two trashcan tunes

So now I know of two pop songs with the word "trashcan" in the title. The second, which I heard on the radio today, is "Love in a Trashcan" by the Raveonettes.

The first one, of course, is "Standing in a Trashcan, Thinking About You" by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy.

when bad things happen to good songs

nitpicking about geography if i may

I was in the car, listening to "Cotton Fields" as done by the Highwaymen. There are plenty of other versions, if you prefer. Creedence Clearwater Revival's version comes to mind. Anyway I was struck by the line "It was down in Louisiana / Just about a mile from Texarkana."

I've been to Texarkana. Both Texarkana, TX and Texarkana, AR. They are close to Louisiana, but not close enough that any patrt of Louisiana could be described as being "just about a mile from Texarkana." If it were up to me, that line would be rewritten as "Just a few miles from Texarkana" or something vague like that.

recording with eric and amy

The short of it is that I had a great time recording with Eric and Amy last Saturday.

The long of it is, well, longer. All in all, I spent about 14 hours with them. That included not just recording, but lunch, dinner, conversation. When I left at 2:00 AM Sunday, the recording was not finished. Eric was still working on adding some mellotron tracks. At that moment, I think, it was trumpets. He still wanted to add some more touchups, some handclaps, and adjust the volumes. Perhaps I should ghave volunteered to leave earlier?

First, I should note that Eric and Amy were extremely gracious. They're extremely nice people, and weren't at all stuck up. There was no "We're the professional rock musicians and you're just a fanboy" attitude.

One thing I noticed is that they approached this very differently than County Q studios did when I paid them to make a demo of  "Jackpot." County Q was acting as a demo service. Not as critics or partners. Their job was to produce as good-sounding a record as they could of the song I sent them. It didn't matter if they liked it or not. I could have sent them a recording of someone singing "A blind man's penis is erect because he's blind" over and over. And that's what they would have turned into a record. Oh, they would have fancied up the arrangement to make it sound as radio-ready as they could. But the lyrics would have been the same. The melody would have been the same. The chord progression would have been the same.

Amy and Eric didn't view it that way. They made some modifications to the song. More on the specifics later. I am not sure what their exact motivation was. Perhaps it was personal pride, that if they were making a record of a song they wanted it to be as good as it could be. Or it could be that they felt a sort of paternalistic desire to help me w1hen there were obvious ways to improve the song. Or it could have been something else. Or a combination of considerations. I don't know what would have happened if I had stomped my feet and said "No! I want a recording of the song Scott and I wrote. The way we wrote it. Don't change a word or a note or a chord." But I wasn't about to.

The changes? Well, they sped it up and changed the key. But those aren't major changes -- though upspeeding it certainly changed the feel. They also made some changes to the lyrics. Not major changes -- meaning there's no place where lyrics were removed or added, or replaced with something that makes you say "Where the hell did that come from?" But these were real changes. One example that comes to mind is in the second verse. The original lyric was "I remember that it ended in a great big fight / I can't remember and I don't care who was wrong or right." They rewrote that as "It didn't end in a great big fight / No one was wrong and no one was right." This works better with the following line which talks about never actually breaking up, but just fading away.

The changes were substantial enough that I asked if I should give them songwriting credit (on the off chance that I find someone interested in publishing). They said yes. So I have the thrill of sharing a songwriting credit with someone I've been a fan of for this long. For the time being I am assuming I don't have to register another copyright. This is similar enough to the original that I doubt the few new elements will be stolen. And I know that if there's money to be made I'll not cheat Eric and Amy. Which leaves the question of what percentages everyone would get. I'm inclined to avoid quibbling and just say 25% apiece (for me, Eric, Amy and Scott). Hopefully no one will feel cheated and complain. If anything, I'm erring on the generous side, since the majority of the song is me -- both melodically and lyrically. But I guess it's easy to be generous with zero.

I'll note that I also learned a bit of songwriting from the experience. I've always had trouble writing bridges -- mine almost always sound too similar to the rest of the song. Amy and Eric sure fixed that. Amy explained it thusly: The bridge is where you can go crazy. So maybe the problem is that I've always played it safe with bridges, when I should have been going bold. I'll try to remember that in future songwriting endeavors.

