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No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970​-​75)

by Jay Bolotin

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Deluxe Edition of 1000 featuring:
    6 panel fold out jacket on uncoated card stock with debossed artist name on front cover
    20 page uncoated paper booklet containing excerpts from Jay Bolotin's personal letters from the era, accompanied by newly commissioned woodcuts depicting the people and the times
    OBI strip

    Includes unlimited streaming of No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970-75) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Deluxe edition of 1,000 featuring:
    Full album download code + bonus song: "The Story Of Lester And The Gold Coin", deluxe linen old style tip-on jacket, 12-page Saddle Stitched Book containing excerpts from Jay Bolotin's personal letters from the era, accompanied by newly commissioned woodcuts depicting the people and the times, printed inner sleeve with full lyrics on the front, and woodcut print "The River" - suitable for framing - on the back, OBI strip.

    Includes unlimited streaming of No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970-75) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Included with this special edition package is a limited edition woodcut depicting a young Jay Bolotin riding along side David Allan Coe, in Coe's vintage Cadillac. Printed on Arches BFK, the edition is limited to 50, each signed and numbered, along with a handwritten excerpt from a June, 1974 letter. Bolotin's work is included in many public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Georgia Museum of Art, Smith College Museum of Art, among many others.

    The LP also includes a full album download code + bonus song: "The Story Of Lester And The Gold Coin", deluxe linen, old style tip-on jacket, 12-page Saddle Stitched Book containing excerpts from Jay Bolotin's personal letters from the era, accompanied by newly commissioned woodcuts depicting the people and the times, printed inner sleeve with full lyrics on the front, and woodcut print "The River" on the back, and an OBI strip. Please note that the Special Edition LP will be available to ship on 11/13/18

    Includes unlimited streaming of No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970-75) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 50 

      $250 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 10 Delmore Recording Society releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of tricycle (remastered / expanded edition), Shuckin' Sugar, They Don't Know, 38 MacDougal, No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970-75), The Kingston Springs Suite, Has Anybody Seen Our Freedoms?, l V (Intravenous), and 2 more. , and , .

