature,” and her concert, at Sison Gallery, Daikanyama, Shibuya, Tokyo. 15:00 to 20:00. Live at 19:00, with hula by Miho Ogura. Address: 150-0033, 3-18 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Tel: 03-6886-8048
09/06/2018 Concert and CD release party at Thumbs Up Live House, Yokohama. Open 18:30, start 19:30. With the Inoue Ohana Band, hula by Miho Ogura, and translation by Kimberly Hughes. For more information, call 045-314-8705. Advance 2800 yen, Door 3300 yen. 3F Movil, 2-1-22, Minamisaiwai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0005. http://www.stovesyokohama.com/
09/07/2018 Concert and CD release party at People Tree Jiyugaoka [fair trade fashion shop] (flagship store in Tokyo) 3-7-2 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo. 18:00 open, 18:30 start. With interpretive dance by Rie Nobuso. http://www.peopletree.co.jp/shop_jiyugaoka/index.html#shop_map
09/09/2018 Concert and CD release party at Cafe Yukkurido, 125, Yabe-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 244-0002. Open 17:45, peace prayer 18:25, start 18:30. Hosted by Naoko Baba. With interpretive dance by Rie Nobuso.
09/15/2018 Concert and CD release party at Modern Ark Pharm Café in Kobe. 19:30 to 21:30 中央区北長狭通3-11-15 Kobe-shi, Hyogo, Japan 650-0012. For more information, please call 078-391-3060. https://www.facebook.com/ModernarkPharmCafe/
09/16/2018 Intimate Concert to benefit The Branch Arts and Ecology Center in Osaka. Open 15:30. Start 16:00. 2-8-20 Kitakagaya, Osaka 559-0011 http://branch.sociecity.org
09/17/2018 Concert and CD release party at Urban Research Doors Chaya-machi (Eco fashion store and café.) Live in the café 19:30 to 20:15. 15-31, Chaya-machi, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0013. Tel: 06-6485-0178 (Ryoko is the coordinator)
09/22/2018 Concert and CD release event Saikouji Zen Buddhist Temple, in the mountains west of Hiroshima, near the town of Miyoshi. Event organized by Souken Danjo, the head monk. Start time 14:00. Includes a vegetarian curry dinner. 729-4207 Hiroshima-ken, Miyoshi-shi, Kisa-cho, 610 Saikouji. For more information, please call: 080 5338 6274. https://www.facebook.com/SAIKOUJI
09/23/2018 Autumn Equinox Party, Concert, CD release party, and country market, at Italia Kaikan Fukuoka / Centro Italiano di Fukuoka. Address: Tokirikyu – Nakarikyu 2F, 1-18-25 Imaizumi, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, 810-0021, tel: 092 761 8570. Start time: 16:00. Please contact Ayako at ayamomo821@gmail.com for more information.
09/28/2018 Concert and CD release party at Shoumyouji Buddhist temple. Start time: 18:00. Address: 〒899-6404 鹿児島県霧島市溝辺町麓 溝辺町2563 Kagoshima-ken Kirishima-shi Mizobechofumoto Mizobecho 2563 出演者 アリシア ベイローレル 他 出店 ワークショップあり
09/29/2018 Concert and CD release party with shrine-building workshop in Nichinan, Kagoshima.
09/30/2018 Concert and CD release party at Kaze No Oka, outdoor restaurant and music venue. 〒899-2431 鹿児島県日置市東市来町美山 東市来町美山2591 風の丘 Kagoshima-ken Hioki-shi Higashiichiki-cho Miyama 2591 Kazenooka 出演者 アリシア ベイローレル Start time is 13:00.
Kota drums and Alicia sings at Kaze No Oka in Miyama, Kagoshima. A typhoon had passed through the area during the early morning of the same day, but the café was full of happy people that evening.
Buy the “Alicia Bay Laurel – Live in Japan” CD here.
