No Commercial Traffic, first released by Cinemagic Pictures in
1983, is now available for the first time on cd. Thus recording
contains some of Rod's most often-recorded songs, and has been
re-mastered for cd.
rod macdonald
bill merchant
joe henderson
nat seely
john kruth
mark dann
jeff hardy
john lewis
tom duval
lucy kaplansky
dave van ronk
judy molner
guitar, vocals, harmonica
bass
electric guitar
percussion
mandolin, flute
bass*, vocal ***
bass**
piano
vocal
vocal
vocal
vocal**
"Initially released on vinyl as MacDonald was becoming a fixture on the Greenwich Village 'Fast Folk' scene, the nearly 20-year old recording sounds timeless on cd".....Now Hear These in Palm Beach Post, 8/2/02
Full review by Arthur Wood (below)
To order No Commercial Traffic
These song lyrics are on this page: A Sailor's Prayer Every Living Thing American Jerusalem A Sailor's Prayer ©1978 Rod MacDonald Though my sails be torn and tattered and the mast be turned about let the night wind chill me to my very soul though the spray might sting my eyes and the stars no light provide give me just another morning light to hold (chorus): and I will not lie me down this rain a-ragin' I will not lie me down in such a storm and if this night be unblessed I shall not take my rest till I reach another shore Though the only water left is but salt to wound my thirst I will drink the rain that falls so steady down and though night's blindness be my gift and there be thieves upon my drift I will praise this fog that shelters me along (chorus) Though my mates by drained and weary and believe their hopes are lost there's no need for their bones on that blackened bottom and though death waits just off the bow they shall not answer to him now he shall stand to face the morning without us (chorus) Every Living Thing ©1983 Rod MacDonald Seems like there ought to be a way to look each other in the eye to see we're all in this together and put all thoughts of victory aside seems like there ought to be a way to turn some fear into trust no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is counting on us Seems like there ought to be way to separate the freedom from the flag to see what's real in the illusion sometimes a beauty walks around in rags seems like there ought to be agreement we would rather live in peace than fight no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is on our side Seems like if there's a god in heaven we must've been put here to get along to see that life is for the living to leave alive the living when we're done seems like this ship out on the ocean must fly on the wings of the dove no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is reason enough American Jerusalem ©1978 Rod MacDonald New York City rain I don't know if it's making me dirtier or clean went for the subway but there was no train and the tunnel was crumbling for repairs again and the sign said welcome to American Jerusalem I been around you could spend forever looking for a friend in this town and all you get to do is lay your dollar down till you're stumbling drunk up the stairs again and the sign says welcome to American Jerusalem In the temples of American Jerusalem they buy an ounce of South African gold they don't care who was bought or sold or who died to mine it in the temples of American Jerusalem they buy an ounce of Marseilles white somewhere on a street with no light somebody dies trying it and somewhere in a crowd looking the kind of way that makes you turn around will be somebody who knows what it's about and she's going to take the ribbons from her hair again and welcome you to American Jerusalem In the alleys of American Jerusalem the homeless lie down at the dawn the pretty people wonder what they're on and how they afford it in the ashes of American Jerusalem the prophets live their deaths out on the corner the pretty people say there should've been a warning but nobody heard it then shadows lick the sun the streets are paved with footsteps on the run somebody must've got double 'cause I got none I forgot to collect my share again so go west to breath the cleansing air again go Niagara for your honeymoon again go on the road if you're going to sing your tune again go to sea to learn to be a man again till you come on home to American Jerusalem Album Review From the online zine Folkwax (www.visnat.com) Album Review No Commercial Traffic, (09/04/02) MacDonald is a writer, who, through his lyrics, has consistently felt the pulse, taken the temperature and checked the heartbeat of the American nation [and, for that matter, made a parallel assessment of his own life] for almost thirty years. One issue that has, however, constantly astounded me is - why isn't Rod MacDonald filling stadiums on every tour that he undertakes? In terms of skill, he's easily the peer of any acknowledged writer of engaging melodies and thought provoking lyrics that you'd care to name. No Commercial Traffic, MacDonald's first solo recording was issued circa 1983 on the Cinemagic Pictures label, and it has recently been re-released on CD. I'd refer you once again to those elements of medical diagnosis I mentioned at the outset, and then I'd enquire - how many songs that dealt specifically with the environmental damage inflicted by man on this planet had been recorded by the early eighties? Tom Pacheco's "The Tree Song" is one of the few examples that immediately came to mind. MacDonald is an accomplished seer, and this album opens with "The Unearthly Fire," a song that focuses upon the destruction of the Earth's rainforests. Opening with a Pan Pipes sounding solo, hauntingly performed on a flute by John Kruth, the song is as much an evocation of MacDonald's knowledge of Native American mythology - we can never own the land and are only its custodian during our lifetime, as it is a condemnation of man's abuse of the earth's precious natural resources. MacDonald, as a lyricist, was pursuing green themes years before most of us had any awareness of the crisis that our planet faces. If you seek a musical compartment in which to place MacDonald, then it would be that stylistically he has consistently tipped his cap to the Blues. The slow and gentle love ballad "It's Goin' To Take Some Time," and the up-tempo and amusing "Butter My Bread," respectively the second and third cuts on this collection more than confirm that contention. As for lyrics that focus upon the "not so pretty" commercial underbelly of his homeland [at that time], "American Jerusalem" remains a stinging indictment of society's mores. "In the temples of American Jerusalem they buy an ounce of South African gold, They don't care who was bought or sold, or who died to mine it" and "In the temples of American Jerusalem they buy an ounce of Marseilles white, Somewhere on a street with