I am hoping that, in the future, Eric and Amy will work with me on other projects. The fee, my Kickstarter pledge, was well worth it.

i have failed as a father

It was a small group of people -- my son, me, and a few other adults. Referring to a videotape, I said "Oh, this has Ringo Starr."

My son asked who Ringo Starr is.

When I told him that he was the drummer for the Beatles, he asked "was that the pothead band that made bad music?"

pre-date jitters

Tomorrow I have a date upstate to record with Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. This is the session that is my pledge gift for supporting their latest album, A Working Museum. And I'm nervous. And giddy. Maybe gervous is the best description. In a weird way, I feel like a schoolkid looking forward to his first date with a girl he's long had a crush on.

Remember, I've been a fan or Eric's music for several decades. There was a time I would have called him an idol of mine, though I now prefer to use that word more reservedly. But if we're considering it in the sense that a kid idolizes a baseball star or a rock star, then Eric is an idol of mine.

The plan is to record a demo of "Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)," I song I cowrote with Scott Milner (of the Montana Milners). Before continuing, I present the lyrics in their entirety:

Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)

Goin' through papers. An old photograph.
First it makes me smile, then I start to laugh.
We'd been together forever, but it's been many years since then.
Just a funky mood or time of day.
Like wantin' a smoke I try to put it away.
We'd been together forever, but it's been many years since then.

Do you think of me now and again?
Do the feelings come flooding back when
Something frees your memories?
Do you think of me now and again?

I remember that it ended in a great big fight.
I can't remember and I don't care who was wrong or right.
We'd been together forever, but it's been many years since then.
We never broke up. Just faded away
'Til beyond "Hello" there was nothing to say.
We'd been together forever, but it's been many years since then.

Do you think of me now and again?
Do the feelings come flooding back when
Something frees your memories?
Do you think of me now and again?

I'm not saying that I'll call you up.
Water over the dam.
But when I think of you
I like to think that you
Sometimes wonder 'bout how I am.

Do you think of me now and again?
Do the feelings come flooding back when
Something frees your memories?
Do you think of me now and again?

Goin' through papers. An old photograph...

The song isn't the best I have. But I decided to go with it for a couple reasons:

• It's complete. There are a couple other songs that I'm working on that are near completion, or (arguably) complete. But  I want to avoid rushing something and saying it's done when it's not.
• Of the complete songs I have, I think it's the one that can benefit most from a new demo.
• I realized that this song lends itself nicely to being a duet. The first verse sounds like two distinct voices -- largely because I wrote half of it and Scott wrote half. He and I have different styles and sensibilities. While I appreciate his lyrics, I know that I never would have written them. Add to that, the second verse sounds like two distinct memories of one breakup. That is easily explained in the context of it actually being two people having different recollections. Anyway, with both Eric and Amy able to provide vocals, I have the opportunity to make this a duet. I may as well atke advantage of the resource.

But because this isn't my best, I am kind of nervouse. What if they don't like it? Oh, they'll be polite and record with me. But how will I know that they're not secretly hating the song. I remember these feelings from when I was dating.

I don't know if what I end up with will be commercially viable (i.e., something I can use as a demo to sell the song), but I am reasonably sure I'll love it. And I will have a recording of Wreckless Eric singing a song I wrote. Duetting on a song I co-wrote, actually -- but close enough.

Amy and I exchanged emails to discuss logistics. She said that if I have a favorite instrument, I should bring it, but they have plenty of equipment. I'll bring my guitar. It's an old dreadnought style accoustic by Yamaha. I forget the model number. It's trustworthy, though I'll probably want to give it new strings before I go. Though part of me wonders, why bother? They have plenty of instruments, and the plan is to have them play all the instruments. That was a misunderstanding -- they created this pledge gift with an eye toward performers who want demos of themselves performing. I, being a songwriter and not a performer, saw it from the perspective of someone who needs demos that showcase the song. Fortunately, Amy and Eric have been gracious despite the misunderstanding. At any rate, I will bring the guitar. I'll explain that I hope there's a way of fitting me in to play some part on the recording -- as long as it doesn't jeopardize the quality of the product. But that way I'll be able to listen to it and point out a guitar part, or something, and say "That's me! Like an adult coming back from baseball fantasy camp with a DVD of himself playing baseball on a field with some a former major leaguer he used to root for at the ballpark.

