Backsliding Fearlessly-Gold Dust Woman

July marks my fifth year of being back on the Cedar Rapids music scene.  While we have no gigs or jams forthcoming this month, I'll be looking in the archives for magic moments in the sunshine. 

It was three years ago, while playing random notes on Julie's guitar, I stumbled upon the melody of Gold Dust Woman, a song that link me and her for the next couple years.  I was still finding my way through the CR music scene and took up guitar as basically as a hobby, making my debut at The Acousta Kitties Checker's Wednesday Night acoustic jam.   I had this blind ambition to play more guitar eventually, usually Checkers' and Gilligan's where Karl Hudson hosted that for a couple months.

To be honest, I tried to record Gold Dust Woman on my own during the Logic n Lies sessions and didn't do a very convincing take on that song.  The original intent was to conclude the album with a version of Gold Dust Woman done live at Checker's.  Either Mark Randolph or Belinda James recorded it.  We played around with it and Terry Bainbridge, the producer of the album, nixed it.  Too many voices in the background.  Another idea was to get Julie to sing it at the studio be it at home or at the Sanctuary in Marion.  But time was never found to do that.


There are at least two versions that I'm aware of, the one version done at Checker's had Belinda James singing softly in the background.  I thought it kinda enhanced the song but in the end, it didn't even make the covers album Eminent Dormain (Released 2018).  Both sung by Julie.

In my time back, I have at least four other singers sing this song.  Dee Vieman has done it for the Rumors Wednesday Night Jam a couple times, with Randy Burghdorff adding the ending to The Chain for shits and giggles.  Belinda James did sing it once at Whittier, mostly as a favor for me since Julie couldn't make it.  An unknown woman at Rumors and then most recently on my Acoustic Adventures, Kim Trevallion, her version is closer to Lizzy Hale and Halestorm than Stevie Nicks.  It has been Kim that's been the singer of this song the last few times.  Last time Julie and I played it together  was the Acousta Kitties Reunion of July last year.

Overall, Julie remains the best singer for this song, she prefers the Stevie Nicks sound, Kim goes for the over the top Lizzy Hale shout.    First time Julie and I played it together it was wonderful and special moments came of it.  I find it hard to believe it has been three years ago, while fucking around the chords that Julie caught on and sang the whole song without missing a note and sideswiping the flubbed guitar notes.  No, it wasn't as polished or pretty as when Kyle was alive and they were singing it together with the Mad Dogs.   But I guarantee you when she came out on stage at the Sanctuary in January 2019, she sang it with angst and viciousness that it was a shame we didn't get that recorded.  She'll disagree with this but I thought it was the best damn version she ever did of Gold Dust Woman.

And God bless her for that.