Michel Griffin

0:00

0:00

Remember those blossom days we'd haunt the open hills
Hand in hand with silences we couldn't fill ?
One-way conversations, we'd leave hanging in the breeze,
To be scattered, like the blossom from the trees.

In rooms constructed out of light, we'd play our awkward games
Butterflies too hesitant to bathe in flame;
One-way conversations, we'd leave hanging in the breeze,
To be scattered, like the blossom from the trees.

In yearning for that moment between your flesh and mine
I'd sometimes wonder how the hunger lasted such a time
Appetite must breed its own illusions ...

Adrift upon a shallow stream, we sang our twilight songs:
What matter, if we selected different keys?
The time arrived to silence every string:
Two one-way conversations drifted silently downstream.

Words & Music © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP]
 
iTunes Icon      Amazon Icon
  

Released: August 2008

REVIEWS:

"Stunning Lyrics" - iTunes
"Pure elegance ..." - Amazon
"Brilliantly arranged" - CD Baby


"Michel Griffin's singing can transport the listener to the best of old French cinema..." - Amazon

"Fabulous guitar playing and dramatic accompaniments... This is an album to listen to again and again." - iTunes

BACKGROUND:

Time accelerates as you get older. So it is not surprising that the theme of Time runs through the songs on this CD, intertwined, of course, with the eternal theme of Love.

I worked with a number of musicians in making this album, two of whom I have never met. The delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell lives in a remote part of Canada. We 'met' and sung the title song together via the Net. And Alexis Van Eekhout lives in Belgium. We have never been in the same room. But I heard his silky inventive saxophone-playing online and asked him if he would be willing to play on the album. Happily he agreed - you can hear the result on One Way Conversations and The Slipstream of your Smile.

My thanks also go to my friend Albert Casas, who devoted an afternoon to improvising some lovely sax on Dreams Like Bubbles, and another hilarious afternoon to filming us performing the song. To Gérard Lamolère, whose elegant accordion playing adorns Tree Trunks & Rough Stone', and to Michel ’Coco’ Correch for his brilliant double-bass playing on The Slipstream Of Your Smile

TRACK BY TRACK:

One Way Conversations - It was when she sent me back all my love-letters that I realised that our conversations had been strictly one-way! With the fabulous silky tenor-sax playing of Alexis Van Eeckhout.

Me and Bobby McGee - One of my all-time favourite country songs. The treatment here is nearer to Kris Kristofferson's original version than Janis Joplin's rocker ...

You and I - A love-song for those who can still feel that Love is an eternal in an ever-changing world.

Dreams Like Bubbles - I was inspired to write this jazz piece by reading Don Marquis's comment : 'Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose-petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo'. Dreams are like bubbles, blown over cobblestones. With Albert Casas's inventive tenor sax.

The Rose - Maybe it was because it was the day before Valentine's Day, but I heard Bette Midler's version of this on the radio as I was putting the album together, and was blown away by it. It seemed only natural to include it on an album which was themed on Love and the passage of Time.

Perfumed Letter Blues - When I was growing up, I was hooked on John Mayall, Eric Clapton and the original Blues men like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. This is my tribute.

The Slipstream of Your Smile - A song to capture the magic of those moments when your lover holds you captive with her eyes. With Alexis Van Eekhout's silky sax and Michel 'Coco' Correch's rhythmic double-bass.

One Too Many Mornings - I often start my folk-club sets with this evocative, less well-known Dylan song.

Tree Trunks and Rough Stone - I love the simple honesty of old farm-houses, built of local rough-hewn stone and felled tree-trunks. I chose to live in one, and I imagined that I would die there. With the haunting accordion playing of Gérard Lamolère.

Bird on the Wire - One of my favourite Cohen songs, arranged for two guitars. I've been playing this for so long, and yet it always moves me.

You Crack That Smile - Isn't it amazing how a smile transforms a face ? Here's a little piece of jazz about that ...

