Ralph Alfonso, owner of Bongo Beat Records, is quoted as saying "I am going to personally state on the record that this is one of the finest albums on my roster, something so fully formed and beautiful, it will continue to resonate and unravel its wonder long after you and I are long gone and forgotten. Like the best of Al Green or Marvin Gaye, this CD is perfect from beginning to end; a smooth and subtle sexual menage a trois of reggae, country and soul".
Jeb Loy Nichols was born in Wyoming and raised in Missouri. A singer-songwriter whose first love of music came in the form of a Kansas City radio station that played country during the day and soul music at night he was raised on the sounds of Hank Williams, Bobby Womack, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield.
In his teens he moved to Austin, then to New York in the late 70s and on to London in the early 80s where he befriended and shared a house with Neneh Cherry, producer Adrian Sherwood, and Ari Up of The Slits. In London, he synthesized his love of punk, soul, and reggae music into the sounds of his first band, The Fellow Travelers who blended country-tinged, acoustic-based songs with a dub bottom. Spin Magazine described them as "the lonesome children of Merle, Marley and Marx".
Jeb's solo career started at Capitol Records with the incredible Lover's Knot (1997). Now Then is his fourth album and was produced by Mark Nevers in Nashville. The band was a mix of young and old; Mark brought some members of Lambchop while Jeb brought Muscle Shoals veteran Clayton Ivey and soul legend Dan Penn. They then brought the tapes back to London where they recorded bassist Wayne Nunes (Tricky, African Head Charge) and backing vocals by reggae legends Roy Cousins (The Royals) and Struggle. It's by far Jeb's best album since his debut.
In 2000, Jeb Loy and his wife Loraine Morley moved to Wales where they're slowly reclaiming ten acres of neglected scrub land, renovating a barn and putting in a large garden. "I'm sure I'll move again", he says, "but not just yet. This feels good, feels like some-thing close to home."
Now Then is a remarkable record, a masterpiece of distilled soul. "This is the record I've been leaning towards," Jeb says, "all these years, all this moving around, all this listening and watching." Hard bargains and divided families, absconders and runaways, holy dread and love, it's all here. The record pulses with seductive stories that talk of shifting fidelities and damage limitation.
"I knew I wanted to make this record in Nashville", Jeb says, "because Nashville is nowhere I'd ever want to live. I love Nashville, but it's definitely not home. And I wanted that feeling of being unfixed. And I wanted to work with Mark Nevers." Mark Nevers, member and producer of Lambchop, producer of Will Oldham, seems at first an odd choice to work with. But "Mark's great," says Jeb, "the best in the world. I've known him for awhile and he brought the exact right feeling. Dirty and perfect and warm and unexpected."
The record was recorded in five days in Nevers' studio in Nashville. It brims over with conversations between players, between genera-tions, between countries and cultures. The same give and take that Jeb first heard on southern soul records is updated here. "It was great to be a part of it, to watch it. To listen to everyone playing off each other. That's the point - to tell stories, to listen, to be a part of something bigger and better than yourself."
PRESS QUOTES:
"The sheer spare elegance of NOW THEN is startling."
As The Rain
Jeb Loy Nichols Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
Just yesterday, a wind came blowin'
through the streets of this old town
And it blew away, it blew away some dirt
Blew away
And it was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
Now thern't no roof that can keep away these raindrops
And there's no four walls that keep away
Keep away the cold
And there's no way that I can walk around
The streets of this old town.
Without a hand
Without a hand to hold.
And it was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
Now let it rain.
Look to the east
Look to the west
Look to the ground beneath your feet
Look to skies
Look to skies above
And there ain't nothin' in this land
That you will ever understand
There ain't nothin'
You're ever gonna be sure of.
'Cause it was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was rainin' this mornin'
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
Yeah, I feel as low and as lonely as the rain.
Jeb Loy Nichols's song "As The Rain" is a melancholic ballad that paints a vivid picture of a lonely soul, exasperated by the rain, who is searching for connection and meaning in life. The continuous repetition of "It was raining this morning," emphasizes the mundaneness of the everyday routine, making the line more profound each time it is repeated. The use of "rain" as a metaphor for the singer's emotional state, highlights the despair and loneliness that he is feeling inside. The rain can be seen to symbolize his sadness and how it's like the rain, it keeps pouring down, unrelenting and overwhelming, making him feel helpless and forlorn.
In the second verse, the wind blowing through the town acts as a metaphor for the impermanence of life, and how everything can change in an instant. The dirt being blown away can be seen as old memories and associations being blown away, making way for the new love that the singer has found. However, despite the new love, the singer is still feeling lonely and dejected. The chorus is repeated throughout the song, with the main message being that the singer feels low and as lonely as the rain.
The final verse provides insight into the spiritual aspect of life, and how there is always an element of uncertainty and unknown that we have to come to terms with. The various directions mentioned, east, west, beneath, and above, represent the various ways that the singer is searching for meaning and connection. However, despite his search, there are still uncertainties that he has to accept. The final chorus is a repeated cry of loneliness and despair, underlining the idea that no matter how much he searches, he is still feeling down.
Line by Line Meaning
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was raining early in the day
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was raining early in the day
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was raining early in the day
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
The singer feels just as miserable as the weather outside
Just yesterday, a wind came blowin'
The day before, a gust of wind swept through the town
through the streets of this old town
The wind blew through the town's roads
And it blew away, it blew away some dirt
The wind cleared away some debris
Blew away
The wind blew away the singer's newfound love
Ah this brand new love that I found.
The singer had just recently found love
Now thern't no roof that can keep away these raindrops
No roof can prevent the rain from falling
And there's no four walls that keep away
Even four walls can't shield from the cold and the rain
Keep away the cold
The walls can't block the cold weather
And there's no way that I can walk around
The singer can't walk around town
The streets of this old town.
The roads in the singer's town
Without a hand
The singer needs some help
Without a hand to hold.
The singer needs someone to hold hands with
Now let it rain.
The singer is accepting the bad weather
Look to the east
Look towards the eastern part of the horizon
Look to the west
Look towards the western part of the sky
Look to the ground beneath your feet
Look down towards the ground below your feet
Look to skies
Look up towards the sky
Look to skies above
Look to the sky that is above us
And there ain't nothin' in this land
There is nothing certain in this world
That you will ever understand
There are some things that you may never comprehend
There ain't nothin'
There is nothing certain
You're ever gonna be sure of.
You may never be certain of anything
'Cause it was rainin' this mornin'
Again, the singer is referencing the earlier rain
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was raining early in the day
It was rainin' this mornin'
It was raining early in the day
And I feel as low and lonely as the rain.
Once more, the singer expresses how bad he feels
Yeah, I feel as low and as lonely as the rain.
The singer reiterates his emotions
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Jeb Nichols
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@orgonsolo6291
This great little nugget of a tune has been with me for more than a few fair years, still lovin`it! #komstevje
@lunalea1250
However u 'interpret' this song,its just beautiful!💜🎙
@walterhofer937
Love this song
@celinagarcia7636
Awesome song, awesome video!
@flachi32
I had it in my mind that Jeb was of Caribbean descent living in London, cracking voice
@alonsoLujan
Beautiful!
@terryflowers1519
Thought that was Peter! Makes me think of distant times snowed in for 2 weeks in Caplinger Mills with Peter and Thayer pressed against the woodburning stove eating far too many smores. Great to see you 2 dueting.
@jamesmessina2554
is the guitar in the begining vibrato or what? that sound is killer
@OsmanZaferYilmaz
sema yağmurlar kadar güzelsin :)
@LilikakiTsikris
oh my !!!