“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Mellow Down Easy

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Never Forget (The River Song '04) Ryan
   The first fish that I caught was in 1954
   Over in the river that ran outside my family’s door.
   It was just a little thing, barely the limit at best,
   But I was only 5 years old, and I was very impressed.
   
   Mama fried it up, it had more bone than meat.
   And Grandpa smacked his lips, and thanked me for catching that special treat.
   And I fished that river for fourteen summers more,
   ‘Til I got my call from Uncle Sam to go and fight in his dirty little war.
   
   And I went. And I fought. And I killed, and I came home.
   But that’s another story, and folks around here like it left alone.
   And Grandpa was gone when I came home, it was Ma and Pa and me
   Sittin’ in the house, down at the bend, where the river used to be.
   
   Where the river used to be
   Where the river used to be
   I’m throwin’ rocks at an old tin can
   Where the river used to be.
   
   Sometimes I get so mad I stand on the corner and yell
   And people say, “Well, he was in the war", and I tell ‘em they can to to hell.
   Then I go upstream, to where the river’s dammed and dead.
   And I empty my bottles, and I bust the glass on the banks of the dusty riverbed.
   
   Where the river used to be
   Where the river used to be
   I’m throwin’ rocks at an old tin can
   Where the river used to be.
   
   Thirty some years later, my child went of to war.
   And she came home with her leg shot off, and it’s the same thing as before
   They say they got no money, no funding for the vet
   She’s just another soldier, they’re trying to forget.
   
   Where the river used to be
   Where the river used to be
   There are those of us who won’t forget
   Where the river used to be
   
   Where the river used to be
   Where the river used to be
   There are those of us who’ll never forget
   Where the river used to be
   
   
2. MP3   Burnin' (Like a Kerouac Coyote) (Ryan)

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   I Don't Believe (Ryan)

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Statesboro Blues
2. MP3   Mama Robicheaux (Ryan)
   For what I need, don't need to go to Tibet.
   Don't gotta get a guru, to get what I gotta get.
   Don't need no self improvement tapes
   That I can buy or rent or
   No tickets to Maui, to no mystic psychic center.
   I just go
   And I visit, Mama Robicheaux
   
   She's got the way of the woman,
   Dancin' in the moon.
   I'm just some old coyote, darlin',
   Just tryin' to care the tune.
   She puts gris gris on the candle,
   Walks in the right direction.
   Takes me to the river,
   Shows me my reflection and much more.
   When I visit, Mama Robicheaux
   
   (br)
   She's got the power of love
   Right there atr her command.
   But the power's there for everyone,
   That's what she understands.
   I've seen the cottonmouths
   Just eating from her hand,
   And man, you know,
   Yes it's so
   Oh the eagle cries for Mama Robicheaux.
   The eagle cries for Mama Ro.
   The eagle cries for what the sisters know.
   
   The New Age ain't nothin',
   But the boomers findin' out.
   Bout all the mysteries and the magic,
   that everybody else always knew about.
   We are young we must be humble,
   Do you recognize that truth?
   Or do you still think Led Zeppalin
   Invented the blues?
   Ohhhhhhh
   You better talk to, Mama Robicheaux.
   
   Now Mama says what's really true
   Is in the bible and the hoodoo too.
   Some folks talkin' bout the Sermon on the Mount
   Others talkin' bout John the Conqueroo.
   The camel's stuck in the needle child,
   It never will get through.
   She said listen to me, honey,
   Here's what you got to do, I know you know
   You got to let your little light shine
   Let your mojo glow
   
   Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Found Love

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Black Cat at Midnight (Ryan)
   I said, “Hey baby.” She said, “What?”
   I said, “Is there somethin’ goin’ on?” She said, “No, of course not.”
   She looked me in they eye. She said everything is fine.
   
   But I can tell, she’s got something on her mind.
   
   CH: Like a freight train in the fog,
   
   I hear that whistle moan,
   
   Like a Black Cat at Midnight,
   
   It chills me to the bone.
   
   Could it be she’s found another? Could it be her time has passed?
   Is she starting in to wonder, if our love will last?
   Is there something that I’m doin’? Something I just can’t see?
   Is she gettin’ bored? Gettin’ ready to leave me?
   
   
   CH: Like a freight train in the fog
   I hear that whistle moan.
   Like a Black Cat at Midnight
   It chills me to the bone.
   
