Your Crooked Part

by Yazan

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Grégoire Guery The formula can't be simpler: a man and his guitar.
And yet, it probably can't be much more effective than what Yazan pulls off here.
A great blues record Favorite track: Tell Me Baby.

Hiro Williams An authentic, full-throated blues wail from start to finish. You can't fake the blues, and Yazan really brings it home on this album. Favorite track: Lonely Woman.

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1.	Devil Knows My Name 03:20	lyrics	buy track
Oh that devil he knows my name Oh now baby he's gonna take me away I heard him calling me I jumped to my feet and I didn't get back to sleep He knows my number and he knows my face Way down under he's laid my dwelling place He knows my sins and he knows my shame I pray every day but there wasn't any other way
2.	Howlin' 03:34	lyrics	buy track
I don't mind my baby behaving like she do Someday you'll want me mama, lord knows I won't want you I'd rather be buried somewhere deep in the sand Than to see you mama hold another man I bought you clothes, I bought a diamond ring And the way you treat me, and you don't even feel a thing You got me howling, down on bended knee I'll walk someday, lord and you'll be calling me Well I couldn't do nothing but ring my hands and cry I rolled and I tumbled, I tossed and turned all night
3.	Bye Bye Baby 02:07	lyrics	buy track
Had to fold my arms and walk away You mistreat me baby, and I won't stay You'll come crawlin back some day When I'll be walkin the other way Bye bye bye Baby goodbye You hear me singin these lonesome words I'm a howlin dog, I'm a lonesome bird You can tell my baby, you can tell my girl, cryin I won't be long in this world Bye bye bye Baby goodbye You treat me like some lowdown hound You hear me howlin babe, so don't dog me around I'd rather be picked up by the pound Or burying my bone down in the ground Bye bye bye Baby goodbye A pony will race and a mule will plow But there's no more milk coming from this cow I hear you crying, lowing now Trying to quit me baby but you don't know how Bye bye bye Baby goodbye I cried all night and the night before and babe you know I won't cry no more Pack my trunk, set it outdoor You can bury my body down by the shore Bye bye bye Baby goodbye
4.	Help Me 03:57	lyrics	buy track
Oh babe I can't sleep at night and babe I wake up tired I seem to have lost my appetite Help me baby, help return me right Oh babe You're puttin a curse on me You're making my mind so nervously I can't take no more of this misery Help me baby, help me I'm on my knees Help me baby! I drank some hot water on a sliver dime I put out every wicked thing from my mind I took a pinch of silverweed, and a broken ring Help me baby, help me don't you hear me cryin? Help me baby!
5.	I Get High 02:59	lyrics	buy track
Oh now sugar would you walk me back to my place, I'm so dazed I can't remember the last thing that you said Check my pocket, would you help me to find my key? Oh now sugar would you quit being such a tease I get high, I drink whiskey and I get high I'm eager to lose my mind And then baby I don't mind Well I asked my baby where she was gone to all day, she wouldn't say But I didn't need no telling girl Your crooked part gave you away I asked for a whiskey and she gave me a lemonade I asked for a lemon and she passed me a hand grenade I get high, babe I'm eager to lose my mind I smoke some reefer and I get by And then baby I don't mind All night
6.	Mama, Don't You Ever Leave 02:37	lyrics	buy track
Mama don't you ever leave there's nowhere else baby for you to be So stay at home with Turn out the lights and lay me down to sleep Mama don't you ever leave You've got no good reason that I can see So head on up the stairs I've been on my own and lord knows it ain't fair I locked the door, I turned the key I got you honey and I won't leave Baby there's just no leaving me Mama won't you please believe me I've got no aces up my sleeve There ain't nobody else So would you come on in I'm laying all by myself I locked the door, I turned the key I got you honey and I won't leave Baby there's just no leaving me Mama don't you ever leave there's nowhere else baby for you to be You hear me cry and moan Why you left me on my own I'll never know
7.	Elise 03:23	lyrics	buy track
Oh Elise, I can't find no peace I'm headed south in the morning To give my mind some ease I tried baby, but I can't take my rest Sun's going down mama, and I ain't had your lovin yet Long tall legs mama, fallin from your waist You can bury me babe and step on my grave If I could just have a taste Oh baby you hear me callin your name If I live or if I die baby it's all the same Oh Elise, do with me what you please You hear me calling your name mama I'm down on my knees
8.	Lonely Woman 02:31	lyrics	buy track
Oh lonely woman Got no telephone Oh lonely woman I'll take you home She's got no children Barren as a stone She's always drinking She don't drink alone She's always drinking Drink me dry as a bone She don't sleep soundly She cry and moan
9.	Tell Me Baby 03:49	lyrics	buy track
Oh now baby You treat me like you don’t know my name I want you to look at me Oh now rider by my side Take your time we got all night Baby why do you mistreat me? You talk to me like I’m some strange old man I want you to lie to me baby Oh now rider by my side Take your time we got all night I want you to tell me baby But I don’t want to know No I don’t need no telling mama Don’t tell me about your other man I want you to leave me now Oh now ride by my side Take your time we got all night I want you to tell me baby But I don’t want to know I want you to leave me now But I don’t want you to go
10.	Yazan's Blues 02:56	lyrics	buy track
Oh now baby you make me wanna jump and shout Oh now baby you make me wanna walk right out Oh now baby you make me lose my hair I don't care baby, I don't care Oh now baby you make me wanna lose my mind Oh now baby you make me wanna work all night

about

"There is no rambling on 'Your Crooked Part'. Yazan is a howling man, his moans are focused and true. He is high, glistening with sweat and musk and depressed as hell, moaning, singing the blues - his blues.

