Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943, Pelham, New York) is a founding member… Read Full Bio ↴Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943, Pelham, New York) is a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days, as well as an accomplished solo guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

Emerging from the Kweskin band with his then wife, Maria Muldaur, he established an impressive reputation in the Boston, Massachusetts area in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by a move to the burgeoning folk, blues and folk-rock explosion in Woodstock, New York. He separated from his wife in 1972. He recorded with such as Bonnie Raitt, Eric Von Schmidt, and Jerry Garcia before stopping to tour or record in the mid 1980s. During this period, he composed scores for film and television, winning an Emmy Award, and produced albums for lesser known musicians such as Lenny Pickett and the Borneo Horns and the Richard Greene String Quartet, emerging after eleven years in 1999 with the critically acclaimed album, The Secret Handshake.

Muldaur continues to record and tour the world. His sister is the actress Diana Muldaur (L.A. Law, McCloud and Star Trek: The Next Generation).

His daughters, Jenni Muldaur and Clare Muldaur are also singer-songwriters.

Joshua Gone Barbados
Geoff Muldaur Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'Joshua Gone Barbados' by these artists:

Bob Dylan Cane standing in the fields getting old and red Lot of…
Bob Dylan & The Band Cane standing in the fields getting old and red Lot of…
Johnny Cash Cane standin' in the fields gettin' old and red Lot…
Tom Rush Von Schmidt Cane standin' in the field, gettin' old and r…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Geoff Muldaur:

Brazil Brazil, where hearts were entertaining June We stood beneat…
Chevrolet Buy you a Chevrolet Buy you a Chevrolet Buy you a Chevrole…
Chevrolet/ Big Alice Buy you a Chevrolet Buy you a Chevrolet Buy you a Chevrole…

That's All Right Well, that's all right, mama That's all right for you That…
The Rain Don' Fall on Me Ohh the rain,,, Dont fall on me no more Ohh the rain,, Dont…
Walking to New Orleans This time I'm walkin' to New Orleans I'm walkin' to New…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Kyle Togrul

7y↑1

Lyrics:

Cane standing in the field getting old and red
Lot of trouble in Georgetown, three men lyin' dead

Well, Joshua's head of the government, he say strike for better pay
Well, the cane cutters they're strikin', but Joshua gone away

Well, Joshua gone Barbados, staying in a big hotel
Poor people on St. Vincent got many sad tales to tell

Sugar mill owner told the strikers, don't need you to cut my cane
Bring in another bunch of fellows, you strike be all in vain

A lot of misery in Georgetown, you can hear the women bawl
Joshua's gone Barbados, nn' he don't care at all

Yeah, Joshua gone Barbados, just like he don't know
Poor people on this Island, ain't got nowhere to go

N' they got a lot of tough fellas, bring 'em from Zion Hill
Bring 'em in a bus to Georgetown, you somebody'll get killed

And Sonny Child the overseer, I swear he's an ignorant man
He's a-walking through the cane field, pistol in his hand

N' Joshua gone Barbados, n' he's staying in a big hotel
N' people on St. Vincent got many sad tales to tell

N' the Police givin' protection, the new fella's cutting cane
Well the strikers can't do nothing, the strike be all in vain

And Sonny Child cursed the striker, he waved his pistol 'round
Well they're beatin' Sonny with a cutlass, man, they beat him to the ground

But Joshua gone Barbados, staying in a big hotel
People on St. Vincent got many sad tales to tell

Well the cane standing in the field getting old and red
Sonny Child in the hospital, pistol on his bed

And I wished I could go to England, Trinidad or Curacao
But the people on the St. Vincent ain't got nowhere to go

N' Joshua gone Barbados, just like he don't know
People on the Island, ain't got nowhere to go

All comments from YouTube:

caitlinvs

15y↑10

Really nice to see this on the eve of what would've been my father's 78th birthday (someone sent me the link). He was such a luddite about the computer but to use his parlance, he would've dug this! Thanks! Caitlin von Schmidt

calypsojimmy

11y↑3

Don't underestimate EvS. This is one of America's greatest artists. Great illustrator. Great painter. GREAT blues musician. Writer too. Serious croquet player. Seriuos bocce enthusiast. PS: Song is in D.

Ron Emmons

15y↑1

Caitlin, your dad was one of my favorites both as a performer and as a painter. Saw him first at dear old Club 47 in 1967 and last in Westboro, Mass. over 20 years later with many performances in between. Life was better for having him among us!

wirplit

13y↑1

Came to him via an old bootleg version of this song sung by Dylan and the lyrics and the mournful tone really hit me. I thought they were from some original St Vincent folksong. Now thanks for letting me hear Eric's beautiful and feeling original version. The feeling comes right through his voice.