July 23, 2018. Just coming off the press today is my 8th album, a collection of recordings by audio engineer Yasushi Yamaguchi from my concerts in Japan. Three of the recordings were made on August 8th, 2015, at a peace concert in at Hiroshima Nakaregawa Church, at ground zero in Hiroshima, during the week of the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The album also includes a duet with legendary Japanese traditional singer, Ikue Asazaki, and a live rendition of my song Ukulele Hula with the Inoue Ohana Band, during kumu hula Miho Ogura‘s debut performance of her original choreography created for this song.
Also, I recorded a medley that evolved onstage over three years of concerts in Japan, often with interpretive dancers, blending the four chants of the solstices and equinoxes from the book Being of the Sun, both the book and the songs a collaboration with composer/author Ramón Sender Barayón.
My cover drawing, Amaterasu Seen From Mori Tower depicts the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu appearing over Tokyo as a cloud lifting the sun from the eastern horizon across the bay. The orange and white Eiffel-Tower-like Tokyo Tower, a television tower, stands directly between Mori Tower, a residential sky scraper in the Roppongi area, and Tokyo harbor. The art gallery that sold this drawing is in the building next to Mori Tower. However, I sell greeting cards with this image in my online store.
Listener feedback for Alicia Bay Laurel: Live in Japan
Charming! A wonderful CD, light and lyrical and still timely and deep. I especially liked the crowd singing along parts. Such cosmic threads run through your life and music and art. Wow!
Sophia Songhealer Singer/songwriter and recording artist/producer Clearlake, California _____________________________________________
Alicia,
Thank you very much for sending us your new CD: Live in Japan.
Your voice, so pure and warm, makes me feel at home.
With so many people suffering from cruelty of wars, and new totally devastating nuclear war still looming, your message reminding people of the beauty of life, and the warmth of peace is more meaningful than ever.
Ikue Asazaki’s voice is so soulful!
Kenichi Iyanaga Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Tokyo University _________________________________________________
Wow, the CD looks and sounds great Alicia.
Nice balance, guitar solo works, and you sound great.
Paul Metzke Jazz/blues guitarist New York City, NY ___________________________________________________
Alicia Bay Laurel is back in Japan and Okinawa. In this [track “Imagine”], she sounds like an angel in a church at ground zero in Hiroshima. Can’t stop listening, so beautiful, and a special time, place convergence for peace. Thank you!
Jean Downey Attorney, Professor, Journalist and Activist Winter Park, Florida ____________________________________________________
Thank you for sending me your new CD. I am really enjoying listening to it right now! I was surprised to hear how good your Japanese pronunciation is. You sound so Japanese! I love your voice on “Imagine”. And I love the sweet face of Amaterasu on the jacket! Great CD!
Mayu Jensen Translator, graphic artist, and singer/songwriter Nagano Prefecture, Japan _______________________________________________________
Six small but powerful tracks — as relevant today as when the songs were first written — speak to the depths of our souls and the heights of our spirits. Alicia Bay Laurel’s soulful renditions are the perfect balm for our troubled times, making Live in Japan another timeless gem in our collective treasure box.
今だからききたい Ima dakara kikitai
大地の音色 Daichi no neiro
今だからききたい Ima dakara kikitai
心の響き Kokoro no hibiki
今だからききたい Ima dakara kikitai
アリシアの唄 Alicia no uta
(it’s hard to translate the Japanese into English… Literally, it would mean, “Because it’s IMA (now), we want to listen to the tones of Mother Earth/Because it’s IMA, we want to listen to the vibrations of the heart/Because it’s IMA, we want to listen to Alicia’s songs” But it sounds much better in Japanese!)
Carole Hisasue Former Radio and TV Personality in Tokyo Now Organic Farmer and Activist in California ___________________________________________________
Your voice is heavenly! Your music too. As a die hard Beatlemaniac, I am not easily moved by new versions of Beatles/Lennon songs…but you moved me to tears.
