TOM RUSH - GUESTBOOK

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Thanks, Tom.

My first experience was in early 65 I think. A friend and I would listen to late nite AM radio "skip" from Boston. I believe it was Juicy Bruce Bradley on WBZ. He loved to open his airtime (if memory serves) with one of your songs and seems he always wrapped up with Urge for Goin. At the age of 16 that set a hook in me that has lasted a long time. Keep up the good works.
Tom Seay
Springfield, OH - April 29, 2008 1:46:25 PM EDT

I first heard Urge for Going at about 2:30 in the morning on a December night in 64 or 65. I was cramming for midterms in college and my brain was fried, and this wonderful song came on the radio [ the local dj in Boston had a thing for Tom Rush and he played the long version ]. As I listened, my mind set aside all the trash and I simply soaked in the music and the lyrics. I can still hear them 40+ years later when I close my eyes and "take out the trash" in my mind. There is still a purity to the "package" that I hope to never lose. Thanks...
Ken
WA - April 29, 2008 10:16:59 AM EDT

Over 35 years ago I saw Tom play in Phoenix at The Travel Lodge Theatre-In-the-Round. Seems like just yesterday. Still the best performances I ever witnessed. Thanks a million!
Greg Etchison
Montgomery, TX - April 27, 2008 11:16:19 PM EDT

Loved your show @Ram's Head Annapolis, April 08. Also saw you with Judy Collins somewhere in N.J. a few years back. Just keeps gettin' better. So good of you to do so much to keep this spirit of folk music alive. Never stop performing! And maybe hook up with John Sebastian again. What an album you did with him on harmonica!
patrick michael francis
Baltimore, MD - April 17, 2008 9:16:23 PM EDT

I used to listen to the Circle Game album every night in my Junior year of college. Saw you with a hot band (bass, telecaster, drums, acoustic guitar)at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Was inspired by the guitar playing and singing. Like you I'm still rockin', playing fiddle in a celtic band. When I have a quiet moment with my guitar I sometimes go back to, "No Regrets" and "Urge for Going". Loved your version of "Who Do You Love?" (Mama). Can I have your guitar?
bernardo
Sydney, Australia - April 10, 2008 2:46:00 AM EDT

Looking forward to seeing you this Friday (4/11/08) at Ramshead in Annapolis, MD. Always loved your Merrimack County Album.
Cap'n Larry and Saltwater Suzi
Galesville, MD - April 9, 2008 5:16:20 PM EDT

Saw you a few times in Toronto at the Riverboat when I was going to school..........saw you again a few minutes ago. Thank God for Youtube......still sounding great.
Martyn MacLeod
Sarnia, ONT Canada - April 8, 2008 10:01:33 AM EDT

Just read the article in Vanity Fair. When we put 2 and 2 together and realized it was you in the article, we were really amazed. The 3 artists were my favorites in the good old days in L.A. long ago. See you in SLC soon. Good story by the way.
Estelle and Scott (Delta Crown Room SLC)
Sandy, UT - April 2, 2008 10:16:00 PM EDT

We really enjoyed your show in Traverse City. First hearing you on 8 track (about 1972, I think), I was really impressed watching you play (and sing) Panama Limited. All of those harmonics you put in; your Merle Travis + style; authentic blues - it was truly awsome and inspirational. Looking forward to the jam here at the house Thursday, with Ray, Sally and the gang. Thanks for a wonderful perfomance, Tom. We all enjoyed it tremendously!
Charlie
Boyne City, MI - April 1, 2008 12:46:01 PM EDT

Saw you last night (March 28,2008) in Muskegon. Great show, great time!!
Steve Doctor
Muskegon, MI - March 29, 2008 9:46:08 AM EDT

The concert in Idaho Falls was awesome! Thank you for playing "Urge for Going"! We bought "Trolling for Owls" and it is a great collection! Hope to see you again...next year in Twin Falls, Idaho!
Deb
Farmington, UT - March 11, 2008 6:46:32 PM EDT