Sometimes you wake up every day at 4:43 am in a feverish, sweaty pool screaming 'NO' for a year, thinking your heart will explode. And you think you can't take any more of this misery so you cry and cry for help but you're crying to a long-empty room. Sometimes the wickedness settles in the bottom of your spine and aint nothing gonna root it out. Nothing. So you howl. We all want her to come back, whoever her is, but the awful truth is, she gone. Loneliness is the greatest muse and in our darkest hour we find ourselves at our most knee-slappingly, horrifically amusing. The horror of it all is the most honestly hilarious and knowing that truth while your living it maybe the only way you cling to any hope of sanity. We all want someone to need us deeply but what we need most is to hold onto our sanity and not slip into the enticement of madness even when it's absolutely hopeless. We are alone, so alone and my god it's awful funny.

Hollering is good for the soul.

These are real blues songs recorded in a room in an old house with a cast iron wood burning stove with a porch looking out on fifty acres of wilderness outside of Athens, Georgia. "I wanted the record to be raw and emotionally real, but still musically and lyrically playful and rhythmically compelling. It's acoustic dance music, really. Music for an old fashioned house party". Some of the songs, like Devil Knows My Name and Lonely Woman, are one chord songs that feel hypnotic and meditative. The most raw song on the album 'Lonely Woman' has a sense of penetrating. scratchy, deep bellowing sadness - "Lonely Woman is just a story about a woman who is sad and lonely, can't have children, and gets drunk and fucks guys to make herself feel better, so I took her home."

This album has a soul and it may be a sad one but it's rooted in hope. These are new folk songs in the truest sense, it's as if Alan Lomax had misplaced a collection of field recordings from the 50's that were left by a time traveling Palestinian-American from 2012, singing the blues in it's purest form. And you can dance to it." - Greg Barris

credits

released July 10, 2012

All songs written and played by Yazan
Produced by Yazan with Will Manning
All songs recorded by Will Manning at The Pound Pad, Jefferson, GA (villagerecordist.com)
except "Tell Me Baby", recorded by Andrew Dunn at The Tiger Lounge, Brooklyn, NY
Logo, layout, and design by Menkerios Andemicael (menkerios.com)
Photos by Dylan Griffin (dylangriffin.com)
Mastered by Matt Tuttle at IAS Studios (ph: 336-817-6342)

Shoulder Tap Records SHT010

Thank you to everyone that has supported and inspired me in one way or another, including:
Waqaas, Qusaye, Imad Nashashibi, Claire Nicolay, Andrea Nicolay, Carolyn & Nick Nicolay, Martin Celis, Judy & Roberto Celis, Ben Wigler, Andrew Dunn, Joe Exely, Tony Waldman, Steve Milton, Dave Horowitz, Caroline Creaghead, Jonas & Aurora Fields, Dima Drjuchin, Nik Drjuchin, Christine Sullivan, Celine Little & Ross Hyzer, Myrsini Stephanides, Carolinne & Dylan Griffin, Eli Batalion, Matt Schechmeister, Sarah Shanok, Robby & Rachael Grant, Robert & Susan Barnett, Steve & Joann Selvidge, Colin Butler, Grayson Grant, Doug Easley, Talaria Haast, Francisco Bengolea, Bill Mayo, Ezra Huleatt, Samy Burch, Jackie Burch, Molly Burch, Curtis Burch, Kristin Burcham, Ballzack, Odoms, Paul Barman, Greg Barris, Alix Blair, Lex Plasa, Kate Berlant, Tony & Helen Berlant, Ed Moses, Reggie Watts, Alex Gaylon, Brad Steuernagel, Hub Moore, Lee Carella, Robert Hinson, Yasmin Reshmwala, Heidi Girard, Jeremy Scott, Dan Crane, Pootie O'Malley, Bry Webb, Doug MacGregor, Dallas Wehrle, Steve Lambke, Will Kidman, Gaëlle Amerijckx, Finn Smith, Monihan Monihan, Ramzi Dabbagh, Gabi Fastman, Erwann Guennec, Rene Baharmast, Jesse Adelman, John Hemminger, Julie Gueraseva, Stacy Gueraseva, Kate Sweeney, Mark Jackson, Kathleen Csiki, Jonathan Rosenblit, Margaret Monaco, Ashmedi Melechesh, Nigel Filson, Ronan Kearney, Tei Blow, Senay Goitom, Sean McElroy, Shelbi Scott, Solon Barocas, Tim Feleppa, Shelby Bryant, Aerial East, Nat Johnson, Nanny Walsh, Joel Barhamand, Ashley Macknica, Megan Dandois, Simcha Whitehill, Ben Krieger, Christine Costello, Deepak & Tanya Somashekar, Chris Irwin, Dave Hill, Erica Heinz, Ian DeLaune, Laurel Angrist, John F. O'Donnell, Jon Garonce, Madeleine Ribbing-Messihi, Yacine Benzine, Nick Fiore, Paul Fears, Annie Black, Susie Prisk, Murphy Thiel, Ben Wentzel, Theo Coulombe, Esther Bell, Christine Dutton, Erin Schwartz, Charlotte Lang, Robert Hinson, John Argroves

Special thanks to Bogdan & Michelle Zinchenko

Dedicated to Saleem and Nimati, my loving parents