I have listened to several tracks from A Singing Museum. That is the instrumental version of A Working Museum, which I mentioned above. I don't know if Eric and Amy made it widely available, but they sold (at some of their shows if nowhere else) copies. It's actually been helpful in getting an idea of some of the things that can make a recording work. Even if the melody is the same in each verse, changing the arrangement can be a big help -- either to build up the tension, or to reflect a changing mood. Maybe the first time there's a simple drum track and guitar. But then the second time there's two guitars and a bass, as well as a more insistent drum. Or maybe there's an organ replacing one of the guitars... Also, I am seeing how changing tempos can keep the sound interesting. I, myself, am not good at changing tempo, but they can do that. And with several moods reflected -- bitterness, nostalgia, sadness and regret -- reflected in the song (in differing mixes at different points), there is plenty of opportunity for tempo changes. I can especially see the second verse change between the angry memory of a fight and the more wistful memory of a relationship drifting into indifference. I also like the idea of having the whole thing build, and then have a sudden drop in energy before the final tag, which would be sung by both voices, either a capella or with minimal instrumentation.

If I can figure out how to add audio files as clickable features in a blogpost, or how to make a Youtube video out of an audio file (using a photo or blank screen instead of actual, you know, video footage), then I'll be able to share the finished product.

words. fail. me. (part whatever)

breaking bad

In honor of the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad:

The theme from BB, played (mostly) with things you'd find in a meth lab.

mystery solved. or not.

I loved the movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Absolutely loved it. I thought some of the casting was a bit off. Michael Cera didn't seem right as the title character. He was too wimpy. And Ellen Wong was wrong as Knives Chau. She seemed way too old for the role. But I loved the movie anyway, due in no small part to the music.

For the unfmailiar, here's the theatrical trailer:

SPvtW is the story of a 20-something slacker who meets the girl of his dreams, but has to fight her seven evil exes in order to date her. The musical angle is that Scott plays bass for a band called Sex Bob-omb. Based on a series of graphic novels, the movie is presented in surreal fashion, with many nods to video-game aesthetics. What I really love about it is the music. Here are two examples:

Since I loved the music so much, I went to Amazon (shortly after seeing the movie) to buy the soundtrack. Before checking out, I decided to give a listen to some of the short samples that Amazon has up with the album. And the thrill was gone.Hearing the samples just didn't feel the same. So I took the soundtrack out of my cart and moved on. I'd occasionally come back to it -- I love the clips on Youtube. and sometimes I'd go back to Amazon to see if the samples hit me any better than before.But they never did.

Fast forward to today. I was browsing Reddit and found a comment about the movie. According to the comment, Beck wrote the songs, and the actors playing Sex Bob-omb perform them in the movie, but the soundtrack features Beck. Well, that would explain it. I guess I just don't like the less-rough sound of Beck.

Mystery solved.

Or is it?

I went to Amazon, but it clearly indicates that a bunch of tracks are performed by Sex Bob-omb, and they sound like what's in the movie. So I'm all confused. If anyone actually reads this and knows what's the story, please enlighten me.

til...

TIL that Neil Sedaka's name is derived from "Tzedaka," the Hebrew word for charity.

old top of the pops covers

I've always found these interesting -- cover versions of hit songs that are packaged in such a way as to let the consumer believe he or she is buying the hit recording.:

What I find really impressive is that the no--name singers they recruited to sing were versatile enough to do passable impressions of a wide variety of artists.

the next nick lowe album

Nick Lowe has a new album coming out this fall. I found that out about it a little bit (a week? two?) ago when I was kind of browsing through Amazon and saw the title. At that point, AMazon didn't have the artwork up, and the title appeared as Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for, I was a bit confused.

Now I'm not confused anymore. Amazon still lists the title the same, but they have the cover art, so you can see that it's Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family.And it's a Christmas album. Generally speaking I'm not big on Christmas albums, but if the music's good then I'm game.I was able to hear the entire album a couple of days ago when Yep Roc (his label in the US) hosed streaming of the full album for 24 hours. As of now you can still hear samples of each song, but not the whole things.

