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THE TIME IS NOW

by Jim Page

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    11 songs recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle. Engineered by Floyd Reitsma (Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews). Comes in a 6 panel digipak with full color artwork and layout by Joel Litwin. All credits and personnel listed.

    Includes unlimited streaming of THE TIME IS NOW via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
you ever hear about Blind Lemon Jefferson? he had quite a style people down in Texas in those days they came for miles to listen to the big man play and then they’d say “ain’t that somethin’” you ever hear Billie Holliday when she was singin’ her song? and everything was just right right where it belonged gardenias in her midnight hair she could take you anywhere ain’t that somethin’ because if that ain’t somethin’ then somethin’ ain’t nothin’ at all Lemon went to Chicago to try to make his name froze out the sidewalk when the winter came and Billie died broke it all went up in smoke ain’t that somethin’ you could spend your whole life living in the sound one snap of the fingers and it all comes down funny thing is after you’re gone then everybody’s singin’ your song ain’t that somethin’ because if that ain’t somethin’ then somethin’ ain’t nothin’ at all where can we go dancin’ where the music plays slow? everybody’s in a hurry like they got some place to go and maybe they do, how would I know? but me, I’m just gonna let it go because sometimes when I hear you singing and you don’t think I do it’s sounds so pretty I just don’t know how to tell you so I just let it pass like a vision in a pane of glass ain’t that somethin’ because if that ain’t somethin’ then somethin’ ain’t nothin’ at all
2.
ANGELINE 04:14
in this beautiful country in which I’m living there is a story that you’ll find about a woman named Kikisoblu and how they called her Angeline Angeline, Kikisoblu she was the eldest daughter of Chief Seattle she watched the world disappear she said “you can build your town around me I’m not going anywhere” Angeline, Kikisoblu it was the fine and expensive wife of Doc Maynard who defined her into something to be owned when she said, “you’re much too beautiful for such an ugly name from now on you will be known as Angeline, not Kikisoblu” and they made her illegal and all of her people and the children threw rocks behind her back but Kikisoblu had some rocks of her own and she threw them back Angeline, Kikisoblu landlord, landlord look over your shoulder careful who you’re talking to maybe somebody you stole something from come to take it back from you Angeline, Kikisoblu so many thieves for all that they have taken they leave us with a world full of holes but we have rocks and we have heroes and we will not do what we are told Angeline, Kikisoblu
3.
DOWN TO ZERO 04:54
there are no words enough to say how a world like this could die away how reason falls on deaf ears truth dissolves and disappears and the clocks are counting down to zero they warned us years ago people laughed it off said “what do they know” and we went our separate ways to find a future facing the end of the line and the clocks are counting down to zero now the weather stumbles, forests burn past the point of no return corporation money thrives while the refugees look for a place to survive and the clocks are counting down to zero history walks the plank its eyes are flat, its face is blank the melting ice the rising sea a redder sun than used to be and the clocks are counting down to zero I know people who live in trees who chain themselves to machineries who face the judge’s scornful stare there is no shelter anywhere and the clocks are counting down to zero thunder clap, the black snake times like these you do whatever it takes wherever a line is drawn for the people and the land they live on and the clocks are counting down to zero I fear for the children I see and I don’t blame them when they look at me as if to say “how could you? we were depending on you” and the clocks are counting down to zero I woke up in a sweat last night so all alone I couldn’t face my fright but I took a look around to see millions more just like me and the clocks are counting down to zero resistance goes from hand to hand for the air, the water, the people, the land tomorrow is born from the seeds of today and we are going that way and the clocks are counting down to zero
4.
sleepin’ on a car seat on a side street sleepin’ on a car seat without a bed sheet some cars don’t have any seats some seats don’t have any cars you get tired enough you sleep right where you are sleepin’ on a car seat... it’s a quiet kind of neighborhood nothin’ ever goes too far sunny day on the mornin’ and there you are sleepin’ on a car seat... one foot out, one foot in one foot on the prowl oughtta be sleepin’ in a feather bed but this’ll have to do for now without a car around it just the way you found it sleepin’ on a car seat... somebody come along maybe somebody see your shoe somebody steal your wallet now what you gonna do sleepin’ on a car seat... crows talkin’ tree to tree the day is getting warm there’s a turbulence advisory but that’s for another kind of storm sleepin’ on a car seat... one foot out, one foot in where you been my friend? all around the world and back and there you are in a sleepin’ sack without a car around it just the way you found it sleepin’ on a car seat… mouse run over your shoulder drone flyin’ over your head police sittin’ in a cruiser ain’t no breakfast in bed sleepin’ on a car seat… hello in there hello hello
