I too love Paul and can not believe the injustice he suffered at the hands of Albert Grossman. Paul was a true genius and did not deserve that kind of treatment.

I also have a copy of his first LP and it is, IMO, better than New Train, which is smokin’!

I also have a live recording of Paul from 3-9-2001 at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, opening for The String Cheese Incident. Its just Paul with a dobro pickin’ and singin’. If anybody is interested in a copy email me at cwolak@comcast.net *THIS IS A LEGALLY TRADED LIVE SHOW*

Also there is a live album of Paul and a harmonica player named Big Bones out there too. I got it directly from Big Bones himself. I emailed him at bigbonesblues@yahoo.com I believe the album was $20 and well worth it! It took a few emails to get the ball rolling, but Big Bones is a great guy and will send you the disc eventually, just be patient!

Peace

After the song, Taylor talks a little about the song being written by Paul Pena, who wrote Jet Airliner. Loving Gonna Move so much, I did a little research and found New Train and it was available on iTunes. I purchased and listened to it for about three straight months. It still has high visibility on my iPod. I had no idea that there was a first album until I saw JT’s post. I was so excited and just wanted to shine a light on Paul and his wonderful music.

I sincerely hope that more artists pick up Paul’s work and cover more of his music.

If you haven’t seen it, I recently did a post on Angel from Montgomery, another excellent cover (John Prine) by Susan Tedeschi. She sure knows how to pick ‘em.

The other was Paul Pena. It was a very small auditorium with a stage about 2 feet off the floor. Everyone sat on the edge of that stage and listened to Paul. And when he released an album over a year later, I got it, and was blown away. The fall of ‘72, now a senior at Marietta College in Ohio, that album stayed on my turntable for about 60 days straight…

I first heard “Gonna Move” driving down Rt 6 on Cape Cod in October of 2000, not far from his family home. The voice sounded familiar, and I nearly drove off the road when his name was announced after it played.

I was thrilled when I heard Susan Tedeschi introduce the song into her set list. She told me that she had met him when she sat next to him at an awards show (either Grammys or Handy’s) and went out and got New Train. A few months later, at Wolfs Den at Mohegan Sun I gave her and Derek a cd of his first album, complete with art work I photocopied. They were blown away, not aware it existed. As I walked away, Derek was eyeing the liner notes very carefully.

As I recall, perhaps incorrectly, he was able to record that first album as a result/prize of winning a competion from WBCN in Boston……

His first album holds a special place in my heart, one of my “desert island” picks.

I had heard mention of Paul Pena but never had actually heard his music. Now that I’ve had a listen I find it truly shocking that he is such a hidden treasure.

I can see what JT means when he talks about the “seemless blending of genres.” It’s really amazing that one artist can pull off so many different styles. Across genres he has a beautiful tone to his voice… very clear, deep and powerful.

I found myself tapping my toes to “I’m Gonna Make it Alright.” For some reason I think it would be a great song for Taylor to cover. I really like “One for the Lonely.” I agree that it has a very Grateful Dead vibe. “Adorable one” has a very Elvis-like feel to it… very enjoyable. I love, love, love the guitar on “When I’m Gone” and “Lullaby.” “When I’m Gone” makes me think of driving down the highway in a convertible with the wind in my hair. Did Pena write “Gonna Move?” The original is defintely better than Taylor’s CD version (though I like the live version you posted). I think the last two songs… “Let’s Move and Groove Together” and “Bit of Alright” might be my favorites of what you posted.

MM thanks for bringing Paul Pena to our attention. He’s a real treasure.

Only had time for a quick read through, but wanted to thank you for the great effort. I’ve done a couple of posts that took weeks to put together, so I can appreciate all the time you put into this piece. When I have some free time I plan on coming back and absorbing the music.