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1.
All the sailors are to port now All of their ladies wait with flowers For all of their men who have been warriors Some have been waiting here for hours No one seems to notice that it’s raining The captain told us we had mercy He told us all that we were saviors He read from a book that he was holding Everybody thought that it was holy No one seems to notice that it’s raining No, no one seems to notice that it’s raining No one seems to know the skies are grey The people here can’t seem to stop applauding It sounds a bit like thunder to my ear No one seems to notice that it’s raining My head is filled with never-ending wonder At all the masses gathered here before me What do they come so far to offer It will all forever pass my understanding That no one seems to notice that it’s raining All of the sailors are to port now All of their ladies wait with flowers For all of their men who have been warriors Some have been waiting here for hours And no one seems to notice that it’s raining
2.
I’ve been outside your door when it was open I’ve been inside your door when it was closed I’ve seen your face when the sun was shining here I’ve seen your face when the sun was low Your plants they grow so green up on the windowsill Your dog lies sleeping on the floor The painting of the lady you are painting here The colors seem so simple and pure I re-read all the letters that you sent to me Darling can’t you see You sometimes seem so free and easy You seem somehow confused As though you somehow mixed the moon up with the sun Don’t worry about winning what you’ve already won Your lovers seem to come when all is going right And leave you at the first sign of some wrong Like a worker who is welcome when the grain is up And shunned when the stubble’s on the ground Your hair it blows so freely in the wind sometimes You seem almost as gentle as a lamb It seems a shame you always have to suffer so Darling you’re not saved but you’re not damned The sun is going to rise up in the morning And the river flows And I’m pretty sure the wind still blows here You seem somehow confused As though you somehow mixed the moon up with the sun Don’t worry about winning what you’ve already won
3.
He carries his ideas in books bound in leather With a change of clothing And a picture of Anna when she was younger Lest he forget her And in among his papers Is a list of all the people that he knew And many unsent letters Telling someone that he’d be there sometime soon Hey stranger – it’s the tiredness that remains When you think freedom can’t be measured By the scuffles on your boots Now he dreams a lot of Anna and the time they were together He was hard and she was supple When they lived out in country she thought gentle Like his hands upon her body But when Anna felt the cooling wind David felt the threat to be blown down And when Anna felt the cleansing rain David fought the fear that he might drown Hey Stranger – now you wander through the country That you hope is much less frightening When it’s quickly passing by Now in southern Arizona at the Last Chance Diner counter Being questioned by the waitress He prepares for the desert with his freedom And a canteen of water
4.
Traveler 02:40
Yes all of us here We admire your new boots and your satchel We all think you make a noble figure You are traveling – traveling You’re a traveler – you’re a traveler You’re the man on the right side of the road You’re the one with all the daydreams of a home It’s apparent where you’ve been But so shady where you go You’re a traveler – you’re a traveler You’re the one who would much rather be the fool Than the judge who offers arguments so cool As to make it seem there’re answers As to make it seems there’re rules You gave your little sister A god that you carved out of cedar You said it would protect her She hung it on a chain And it flickered against her skin She said she understood You are leaving here again You’re a traveler – you’re a traveler You’re the blessed one who carries his own curse You’re the gifted one among the absurd You’re an angel of Truth You’re as Silence is to thoughtless words
5.
Through the winded winter streets He’s pulled his hat so low Bright lights strung in silence Make a strange and saddened show All the windows closed and shuttered Find a place to go He wrote a message to a snowman Hey you know I’m an old man Don’t you go melting away I’ve already gone through to many changes Snowman Time was when he sailed the ports From Rome to Mexico A brandy man - he’d belt a song And drink away his woe Now the down street women smile He hardly laughs no more He wrote a message to a snowman Hey you know I’m an old man Don’t you go melting away I’ve already gone through to many changes Snowman Through the winded winter streets He’s pulled his hat so low Bright lights strung in silence Make a strange and saddened show All the windows closed and shuttered Find a place to go He wrote a message to a snowman Hey you know I’m an old man Don’t you go melting away I’ve already gone through to many changes Snowman
6.
Linda lost a lover in the early part of autumn And she moved out to the country hoping all would be forgotten The last time that I saw her she was making sure the winter Wouldn’t come through that old doorframe Where the door is several inches from the ground The cold hard ground It’s hard to go down easy It’s hard to keep from crying It’s hard to lose a lover In the early part of autumn She learned to cook the meals and she learned to start the fire And she learned to make jewelry out of beads and pretty feathers She’d sit down to the table with her friends and several others And she’d try real hard to never be alone It’s hard to go down easy It’s hard to keep from crying It’s hard to lose a lover In the early part of autumn Now the winter wind blows cold upon her fairly gentle soul She feels as though her time is passing easy Her friend’s a sometimes lover though he knows that there’s another She thinks about when nighttime lays on down It’s hard to go down easy It’s hard to keep from crying It’s hard to lose a lover In the early part of autumn
7.
