Never make it home by seven

In the early 1970s a singer-songwriter named Jeff Zoss was playing at the Passim’s club in Cambridge. Bonnie Raitt’s manager, Dick Waterman, happened to be in the club. Zoss played “Been too long at the fair” and other songs. After the show Waterman asked Zoss for a tape of the song to play for Raitt. It was included on her second album (along with another Zoss song “I Gave My Love A Candle”). This was called “Give It Up”. Its an amazing album but Raitt didn’t achieve her breakout commercial success until years later with the “Nick of Time” album in 1989.

Passim’s was an amazing Boston institution and an incredible number of artists performed there. I think I saw a couple dozen shows there when I lived in Boston. I never saw Jeff Zoss perform there but his songwriting is incredible. I heard Bonnie Raitt’s version of “Been Too Long At the Fair” before I heard the original. I thought it was incredibly beautiful. I’m glad I also got to see Bonnie Raitt perform. She put on a great show (this was also in Boston but much later).

You can see a YouTube video of Jeff Zoss (and Jeff Adkins) performing the song on British TV in 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaAdtAw1jrg. And there are multiple Bonnie Raitt versions on YouTube (of course). But the remastered version from the second album is well worth a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKgNgGnpaCo. The history of Club Passim is on Wikipedia.

Anyway, at some point I recorded the song on my phone during practice sessions. It was one of my electrics and has a ton of atmospheric reverb going on. I found it on a thumb drive and thought I’d post it if only to point out that its my favorite Bonnie Raitt song. That probably has to do with both that its a beautiful song and when I heard it. Raitt’s voice and the production were unusual for the time and the song is just something else.

There’s another song called “(Have I Stayed) Too Long at the Fair” written by Billy Barnes and recorded by Barbra Streisand. Going to the fair and staying just a bit too long is an old metaphor. There’s even the old English nursery rhyme “Johnny’s So Long at the Fair” from the 1700s. The phrase “it’s possible to stay too long at the Fair” was used by author Joan Didion in her essay “Goodbye to All That” that appears in “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”.

Jesus cried, wept and died
I guess he went up to heaven
I've been downtown such a long, long time
I'll never make it home by seven
Won't you come and take me home
I've been too long at the fair
And Lord, I just can't stand it anymore