Author Topic: Anybody familiar with music by Jake Holmes?  (Read 2513 times)

mvansand76

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Anybody familiar with music by Jake Holmes?
« on: November 24, 2007, 04:36:09 pm »
Hi all!

Even though I grew up in Holland, I was mainly brought up with American and Canadian folk music, and mainly Gordon Lightfoot. My father was/is a big fan of Jake Holmes too and has all his vinyl records!

His biggest hits were "Paris Song" and "So Close".

Here's some more info about him!

Jake Holmes (born December 28, 1939 in San Francisco, California) is an American folk-rock singer/songwriter of the late 1960s. Holmes is the author of the song "Dazed and Confused" which was later adopted and popularized by Led Zeppelin. The song appeared on Holmes' debut, "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes.

It is still not widely recognized that Holmes was the author of the classic song. Page, while on tour with the Yardbirds in 1967, saw Holmes perform the song in Greenwich Village [1]. Within months, he had adapted the song for that group, and later, for Led Zeppelin. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Page claimed sole songwriting credit for the song when it appeared on Led Zeppelin's debut album.

Holmes' first musical foray was with his wife Katherine in the folk rock parody duo, Allen & Grier. Holmes later collaborated with Bob Gaudio on The Four Seasons' Genuine Imitation Life Gazette album, after which the pair went on to compose Frank Sinatra's Watertown album.

In the 1970s, Holmes moved into writing advertising jingles. He is the composer of the popular "Be All You Can Be" slogan and jingle for the US Army. He also wrote "Be A Pepper" (1977) for Dr Pepper. In spite of the fact that his name is not known, Holmes might be at the top of the list of American singer songwriters because of his work with jingles. Not only are his lyrics famous and remembered, his voice has been heard millions of times on those countless commercials for Gillette, DeBeers, Winn-Dixie and Sears.




Anybody familiar with his music? I can highly recommend the above mentioned hit songs, but also his album How Much Time.




mvansand76

  • Guest
Re: Anybody familiar with music by Jake Holmes?
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2007, 04:44:00 pm »
Here's the lyrics to one of his most beautiful songs:

Jake Holmes - Just as lost as me

Shadow eyes
In cloaks of answers
Withhold their secrets
Eloquently
Here's a song
For all the people
Just as lost as me

The easy way
The knowing glances
Seeing light
That I can't see
 
Here's a song for all outsiders
Just as lost as me

Private doors
Straight and narrow minds
No matter how you look
To see you must be blind
Hide and seek
The king has got new clothes
Everybody understands
And everybody knows

Cures for life
Without the moving
Smooth around
Uncertainty
Here's a song
For walking wounded
Just as lost as me

Here's a song
For walking wounded
Just as lost as me