How many singer/songwriters can say that Elvis Presley recorde… Read Full Bio ↴Biography
How many singer/songwriters can say that Elvis Presley recorded one of their songs and has a co-write with Bob Dylan?
In 1972, the legendary Ahmet Ertegun signed Danny O'Keefe to Atlantic Records, then teamed him with the incomparable producer Arif Mardin, resulting in his top-five Billboard hit "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues." This was followed by the classic album Breezy Stories in 1973. Besides Elvis, many other artists including Jerry Lee Lewis; Willie Nelson; Chet Atkins; Waylon Jennings; Leon Russell; Charlie Rich; and Mel Torme went on to record this classic composition.
This tandem combined for three other D O'K classics during that decade: "Angel Spread Your Wings" also recorded by Judy Collins; "The Road" also recorded by Jackson Browne; and "Magdalena" also recorded by Donny Hathaway and Leo Sayer. These songs garnered heavy AM and FM airplay for Danny and were the building blocks for his distinguished performing and songwriting career.
Now, regarding the co-write with Bob Dylan: besides Danny's version, "Well, Well, Well" has been recorded by Mavis Staples; David Lindley; Maria Muldaur; The Blind Boys of Alabama with Ben Harper and by Bonnie Raitt on her VH1 special.
Other notable co-writes and covers of Danny's compositions include: "Quits," sung originally as a duet with Linda Ronstadt (Andy Williams; Chris Hillman and Gary Stewart); "Along for the Ride" (John Denver); "Souvenirs" (Jimmy Buffet); "Next To You" (Sheena Easton); "Never Got Off the Ground" (co-written with David Mallett and recorded by Alison Krauss and Molly O'Brien); "Into the West" (Tim O'Brien); "When You Come Back Down" (Nickel Creek and Tim O'Brien); and most recently, "Anywhere On Earth You Are" (Allan Jackson on his 2006 CD "Like Red On A Rose.")
Danny believes that music is a powerful means for sharing concern and motivating change on critical issues such as the preservation of "song" in the world. After becoming increasingly concerned with the decimation of songbirds and their habitat, Danny started The Songbird Foundation (www.songbird.org) which works with musical artists to publicize the issue of songbird species decline due to devastation of their habitat. Using his music to publicize and popularize the issue, Danny successfully encouraged other musicians to do the same. Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, Jimmy Buffet, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nickel Creek, Jackson Browne and many others have responded by contributing public service announcements, perform benefit concerts and do their part to make audiences aware that to create a truly sustainable world requires changed patterns of consumption, especially with concern to aggressive sun-grown coffee in the rain forests of Latin America.
Danny's voice is a superb mixture blues and Americana; his songwriting speaks for itself.
Discography
1971 - Danny O'Keefe Cotillion Records
Produced by Ahmet Ertegun
1972 - O'Keefe Signpost/Atlantic
Produced by Arif Mardin
Contains the top-ten hit "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues"
1973 - Breezy Stories Atlantic Records
Produced by Arif Mardin
Contains the single "Angel Spread Your Wings"
1975 - So Long Harry Truman Atlantic Records
Produced by John Boylan
Contained the single "Quits"
1977 - American Roulette Warner Bros. Records
Produced by John Court and Kenny Vance
1979 - The Global Blues Warner Bros. Records
Produced by Jay Lewis and Danny O'Keefe
1984 - The Day To Day Coldwater Records
Produced by Mathew McCauley and Tony Peluso
Contained the singles "Along for the Ride" and "Someday"
Both singles charted in the "20's" in AC charts
1989 - Redux Beachwood/Chameleon Records
(this is a re-release of The Day To Day with a new title and two new songs)
Contained the singles "Along for the Ride" and "Someday"
Both singles charted on AOR charts in the 20's
VH1 played the video of "Along for the Ride"
2000 - Runnin' From the Devil Miramar
January 25th, 2000
2003 - "Don't Ask" w/Bill Braun
Produced by Bill Braun
All songs written and performed by Danny O'Keefe and Bill Braun
The Drover
Danny O'Keefe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met him there in Pioneer Square
In an empty bottle of muscatel
He said, Here's my song
And where I've gone
I'll tell ya boy I've gone to hell
I've burned the bridge behind me
And Lord above there ain't no one
I ever loved can find me
Hope you understand
Sometimes you never can
Go back home again, boy
Go back home again
"The drovers call from South Saint Paul
I rode in from Dakota
On the midnight freight
They made me wait
Said they had their quota
I was just a kid, I hit the skid
Hard drinks and easy livin'
Think what ya please
But a sour disease
Can come from the sweetest women
It was shortly after pickin' time
He was madder than a hatter
Here's his song, and where he's gone
It doesn't really matter
I left him there in Pioneer Square
Skid Road in Seattle
The wind had dried his mind inside
And left him with a rattle
"Can you spare a man a dollar
To buy some peace of mind
Son, at least get off a quarter
I need a shot of wine"
The lyrics of Danny O'Keefe's song, The Drover, seem to tell the story of a man who has lost his way in life and ended up in a place called Pioneer Square, which is located in Skid Row, Seattle. He meets the singer of the song there, who describes him as being in the throes of alcoholism ("in an empty bottle of muscatel"), and asks him to share his story. The man responds by saying that he has gone to hell and burned the bridge behind him, implying that he has made choices in his life that have led him to be lost and alone.
