Cartoonist Jeff Smith – you’ve seen his work in the Guide Book Sun Times and the Tradewinds – has a blog. Now, it looks like he’s got a video.
OnYou Tube, the five-minute tour of the island includes flowers, worms, people, beaches, and signs.
The video is set to a track called “Meet Me in Cruz Bay,” which despite all my time on island, I’d never heard. Some superficial Googling finds that the singers, the CowBayCruzBoys, are a band from Mill Valley, California. They put out a CD in 2001. You can download it.
The video’s worth watching (but predictable), the tracks worth hearing (but new even after 7 years), and the blog worth reading. Smith has been on island a long time and knows everybody, and they know him. His profiles and comments are insightful as well as entertaining.
Jeff and some friends get credit on the video for taking the pictures, but it's not clear whether he was also the producer. That credit goes to "captjefe" The video's also got a plug for some rental villas, so it could all be one big marketing stunt. An effective one.
Frank,
Thanks for noticing my “Meet Me in Cruz Bay” music video montage. Old-timers will remember the Cow Bay Cruz Boys, St John’s original “white boy reggae” band from the early 80’s.
Dore Coller, who wrote “Meet Me in Cruz Bay” (among other songs) gave me permission to use the tune in the video, saying, “I’ve waited 25 years for somebody to do something with it”. Tom Funkhouser, who with wife Bonnie, founded the Lime Inn, was guitarist and lead singer on most songs. Their CD is available online at the address you mention. Tom and Dore are originally from the San Francisco area, and still play occasionally out there.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another original Cruz Boy, Fish Bay resident whistler, Doug Van Nostrand, who has written so many great songs made popular by current artists, like T-Bird and Mark Wallace. Doug’s body of work is so good and so extensive that the search for his CDs would be worth the effort. He’s in the phonebook.
As to my humble scrivlings, thanks for checking out http://www.stjohnvitoday.com. I’m fixing up the site and will be posting more soon. And, I am captjefe.
Jeff
Oh, and two more points…
I have never drawn for the Guide Book. That’s Linda Smith (Palmer), no relation, a truly artful cartoonist. My “LiveAboard” strip appeared in both the Sun Times and Tradewinds and can be viewed online at http://www.stjohnvitoday.com.
And, yes, my wife, Candy and I manage the lovely and affordable Mahogany Tree Villas near Frank Bay, providing value vacations to St. John visitors.
Thanks,
Jeff Smith
thanks Jeff for a cool video!
This is very useful. Wish I stumbled your site before. Thanks a lot for this valuable information.
-Sarah