Notes
On September 9, 2008, Standard Recording Company released the release of a triple CD Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies, a collection penned by songwriters J. Matthew Gerken (of Nice Monster), Christian Kiefer, and Jefferson Pitcher (formerly of Above the Orange Trees). The set features a slew of special studio guests including Califone, Rosie Thomas, Bill Callahan (Smog), Alan Sparhawk (Low), Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon), Marla Hansen (Sufjan Stevens), Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden), Vince DiFiore (Cake), Monahans, James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand), and Tom Carter (Charalambides). This project initially came about as part of "February Album Writing Month," a website (www.fawm.org) that challenges songwriters to write 14 songs in 28 days. The three songwriters wrote and recorded rough demos of the first 42 songs in February 2006 (leaving only George W. Bush for later). "It was an amazing challenge to get that many songs written, even split three ways," notes Kiefer. "Blasting the first four or five is easy and then you've used up all the ideas that have been floating around and have to come up with new ones. And you have to come up with those new ideas right now." It was decided soon after that the project was too interesting to leave in the demo stage and so the recording process began anew with guests coming into the fray as time and schedules allowed. The project is now in it's final phases. "It's a walk through American history and an inquiry into what makes us Americans as filtered through the lens of our highest public office. There's heartbreak and beauty and criticism and revelation. We're trying to make it work like a big beautiful historical novel." The released project includes a 100+ page book featuring individual images of the Presidents by 43 different artists, all hand-selected by art curator Pitcher to be included in the project. To quote from Kiefer's song about President Tyler: "Oh! Hell yes!" Kiefer's album Dogs & Donkeys (Undertow) appeared to favorable reviews last year and featured guests Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Low), Nels Cline (Wilco, The Geraldine Fibbers, etc.), and Garth Hudson (The Band). Kiefer and Jefferson Pitcher also saw the release of their collaboration To All Dead Sailors via Australia's Camera Obscura earlier this year, a project recorded in the midst of the Presidential madness. Pitcher's recent concept album I am not in Spain was also released this year on Mudita Records. Gerken's acoustic indie-math rock quartet Nice Monster is also in the studio recording a follow-up EP to their full-length Good Times + Sharp Knives (Grayscale).
Tracks
1.1 Washington Dreams of the Hippopotamus - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.2 Armed with Only Wit and the Vigor of the U.S. Navy - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 1.3 The Mouldboard of Least Resistance - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 1.4 Zinger - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.5 The Last Cocked Hat - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 1.6 Death in the Speaker's Room - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 1.7 Benevolence - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.8 The Little Magician - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 1.9 So You Don't Have to - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 1.10 In Hindsight - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.11 The Other Is Better/The Landscape to Transform - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 1.12 Rough and Ready - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.13 The Proof Is in the Pudding - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 1.14 My Only Enemy Is Myself - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 2.1 God Will Strike You Down - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 2.2 Malice, Charity, and the Oath of God - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 2.3 Was Ever Alone? - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 2.4 Helicopters Above Oakland - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 2.5 The Beard of God - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 2.6 Seven Months - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 2.7 The Epitome of Dignity - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 2.8 Bees and Honey - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 2.9 Kid Gloves Hands Surplus to Big Sugar - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 2.10 Rubbermouth - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 2.11 Czolgosz's Dream - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 2.12 The Sherman Act Does Not Care - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 2.13 There Was No Longer Use to Hide the Fact That It Was Gout - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 2.14 A Life Among Men - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.1 An Army of Pompous Phrases - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 3.2 On Silence - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 3.3 Woe Is a Spoon-Shaped Heart - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.4 Illuminating the Bright Lines - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 3.5 Suits and Fine Trousers Vs. Hiroshima - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 3.6 When Ike Walked the Land - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.7 There Is No Plan - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 3.8 Ladybird Take Me Home - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 3.9 2 Under Par Off the Coast of Africa - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.10 Now You See It, Now You Don't See It - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.11 A Great Beam of Light - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 3.12 Such a Marvelous Dream - of Great and Mortal Men, Kiefer, Christian 3.13 It Was Foreshadowed Here (The Beginning of the End) - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew 3.14 The Mighty Lion Will Not Roar Again - of Great and Mortal Men, Pitcher, Jefferson 3.15 Through the Night - of Great and Mortal Men, Gerken, J. Matthew
