Mary McCaslin
Mary McCaslin (born in Indianapolis on 22 December 1946; died 2 October 202… Read Full Bio ↴Mary McCaslin (born in Indianapolis on 22 December 1946; died 2 October 2022) was an American folk singer who wrote, recorded, and performed contemporary folk music.

McCaslin got her start in the mid-1960s at the Troubadour Club in West Hollywood, California, performing at its Monday Night Hoots (as the club’s open-mic nights were known). She recorded primarily for Philo Records, and traveled and performed with her husband, Arkansas folk singer Jim Ringer.

McCaslin represented an unbroken link between traditional American folksingers and contemporary "new folk" singer-songwriters. Known for her songs about the West, its landscape, and its outlaws as well as her insightful songs about relationships, McCaslin was an influential musician. For many years before her current solo career, she toured with her husband, Arkansas folk singer Jim Ringer.

McCaslin was a pioneer of open tunings, using them long before they gained their full popularity. In addition to her flawless fingerpicking style on the guitar, she also played "clawhammer" banjo using it to great (and unique) effect on such unlikely songs as "Blackbird" and "Pinball Wizard." These and other personalized arrangements of popular songs consistently added to her appeal.

In April of 1994 Philo / Rounder released "Broken Promises" , her first recording of new material since 1980. She released three further albums.

Her songs have been recorded by Tom Russell, Bill Staines, Gretchen Peters, David Bromberg, Kate Wolf, Stan Rogers, and Còig.
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Mary McCaslin Lyrics


Back to Salinas Back to Salinas Down the main highway to the flat prairie…
Blackbird Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken win…
Bramble & The Rose We have been so close together Each a candle each a…
Circle of Friends I know they′re all part of you You need them by…
Geronimo's Cadillac They put Geronimo in jail down South Where he couldn't look…
Ghost Riders in the Sky An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy…
Last Cannonball The sun sets behind the high mountains Off the great contine…
Livin' Without You My world is empty without you, babe My world is empty…
Oh Death O, Death O, Death Won't you spare me over til another year W…
Prairie in the Sky An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy…
Some Of Shelley's Blues Tell me, Just one more time the reasons why you must…
The Bramble and the Rose We have been so close together Each a candle each a…
The Wayward Wind Oh, the wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind…



Way Out West My family left home when I was a child To head…
Wayward Wind Oh, the wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind…
You Keep Me Hangin' On Set me free why don't cha babe Get out my life…
Young Westley There once was a gambler and Westley was his name. He'd…


Jim Brown


on The California Zephyr

Sunrise lights the city
Where once stood a small tienda
And stucco all the tales could tell
For all that we had gained
But here and there stands a grand adobe hacienda
Now and then a graveyard filled
with Spanish sounding names

The highways cut the trees down
And the outlaws stole the land
And the California Zephyr lies a sleeping
And we’re told that days are numbered
Till we lose the giant redwoods
And you can almost hear the earth beneath you weaping

But when you’re standin’ by the trestle
Can’t you hear a ghostly whistle
And the breathing of an engine pulling into Monterey
It’s the California Zephyr whose headlight has forever burned its brand upon the mist that fills the California day

Rolling fields and pastures
Paved for miles around Salinas
Too soon the rows of houses
Will lay claim to all you see
But who can show their children
Those small adobe casas
And the families toiling in their fields beside the sea

Evening lights of San Jose
Once humbled by the stars
And the strolling troubadour guitar ringing
They’ve all vanished with the flashing
neon lights and shiny cars
But the memory sets the rusty rails a singing

And when you’re standing by the trestle
Can’t you hear a ghostly whistle
And the breathing of an engine pulling into San Jose
It’s the California Zephyr whose headlight has forever burned its brand upon the mist that fills the California day

Southern California
Where the hills roll to the sea
And the schemes of men with vision
choke the life out of the land
There’s a shroud upon the valleys
Where a blue sky used to be
And the oil along the shoreline covers up the golden sand

But the city of the Angels and the path the padres trod
Somehow withheld appearing from days of old
And Spanish tongues still whisper
To a Spanish speaking God
And the ghosts of dreamers roam the hills of gold

And when you’re standing by the trestle
Can’t you hear a ghostly whistle
And the breathing of an engine pulling into old L.A.
It’s the California Zephyr whose headlight has forever burned its brand upon the mist that fills the California day

Jim Brown


on The California Zephyr

California Zephyr

Tom Farre


on Back to Salinas

Here are the lyrics:

Back to Salinas

Down the main highway to the flat prairie town
She hopes just to see him again.
There's no one can tell her what she's bringing down
She's the kindest far over the plain.

Everyone knows he's unable to love
That's his story wherever he goes.
Well, maybe she's counting on help from above
For an answer that nobody knows.

To see her again just tears me apart
When we meet there's a kind of a strain.
But the call of her work and the same broken heart
Will take her back to Salinas again.

Soon I'll pass by Salinas on the way going north,
I'll see the trees and the meadows so green.
Beside me the man for whom the heart does grow cold
From the lady with the sad golden dream.

Not a day does go by that I don't wonder inside
How often this heart hears her name?
And is there a yearning that he needs to hide
To go back to Salinas again?
Back to Salinas again?
Back to Salinas again?

lenny.rdb


on The California Zephyr

Reading the previous comments, "majestic" is a good word and for me too, this song is and has been my very favorite since I first came across it in the '80's. I'm a bit embarrassed to pin it as my favorite because the production might seem a little melodramatic, reminiscent of Gogi Grant's The Wayward Wind.... but what the hell, I just love it. I hang on the powerful images and feelings that Jim Ringer's lyrics evoke for me. Coming to California in the early '60's, was just in time to catch a taste, a remnant of Steinbeck's California. I shared his passion, and this song takes me right back there. I'm glad to have found some others to who find something in this song to talk about. My sincere thanks to Geoecobks for posting the lyrics. I could not find them anywhere and now I can do some filling-in.