Listen to ‘The Devil Wind Blues’ here.

Santana Winds are howlin’ and the night is closing in.
Santana Winds are howlin’ and the night is closing in.
There is no escaping once these devil winds begin.

Hear those sirens wailing? A smell of smoke is in the air.
Hear those sirens wailing? A smell of smoke is in the air.
Some fool playing with matches while devil winds are on a tear.

These winds keep growing stronger. Black night is falling fast.
These winds keep growing stronger. The black night is falling fast.
While I grow weak and weary trying to get beyond the past.

Don’t it seem like everything keep changing? Seems like nothin’ sticks around.
Everything keep changing. Nothin’ sticks around.
But these old devil winds? They will always make it back to town.

The air so dry and stifling. I would take the damp and cold.
This air so dry and stifling. I would take the damp and cold.
I lie here in this room feeling lost and gettin’ old.

Danny Faragher

Every year without fail, the Santa Anas – the ‘Devil Winds’ –
arrive in Southern California, to blow their hot dry air
through the passes and down to the coast, toppling
trees,  stoking raging fires, and making a person’s skin crawl.

In his book ‘Red Wind’ Raymond Chandler, in the voice
of P.I. Phillip Marlowe, writes:

‘There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was
one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down
through the mountain passes and curl your hair and
make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights
like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little
wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their
husbands’ necks. Anything can happen . You can even
get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.’

I thought the theme of the Devil Winds as an ever occurring presence could make
a good blues. I imagined the singer lying in a room, a world-weary soul filled with
regret and disappointment, as outside the wind howls,  sirens wail, and a smell
of smoke fills the air. All of which  serves to create an atmosphere of claustrophobia
that cannot be escaped. The realization that these winds have probably been coming
for millennia and will always ‘make it back to town’ prompt the singer to confront his
own mortality with a sigh.

The players:
Danny Faragher – vocal, harmonica, organ, and trombone
Craig Copeland   – electric guitar, and lap steel guitar.
Simeon Pillich    – bass
Chris Blondal      – drums

Front Album Cover of Dancing with the Moment – Danny Faragher