I'm very proud to be in this sweetest of videos. Me and my tiny root cellar. I'm not a grandmother yet but I salute the "University of Grandmothers" as Vendana Shiva refers to them. The woman who we should learn from before they pass. Or, alternately, become them ourselves to teach our sons and daughters so they, too, will have songs to sing. Much love to Greg wherever he may be.
I first heard this song when it was quite new. It was an early evening at The Sanctuary in Iowa City, in the early 1980s. I went in for a beer, and Greg Brown, a local folkie, was setting up for his gig. As I sipped my lager at the bar, directly across from the stage, I watched as he tuned up his 1930s Gibson guitar and tested the mic for vocals. Then he launched into his first set. I was entertained, but a bit detached, unwinding from the cares of the week. Then, BOOM, he played this fresh composition and I damn near fell of my bar stool. My throat tightened and my eyes burned, and when he got to the line about "song of the whip-poor-will" tears began streaming. Although I was familiar with Dylan, Paxton, Goodman, and Prine, it was this performance, and this particular song, that I count as my folk music epiphany. The deeper meaning, nuances of imagery, and the undeniable unleashing of my unconscious in a flood of memory and emotion were my Eureka! moment: Proust's madelaines in poetry about ball jars, thunderstorms, and Ju-ly to-ma-toes.
I was in IC then too -- used to see Greg at the Sanctuary and other places. Always loved it. Long before the ticket prices got too high. I was just telling a student about Canned Goods and Daughters... ahhh yes... great memories.
I only got acquainted with Greg in the early 2000s but loved him right away. This song hits me hard just as it did you. I have had the pleasure of seeing him live and was amazed by how far some folks had driven to see him. What a quality musician and man. The show was a charity tour supporting small farming.
An early favorite of Greg's, brings back a lot of memories from the early days of Prairie home. Sometimes I would listen to the show just hear his segment.
Greg Brown - I saw him live last night Friday the 13th under a full moon in a small venue in northern Maine. That weird cosmic triangulation won’t occur again for 35 years. It’s very rare but not as rare as Greg Brown himself. I have never heard a warmer, wiser, more comforting voice in all my time particularly when he did the song about his grandmother putting summer into jars. It was pouring rain on top of everything else. It was raining when I went in and pouring when I came out. On the long slow ride home I had to be careful to not hit frogs leaping across the road and one soaking wet raccoon. Greg sat on stage on a plain wooden chair wearing a big wide brim hat, sunglasses and a pair of shoes he proudly displayed “I got ‘em in L.A”. - pause - “24 bucks” he said and he lifted the left one up in the air for all to see. He talked about his love of gardening “I’ve got the gene…I don’t necessarily love gardening but I’ve got the gene so I do it…” as for weeds: “I lie right down on the ground with ‘em and pull the sons a bitches out with both hands…” Greg said at the start of the show: “I’m nervous…” long pause…”I don’t usually get nervous…” pause…I thought for sure he was going to mention it being Friday the 13th and a full moon (he had already mentioned how the folks he saw upon arriving in Bangor seemed like they came straight out of a Stephen King novel and he had already mentioned that he met Steven King at a gig once “a big music fan”) but no, “I just discovered that something broke in my guitar…I flew from L.A.”. After about four songs someone from the back called down “you still nervous?” and he said: “no” and continued to comfort us all with that huge blanket of a voice he has and when we were all tucked in he told us some stories from his bottomless bag. By the end of the show, after the standing ovation and encore I knew I’d been spellbound by one of the very best of all time. An authentic, small town, troubadour with a broken guitar and a voice like God’s that seemed to say: “be still my children…you’re in good hands…” as he laid us down so gently into that garden of dreams of his, that poet’s paradise where every song blooms into its’ fullest nature, where Greg puts it all into jars of love and sends us on our way. And yes, he signs autographs and give hugs too….he’s playing in Bath, ME tonight and Portland, ME next…btw: the only person I’ve ever heard sing a Greg Brown song with as much love as Greg himself is Shawn Colvin…love her! They should tour together...
Greg Brown can and does make daily life sound so good, so sacred. Whenever I get cynical (often), I listen to Greg and he makes me yearn for an America I once believe existed.
This is the first - and best - version of Canned Goods that I ever heard - it was on PHC back when we used to tape the show each week and learn all the Greg Brown tunes when he was the Chairman of the Department of Folk Songs. Excellent video adaptation, thank you very much!