no light, somebody dies trying it." Later, he delivers the lines "In the alleys of American Jerusalem the homeless lie down at the dawn, The pretty people wonder what they're on, and how they afford it." Twenty years on, precious little has been done to remedy the foregoing scenarios. In truth, No Commercial Traffic is, in part, a band album and Rod's Rock'n'Roll tinged anthem "On The Road (In New York Town)" attests to that. Practically the rhythmical antithesis of the latter cut, the lyric of "A Sailor's Prayer" possesses the feel of a traditionally arranged song, yet it is a MacDonald composed original. This cut is performed acappella [and also in that form, to this day, in concert], Rod is vocally supported on this version by the late Dave Van Ronk, Tom Duval and Lucy Kaplansky. MacDonald's song publishing company is called Blue Flute, a name that sources from Hopi Indian mythology, where Blue Flute is defined as music that possess the spirit to heal. The track "Dear Grandfather" further evokes MacDonald's interest in, and considerable knowledge of, Native American culture. The closing "Every Living Thing" is a prayer that urges all of mankind to live together, in peace. Here's a quote, "To look each other in the eye, to see we're all in this together, and put all thoughts of victory aside." And if only we would.................... If you asked me for a summation of Rod MacDonald, songwriter - I tell you that he is a restless traveller, seeker and communicator of the truth and, an obedient servant of his music. In this life, what more is there? Arthur Wood Album Available from : - http://www.rodmacdonald.net/no_commercial_traffic.htm Folkwax Rating: 7 Reader Rating: 5 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bio The Lovin' Sound of Rod MacDonald Rod MacDonald was born on August 17th, 1948 and raised in the town of Southington, Connecticut. His father had Scottish/Irish roots and hailed from Nova Scotia, while Rod's mother is of Polish extraction, having been born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Following High School, Rod attended the University of Virginia where he majored in History, graduating in 1970. Three years later, he graduated with a Law degree from Columbia Law School in New York. Music had been MacDonald's consuming passion from an early age and Rod decided that his future lay in being a musician, poet and songwriter. During 1970 he was part of the five piece, folk group The Lovin' Sound. In the summer of 1971 he worked as a reporter for the Washington DC bureau of Newsweek, covering the Jimmy Hoffa parole hearings and the Pentagon Papers trial. The following summer he performed as a solo singer at a club in Newport, Rhode Island. After graduating from Columbia, Rod began performing regularly in New York City clubs and cafes. His first major engagement came in late 1973, when he opened for Peter Yarrow at Max's Kansas City. A couple of year's later, John Hammond was on the verge of offering Rod a CBS recording contract. The label's interest in MacDonald waned when Hammond suffered a heart attack and retired from the music business. At the dawn of the eighties Rod appeared on his first recording The Songwriters Exchange, a compilation that featured writers who appeared at the Cornelia Street Café's weekly Songwriters Exchange. The performers on the subsequent twelve-track disc, issued by the jazz imprint Stash, included Cliff Eberhardt, Lucy Kaplansky, David Massengill and Rod. An eighteen-track version of the recording featuring three of Rod's songs was released on CD in 1990. The Exchange was a harbinger of Fast Folk Musical Magazine. The Magazine made its debut in 1982, with Jack Hardy at the helm. Rod occasionally wrote for the publication, and in the ensuing years he contributed sixteen selections to their recordings. Rod's "American Jerusalem" was the opening cut on the first disc of the 2-CD compilation Fast Folk - A Community Of Singers & Songwriters issued by Smithsonian Folkways in early 2002. From 1982 till 1985 Rod was booker at The Speakeasy on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, a performance venue for Fast Folk writers. MacDonald had begun to study Buddhism and Native American culture while still a student and lived, for a time, with the Sioux Indians in South Dakota. In 1987 MacDonald co-founded and organised the first Greenwich Village Folk Festival. Mindful of what had happened with CBS, MacDonald decided he would be the master of his own destiny, as far as his recording career was concerned. He made his own recordings, leasing the masters to interested labels. His first album No Commercial Traffic, appeared on the Cinemagic label in 1983. The German Autogram label issued a recording titled Album 2: For Sale in 1985, and the following year it appeared as White Buffalo on the McDisk label. A subsequent version of the album was released by Mountain Railroad. Bring On The Lions was issued by the Swiss Brambus label in 1989. Over the years, Brambus have released further MacDonald recordings including an enhanced version of White Buffalo. During the late eighties Rod lived for a time in North Eastern Italy, and it was there that he recorded the cassette only, band album, Simple Things. While resident in Italy he composed "The Way To Calvary," and the song closed Highway To Nowhere Rod's debut album for the Shanachie label. A number of tracks from Bring On The Lions resurfaced on the latter recording. His A Man On The Ledge collection followed a couple years later. For a year during the early-nineties, Rod managed a club in Michigan for an old college friend. The latter experience undoubtedly gave rise to the song "The Last Train To Pontiac" on his Brambus album And Then He Woke Up. In a musical career spanning three decades Rod has performed in clubs and at summer festivals throughout North America, and he has appeared in concert in most European countries. He made two historic trips to Czechoslovakia around the time that the communist regime crumbled, and performed in front of massive audiences. Midway through the nineteen nineties Rod relocated to Florida. The songs on the recording Into The Blue chronicle his life in the sunshine state. While "Deep Down In The Everglades" focuses on the 1996 Valujet plane crash, the listener can sense in songs such as "I Have No Problem With This" that MacDonald has concluded that life in Florida possesses definite advantages over "some little apartment on some city street." MacDonald's next album, Recognition, is scheduled for a late 2002 release. Discography: No Commercial Traffic [1983]; Bring On The Lions [1989]; Simple Things [1989]; White Buffalo [1991]; Highway To Nowhere [1992]; A Man On The Ledge [1994]; And Then He Woke Up [1996]; Into The Blue [1999]. Arthur Wood