5.
she came into the shop one day when snow was coming down not a lot of customers, empty streets of town just an old woman with an old style toaster in her hand she laid it on the counter, said “fix it if you can” “well, I can,” says I, “though it may take a day or two but I’ll see what I can do, and get it back to you” she smiled a thank you smile, her eyes loving gaze “it’s the only heat I have,” she said, “and it’s been cold for days” it’s the only heat I have, the only heat I have she smiled a thank you smile, her eyes loving gaze “it’s the only heat I have,” she said, “and it’s been cold for days” it’s a little coastal town, where the mountains come to rest with the Irish sea before me, and the landward to the west you can watch the sunlight slanting, ‘neath the rolling patchwork sky while family friends and strangers come and go to passing by and I’d sit in the window in afternoons and raise a toast to it all to the heights that I ascended to and how long it took to fall I was used to my loneliness, didn’t think I could ever be surprised until I met the young woman with the fire in her eyes we could’ve been each other’s lovers, it happened pretty fast but she was running after something that was just beyond her grasp and I’d misread the fire, I thought it was for me just goes to show that what you don’t know is right where it’s supposed to be she was the only heat I had, the only heat I had she packed up all that fire and a little extra too she was the only heat I had but she was only passing through so now I think about the wintertime that lays across the land and I think about the old woman with the toaster in her hand and I think about the girl who was only passing through I hope she found what she was looking for, some people never do she was the only heat I had, the only heat I had she was the only heat I had, but she had somewhere to go and I gave up feeling sorry for myself a long time ago
6.
the rain in the morning, the bright afternoon the days of our lives that are over too soon the ripples of incident rise up and fall there’s so much to know, you can’t measure it all away to the city somewhere there to find a way out of this great big impossible bind an old man with a dog, and a woman in a chair you never know what you’ll find till you get there (chorus) the eyes of tomorrow, the arrow of time if you can’t take it with you, you leave behind like a jewel in the ocean awash in the brine as seen through the green tea of your mind she said if “I could just get up away and fly I’d write my name like a bird in the sky” he said “the sky isn’t big enough for what you have to say and you speak your own language anyway” it was a good town for music and they found a little bar where there were people in the mix, and whisky in the jar where the music was medicine for the way that you feel and maybe that’s how we all have to heal (chorus) some people have everything laid out on a platter some people don’t care and what does it matter you face up to your burden or you turn tail and run it’s the hand that you’re dealt and everyone gets one you did a lot of drinkin’ in your way back when and one of these days you might do it again but for now its the green tea that suits you just right away in the morning, good luck and good night (chorus)
7.
first first time I rode the bus I was hitchin’ a ride I was just a kid, flat broke I got on board, sat down down and got warm and across town we rode took me just about a block away from exactly where I’s tryin’ to get I said “thanks,” he said “see ya later” and I still remember it yet (chorus) everybody rides the bus everybody, that’s us everybody rides the bus and everybody thanks the driver I used to know exactly how much money I had just by just lookin’ in the palm of my hand twenty five pennies right down to the number just like I had it all planned and I’d sit up front with the driver and we’d have ourselves a chat smoke ‘em if you got ‘em when it’s just us two we’d ride the line like that (chorus) Sam was a driver, a juggler, and a clown he just loved to make people laugh he had a heart attack drivin’ on the viaduct with no way to get off of that path he said “I need a little help at the wheel up here whatever little help you can give” and all together they pulled it over savin’ everybody’s life but his (chorus) my friend Annette, she’s singin’ the blues and she’s blowin’ harmonica too but it’s hard to make a livin’ ‘round here these days in this six figure hullaballoo so she drives the bus five days out of seven on the other two she grooves the wheels and the wherewithal that’s how the world moves (chorus) so if you want my autograph because you like the way I play the guitar go ask a bus driver first ‘cause I’ll never get you that far (chorus)