Good old fashioned story telling put to music. An amazing song to hear him perform live. He really imbues the lyrics with his sense of humor. Snowy day here in Michigan. I sure could use a little taste of summer!
Delightful! Soon, in this nation and world, the boom is about to be lowered. Go back and listen to these type awesome homey, intimate, lifting, and encouraging songs. Oh, wait. I doubt we'll have internet for a while when "it" happens. Get back to basics, learn to love the Lord, and love your community. 10-2-24
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, Herrick Kimball, of The Deliberate Agrarian renown, introducing his blogging audience to this song, and I'd never heard of Greg Brown. Thanks Herrick!
Thanks for posting this. After today's bad news, I needed to go back and hear some of those really great songs I never would have known without Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion.
It was always a very hot, sweaty activity canning during an Iowa summer, since it usually was in August,,,high humidity, made worse by the steaming pot of tomatoes cooking on the stove...but we loved it....scolding the tomatoes to get the skins off first, and then cutting them up first being oh so careful to cut out any bad spots,,,,and the smell of fresh tomatoes cooking in the house is quite simply heavenly
I remember when Garrison and Jim Ed Poole, the late Tom Kieth, had the morning drive time show on Minnesota Public Radio. This is when GK was on his upswing..before books and PHC hitting the big time. Greg Brown was up as a resident guest on the Morning Show for a while. He'd whip up songs on demand...what a skill!
Excellent morning drive radio. My early 1970s Sears Roebuck digital clock radio was set to KSJN for decades. Gary used to play "Help Me Rhonda" almost as often as Jim Ed & Dale played "My Little Potato." It was a sad day when the Morning Show got bumped to "The Current," where most everything they play is angry young white guys who play stuff that sounds like John Lennon outtakes from the White Album. This is a most excellent version of "Canned Goods" featuring the sympathetic mandolin of the late, great Pete Ostrushko. Long live the recently retired Greg Brown, an American treasure.
Thank you, thank you for this wonderful recording and video! I too fell in love with this song and with Greg Brown all those years ago on PHC.. I have searched and searched for this exact version -- it's the best one in the world. I had one of those dear Grandmas who canned, and she was a powerful influence in my childhood. Thanks again for bringing this to YT!
+Rabbi Goddard Yes this song is great on One Night. I've listened to that CD endlessly. How about that song where he talks about the little orchestra inside the radio?
Celebrate the summer solstice on June 21 with Iowa’s favorite folk-musician, long-time friend and supporter of SSE, Greg Brown. Ticket sales support SSE’s non-profit mission to protect and promote America’s garden and food heritage. www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/Workshops/SSE-Greg-Brown-Concert-Ticket.html Greg Brown Concert | 7pm - June 21st Catalog #EVT0003
I disagree. He does an amazing performance on the Yellow Dog recording. To me it is a lot more heartfelt and poetic than this one. In his later days, he is more or a singing poet, than a folk singer.
"She cans the pickles sweet and dill, and the songs of the whippoorwill." One of the best lyrics ever written.
I'm very proud to be in this sweetest of videos. Me and my tiny root cellar. I'm not a grandmother yet but I salute the "University of Grandmothers" as Vendana Shiva refers to them. The woman who we should learn from before they pass. Or, alternately, become them ourselves to teach our sons and daughters so they, too, will have songs to sing. Much love to Greg wherever he may be.
I am canning now and this song is perfect
I first heard this song when it was quite new. It was an early evening at The Sanctuary in Iowa City, in the early 1980s. I went in for a beer, and Greg Brown, a local folkie, was setting up for his gig. As I sipped my lager at the bar, directly across from the stage, I watched as he tuned up his 1930s Gibson guitar and tested the mic for vocals. Then he launched into his first set. I was entertained, but a bit detached, unwinding from the cares of the week. Then, BOOM, he played this fresh composition and I damn near fell of my bar stool. My throat tightened and my eyes burned, and when he got to the line about "song of the whip-poor-will" tears began streaming. Although I was familiar with Dylan, Paxton, Goodman, and Prine, it was this performance, and this particular song, that I count as my folk music epiphany. The deeper meaning, nuances of imagery, and the undeniable unleashing of my unconscious in a flood of memory and emotion were my Eureka! moment: Proust's madelaines in poetry about ball jars, thunderstorms, and Ju-ly to-ma-toes.
Well said!!! I saw Greg three weeks ago in Fairfield and could not agree more...
