Fred Cole in Weeden: #5 --“Carolina“

One of the final songs composed by Fred Cole and Steve Koski in Weeden was this song, “Carolina”. The personnel on this archived rehearsal recording includes Fred, Steve, and Steve Ekman, former guitarist and vocalist for The New Tweedy Brothers in Portland, OR; Ekman joined Weeden playing bass in the group’s final months together. In “Carolina”, Fred Cole’s lyrics chronicle a desperate need to escape from a bleak existence in a city of disturbing, intolerable social conditions, and to return home to Carolina (…“Up or Down, for home I’m bound“...“Got my tickets, Got my bags packed”…) The musical motive and rhythm evoke a rolling, jostling train ride. Within a few months, Steve Koski’s next band, Notary Sojac, created a new version of “Carolina” as their first song. Find a 1973 version at : This later performance has an instrumental arrangement that emphasizes the powerful locomotive transport, with imagery of the rolling wheels and blasts of t