I grew up in Israel listening to the Beatles…it’s how I learned English! Of course, the most important thing I learned from their music was to imagine a world renewed by hope and faith and youth. I remember when they broke up and the acrimony that followed. My ideal was shattered…but, of course, we all have to grow up. Now I’m a grandma and I worry about the future for my grand kids. Hearing you sing these classics with the same spirit as the originals restores my faith in the dream. Thank you and, of course, you may post my comments.
I sing answer song to LAST NIGHT I HAD THE STRANGEST DREAM. ♪ If it’s a dream, please don’t wake me up. where is that ? Costa Rica ? Andorra ? No ! That is Japan ! We vowed never to go to war again.
Tetsuya Hikida Musician, singer/songwriter Niiza, Japan _________________________________________________
The back cover of the CD, with Kensuke Ishii’s photograph ofIkue Asazaki and Alicia Bay Laurel after the show, both costumed by Kaoriko Ago Wada, the designer/owner of the Little Eagle organic fiber, fair trade fashion company.
Drawing Amaterasu Seen From Mori Tower and graphic design by Alicia Bay Laurel Photos of Alicia Bay Laurel and Ikue Asazaki by Kensuke Ishii Costumes worn by Alicia Bay Laurel and Ikue Asazaki created by Kaoriko Ago Wada, owner/designer of organic fiber/fair trade fashion company, Little Eagle Digital layout by Hoshi Hana
Recorded at an all-day peace concert produced by Kaoriko Ago Wada, designer and owner of the organic fiber/fair trade fashion company Little Eagle, at Hiroshima Nakaregawa Church, located at ground zero in Hiroshima, on August 8, 2015, during the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was the final song of the concert, and everyone was swaying together in a circle, a garland of 1000 paper cranes draped around all of our shoulders, folded in prayer and remembrance for those that died in and after the bombings.
Lead vocal and melody guitar: Alicia Bay Laurel Harmony vocal and harmony guitar: Takuji Lead (electric) guitar: Paul Metzke Plus the entire cast (including the Lily Choir and the Inoue Ohana Band) and the audience at the event, all of whom joined us in singing the second time through the song.
Last night I had the strangest dream
I never had before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was full of men (and women!)
And the paper they were signing said
They’d never fight again.
And when the paper was all signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed.
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing ‘round and ‘round
And swords and guns and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground.
2. Yurikago No Uta/ Lullaby Yurikago No Uta (Cradle Song): Words by Kitahara Hakushu, Music by Kusakawa Shin
Recorded at a June 6, 2015 concert and fashion exhibition produced by Kaoriko Ago Wada, at Café Slow. This restaurant and performance venue in a straw bale and cob building in Kokubunji, Tokyo, was created by and for the people of the Slow Life movement, which values creating things by hand and growing one’s own food, both to help preserve nature and to nourish one’s spirit. Yurikago No Uta/Lullaby was the final song of the show, at the end of (my idol!) the legendary singer Ikue Asazaki’s set. I thought she was going to sing Yurikago No Uta both at the beginning and at end of the piece, but, to my surprise, when I paused for her to begin singing it the second time, she motioned that she wanted me to sing it instead! So, I jumped in on the second line and sang it to the end.
Lead vocal: Ikue Asazaki Lead vocal and melody guitar: Alicia Bay Laurel Lead guitar: Atsushi Tanaka
Yurikago No Uta
1) Yurikago no uta wo Canary ga utauyo The canary is singing a cradle song.
Nen neko Nen neko Nen nekoyo Sleep well, child, sleep well, child, sleep well, child.
2) Yurikago no ueni Biwa no m yureruyo Biwa (loquat) is swaying above the cradle.
Nen neko Nen neko Nen nekoyo Sleep well, child, sleep well, child, sleep well, child.
3) Yurikago no thuna wo o Kinazumiga ga yusuruyo The squirrel shakes the rope of the cradle
Nen neko Nen neko Nen nekoyo Sleep well, child, sleep well, child, sleep well, child.