I was in IC then too -- used to see Greg at the Sanctuary and other places. Always loved it. Long before the ticket prices got too high. I was just telling a student about Canned Goods and Daughters... ahhh yes... great memories.
Jerry Donovan great comment
I only got acquainted with Greg in the early 2000s but loved him right away. This song hits me hard just as it did you. I have had the pleasure of seeing him live and was amazed by how far some folks had driven to see him. What a quality musician and man. The show was a charity tour supporting small farming.
I have many versions of Greg doing this.. but this wonderful... the video will be shared in Dave's Basement Tracks blog.
I miss my Grandma, she put it in them Ball blue jars.
An early favorite of Greg's, brings back a lot of memories from the early days of Prairie home. Sometimes I would listen to the show just hear his segment.
Greg Brown - I saw him live last night Friday the 13th under a full moon in a small venue in northern Maine. That weird cosmic triangulation won’t occur again for 35 years. It’s very rare but not as rare as Greg Brown himself. I have never heard a warmer, wiser, more comforting voice in all my time particularly when he did the song about his grandmother putting summer into jars. It was pouring rain on top of everything else. It was raining when I went in and pouring when I came out. On the long slow ride home I had to be careful to not hit frogs leaping across the road and one soaking wet raccoon. Greg sat on stage on a plain wooden chair wearing a big wide brim hat, sunglasses and a pair of shoes he proudly displayed “I got ‘em in L.A”. - pause -
“24 bucks” he said and he lifted the left one up in the air for all to see. He talked about his love of gardening “I’ve got the gene…I don’t necessarily love gardening but I’ve got the gene so I do it…” as for weeds: “I lie right down on the ground with ‘em and pull the sons a bitches out with both hands…” Greg said at the start of the show: “I’m nervous…” long pause…”I don’t usually get nervous…” pause…I thought for sure he was going to mention it being Friday the 13th and a full moon (he had already mentioned how the folks he saw upon arriving in Bangor seemed like they came straight out of a Stephen King novel and he had already mentioned that he met Steven King at a gig once “a big music fan”) but no, “I just discovered that something broke in my guitar…I flew from L.A.”. After about four songs someone from the back called down “you still nervous?” and he said: “no” and continued to comfort us all with that huge blanket of a voice he has and when we were all tucked in he told us some stories from his bottomless bag. By the end of the show, after the standing ovation and encore I knew I’d been spellbound by one of the very best of all time. An authentic, small town, troubadour with a broken guitar and a voice like God’s that seemed to say: “be still my children…you’re in good hands…” as he laid us down so gently into that garden of dreams of his, that poet’s paradise where every song blooms into its’ fullest nature, where Greg puts it all into jars of love and sends us on our way. And yes, he signs autographs and give hugs too….he’s playing in Bath, ME tonight and Portland, ME next…btw: the only person I’ve ever heard sing a Greg Brown song with as much love as Greg himself is Shawn Colvin…love her! They should tour together...
I just read this comment and loved it so much. may be the best review EVER.
My guess is the weird cosmic triangulation as backdrop to GB is no accident. He is such soul.
What an amazing comment
I always listen to this when planting my garden. It makes the work seem soooooo worthwhile!
Greg Brown can and does make daily life sound so good, so sacred. Whenever I get cynical (often), I listen to Greg and he makes me yearn for an America I once believe existed.
1992 First Encounter Coffee House, Eastham, MA.
I was there and the songs stay with me, thanks Greg Brown
Loved this song the first time I heard it in 1988 and then I got to meet and play music with Greg. Then I loved the song a hundred times more!!
Me too!! Thanks great taste!!
I've seen Greg Brown in concert several times. It's always a pleasure. When my wife first heard him in a music store she began to cry. Me too.
My favorite version of this song. Reminds me of visiting my grandma in Hillsboro, Ore.
It's 2016, the first time I've ever heard of Greg Brown, first time I've heard this precious song...Amazing!!!
This is the first - and best - version of Canned Goods that I ever heard - it was on PHC back when we used to tape the show each week and learn all the Greg Brown tunes when he was the Chairman of the Department of Folk Songs. Excellent video adaptation, thank you very much!
Greg Brown is fantastic!
Good old fashioned story telling put to music. An amazing song to hear him perform live. He really imbues the lyrics with his sense of humor. Snowy day here in Michigan. I sure could use a little taste of summer!