8.
AMAZON 04:20
we live in a boomtown metropolis a place where success is a weapon of war some people live in spectacular mansions some people can’t afford to live anywhere anymore but Bezos has the money he’s got all of that money more than a hundred billion dollars in his pants way down in his pants they built a shiny new temple to themselves downtown people genuflect as they pass artificial sunlight and climate control so they can colonize the jungle behind a pain of glass and because Bezos has the money he’s got of all that money clutching in the fingers of his hand he’s a rich man Amazon - you don’t have the right to use that name Amazon - it is a nation and a people Amazon - one of the world’s greatest rivers Amazon - it is the lungs of the planet and we can barely breath anymore we gather together see what is to be done we know the risks we take are perilous we sharpen up our wits for the days ahead to come somebody has to and it might as well be us because we have the history we know what we are doing and we will not just disappear we’re gonna stay right here Amazon - you don’t have the right to use that name Amazon - it is a nation and a people Amazon - one of the world’s greatest rivers Amazon - it is the lungs of the planet and this is our planet and it is not for sale
9.
Amadou Diallo New York City, shot him 19 times they get away with murder it oughtta be a capital crime after midnight four white cops from the elite corps and Amadou Diallo standing in his own front door Amadou Diallo he was a West African man they said he was suspicious he had something in his hand it was his wallet it was his wallet they put the trial up in Albany where the police have more friends they said it was a big mistake and they’d never let it happen again his mother cryin’ in a far off lonesome place she came to see justice done what she got was a slap in the face gunslingers walkin’ on the side of the law some have a real short fuse and that can be a fatal flaw if you fit the description they might want to see you dance Amadou Diallo he never had a chance there’s a woman in the harbor and she’s carrying a burning light but it’s gettin’ hard to see now there’s gonna be a storm tonight can’t you hear the thunder can’t you feel that river run someone ask a question, someone give an answer somethin’s gotta be done everybody’s talkin’ there’s somethin’ on everybody’s mind Amadou Diallo it oughtta be a capital crime Amadou Diallo
10.
you don’t know me by name I don’t know you too but we’re on the same road, my friend and we have some things to do in summer of no return fires lit for the fuse to burn they killed somebody in broad daylight gonna take a lot of changes to make it right (chorus) pullin’ the statues down, bells a-ringin’ statues down, and everybody singin’ “hey – will look at that ain’t that a beautiful sight to see?” some old songs we used to sing don’t sing them anymore some flags we used to fly don’t fly them anymore architects of a bad design some worn out state of mind best just to let it go you can’t hold on when the winds begin to blow so hard (chorus) look – there goes Andrew Jackson look – there goes Christopher Columbus look – there goes Junipero Serra we’ve been at war before we know that does sometimes what you stand up for ain’t what you thought it was there’s a new day knockin’ on the old one’s door we can’t ignore it anymore come on out and take a look to see the way that it’s about to be it ain’t if you lose or win but whose shoes you’re standing in and I know you understand so come on out and give me a hand (chorus) look – here comes Harriet Tubman look – here comes Frederick Douglass look – here comes Geronimo (chorus)
11.
there are things to come and things to pass pure and simple, made of glass to feed the future you weed through the past to make it fast, and make it last (chorus) the time is now, now is the time the time is now, now is the time time has come and time has gone to pick up roots and to move along to rise up early before the dawn to start out standing to come on strong (chorus) you got eyes to see you got ears to hear and you know very well what’s been happening here don’t make light of the people’s tears stand up and face your fears (chorus) there was a time when the winter came and all the world turned cold will be a time when the spring arrives and all the flowers unfold and the future belongs the future belongs to the bold don’t let it scare you, the noise and the dare so many millions arise everywhere polish the glass, hold it up to the air look in the reflection, you’ll see yourself there (chorus) now we stand with the wind at our backs for we are the eye of the storm we look at the world and the world looks back and the drums beat a rhythm to warn that the future is just the future is just being born the fuses were lit such a long ways away and they’d stutter and spark, fade and decay now the clocks are on fire at the edge of the day and we turn to each other and say (chorus)