The album sounds pretty much like his last two albums (At My Age and The Old Magic). Mellow, vocals forward in the mix. It's the crooner Nick. Some numbers are kind of bouncy. Not a bad effort.
I have fun, though, thinking about what the late-1970s era Nick would have said had he been told that he'd eventually be doing a Christmas album -- and not songs like the Kinks' "Father Christmas" or Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run."

In a bit of crass commercialism, Nick is also selling a Nick Lowe snow globe, and Christmas cards that say "'Tis the Season for Peace, Love and Understanding." That last item seems all the more cynical given that the song "What's So Funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding" was really meant sarcastically, and it's only in the past decade or two (especially since 9/11) that he's reinvented that as a serious plea.

Whatever, I can ponder the crassness all I want. The bottom line is that I'll be pre-ordering it. It is, afterall, a Nick Lowe album.

Oh yeah, the 7th track keeps sounding to me like "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz.

the violent femmes owe bobtown for this one

A few postys ago, I talked about a Bobtown concert in Southold (which is a town about 140 bajillion miles East of me on Long Island. One of the things I mentioned was their performance of the Violent Femmes' song, "Jesus Walking on the Water," and how I am likely to buy the VF's CD with the song.

That's the background to mentioning that I bouight Hallowed Ground, the Violent Femmes' CD with the song. I just finished my first listen, and it'sw an enthusiastic thumbs up. The album is kind of an alt-country effort -- though it dates back to 1984, before the term "alt-country" had been coined. At the time it probably would have been described as cowpunk -- though it's slower than most of what I think of as cowpunk (bands like The Beat Farmers, Rank & File and E*I*E*I*O). It has a kind of haunting sound that I probably wouldn't have liked when it came out, but which I really appreciate now. But "Jesus..." is by far the best track on thealbum -- It would have easily been at home on a Beat Farmers album (especially one of their later ones where they were venturing more into sacrilege (remember "Are You Drinking with Me, Jesus?"?) or one by Mojo Nixon (though it's not up to his raunchiest efforts like "Tie My Pecker to My Leg").

What's funny about all this is that, in the last few months I've had a kind of awakening regarding the Violent Femmes. Their existence has been one of these things that I've known of for years, but I have been completely unaware of -- perhaps "mistaken about" is a better phrase -- their style. I kind of assumed that they were something like, Everything But the Girl or 'Til Tuesday. Post-New Wave bands that don't interest me. But I've had to rethink this. One of the big Freecycle hauls I got last year included Viva Wisconsin, a live album of theirs. I particularly liked "Blister in the Sun." There were opther tracks I liked, but "Blister..." was the standout. Now there's this. My conceptions have been blown.

That said, I still like Bobtown's live version better.

parodies of my past

I've been on a mini-jag about parodies recently, so -- what the-hey-- let me mention a couple parodies that schoolmates wrote years ago.

The first mention goes to Matt Ruff -- I am not changinmg the name since he is a public figure. Matt is a novelist whom I knew in high school. Maybe that's too strong. Matt and I were mutually aware of each other's existence. We were in at least one class together -- a creative writing class taught by Frank McCourt (who would go on to win a Pulitzer prize for his memoir, Angela's Ashes. I doubt that Matt would remember me.

Anyway, many of the school's clubs published annual or semi-annual magazines (I was on the staff of The Straphanger, which was published by the school's subway club). One of the magazines -- I think it only published one issue -- was a creative writing compilation called The Mag Bag because it was distributed as loose sheets of paper in a plastic bag. What I mean is, if you bought a copy, you got a clear plastic bag with a stack of paper in it.

That one issue contained a few (song parodies that Matt wrote. All of the parodies were of Billy Joel songs. I remember one of them, a parody of "Don't Ask Me Why," was titled "Don't Ask Me Why." I remember nothing alse about it. There was at least one that I recall nothing about. The one that I have some real memory of was "Only The Smart Die Young," which was a parody of "Only The Good Die Young." By way of background, this was Stuyvesant High School, and the conceit at the school was that we were the smartest kids out there. Admission was granted via exam, and we, the students, were told from day one that we were the best. I wish I could remember all of the words to "Only the Smart..." but -- 30-plus years later, some elude me. I do remember the following:

Come out Virginia, don't let me wait.
You Stuyvesant girls start much too late
Ah, but sooner or later it comes down to fate.
I might as well be the one.