4) Yurikago no yume ni kiiro no tuki ga kakaruyo. Yellow moonlight shines on your dreams in the cradle.
Nen neko Nen neko Nen nekoyo Sleep well, child, sleep well, child, sleep well, child.
This is the only track in this album that was not recorded at a live event. Instead, it documents a medley that evolved onstage, often with an interpretive dancer, during my performances in Japan in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Lead Vocal and Zither (Evo Bluestein Sparrowharp): Alicia Bay Laurel
Summer Solstice Chant:
You have reached the highest in our heavens
And the widest span of our horizon
As we traverse the summer side of the sun
We are in the joy of your attendance
Upon this half of our mother’s breast
Autumn Equinox Chant:
Once again the night is equal to the light
On the autumn side of the sun
We have gathered to make light
For the darkness approaches
Thank you for the bounty of the summer
Thank you for the fullness of the harvest
Winter Solstice Chant:
Our half of the earth has tipped away from you
And we are on the winter side of the sun
When we are in cold and darkness
We see you in candle flames and fires
We have stored your energy to feed us
Until the day you warm us through our skin
Spring Equinox Chant:
Today the darkness gives way to daylight
Wakening from winter on the spring side of the sun
How the narrow path of sunlight has widened
As our hemisphere returns to the light
Plant we now our gardens
Blossom now the love in our souls
4. Down by the Riverside African-American Spiritual from the early 1800’s, in public domain
Lead Vocal and Melody Guitar: Alicia Bay Laurel Additional Vocals: The Lily Choir
Also recorded at the peace concert produced by Kaoriko Ago Wada at Hiroshima Nakaregawa Church on August 8, 2015, during the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Singing “Down by the Riverside” raised our spirits at many an anti-war protest rally during the US invasion of Vietnam in the 1960s and ‘70s. As is customary when singing this lively song, I made up a few verses of my own. The audience joined in with me and the Lily Choir as well.
Verse 1
Gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the river side
Down by the river side
Down by the river side
Gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the river side
And study war no more
Chorus
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
Verse 2
Gonna walk with the people of peace
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Gonna walk with the Queen of Peace
Down by the river side
And study war no more
Chorus (same)
Verse 3
Gonna hold hands around the world
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Gonna hold hands around the world
Down by the river side
And study war no more
Chorus (same)
Verse 4
Gonna lay down that atom bomb
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
(spoken) “Gonna disassemble that atom bomb!”
Down by the river side
And study war no more (spoken) “we don’t need those things anymore!”
Chorus (same)
Verse 5 Gonna lay down my attitude (“my attitude” means “my anger” or “my cynicism”)
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Down by the river side,
Gonna lay down my attitude
Down by the river side,
And study war no more (spoken) “I don’t want to fight anybody!
Lead Vocal and Melody Guitar: Alicia Bay Laurel Harmony Vocal and Ukulele: Kathie Inoue Lead (electric) Guitar: Keni Inoue
Recorded July 25, 2015 at Surfers, a restaurant, bar and performance venue on a cliff overlooking the ocean, just outside the town of Zushi, Kanagawa. At this event, kumu hula Miho Ogura premiered her original choreography for my song “Ukulele Hula,” in performance with five of her students. I wrote “Ukulele Hula” soon after beginning to study slack key guitar in the Hawaiian village of Hana, Maui, in 1974.
Verse 1
I’m dreaming to the sound of ukuleles
Playing all night long for a wedding of our family.
In paradise, everybody is lover,
And the more you let go the more that comes back to you.
Refrain 1
So, surrender to the beautiful island,
And she’ll give you everything that you need.
Verse 2
Feasting on a sun-ripened papaya,
Playing all day in the waves along the sand,
Breezy afternoon and a sunset on the ocean,
Sailing away on a song of Bali Hai.