The leaves came swirling down On some old New England town With streets of a winding ancient nature The farmers and the townsmen they gathered there To speak of things they’d lately read in papers The air was turning cold And the wind was blowing bold And there seemed to be some sort of autumn sale They’d learned to pick and choose their garments well And to stock and firm their shelters Some stranger came on in As though he blew there with the wind He wasn’t lost – ah but neither was he found This stranger stood out sharply in the crowd These times they were perhaps not made for him He went into some store Just for warmth and nothing more The lady there remembers him quite well This stranger stood out sharply in the crowd These times they were perhaps not made for him The lady in the junk shop Said he was the only one Who asked about the foreign-looking picture Some old and withered etching of a hero About to slay a wicked-looking creature She gave to him for free She said it seemed to fill some need And he’s the only one my memory retains Who did not shun the picture for the frame No he did not shun the picture for the frame The leaves came swirling down On some old New England town With streets of a winding ancient nature The farmers and the townsmen they gathered there To speak of things they’d lately read in papers
8.
You May Live 04:06
This is a snake Some say he’s evil But don’t harm him please One must have Reason for evils to be You may live Child You may live Child And this is a bird Love him and watch him Then let him fly south Birds do not wander for reasons I doubt You may live Child You may live Child And you are a man A god and a lamb And a tiger you be I pray that your Reason will come to be free You may live Child Live
9.
Darling - dry your weeping eyes Your toy is in your hand Sometimes I hope you don’t grow old Dry your eyes and sit beside me Time – where does it go The years they pass like puddles in the sun Darling dry you r weeping eyes for me I’d like to tell you what I’ve seen You know that time she moves along Years they pass like puddles in the sun Darling dry your weeping eyes We’ll sing a summer song There’ve been so many that I’ve known Dry your eyes and sit beside me We’ll sing ever so loud I’ll sing about an eagle – you sing about a dove Darling dry your weeping eyes for me I’d like to tell you what I’ve seen You know that time she moves along Years they pass like puddles in the sun
10.
The June Bug 02:00
So all the windblown boys didn’t hear you crying They tied a string around a June bug’s head Watched it buzzing ‘round the summer sun It flew in circles – perfect circles ‘round their happy heads You said you’d get a knife and cut the string – yes you would Because a circle’s not the course the bug would choose if it could We’re all the ragged children of god We’re all the ragged children of god
11.
Some bus pulled on out of a mid-western highway Losing a race with the dawn All of the riders were sleeping All of the riders but one And he had his face pressed on up to the window Catching the warmth from the sun He gazed over wheat fields and cornfields And raised up his hand to his head as he thought Driver Driver – I am but a rider I put my only life in your hands Driver Driver – I am but a rider And here on this bus You’re the god of all of us And I honestly hope you are kind There sat beside him a younger girl With a soft and a pendulous breast And a cross on a chain and a dream on her lips Of a more righteous place in the West There sat behind him an older man Dressed up in an old baseball hat And a list in his shirt of the homeruns he’d hit And a full color picture of him up at bat Driver Driver – I am but a rider I put my only life in your hands Driver Driver – I am but a rider And here on this bus You’re the god of all of us And I honestly hope you are kind The time of the year it was springtime The time of the day it was early The years of the rider were twenty and eight As he turned to the lady beside him and he said to her Lady I know I’m a stranger Lady I don’t mean you no harm But I will write you a rhyme if you’ll look in my eye Tell me where we are going and what we will find Driver Driver – I am but a rider I put my only life in your hands Driver Driver – I am but a rider And here on this bus You’re the god of all of us And I honestly hope that you are kind
12.
Dime Novels 04:03
Gazing at me wide-eyed like a child I would sing my songs to her To her She must have heard them all A hundred times or more Or more How long Long ago It seems It seems Lovers come and gone my hand to catch her tears They fell like summer’s rain Like rain Seasons change she’s come again To speak of when she slept only to dream To dream How long Long ago It seems It seems Our lives they read like novels That we bought for dimes And hid – hoping they wouldn’t find them
13.
When Lester was a young man he was very tall and very strong And his hands, lots of people said, had the grip on one of those constrictor snakes Now one day he found a shiny coin and an old old book that was hand written Now Lester, he knew the bible, cause his mother made him go to church And then stay even after the Sunday service to go to bible school So Lester knew that the book that he found was copied mostly from the bible And yet things were changed – lines were scratched out and new lines were put in And even those were scratched out and changed again Enough so that Lester couldn’t even read most of it And that that he could – he couldn’t make hid nor hair of And that gold coin that he found – it had one year written up on one side And another year written up on the other At first Lester didn’t know what to make of that Now he went on in life and he married a good woman And her name was Cora and Cora grew to be a big fat woman They didn’t have any children Now both Lester and Cora – they worked for a white lady And her name was Misses Plainfield Cora did the work inside the house And Lester did the work outside the house And every so often when the sun was shining hot And sweat was pouring down Lester’s face He would take out that shiny coin (it always stayed shiny) He’d take it out of his pants pocket and he’d hold it up in the sun And he’d wonder real hard about what it meant He had lost the book years ago and he was real sorry about that Now when Cora died the church people buried her in the churchyard Cause they said that she was an extra righteous woman And rightfully ought to have her place there It wasn’t soon after the funeral that Lester took out the gold coin Now he knew that the year on the front was this very year But it wasn’t right until then that he noticed that the year on the back Was the year that dear old Cora was born And now Lester’s just an old man He’s too old really to work But he still goes to Misses Plainfield’s house almost every day And he finds something to do It isn’t because he has to And it isn’t even because he wants to It’s because he’s scared of god