It's been 20 years since I listened to your music back in New york and then in Wisconsin. I forgot how much I love it. Glad you are still touring. I hope to see you again someday. Aloha
Harry Palmer
Honolulu, HI - March 10, 2008 10:00:55 PM EDT

Saw your show last night in Idaho Falls. It was wonderful as usual. We saw you a few years back in Livingston at the Train Depot and couldn't have been more amazed. Thanks for always putting on a terrific show. To anyone who has never seen Tom live, you are missing out!!
Lisa
St. Anthony, ID - March 9, 2008 4:15:55 PM EDT

Hi, Tom. Just dropped into your website to look at your discography; you have a nice page, and it was gratifying to see that you're still doin' your thing. I bought your first Columbia album when it came out in 1970, and I've enjoyed your work ever since. Thanks for the good times.
Carl Swanson
USA - March 5, 2008 1:15:47 AM EST

On this lonely Saturday afternoon, writing a brief (do not ask!), listening to XM's Deep Tracks, I heard a Crosby, Stills & Nash cover of "Urge for Going" and my mind tracked back to the Unicorn, the Club 47, and Boston in the '60?s. Anything rather than grind out another billable hour. I remember Bruce Bradley and Dick Summer of WBZ playing your version of the song late at night. The DJs played a lot more varied stuff in those days, and, frankly, today's listener would have to be really dedicated to find stuff like that on the radio. A shame. Then I flashed onto the only time I ever saw you live, at the Boston Common concerts some years later after getting out of the Army, and can still remember the utterance from "Merrimack County" of Trevor Vetch having "no fixed address." The damnedest things bring back the damnedest memories. As the other posts here reveal, we are all sentimental slobs. You struck my heart then, and it didn?t take much to bring that sentiment back today. Thank you.
David O'Connell
San Diego CA - February 23, 2008 7:45:17 PM EST

I recently purchased the latest David Bromberg CD & my thoughts then turned to you. I think the last time you were in Australia may have been 30 years ago. I thought I would 'google' your name and vola what a website. I saw you play in a small venue, I think it was in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (a suburb of Melbourne), it was upstairs. I took some photos and posted one to you. You sent me a postcard saying thanks. 'Seems like a dream now it was so long ago.'
Claire
Australia - February 21, 2008 4:45:34 PM EST

You made our trip to Key West! Saw you at Pepe's. What a find. Got the last CD that evening of the very best of Tom Rush. Enjoying it as I write. Thanks, keep up that great music!
Jean Thomas
Melbourne, FL - February 18, 2008 9:07:09 PM EST

Just got back from the Ft. Lauderdale concert. What a great 2 hours! And we got to go backstage afterwards and have our pictures taken with Tom. Incredible end to an incredible evening. Thank you, Tom, for the great music going back 35-40 years from the Main Point and Phila Folk Festival through tonight. Childs song still makes me cry. Love ya.
stephanie lovinger
Ft. Lauderdale, FL - February 16, 2008 12:07:08 AM EST

Maybe this is the Memory Song in reverse, but this morning was awakened from a dream hearing Tom's voice singing a few lines from "These Days." But I couldn't remember the song, or the singer until I Googled "These Days" and wound up finding your site, which I was delighted to find. But here is the odd part. Although I have a copy of Blues, Songs and Ballads that I bought in a record shop in Concord, NH, and a copy of The Circle Game I picked up later (and yea, I used to sing most of the tunes from BS&B on long drives to and from college down in NC in the 70's, and my 16 year old daughter thinks I'm a little odd when she hears me singing a few bits of Who Do You Love in the shower - particularly the lines about having a cobra snake for a necktie), my old turntable breathed its last gasp years ago, so those original vinyls haven't had a spin since then. I even checked out Nico's version, and Jackson Brown's, and that wasn't the voice. So I have no recording of Tom singing that song. But I knew it was his voice. I was puzzled until I remembered hearing him once when he came up to do a show, in about 1968, to the school where his Dad had taught. I clearly remember that he played Rockport Sunday that evening in Memorial Hall, and it must have been then that I heard him sing These Days. Somewhere I have a few old black and white prints of some pics I took that evening. I'll send copies along if I ever find them. As haunting as this dream was this morning, to come bouncing back over time, I am delighted to have a chance to track Tom down, see how well things are going, find the site, and plan to see when I can catch a show or a Club 47 date near Memphis.
Trip Farnsworth
Memphis, TN - January 24, 2008 1:00:49 PM EST