   Babe, you know we’ve got to talk, even if we don’t know what to say.
   Cause the scream within the silence just gets louder everyday.
   Every little problem seems to fester like a sore.
   Until, one day in anger, someone’s walkin’ out the door.
   
   CH: Like a freight train in the fog
   I hear that whistle moan.
   Like a Black Cat at Midnight ( I can’t see it,)
   But, it chills me to the bone.
   

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Katie Mae

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Goin' Down to Baghdad Blues (Ryan)
   Sand in my bedrole,
   sand in my walkin’ shoes.
   The sky’s blood red
   I got the Bagdad Blues
   
   Minutes seem like days,
   Days seem like years.
   First you think you see them
   And then they disappear.
   
   We went down to the crossroads
   And we took the Irish Route.*
   They hit us with and IED.
   We’re lucky anybody made it out.
   
   Tears on the pillow
   Where my head used to lay
   Don’t you worry darlin’
   I’ll be home someday.
   
   Everyday feels like murder here.
   
   *The road from the Green Zone
   to the Airport

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Desperate Man Blues
2. MP3   Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out)

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Werewolf Blues (Ryan)
   What’s all this red meat
   in this deadbeat neighborhood?
   What am I doing here ? he said,
   my guess is this ain’t good.
   Things that I don’t understand.
   Blood on my lips and blood on my hands
   I cannot think, what did I do?
   
   Runnin’ down the road. Runnin’ from the Werewolf Blues
   
   Child cries out in the night.
   Mom and Dad deny the fright.
   But the child already knows the verse.
   And rushes to embrace it’s curse.
   Screams that no one ever hears.
   They block their eyes, they break their ears
   Helpless, helpless what to do?
   
   You wake up screamin’, you been dreamin ‘bout the Werewolf Blues
   
   Ancient cries beneath the bed
   You lie there in your fear and dread
   Rememberin’ what your Grandma said.
   “You know you hear them.”
   Best not leave your soul in park
   Seek the shadow, seek the spark
   And take along your dancin’ shoes
   
   By the midnight moon, you’ll be dancin’ out the Werewolf Blues

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Too Many Tears (Ryan)
   Too Many Tears (c. Walker T Ryan)
   
   Too many days, just walkin’ alone.
   Carryin’ tombstones and pickin’ up bones.
   Lookin’ for love. Just a love of my own.
   Poor boy, just a long, long way from home.
   
   Too many nights, just singin’ the blues
   I couldn’t see, how much I’d lose.
   How much I’d cry, in that cold motel room.
   Just wonderin’ why, It all ended so soon.
   
   Too many days. Too many nights.
   Too many days. Too many nights.
   
   Too many years, holding you in my heart.
   Rememberin’ our love, and how it all fell apart.
   In a room with no view, no phone and no lights.
   And nobody to call, to make it all right.
   
   Too many days. Too many years.
   Too many nights. Too Many Tears
   

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Corinna

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   For Lovin' You (Ryan)
   Sometimes I find I have this fear.
   And it chills me to the bone.
   It's the fear of being without you.
   It's the fear of being alone.
   
   Oh, baby. What would I do?
   Everything I am, I am
   For Lovin' You
   
   old was the wind.
   Dark was the night.
   Until that bright day
   when you walked into my life.
   
   Ch.
   
   (bridge)
   Oh my love lovin' you. It's so fine.
   You're my bread in the morning,
   Your my nighttime wine.
   Your everything I was waiting for.
   You ain't just the key, darlin',
   You're the whole damn door.
   
   Come on lets go.
   And build us a home.
   We can sit by the fire
   When the children are grown.
   And talk of the days
   And the nights that we've seen.
   And talk of our life and our love and our dreams.
   
   Oh, baby, you know it's true.
   I fully intend to spend the rest of my life
   Lovin' you.
   
   

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Taxicab Blues (Ryan)
2. MP3   Black Velvet Elvis (Ryan)
   I work the swap meets, and I make my price,
   Selling black velvet paintings of Elvis, and Christ,
   The Red Man’s Last Stand, and The Bullfighter’s Prize,
   And those skinny little kids with the great big blue eyes.
   
   When it came to love, I’d been down on my luck
   When Ramona arrived in her old pickup truck
   Selling her tie-dye in the booth next to mine.
   She was twenty-eight; I was booth twenty-nine.
   