Who Knows Where the Time Goes ? - Sandy Denny's immortal classic is the final song on the album, and is sung as a duet with the delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell, whom I've never met. (We collaborated on the song via the 'net). One of the finest songs ever written about the fragility of Love in the face of Time.

 
iTunes Icon      Amazon Icon
  

A growing number of music sites allow you to stream my songs in their entirety. If you are an Amazon Music subscriber, for example, you can ask Alexa to Stream Michel Griffin music. Spotify offers a service where you can stream my songs for free. Here are links to some of the streaming services where you can play Who Knows Where the Time Goes:



 

This is just a selection. If your favourite streaming platform is not listed above, try going there and searching for Michel Griffin - chances are, my music will be there. And if you want to buy the album, just click on one of the buttons below!

 
iTunes Icon      Amazon Icon
  

Click or tap its cover to explore an album:
Mornings+Like+This

A selection of 12 - mostly self-penned - lovesongs.
"A beautiful and emotional listening experience ... " - Facebook
Sep 2021
Dance+Me+To+The+End+Of+Love

A collection of 14 beautifully crafted Leonard Cohen songs.
"[Michel's] takes on Leonard's songs are impressive" - Allan Showalter, founder of CohenCentric.com
November 2019
Feel+My+Love

14 of Dylan's greatest lovesongs.
"Beautifully produced album ... pure joy." - Music- News.com

".. songs positively shimmer and shine ... " - Skope Magazine

"Respectful of the originals while offering his own take on these true-blue American classics, Michel Griffin's Feel my Love: Bob Dylan's Finest Lovesongs simply stuns." - Skope Magazine

"Michel's voice - all velvet & smoke - brings new life to the familiar lyrics ... with such feeling it'll give you goosebumps."- Music- News.com

"Griffin manages to capture Dylan's spirit and personality, and more generally the feeling of the 1960s folk music scene, through his elegiac, romantic delivery and dexterous acoustic guitar picking."- The Big TakeOver

Feb 2017
Atlantic+Avenue

9 originals and 5 covers, including Imagine & Suzanne.
"Spectacular Songs" - iTunes
"Superb musicianship" - Amazon
"A poet's poet of our times" - iTunes
Oct 2013
Ballads+and+Blues

Twenty two tracks of Michel in concert.
"Beautiful voice .. emotive singing ..  fine guitar- work" - iTunes
"An utterly natural and masculine voice." - Amazon

August 2013
Russian+Dolls

10 original songs, including 'Russian Dolls' & 'Children of Circumstance'.
"Musical Mastery" - CD Baby
"Well-crafted songs and performance ... A real Keeper!" - CD Baby

"I have rarely heard an album that provides such a compelling combination of poetic and musical pleasures." - CD Baby

"The multi-talented Michel Griffin just gets better and better.." - CD Baby

"I can't say enough good about the album Russian Dolls" - CD Baby

October 2006
Echoes%2C+Waves+or+Ricochets

14 original songs, including 'America, Come Weep, 'Fûr Elise' & 'Freeze the Moment'.
"The new Leonard Cohen ... " - CD Baby
"Masterly songwriting" - iTunes

˜This is one of those rare albums where the lyrics are as good as the melodies. Griffin combines the dexterity of James Taylor's guitar work with the genius of Bob Dylan's poetry. - CD Baby

Michel weaves his magic like an artist on canvas, with inspired lyrics set to haunting melodies that reach deep into your soul. - CD Baby

˜Michel's talent lies not just in his musical prowess but in the eloquence and poignancy of his lyrics." - CD Baby

 

May 2005
The+Still+Centre

14 relaxing, romantic pieces for piano and orchestra, including 'Dreamwing' & 'La Tendresse'.
"Michel Griffin gives [the listener] a special feeling of inspiration and relaxation ... he is a great artist." - Ernesto Cortazar
March 2004