We have arrived home after a serendipitous trip to Vermont when we found my husband's all time favorite singer giving a concert in Chester, VT. He has been singing Tom's songs for 30 years now and we love you. Also, I am from Hawaii and take no offense at your dirty Hawaiian words song. Haha. Thank you for making my husband so happy at the start of his 60th year. Hope to see you again. We are missing you in Oregon by a few days while we go to Eugene for a hula recital and then off to Hawaii. You are better than ever. Thank you.
Ceseli and Peter Milstein
Mystic CT USA - January 20, 2008 8:00:16 PM EST

HI Tom, I have been listening to you for along time since the, well along time. And will continue for along time. Your wonderful voice is so soothing and great fun and relaxing. Thank you!!!!!!
Betsy
MD USA - January 19, 2008 11:30:30 AM EST

Great concert at the Cutting Room in New York Saturday night! People hanging from the rafters. A set of old favorites and then a great loud set with old friends, including (according to Tom's email) "Marshal Rosenberg, my old percussionist, David Buskin and Robin Batteau, and Paul Guzzone on bass." Over the top. Too bad the club's schedule didn't permit another two hours. It would be great to do a concert with them in a bigger venue. Like others in the audience, I have been a fan since Cambridge in the '60's. But my hip daughter, age 20, loves Tom's music also.
Susan Shepherd
Brooklyn, NY USA - January 14, 2008 12:30:26 PM EST

I came home humming lines from "Best of a Bad S" tonight, and my wife wanted to know what was up. I went to the site, and heard about killing coyotes, and as a seasonal hunter myself, had to listen all the way through. I first heard your songs when my older sister thought you were hot/cool in '68 in Boston and played an album of yours all the time. Me, I've found myself singing different tunes ever since. Special vocal "Jazzman With the Sunnyland Blues" and "Merrimac County", but I sang the "Lullabye" (Outside your window) to each of my daughters as they were born and growing, and they all love "In the Merry Month of". On a good day you'll find me singing "Who do you love" in the shower. And "Rockport Sunday/No Regrets" can always get me. Always. I wish you all the best, and I thank you. Any song not mentioned, (Joshua, Sweet Baby James (your version!), Biloxi, Gypsy Boy, etc...) just left out because of space issues. You done good.
Steve Kern
Shawnee, KS USA - December 14, 2007 12:00:17 AM EST

My boyfriend introduced me to Tom's music when we started dating 2 1/2 years ago and I can't get enough. We have attended 4 concerts since, whenever Tom comes to the area, and the experience gets better every time. My son who is a little older than Tom's daughter loves when I play his CD's, and he now sings along. The boy knows good music when he hears it-- a trait I passed down to him. He'll soon attend Tom's concerts with us. I only wish he could hear the songs Tom wrote for his daughter and his wife...the dancing little ditty and the valentine song. The twist on the ditty song..written for his daughter to lighten her mood, yet written about a couple having a spat..is masterful and touching. Maybe you have to have a kid to get it, I don't know. I will try to find the lyrics somewhere so I can sing it to my kid...until Tom hopefully makes a new recording! Can't wait for the next show.
Susan Ackerman
NJ USA - December 2, 2007 10:15:10 PM EST

Just got back from your concert at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton - thank you. We had a wonderful time. I last saw you in Littleton NH at the Opera House years ago, and I've been listening to your music since the 70s. I enjoy your humor as much as your music. Keep on keepin' on!
Jackie Griswold
MA USA - Friday, November 30, 2007 at 11:30:08 PM EST

