According to the Songfacts website, there’s a lot of lore around the classic Rolling Stones ballad “Wild Horses.” Keith Richards supposedly wrote it as a sort of lullaby for his newborn son and then Mick Jagger rewrote the lyrics as a tragic ode to love gone wrong. It was actually first recorded by Gram Parsons’ Flying Burrito Brothers in 1970 and then the Stones released it on the 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Hope you enjoy my take on it.

Michael Martin Murphey wrote “Carolina in the Pines” about his wife (at the time) named Caroline, who apparently loved nature as much as Michael. It was the second single off the 1975 Blue Sky-Night Thunder album, released right after “Wildfire.” This is for all of you who love getting out into the great outdoors!

Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best singer/songwriters to come out of the 60’s folk movement, and one of the most respected by his fellow musicians. His lyrics are poetry and his melodies and guitar playing are beautiful and enduring. He was still performing regularly up until his death this week at age 84. Gord was one of the top three influences on my early musical development and throughout my lifetime. With deep appreciation, I wish him smooth travels as he slips away on the Carefree Highway.

Liner note: I moved to the Phoenix, AZ, area in 1999. One day as I headed north out of the city I noticed a sign that marked the Carefree Highway–a roadway leading to the town of Carefree just north of Scottsdale. I thought, “Hey, what a coincidence. That’s a Gordon Lightfoot song.” Years later I heard him tell the story of how he would often jot down words and phrases on his travels for possible song lyrics. He, too, had seen that sign once on a tour that brought him through Phoenix. He thought it would make a good song title. I think he was right.