Jimmie Angel’s Flying Circus
from Chasing Beauty
by Ellis Paul
Ellis Paul has been in the music making business for over twenty-five-years. Born in northern Maine, he attended Boston College on a track scholarship (running 10,000 and 5,000 meter races). An injury during his junior year ended his running career and music replaced it. He has won many awards with his music. Currently living in Charlotte, Virginia, his album/CD titled Chasing Beauty, released in 2014, includes a song titled “Jimmie Angel’s Flying Circus.”
Cover Art by Ellis Paul

Photo: Martin Sanderson Morgan
Ellis Paul leaving the Arcata Playhouse stage with his guitar named Guinness, 11 November 2014.
Jimmie Angel is one of Ellis Paul’s heroes. In October 2013, he wrote: Jimmie Angel was an actual person! A barnstormer in the 1930s and in the early years of aviation, he went from town to town in the Midwest giving rides on his airplane as well as performing some incredible stunt flying. He went gold hunting later in life flying over the jungles in Venezuela looking for gold and silver sites for a mining company. While doing this, he discovered the tallest waterfall in the world! Today it is called Angel Falls in honor of him. The song is historical fiction – I imagine him constantly shifting relationships because of his nomadic lifestyle and wrote this from the perspective of someone he left behind.
Drawing by Ellis Paul
JIMMIE ANGEL’S FLYING CIRCUS
Lyrics by Ellis Paul, Kristian Bush and Brandon Bus
I knew you in your carnie days
We watched the big top swept away
You rode the wings of a hurricane
And washed the souls of the clowns away
An Ohio cornfield eight feet high
A barker’s voice
cuts through the sky
“Oh, Dear friends! You won’t believe your eyes!
When Jimmie Angel daredevil flies!
A death defying side show!
Gentlemen and Ladies!
Let your eyes behold! Behold!
You’re a refugee, you’re a runaway
You’ll plant your seeds
But you won’t stay
You’ll lift your wings
Cause there’ll come a day
When you fear the trees
Get in the way
You’re riding in a sky show
A barrel-rolling flying circus
Barnstorming,
billboard celebrity.
Drawing by Ellis Paul
When the sky falls
Will you have it all?
The gold?
The rivers?
The waterfalls?
This life is a dance
A game of chance
The chase Is all you’ll ever know
Go
A Missouri girl with blue sky eye
“Step right up --- It’s just a buck a ride!”
Above the clouds a kiss, a sigh
Late night stars and last goodbyes
You’re walking up the silos
Chicago to St. Louis
Taking the towns gold
And then you blew right through us
CREDITS:
Vocals and Acoustic Guitar: Ellis Paul
Bass: Gray Griggs
Drums: Travis McNabb
Keyboards: Brandon Bush
Electric Guitar: Tom Tapley
Additional Vocals: Red Molly (Molly Vetner, Abbie Gardner, Laurie MacAllister)
Ellis Paul l Ellis Paul Publishing – SESAC
Kristian Bush l Song of The Architect – BMI
Brandon Bush l Another Song of the Architect – ASCAP
Ellis Paul’s fans donated over $115,000.00 to pay for the production of Chasing Beauty. Chasing Beauty is available on vinyl and CD.