columbia '72 album - song notes
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on this page, i give brief biographical and contextual information about each song,  how it came to be written, etc.   for a more detailed biographical memoir  by kendell kardt, click the link: ' the poems of bernard rudolph ' on the home page.   be sure to read the disclaimer before proceeding.


click on the title of any song to go to the 'lyrics' page.


    1) didn't wanna love you -  this is one of a several songs written for Varda Perry, alias countess varda von bamenberg, whose collection of antique BMW motorcycles is still the talk of vienna.  but really, varda was an israeli girl from Louisville, KY, transposed to Marin County. After taking a lot of acid, she realized that her boyfriend, heir to the Brown Forman distillery fortune was a dork, and she took up with me.  i fell hopelessly in love with her, after the break up of my marriage to Lynne Charles.  the reason, as usual, had to do with the fact that we had about as much chance of communicating as a rock and a clam.  we just got attached was all.  it was fun while it lasted.
         2)  funky song -  this song, like get in a groove', was written in late 1971 after the break up of my marriage to Lynne Charles.  i was  living  at the time at 201 Sequoia Dr.  at the foot of our hill, on the main drag out of San Rafael,  was a night club called the Lion's Share,  that    featured  live music by local bands.  i was booked there to perform several times,  and also resorted to it as my local hang out.  Van Morrison      performed  there frequently as well.  it was  convenient venue to for him to try out new material, since he lived just up the road on the other hill.  i knew  him and all his band members and family,  so it was a friendly environment where we often partied till late in the evening.

         3)  greyhound depot  -  vies with stealin' love for the saddest song award.  this also written after the split with Lynne.  draws on my extensive experience hanging around bus terminals

         4)  lady of a thousand songs  -  also written for Varda, ( where are you now? call or write home. )  we spent a lot of time alone exploring  a mutual interest in love making.  we didn't do so well in social setting with other people.  on a serious note, my relationship with ms. perry was characerized by an intensity both emotional and sexual which i had not felt before,  out time together inspired a dozen beautiful and tender songs.  it also provided clues to what had been so lacking in my recent marriage.

         5)  little sparrow  -  Varda and i  had  our share of ups and downs.  culminating in the Civil War.   it took a while to sort things out.

         6)  marylou  -  on the other hand, there was Marylou.  she and i had no trouble at all getting along.  we met.  talked for 15 minutes, and fell to the kitchen floor in a heap for final negotiations.  i should have stuck with HER.  ( you call home too, Marylou,  wherever you may be. )

        7)  stealin' love  -  notes for stealin' love can be found by clicking here.  

        8)  you let me down  -  the last for Lynne Charles.  now the bases are covered.  her fault.  my fault.  nobody's fault.  it's just life.