I swear you must have snuck into my house and taped the gentleman that sleeps next to me and pawned it off as buffalo!!! ROFL !!! Did enjoy hearing the sounds of nature though. Also, truly enjoyed your concert this past summer in Newburyport, Mass. Hope to be able to attend more in the future.
Nancy Fournier
Richlands, NC USA - Friday, November 16, 2007 at 09:10:02

It was the winter of 1968 in Buffalo, NY when I first heard Tom Rush sing the "Urge for Goin" It was a small radio, but man was that voice big. We had a "Folk Music" show on Sunday eves. and I would pray to hear Tom Rush sing anything. I saw Tom a few months ago in Oregon and was moved to serious, sweet emotions as a hero of mine captivated the full house with his playing and singing. He is also a very nice guy who actually greets folks in the lobby. What a treasure we have in Tom Rush. Thanks
Tim Craig
Eugene, OR USA - Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 15:27:54

I used to listen to you many years ago at the Unicorn. What a joy to find you again!
M Schlegel
USA - Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 02:53:25 - 71.70.66.190

Tom your performance at the Bass Hall last night was great music and I especially loved your version of Mitchell's Urge for Going. Thank you for keeping real music alive. God Bless you and your family!
Deb Rossi
Ft. Worth , TX USA - Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 10:51:33

Recorded the Circle Game and Take a Little Walk with Me aboard ship in the Navy on a 1969 tour to Vietnam. Got the albums from a shipmate, who hailed from the Northeast and I believe had seen you live. Your music has stayed with me. Hope to see you, surely if you play again at Humphries on Shelter Island, in San Diego.
Stan
Lemon Grove, CA USA - Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 04:10:18

I lived in Washington DC area for 47 years. Every fall equinox, Robert Aubry Davis of WETA-FM would play your cover of Mitchell's Urge for Going. To me, yours is the only version that captures the wistful brooding quality of the incredible word-paintings. I'm glad to see you are still around and still doing good stuff. Live long and prosper.
Corlyss Drinkard
Nibley, Ut USA - Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at 02:59:57

I heard the Remember song for the first time a yesterday -- it was forwarded to a friend from a friend in Australia! I laughed so hard I had tears -- and I forwarded the clip to EVERYONE (well, of the over 50 variety). I'll keep watching and hoping that you come to NW Arkansas (or nearby) sometime soon.
Pamela Porch
Rogers, AR USA - Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 10:40:13

It's great to have "The Remember Song" go viral. I loved the tune just as much as the old tunes I heard on WBCN ~ 1970 or so. I attended a Tom Rush show at the Hatch shell in Boston about 1976, the crowd was huge and the show was great. I no longer remember the details.
Rich Pietrasz
Rancho Cucamonga, CA USA - Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 14:38:40

I have been a fan since the 60's. Always thought that the really good ones were better live than recorded. And you can't appreciate Tom Rush until you see him in person. Of all your shows I've seen, the most memorable were 3 years ago at Hot Tin Roof at the Vineyard, great room and you were in great spirits and voice and the "Child Song Night" at Symphony Hall, a power failure, the hall's great acoustics, and you did that song for the first time, just you and your guitar. As my grandmother would say: "He could take a tear from a stone", you did that night and many, many other times. Thank you.
Joe
Jamaica Plain, MA USA - Monday, September 10, 2007 at 23:33:11

Enjoyed your concert at the Guthrie Center on Saturday, Sept 1st. I loved your music when I was in my 20's and even more now that I'm in my 50's! You have made a folk music fan out of my "rock 'n' roll" husband as well. I look forward to enjoying your music and humor for many more years to come. Thanks for a very enjoyable evening!
Donna I. Thomsen
E. Granby, CT USA - Thursday, September 6, 2007 at 19:24:31

Your Saturday night show at the Guthrie Center was super! Great weather, incredible music, wonderful stories and volunteering in the kitchen reached an all time high when I, personally, got to wash your coffee cup. Tom, you can never get too old to attract kitchen groupies who will - anyway - always be quite thrilled to wash your coffee cup for you. Take care and come back to Arlo's church again!
Christine Despres-Hutchinson
Housatonic, MA USA - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 16:02:45

(earlier guestbook entries have been archived)