Friday, January 9, 2015

Baltimore Sam and "Caravanserai" - the story behind the song

"Baltimore Sam" in Sirince, Turkey, 3/21/2014
(See the video here: http://youtu.be/ECgXuSTzc2g)
In March of 2014, we visited Sirince, a beautiful little town on a hillside in Turkey. Somewhere on those cobblestone streets, Ping found a great place that served Turkish coffee. Mark and a guy who called himself "Baltimore Sam" struck up a conversation outside while Ping went inside. She beckoned to Mark a few minutes later: she'd ordered Turkish coffee for us. Sam came in, too. The music playing in the background was distinctively Turkish, as well, and we asked Sam about it. He walked over to his laptop on the counter. "Do you have a memory card?" he asked. "I'll copy it for you."