Delightful! Soon, in this nation and world, the boom is about to be lowered. Go back and listen to these type awesome homey, intimate, lifting, and encouraging songs. Oh, wait. I doubt we'll have internet for a while when "it" happens. Get back to basics, learn to love the Lord, and love your community. 10-2-24
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, Herrick Kimball, of The Deliberate Agrarian renown, introducing his blogging audience to this song, and I'd never heard of Greg Brown. Thanks Herrick!
Lucky to have a poet voice like Greg Brown!
Thanks for posting this. After today's bad news, I needed to go back and hear some of those really great songs I never would have known without Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion.
I remember hearing this performance on Prairie Home, fell in love with Greg Brown right then. He speaks to the heart.
It was always a very hot, sweaty activity canning during an Iowa summer, since it usually was in August,,,high humidity, made worse by the steaming pot of tomatoes cooking on the stove...but we loved it....scolding the tomatoes to get the skins off first, and then cutting them up first being oh so careful to cut out any bad spots,,,,and the smell of fresh tomatoes cooking in the house is quite simply heavenly
I get hungry every time I hear this tune. Mmm. Mmm. Good!!!
I remember when Garrison and Jim Ed Poole, the late Tom Kieth, had the morning drive time show on Minnesota Public Radio. This is when GK was on his upswing..before books and PHC hitting the big time. Greg Brown was up as a resident guest on the Morning Show for a while. He'd whip up songs on demand...what a skill!
Excellent morning drive radio. My early 1970s Sears Roebuck digital clock radio was set to KSJN for decades. Gary used to play "Help Me Rhonda" almost as often as Jim Ed & Dale played "My Little Potato." It was a sad day when the Morning Show got bumped to "The Current," where most everything they play is angry young white guys who play stuff that sounds like John Lennon outtakes from the White Album. This is a most excellent version of "Canned Goods" featuring the sympathetic mandolin of the late, great Pete Ostrushko. Long live the recently retired Greg Brown, an American treasure.
Thank you, thank you for this wonderful recording and video! I too fell in love with this song and with Greg Brown all those years ago on PHC.. I have searched and searched for this exact version -- it's the best one in the world. I had one of those dear Grandmas who canned, and she was a powerful influence in my childhood. Thanks again for bringing this to YT!
That about sums it up. Reminds me of my grandma. Does it make you want to have a root cellar?
Oh yes, thank you! This is a fabulous version. Saw Greg only once, Strawberry Music Fest, where he played this song.
I haven't heard this for years: it was when Tom Paxton was presenting "Folk on Two" on BBC Radio Two, so it must be a couple of decades now.
One of most favorite Greg Brown songs....such a beautiful video to go w/it!
Thank You!
Lovely video! Thanks.
love your images! Thanks for picking them out for us.
wow what a stunning song! there is a live album called One Night that has a great version of this song
+Rabbi Goddard Yes this song is great on One Night. I've listened to that CD endlessly. How about that song where he talks about the little orchestra inside the radio?
It is an awesome version! I cannot find the 13:00 minute one from "the live one" I have it on CD but that is so old school.
"And we were free, free"
"In those Ball cannin' jars" sounds like " In those cannon ball jars" in my ears. Just can't make myself hear otherwise.
where ami Lol, same. When he says 'fruit seller', I always think it's 'fruit cellar'. Funny how your brain works like that!
Classic track.
Greg retired in 2023 and has a new book out!
Any chance that that's Radoslav Lorkovic on the accordian??
Greg Brown
Celebrate the summer solstice on June 21 with Iowa’s favorite folk-musician, long-time friend and supporter of SSE, Greg Brown. Ticket sales support SSE’s non-profit mission to protect and promote America’s garden and food heritage.
www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/Workshops/SSE-Greg-Brown-Concert-Ticket.html
Greg Brown Concert | 7pm - June 21st
Catalog #EVT0003
I wish he came back on Garrison
come to Taos.
Here's Greg's song about places like Taos: th-cam.com/video/dG49Fb1zmlg/w-d-xo.html
Peaches on the shelf, not pizzas
she might marry me if i grow a very long beard, ist worth a try
I disagree. He does an amazing performance on the Yellow Dog recording. To me it is a lot more heartfelt and poetic than this one. In his later days, he is more or a singing poet, than a folk singer.
Potatoes in the bin
when my beard is 4 feet long they wil think i am a rabbi, ok then
im not m but i wil work with the real rabbis, at harbard and kurukulla , etc