The Mud Folio

This Extra Sediment edition collects Greenberg's still-unsung lyrics. Here are lyrics from his many tatty notebooks, dripping with wit, popping with promise, all jammed into this book lovingly designed for ultimate reader satisfaction.

Volume contains: ()

The Mud Folio is a book of mostly unsung lyrics by some guy you never heard of. Why should you even care? The great Ramsey Lewis, the witty Ann Hampton Callaway, the plangent Hugo Burnham and a few others have given Greenberg quotes urging you to do so. RAMSEY LEWIS "David Greenberg is the kind of lyricist that comes along once every umpteen years. His lyrics are-fresh, unique and speak to every human emotion. They not only stimulate the mind but they also find their way into one's soul. I hope you find them as enlightening as I have."- HUGO BURNHAM Gang of Four "As a drummer who only ever wrote one set of song lyrics that went on a record...I have no idea how David does this stuff without a guitar-player to constantly argue with."- ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY "Calling all composers get barefoot and take a walk through the Mud Folio. You will find songs waiting for you along the way. Half full glasses of a hundred proof lyrics waiting to spill over with music. Get drunk as you see the world through his eyes. Wise and plenty of why's. Give it a few tries. Surprise!" Those testimonials, while real, are the kind of marketing spooge inserted into these descriptions to help you spend money on items like this; a slim volume of lyricals, unsung songs, and not even highfalutin poetry. You know, by reading it, you could turn the world into a better place, at least for the author who has been staying up nights worrying his lyrical musings should be hitting the road and making an honest life for themselves. That author, David Greenberg, has been in the music biz for most of his adult life. He's directed Grammy-nominated music videos, scripted the platinum selling Kiss eXposed for Paul and Gene, was Product Manager for Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Cesar Rosas, Robert Hunter, Bill Laswell, and stunt PM for Morphine, FZ, and MMW, among others, and then as Director of Marketing for a boutique booking agency/management company, working with the creme de la creme of the jazz world like Pat Metheny, Sonny Rollins, Gary Burton, Ramsey Lewis and Ann Hampton Callaway. (Now you know how he wangled those quotes getting you to read at least this far.) And yet, the bulk of his lyrics still lay in a drawer unsung; deadbeat children who should be out there earning the big bucks, or more importantly, of course, changing the lives of millions around the world. Heck, in these strange times, he'd even be grateful for a few pennies on the dollar and a few listeners given a good chuckle. While Greenberg's been writing lyrics since he was a pup, he's rarely found himself around a musician who wanted to turn the words into penetrating, timeless songs...as Cary Baker, of conqueroo wrote, "David never found his Elton John to his Bernie Taupin." Nor his Jerry Garcia, his Burt Bacharach, his Neil Innes & Viv Stanshall, his Drumbo for that matter. That's not to puff up the lyrical quality of the collection to the size of an alarmed blowfish and insinuate Greenberg is a Bernie Taupin, a Hal David, a Captain Beefheart--but even they weren't icons when they first started tipping their lyrics into the measures of their musical partners. And to canvass for his own Reggie Dwight(1) or John French(2) by trying to hand out the sheets of lyrics to budding musicians like a hyper and overzealous Dr. Feelgood doling out pills to wary prospective customers seemed a bit slimey--to the budding musicians, at least--with the predictable outcome of having very few stuck to the proverbial wall and even less deep in the literal pockets. Just a scant three have music written to them. Which three? Gotta buy the book, dude, to find out. Get your copy today and start the rest of your music career on a straight path to hitdom. Or at least jump start Greenberg's! Why hesitate? Didn't the quotes above mean anything to you? Who else do we have to cajole and connive to get you interested? Sorry, not Sir Paul. Can't. Ever since Greenberg worked with Ms. Ono... (1)Elton John (2)Drumbo

Who were the medieval illuminators? How were their hand-produced books illustrated and decorated? In this beautiful book Jonathan Alexander presents a survey of manuscript illumination throughout Europe from the fourth to the sixteenth century. He discusses the social and historical context of the illuminators' lives, considers their methods of work, and presents a series of case studies to show the range and nature of the visual sources and the ways in which they were adapted, copied, or created anew. Alexander explains that in the early period, Christian monasteries and churches were the main centers for the copying of manuscripts, and so the majority of illuminators were monks working in and for their own monasteries. From the eleventh century, lay scribes and illuminators became increasingly numerous, and by the thirteenth century, professional illuminators dominated the field. During this later period, illuminators were able to travel in search of work and to acquire new ideas, they joined guilds with scribes or with artists in the cities, and their ranks included nuns and secular women. Work was regularly collaborative, and the craft was learned through an apprenticeship system. Alexander carefully analyzes surviving manuscripts and medieval treatises in order to explain the complex and time-consuming technical processes of illumination - its materials, methods, tools, choice of illustration, and execution. From rare surviving contracts, he deduces the preoccupation of patrons with materials and schedules. Illustrating his discussion with examples chosen from religious and secular manuscripts made all over Europe, Alexander recreates the astonishing variety and creativity ofmedieval illumination. His book will be a standard reference for years to come.