   Chorus
   
   We were both kind of quiet, both kind of shy,
   Which is strange for folks who sell to get by.
   And no one ever thought, ‘cause no one ever tried,
   To mix black velvet paintings with Deadhead tie-dye.
   
   (Solo)
   
   We traveled together the whole summer through,
   Love on the road, and love in the booth,
   But one Saturday morning, Pomona State Fair,
   Ramona was gone, her booth it was bare.
   
   Chorus
   
   I traveled the circuit just hoping to see ‘er,
   Lookin’ for tie-dyed pictures of Jerry Garcia.
   But by late September I knew one thing for sure:
   I’d probably see Elvis before I saw her.
   
   Black Velvet Elvis, twenty bucks for the King,
   Sold by a man who’s been shortchanged on dreams.
   A man who is lonely with nothin’ to lose
   At a fair in Fontana with the Black Velvet blues.
   At a field out in Fresno with the Black Velvet blues.
   At a drive-in in Drain with the Black Velvet blues.

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Pony Blues

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Young Road Blues (Ryan)

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Goin Down Slow
2. MP3   Steal Away (Ryan)

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Write Me A Few Of Your Lines
2. MP3   Blues For Rooster (Ryan)

“Former folk singer Walker T Ryan (part of the early ‘60’s folk scene of NY’s Greenwich Village) returns with his second album of the noughties . . . steeped in the Delta Blues of yesteryear. Walker’s folk beginnings still manifest throughout this collection but the intensity, rhythm and passion is drawn more clearly from the Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son House, and Howlin’ Wolf. Like those originators, where Ryan’s music wins is in the honesty conveyed through his vocals and the ability to “hold” throughout each engaging song (as his press release states accurately, “he’s a storyteller who spins tales and weaves connections”) . . . The fact his own compositions stand-up alongside the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, present here, is perfect testament to that statement. Ryan’s interpretation of Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” perfectly sums up this whole collection - fresh and original with all the magic of the originals perfectly in-tact.” Darren Howells Blues Matters (UK)- Feb/ March Issue

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Burnin' (Like a Kerouac Coyote)-Ryan

"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1.    Hold On

These are the Blues. This is what I'm doing now.

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Pony Blues- from "13"
2. MP3   Werewolf Blues (Underdog American Music) c. w t ryan

Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

1. MP3   Liar Liar (wt ryan c.2004)
   this song is downloadable at http://www.myspace.com/walkertryan
   
   Liar Liar pants on fire
   Nose as long as a telephone wire.
   I remember the day and the rumblin' sound.
   Ashes, ashes all fall down.
   
   Hey, what you talkin' about?
   
   Hold a grudge, don't ever budge
   Duck the jury. Buy the judge.
   Black is white and white is black.
   Keep on walkin' and don't look back
   
   Hey, what you talkin' about?
   
   A little boy and a dangerous man
   Headed down to Mecca without a plan.
   Coffins, coffins tumblin' down
   Disappear 'fore they hit the ground.
   
   Hey, what you talkin' about?
   
   Tend the fire sing the song.
   When somethings lost it's really gone.
   Sit in graveyards, heed the dead.
   Remember what the wise ones said:
   
   Liar Liar pants on fire
   Nose as long as a telephone wire.
   I remember the day and the rumblin' sound.
   Ashes, ashes all fall down.
   
   
2. MP3   Cadillac Style (Ryan) Produced by Kenny Passarelli
   Cadillac Style (Ryan)
   
   She comes into the room, everybody turns
   The young ones crave and the old ones yearn.
   She walks across the floor, just like the Queen of the Nile.
   
   My baby's got Cadillac Style (2)
   She walks like the Queen of the Nile
   My baby's got Cadillac Style
   
   She don't make me nervous, don't talk to much
   Digs Bo Diddley. Loves to touch.
   She's number one on my radio dial.
   
   My baby's got Cadillac Style (2)
   Number one on my radio dial.
   My baby's got Cadillac Style.
   
   Late at night, when the sun goes down
   When there isn't anybody else around.
   She comes to me, with her feminine wiles.
   
   My baby's got Cadillac Style (2)
   Oh, her feminine wiles
   My baby's got Cadillac Style.
   
   
   c. 2006 Ryan etc.