He goes on to say that nobody who ever loved him can find him, suggesting that he has isolated himself from people who care about him. He then references the drovers' call from South Saint Paul, which is a reference to cattle drivers that used to operate in that area. He describes how he rode in on a freight train from Dakota, but was made to wait for his turn to be seen by the drovers. The man then reveals that he was a kid at the time and got caught up in the wrong crowd, with hard drinks and easy living. He also alludes to catching a disease from a woman, which could be a sexually transmitted disease, suggesting that he might have lived a promiscuous life.
The song ends with the man asking for a dollar to buy some peace of mind and a shot of wine, showing how it is the small pleasures in life that have taken over his thoughts. Overall, the song seems to be about how the wrong choices in life can lead a person down a dark path, and how it is difficult to go back home again once that has happened.
Line by Line Meaning
I met him there in Pioneer Square
I encountered him in the Pioneer Square
In an empty bottle of muscatel
He was intoxicated
He said, Here's my song
He shared his song
And where I've gone
His current situation
I'll tell ya boy I've gone to hell
He feels like he's in hell
Hear my say, I've lost the way
He has lost the right path
I've burned the bridge behind me
He closed doors to his past
And Lord above there ain't no one
No one can help him
I ever loved can find me
Even people he loves cannot find him
Hope you understand
He hopes you'll comprehend
Sometimes you never can
But sometimes you just can't
Go back home again, boy
You cannot go back home again
The drovers call from South Saint Paul
He heard the drovers' call from Saint Paul
I rode in from Dakota
He came from Dakota on a ride
On the midnight freight
He took the midnight freight
They made me wait
They delayed him
Said they had their quota
Because they had a quota to meet
I was just a kid, I hit the skid
He was young and fell
Hard drinks and easy livin'
He had a hedonistic lifestyle
Think what ya please
You can interpret that how you want
But a sour disease
However, the consequences were negative
Can come from the sweetest women
Even good people can corrupt
It was shortly after pickin' time
It was just after the fruits were picked
He was madder than a hatter
He was crazier than a person who makes hats
Here's his song, and where he's gone
He shares his song and future endeavors
It doesn't really matter
But it doesn't matter anyway
I left him there in Pioneer Square
I departed the Pioneer Square
Skid Road in Seattle
I left Seattle's Skid Road
The wind had dried his mind inside
The wind figuratively took away his rationality
And left him with a rattle
Leaving him with nothing much
Can you spare a man a dollar
He asks for people's money
To buy some peace of mind
He wants it to get peace of mind
Son, at least get off a quarter
He requests that the other person donate even if not much
I need a shot of wine
He wants to consume alcohol
Contributed by Mia R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Southern Style
on Shooting Star
Southern Style
I appreciate your posting the lyrics to this song, however I don't think the lyrics shown in the second verse were the lyrics penned by O'Keefe. I know every Lyric site shows it as presented here but as this is a song about unrequited love I feel it necessary to try to define the word "Electra"/"Elektra" which, at one point in time, referred to "pre-dawn"; Think sun rays coming over the horizon prior to sunrise. So what you have, in effect, is "morning waiting for Elektra but Elektra is mourning for the NIGHT". There is your unrequited love; Morning loves Elektra but Elektra loves Night.