专辑简介

Ichor of Nettle (rhymes with “liquor of metal”) is the resolve, strength, and determination to face the slings and arrows with integrity, sometimes with grace, sometimes not, but always with the courage to risk the embarrassment of failure. Ichor of Nettle is the reach more than the grasp. It’s the sticky stuff. It’s the shit. The good shit, not the shit that weighs you down. The ball player with the big heart has the Ichor of Nettle, not just a big heart but guts too. Muddy had it; he called it Mojo. Sonny Liston had it but lost it. Ali had it and never let it go. Sam Houston had it, as did Lincoln, Kennedy, and Obama. Pete Smith has it. I’ve flirted with it. I’ve tasted it, but like Orpheus stupidly looked back to see if she was still there. At that very moment, she disappeared.

Thanks to Robert Frost for the poems. Thanks to Toni Morrison for her novels Beloved and Song of Solomon. George Orwell, thanks for the darkness. John Steinbeck, thanks for the light, cheers to you! Mr. Steinbeck set the scene for our tune “Tennessee Boy”. My friend Chuck Penza suggested we set that one in the “Volunteer State” instead of Texas which was where I had it - thanks Chuck! Steve Earle, thanks for the tunes and the inspiration - you got it. John F. Kennedy - thanks for your novel Profiles in Courage which embodies the Ichor of Nettle concept for me and was the spark for our song “Sam Houston”. Chuck Berry, wherever you are, thanks for singing about “the grown up blues” - I know what you mean. Bob Dylan, thanks for reminding me it’s all about the rhymes. Lastly, thanks to the great muse in the sky, the expeller of demons: rock and roll. - Mick Chorba June 2017