Category: Studio Recordings

The Pickpocket is Lyrical, Two (1994)
by Eric Stokes

I. Bull ‘Gine ‘n’ Tarriers

II. Breath Can Blow Both Ways

…hot on cold fingers

…cold on hot soup

III. Pop the Whip

IV. Go ‘Way From My Window

…from my door

…my bedside

…bother me no more

V. Over the Deep Blue Moon

The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two incorporates several folk melodies (and a few of the composer’s own) in a fairly straightforward setting rich in lyricism and humor.

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Susquehannas (1985)
by Eric Stokes

I. Nostrum

1. a pet scheme for the solution of some problem;
2. from the Latin, “on our own” (i.e., invented and made by the seller, especially in reference to patent medicines).

II. Buffalo Bones … all the way to Medicine Hat.

III. Whangdoodles

1. mythical creatures of ill-defined characteristics, sometimes noisy, mischievous or nocturnal; 
2. apprehensions resulting from the believed perception of such creatures.

The title of Susquehannas refers in part to the convergence of streams like Cherry Valley, Lick-Run, Tunkhannock, Hop Bottom, and Tuscarora in the Eastern mountains. The early people who lived along those banks called themselves the Susquehanna.

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