David B. Schwartz

I used to hear Eric when he’d come to New College in Sarasota to play for us, when he lived on Siesta Key. I started singing his songs and I have sung them now for more than 50 years. And my friends know them too. How enormous an effect, for the better, that he has had on my life!

David Broida

10y↑1

Lovely voice, great lyrics - thx for the music, Eric

Kyle Togrul

7y↑1

Kleven Greg

4y↑1

Erick I miss the shit out of you. When I hear your voice it takes me back to those evenings in Da Nang and Hue and how you brought us all together with you voice and instruments.

KappyLaLaShow

14y

Not much to say other than, fantastic song and fantastic musician... can't beat that

David Sorel

15y

Very nice. Nice use of the photo I made of him with his "original" guitar and wearing his painter's apron. I think he would have liked your tribute very much. I think you captured the old boy quite well. Best wishes, M Peloquin

Seth Forstater

13y

wonderful video presentation to go along with the classic recording. mucho gracias.

Martinguitar22

13y

that guitar at 1:04 is so sweet

DuneAquaViva

12y

Look for an album on Elektra Records a Compendium of Folk Blues there's some terrific tracks by Eric von Schmidt on it...many other legendary folk blues greats as well...He does I'd Rather Be The Devil on it with a young John Sebastian on harp on it... His voice is really great...

James Auger

Superior Ballad!

Wolfgang dr. strobel

I know E. van Schmidt from the legendery intro " I first heard it by Rick van Schmidt.." Baby let me follow you down and Joshua gone Barbados from the early Bootleg " Basement Tapes" but I did not know how wunderbar Eric van Schmidt does these both songs !! Thank you for posting and greatings from Köln

c.h. ingate

This is a true story. I first heard “Joshua Gone Barbados” on a Tom Rush album in about 1966. When I got out of the army in 1970, I enrolled in the State University College of New York at Buffalo (Buffalo State). In 1973, I took courses in the Anthropology of the Caribbean and simultaneously American Folk Music, among others. The Anthropology professor required that each student present a talk for the class. Since I was learning about ethnomusicology in the Folk Music Class, I decided to determine if “Joshua” was a traditional tune cleaned up by Eric von Schmidt or if it was his work entirely and if there was anything to the story offered in the tune. The song does not tell us Joshua’s given name nor what his title was in Grenada. I spent hours in the library and learned that the person, Ebeneezer Joshua, existed and that he had been the elected leader of Grenada and that there had been labor unrest during his reign. Not too much to go on. Well, previously I had studied economics with Michael Joshua who was from the islands. For all I knew Joshua could have been the Smith or Jones name of the islands. So I went to Michael’s office and explained my research situation and asked “Have you ever heard of Ebeneezer Joshua?” He just stared at me. I repeated the question and he answered, “Yes, he’s my father.” So Michael filled in the gaps. Got an A in the Anthropology class.

c.h. ingate

Should have been St. Vincent, not Grenada.

c.h. ingate

Oh, I forgot one important fact that I learned from Michael. He, and he told me later after talking to Ebenezzer, that neither knew of the song.

c.h. ingate

Michael also said that referring to Sonny Child as "ignorant" was an understatement.

mistervalls

15y

What can I say... Thank YOU, with all my heart. Pity there arent many videos about him, I'll try to fix that, he must reach.

Michael Zwerdling

9y↑1

@ john stewart Meyer Eric von Schmidt wrote the lyrics. He recorded a version--not this one--in 1964 with Geoff Muldaur and Mel Lyman. Tom Rush recorded a version in 1966, which has a slightly slower tempo, and may be the song you're thinking of. (The story is based on a true event.) The chord progression in both version is a common one, used in many folk songs.

SteveonLI

+zwrdl - hi from steve, pls take a look at my comment above - about the accuracy of this song

47docrock

13y

I 've only heard Tom Rush's versions. it is slower with Bruce Langhorn playing some beautiful notes...this dude wrote it` I remember him in the 60s. I like this too. thannk you for this song. I love you tube. some dusty memories returning before I die.

DFP

This song is about a short lived revolt that happened in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
It's not totally accurate but, artistic license I guess!

Alexander St. Hill

3y↑1

It didn’t happen quite this way , I’m from St Vincent and was 10 when this was happening … Sonny Child was a friend of my parents

mistervalls

12y↑1

@ProducShuns The guitar is tuned in "Dropped D" tunning: DADGBd (that is detuning the 6th one whole tone) Moreover the entire set of strings has been slightly detuned, so it won't match if you play along. Unless, of course, if you too detune your guitar. Only two chords are played throughout the whole song: D (200232) and G(550003) The song is fingerpicked

ProducShuns

13y

does anyone know what key this is in? and what chords are being played?