about

Kentucky native Jay Bolotin, is a renaissance artist, equally at home crafting music and stories as he is creating otherworldly creatures carved from woodblocks, who are then masterfully animated into being. To step inside his world is to forget what was and what is.

Described as sounding like Leonard Cohen crossed with John Jacob Niles recording Blood On The Tracks, Bolotin's music of this era was championed by Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Merle Haggard, and Norbert Putnam. His songs have been recorded by David Allan Coe, Dan Fogelberg, and Porter Wagoner, and his art lives in renowned museums worldwide.

"LISTEN! You gotta hear this guy!" - Mickey Newbury

"That song, ‘Traveler’ — a lot of people have been trying to write that for a long time..." - Kris Kristofferson

"...a great genius" - Norbert Putnam

"His lyrics have the impact of Loretta Lynn revised by Poe; his pictures are as unsettling as Dore' or Bosch." - Steve Eng

"...the kind of guy who could put a spell on you." - Porter Wagoner

"All you got to do is talk to those idiots (on music row) and get them to pay attention to him." Mickey Newbury to Kris Kristofferson, Exit Inn, 1974

“I take some pride in the fact that the record companies would say to me you’ve got ten ideas in that song. Go back and make it one. I couldn’t, though.” - Jay Bolotin

More about Jay Bolotin and this release at delmorerecordings.com

credits

released November 9, 2018

1. No One Seems to Notice That It’s Raining
-The Hit Factory, New York City, February, 1970
- Engineer – Brooks Arthur
- Producers – Stuart Wiener and Mike Lewis
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin

2. Don’t Worry About Winning What You’ve Already Won
-Quadrophonic Sound Studio, March 7, 1973
-Producer – Norbert Putnam
-Engineer - Gene Eichelberger
-Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
-Gut string Guitar – Reggie Young
-Drums – Larry London
-Piano – John Harris
-Organ – Ron Oats

3. Canteen of Water
-Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Jan. 17, 1974
-Engineer: Lee Hazen
-Guitar and vocal – Jay Bolotin
-2nd Guitar – Robert Cardwell
-Bass – Ted Reynolds
- Violin – Lisa Silver

3. You May Live
- Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Nov. 7, 1972
- Engineer – Lee Hazen
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
- Bass – Ted Reynolds

4. Traveler
- Quadrophonic Sound Studio, March 7, 1973
-Producer – Norbert Putnam
-Engineer - Gene Eichelberger
-Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
-Gut string Guitar – Reggie Young
-Drums – Larry London
-Piano – John Harris
-Organ – Ron Oats

5. Message To A Snowman
-The Hit Factory, New York City, February, 1970
- Engineer – Brooks Arthur
- Producers – Stuart Wiener and Mike Lewis
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
-2nd Guitar – David Mowry
- Percussion – Robin Frost
- Bass – Ken Lyon
- Celeste – Mark Taber

6. It’s Hard to Go Down Easy
- Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Nov. 7, 1972
- Engineer – Lee Hazen
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
- 2nd Guitar – Robert Cardwell
- Bass – Ted Reynolds
- Harmony – Robert Cardwell and Kim Morrison

7. The Picture and The Frame
- Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Jan. 17, 1974
- Engineer, Lee Hazen
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin

8. You May Live
- Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Nov. 7, 1972
- Engineer – Lee Hazen
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
- Bass – Ted Reynolds

9. Puddles In The Sun
-Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Jan. 17, 1974
-Engineer - Lee Hazen
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
- 2nd Guitar – Dan Fogelberg
- Bass – Ted Reynolds
- Violin – Lisa Silver
- Harmony – Dan Fogelberg and Marsha Routh

10. The June Bug
- Hounds Ear Studio, Nashville, Nov. 7, 1972
- Engineer – Lee Hazen
- Piano and Vocal – Jay Bolotin

11. Driver Driver
-Studio On The Pond – Hendersonville, TN, Apr. 13th 1975
- Lee Hazen – Engineer/Producer
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin
- Gut String Guitar – Danny Rowlands
- Bass – Ted Reynolds
- Violin – Lisa Silver
- Harmony – Lisa Silver, Danny Rowlands, Ted Reynolds

12. Dime Novels
-The Hit Factory, New York City, February, 1970
- Engineer – Brooks Arthur
- Producers – Stuart Wiener and Mike Lewis
- Guitar and Vocal – Jay Bolotin

13. The Story of Lester and the Gold Coin
-Studio On The Pond – Hendersonville, TN, Apr. 13th 1975
- Lee Hazen – Engineer/Producer
- Guitar and Vocal (and Whistle)– Jay Bolotin
- Violin – Lisa Silver

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Delmore Recording Society Nashville, Tennessee

Delmore Recording Society exists to expose singular artists that don’t quite fit in to the world. The pursuit and discovery of lost tapes is another side of that mission.

We strive to bring something of value into the world…music that might enhance our appreciation of an artist that was under recorded, or whose recordings were never released due to some vagary of the business.
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