about

Polish the glass, hold it up to the air
Look in the reflection, you’ll see yourself there

THE TIME IS NOW came out of two years of starting and stopping and running into brick walls. I had songs but only a vague idea what to do with them. I had started semi serious rehearsals with Orville, Dune, and Joel, and had made some faraway recording plans, but nothing to hang your hat on.

Then Covid-19 hit. At the same time people all over the country took to the streets to demand justice and police reform. And half of the west coast was on fire from climate change. The clock of the world said, “Do it now, and keep it close to home.” And the pieces began to fall into place.

Studio Litho is almost outside my door, and I knew Floyd Reitsma could do justice to whatever I brought in. We’d worked together before. Now he welcomed me in the middle of a pandemic. I had chosen the players based on my history with them, our chemistry, their body of work, and who they are as people.

Joel, Dune, and I rehearsed in my driveway, allowing the tunes to naturally fall together. Once we got into the studio Floyd worked his magic on the board. We played ensemble, in isolation. Jessica, and J.R. listened to sound files and came into Litho later to add their parts. Orville worked from his home studio, The SunRoom, and provided valuable counsel. Analog dreams in a digital age. I suggested vaguely how I would like to hear things, but otherwise left it open and organic. With all of us working together these songs, and The Time Is Now, took shape. And so, in a very real sense, this project produced itself.

Thanks for listening. I hope you find something here to lift your spirits and help make sense of the world. Thanks to friends and fans, old and new. There have been countless people who listened and helped over the years. I owe you all a debt.

Special thanks to the doctors and nurses who risked their lives as the waves of the pandemic spread around the world. To the food banks, and all essential service providers.

Dune Butler: acoustic and electric bass
Jessica Lurie: alto and tenor saxophone
Jim Page: acoustic guitar, vocals
Joel Litwin: drums and percussion
JR Rhodes: vocals
Orville Johnson: acoustic and electric guitars, dobro, lap steel, vocals

all songs © Jim Page
Whid-Isle Music, BMI

credits

released April 16, 2022

Recorded at Studio Litho, Seattle, WA
Engineered by Floyd Reitsma

Basic tracks – Dune, Jim, and Joel
August 13, 14
Sept 28, 29

Overdubs – JR and Jessica
Nov 18

Orville recorded his parts at his home studio, The SunRoom.

Mixed by Floyd Reitsma
Feb 9, 10

Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering
CD Package design by Joel Litwin, Red Candle

This project basically produced itself. But it must be said that the person who had the most impact on the nuts and bolts, the motivation and follow-through, was Katy Keenan. Thank you once again.

All songs © Jim Page
Whid-Isle Music, BMI

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Jim Page Seattle, Washington

Named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” Originally from California Page has called Seattle and the Pacific Northwest “home” since 1971. Songs covered by The Doobie Brothers, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Michael Hedges, and Roy Bailey. Utah Phillips: “If you’re ever going to get the message, this is the messenger to get it from.” ... more

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