DFP

It is in the key of lies!

mistervalls

13y

@tempachilles De nada, amigo. This song is so good... So good.

seiceps1

11y

how / where can I buy the album ?

mistervalls

15y↑2

So right about von Schmidt... It's beyond that voice, it's the solemn dignity he irradiated in absolutely everything he did. Truth. Light... And about Dylan... I love his destroyed voice, glad that he still gives concerts. I would even buy a record of him coughing; 12 tracks, different coughs... But I do believe that he should change his approach to the public: smaller places. Or that same dignity will be lost... But still he is Him.

Jim Hathaway

14y

good sound

SteveonLI

8y↑2

i have known and liked this song for many years - - heard it via tom rush - - but i have come to discover that it is maybe 95-100% sure that it is historically wrong - - and that it falsely portrays ebenezer joshua as some sort of sellout, which i believe he was not. - - wiki him and see - - i believe joshua did NOT betray the strike and run off to a nice hotel, that von schmidt basically got bad info from a local (one with a grudge?) and, unfortunately for joshua's reputation, made a good but inaccurate song about the whole thing. too bad

Frans Buijs

I first heard this song from Brendan Croker. Then on Dylan's Bootleg Series. I always though it was about somebody who went to a tropical island. It's only now that I'm beginning to realize there's much more to it. But... A song is not a history book.

Tangled Hangers

6y↑1

Eric’s details are pretty accurate, its just the lines "Three men lying dead", and "he don't care at all" that are inaccurate, and based on the rumors/feelings linked to real events of the time. Sonny Child was a plantation owner rather than an overseer, but he was beaten with a cutlass and while hospitalized vowed to shoot his attackers, and Joshua did go to Barbados during the strike.
Eric had this to say about writing the song 'I had been away from St. Vincent for a few weeks and returned just at the end of it. The song is based on the events as told me by Norma Duncan of Calliqua. No one was killed in the uprising, but at that time rumor was rampant and Norma thought that two strikers and a policeman had been killed in a gunfight in Georgetown"
The truth about Joshua was/is that he apparently had a decision between staying at home and using his administrative powers to help with the strike, or traveling to Barbados to work toward the end of colonial rule and the development of new industries. He chose to address the long-term challenge in Barbados which angered some of the cane strikers. some of whom may have doubted him, thought he was wasting time, or relaxing while they were out there etc. Some of the strikers may have also disliked the move by Joshua because his solutions were at odds with some of more left-wing politically.

SteveonLI

7y↑1

ha thanks. turns out a friend of mine knew joshua's son i think, from buffalo ny

Paul Nicol

7y↑1

SteveonLI he heard the story right after it happened from a local person who was confused about the facts. e.g. the deaths (there were none). Joshua had borrowed a friends boat to go to intergovernmental trade talks!

mistervalls

13y

@ladiesmanpwndog12466 This is from "Eric Sings von Schmidt" (1964) Here's some more info: trussel[DOT]com/lyman/eric.htm

Cervicconstruction

15y

I met Eric a couple of times in sarasota Fl. were they had a home on siesta key.I knew caitlin as then as Kit.He was very open and giving of his time to the young singers and aspiring artists.I spent more time as it were with his wife at the time as she knew I was smitten with her daughter as were many who met her for she was beautiful beyond measure.Any way.She was patient and kind she turned me on to The Band's second disk a and we listened The N.They D.Old D. Down, she wept I cried.what luv

dule baldus

DuneAquaViva I have that album Blues Project and song Devil got my woman or (I'd Rather be The Devil) is not sang by E. Von Schmidt but by Geoff Muldaur. Eric played his song Blow Whistle Blow

Yellowkid FortyNine

Ric like Jack Eliot, was one of those old folkies that never made it to the "big time", and probably didn't care. Like Bob Dylan, I first heard him in Cambridge but other people took the tunes he had rediscovered and had more commercial success with them.

John Kruth

um, he cared - i was there on a few nights when it became clear - he was great and deserved better

Michael Malone

that's Elliott~ with 2 l's & two t's. long time good buddy---he's in his early 80's & i've known him for 30-35 years. he'll be visiting my ranch in the hill country of Texas in a few weeks in the midst of his little fall tour. still happy, still lovin it every day, God bless im!!

catman2000able

The use of some of the language is typical of the way people of Saint Vincent speak

dakia

6y↑1

Sunny Child is my grandad

john stewart Meyer

not to slight eric von schmidt or any of the other musicians doingJGB i seem to remember the first version iheard 1970(?) as slower and with a (of the time) standard(?) american accent. is there an older recording? i know, iaint proust and time doesnt stand still...

Ben Hamre

john stewart Meyer Tom Rush

Cervicconstruction

15y↑1

As that doesn't make much sense.Lets just say I am appalled at the lack of content here foe Eric.I will be trying thru friends to remedy that.Kit I hope if you read this you forgive me fro confessing my love for you these so many lost years later was to intimidated then.Will always remember how caring you were when I got hit with my board that day surfing at the Pink House.Had a concussion and u were the only one not laughing and trying to get me high. Country

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