[Dixielandjazz] None

[Bill Gunter]

Listmates,

I hate to take issue with my friend, co-member of the Boondockers Jazz Band, 
and Moderator of the DJML, Bob Ringwald.

Bob posted an admonishment to refrain from further discussion of the 
Bruichladdich distillery, named by the pentagon as a place that makes 
weapons of mass destruction.

The posting originally was made by listmate Rob Van Der Plas who (in a wry 
sort of way) asked me to make some Bruichladdich available to the members of 
the DJML.

Now Bruichladdich is a wonderful (single malt) elixer and I posted a 
response to the DJML with a link to the Bruichladdich website in which you 
will find a wonderful song (The Coast of Heaven).

There can be no debate as to whether or not the topic and the song are fair 
grounds for sharing on the DJML. They obviously can.

If booze has not a close association to jazz we might as well prohibit such 
songs as "Alcoholic Blues" and any number of drinking songs!

If a DJMLer were to actually click on the link I provided they would be able 
to hear "The Coast of Heaven) which, in my mind, is every bit as pertinent a 
song as "What a Wonderful World," "Sweet Lotus Blossom," "Careless Love" 
Maxine Sullivan's "Loch Lomond" and other ballads. As a matter of fact. I 
could sing this song at the next jazz festival we're book at and I'd 
guarantee a great reception.

"Yeah, Right!" you say sacrastically, but I challenge you to read the words 
to this song (and hear it on the Bruichladdich website) and not be moved. By 
the way, once again, here is the website:

http://www.bruichladdich.com/

     And here are the lyrics to the song:

           The Coast of Heaven

One day as I was walking by the shores of Loch Indaal
I met a man with sadness in his eyes
His story was as haunting as the lonely seabirds call
and he told me of the day he wept and walked away
as he watched the fire at Bruichladdich die

He told me of a place one would never sleep
with hiss of steam and clang and furnace roar
How that sleeping beauty lies trapped in slumber deep
the moonbeams full of dust and gates in chains of rust
and ghosts that wander the Bruichladdich floor

(refrain)
And the moon smiles kindly on the western seas,
perfume tumbles on the midnight breeze
standing on the island of distilleries
you can almost see the coast of heaven

Here I stand again after years have gone by
with a Bruichladdich in my hand once more
it reminds me of the magic of a moonlit sky
the way it catches light smells of summer nights
and the sea that touches the Bruichladdich shore

(refrain)
And the moon smiles kindly on the western seas,
perfume tumbles on the midnight breeze
standing on the island of distilleries
you can almost see the coast of heaven

So I'll drink to the men who saw a tiny spark
and thought that they could turn it to a flame
Men who chased the dream who dragged it from the dark
to see the light of day and fought to find a way
to bring new meaning to the Bruichladdich name

(refrain)
And the moon smiles kindly on the western seas,
perfume tumbles on the midnight breeze
standing on the island of distilleries
You can almost see the coast of heaven . . .
You can almost see the coast of heaven.

Slainte!

Bill "I'll drink to that" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com

ps - And thanks to the media reports that linked the Bruichladdich 
distillery to "weapons of mass destruction" -- turn out they were "weapons 
of jazz!"

-bg

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