Refrain 2
Let me make you feel good; that’s what we’re here for:
For ecstasy, delight and bliss.
Verse 3
It’s so balmy, such a balmy evening,
To melt in love in a tropical paradise.
Let’s swing and sway to the sound of ukuleles
Like the gentle green fronds of the lovely coconut tree.
Refrain 1, again
Surrender to the beautiful island
And she’ll give you everything that you need.
Verse 1, again
I’m dreaming to the sound of ukuleles
Playing all night long for a wedding of our family.
In paradise everybody is a lover,
And the more you let go the more that comes back to you.
Lead vocal and melody guitar: Alicia Bay Laurel Harmony vocal and lead guitar: Takuji
The opening song of my set (and the closing song of Takuji’s set) at the peace concert produced by Kaoriko Ago Wada at Hiroshima Nakaregawa Church on August 8, 2015, during the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thank you, John Lennon, for this anthem to the new paradigm of reunion with nature, loving, sharing, and peace, arising as the old paradigm of dominion over nature, hate, greed and war falls out of favor.
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today ahaa haa
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace yoohoo ooh
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
All we are saying
Is give peace a chance
All we are saying
Is give peace a chance
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world yoohoo ooh
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
All we are saying
Is give peace a chance
All we are saying
Is give peace a chance
______________________________________________
I meant to tell you how sweet your voice is. I listened to Imagine/Give Peace a Chance three times on the first day. John Lennon would have teared up. I did.
After Greg posted a link to his essay and I read it, I thanked him for the attention he gave to Living on the Earth in this paper.
He replied, “Although the Whole Earth Catalog gets all the scholarly attention, Living on the Earth conveys much more about counterculture feeling. One is all head-tripping, the other goes straight to heart and soul.“
I said, “Thank you, Greg. To me, the illustrations convey that blissful feeling of connection – as tribal family and as one with nature and spirit – that most of us did not experience growing up, but acquired in the first 30 seconds of psychedelic voyaging.“
Greg Castillo was the curator of the 2017 exhibition Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, which included some slightly used copies of Living on the Earth that people could read while lounging in the Relaxation Cube.
Here is the link to buy (for $3) a pdf download of the entire publication, titled “Work,” which is edition #6 of the UC Berkeley Department of Architecture’s publication, Room 1000. Greg’s piece about hippie handbuilt structures begins on page 49 (below).
We’re celebrating the publication of the Kachina Ediciones Spanish translation of Living on the Earth (Viviendo en la Tierra) with high quality organic cotton totebags printed with the cover design.
You can buy one for US$19.95 (plus shipping) here.
You can also buy the book, Viviendo en la Tierra, here.
He was promoting his novel, The Season of the Witch, and I was on the publicity tour arranged by Random House for the Vintage Books edition of Living on the Earth (the second edition – the first was published the previous year by The BookWorks, in Berkeley.)
A mutual friend reconnected us in 1977, and, after that, I was a frequent guest in his home in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. It was during those happy times that he gifted me with his book, The Midnight Cowboy, with this sweet inscription. I gifted him with a drawing of his face as a huge photo on the wall of a living room, with Marlene Dietrich admiring it from the sofa. He had a movie screen-sized photo of her face on one wall of his living room. “That’s the size I’m accustomed to seeing her,” he told me.
Jamie had been Anais Nin‘s confidante, and told me this story: In her forties, Anais told him that she wanted to die at fifty, so she would be “always the ingenue, never the dowager.” When he reminded her of this as she lay dying at seventy-two, she replied, “How could I have known that my best years would come after?”
In 1980, Jamie’s long time partner, Bill Lord, was one of the first gay men to perish from AIDS. After that, Jamie’s life centered on hospicing and eulogizing many of his beloved friends. In 1991, when it became clear that he, too, was succumbing to the virus, he took his own life. I was devastated. Only one year later, a three-drug therapy came into use that could have saved him.
Alicia Bay Laurel 
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