Masters of War

Masters of War


format: 7" vinyl

dan goebel: double bass
max avery lichtenstein: drums, piano, organ, vocal
jason merritt: acoustic guitar, lead vocal
tony san marco: banjo, pump organ
jesse sparhawk: mandolin

recorded and produced by max avery lichtenstein



OUR OFFICIAL STATEMENT

March of 2003 found Timesbold on tour through Europe, and America on the brink of a war with Iraq. Needless to say, being Americans abroad at such a time caused us our due of nervousness... we weren't exactly sure how we would be received. We decided that we needed to do or say something to at least set the record straight on where we stood amongst this mess of pre-war talk, and Tony had the fine idea of doing a cover version of the Dylan song " Masters of War". We went ahead with it, and in the process discovered that we happened to be playing the song close to its 40th anniversary... it was originally released on May 27th, 1963.

Now it really is a shame that 40 years have come and gone and we still need to be singing this song, but the words resonate as powerfully today as they did in the early '60s. The song works now as it did then 'cause it doesn't single out a particular country or criticize a particular event... it simply shines a harsh light on the shadowy realities of power-politics and greed, exposing the abhorrent behavior of those who are willing to sacrifice the well-being of others for the benefit of only themselves and their special interests.

People's reaction to our live version of "Masters of War" was striking, so when we returned home from the tour we decided to put together a recorded version. We also recorded a Timesbold version of an old Whip song called "Gospel of Thomas", which was another unfortunately suitable song for the tour that we dedicated nightly to 'the man upstairs' in the States.

These 2 tracks have now been released on a limited edition 7" single through Zeal Records... Give it a listen and give it a thought... Let's hope the song doesn't need to live another 40 years.

(c) 2003 tin drum recordings
released by ZEALRECORDS may 27th 2003

TRACK LISTING

side a: masters of war
words & music by bob dylan
published by warner brothers music/ascap

side b: gospel of thomas
words by whip, music by timesbold
published by departure music/ascap

LIMITED EDITION
7" VINYL - OUT OF PRINT