Well, they showed you a classroom and told you to learn
[something something] or you're gonna burn

You might have heard that I run with a neanderthal crowd.
We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud.
We might be cheating a bit too loud.

She never cared for me
But did she ever fix a grade for me?

They say there's a college for those who will wait.
Some say it's better but I say it ain't

You got a nice black gown and a party on your graduation.
You have a brand new school, and a golden rule.
But Virginia they didn't give you quite enough education.
You didn't count on me.
You were counting on your SAT.

You get the picture. It was really a well-done parody.

I'm not quite sure what would be an appropriate video to accompany the post above, since Matt never did record this song (to the mest of my knowledge). So, what the heck, here's a video of Frank McCourt (mentioned above), sharing his memories of me.

The second song parody I want to mention was from my college years. Every year the Student Association would have a talent show. I had a friend, Steve, whom I had known since high school, who liked to put together a song-and-dance routine centerred on a song parody. During our sophomore year he (and the two others he got to perform with him) won first prize. But they had some kind of dispute over how to divvy up the cash prize. One of his coperformers thought it should be split evenly. He, having written and choreographed the routine, felt that he should get the lion's share. I have no idea how it all turned out in the end.

At any rate, during our junior or senior year (I forget which), Steve asked me to be part of his act. It was three of us in costumes (I was the milk carton), singing  a medley of "You Give Lunch a Bad Name" and "Living on Bayer." These were parodies of the Bon Jovi songs "You Give Lunch a Bad Name" and "Living on a Prayer." These parodies were about the food in the cafeteria. The parodies were very well-written, though I can't remember any lines. Unfortunately the sound system wasn't loud enough, so wehen we went on I couldn't hear the background music, and that threw us off. We recovered, but that false start cost us points and we didn't win.

At least there was no prize money to fight over.

trout fishing in heckscher park

This past Wednesday was another free concert -- this time Trout Fishing in America at Heckscher Park in Huntington. It was part of the 48th Annual Huntington Arts Festival. Every year Huntington puts on a series of free concerts in the park. I've seen TFiA there a couple times before. Others I've seen there include Carlene Carter (country music royalty), and Mallory Lewis (daughter of Shari Lewis).

One thing I noticed was that it was an unusually short set. I don't know if that was because of the heat, or their exhaustion (they had driven down during the day from Mohonk Mountain House). Yet they hung around afterwards to sign autographs and take pictures. They were playing with some of the kids in attendance. Ezra marvelled at the bullfrog that my daughter (or was it the younger of my sons?) had caught in the pond. In a way I'm glad he was off doing something else when the kids came back fifteen minutes later with the duck they had caught.

Most of the set consisted of the songs one might expect from TFiA. "My Hair Had a Party Last Night," "18 Wheels on a Big Rig," "Pico De Gallo." It was great when they played "Simon Says," since we were at the show with a HelpXer named Simon. I was surprised that they didn't play "100 Little Ducks." Keith seems to really hate that song -- I honestly don't know if that's real or an affectation for the act. I do have two comments (one positive and one negative) about the set list.

The negative: They played "Don't Touch My Stuff." This is a recent song that Keith and Ezra wrote in response to their van being broken into (and many of their musical instruments being stolen). It's an angry song -- and I certainly understand that -- and it just doesn't fit properly in their show. Their songs are happy and playful. Or wistful. But not angry. That angry chorus and that loud driving bass line sound jarring in one of their concerts. I realize that it's cathartic, but I'll be happy when they retire it from their regular set list. That said, I would like to hear a studio version of the song. Just not on one of their albums, where it will sound similarly out of place. Maybe they can release it as a non-album single?

The positive: "Lullaby" was the penultimate song. That is one of those Trout songs that I love. When I hear it I just close my eyes and think "This is my favorite song of theirs." Of course, there are quite a few songs that I react that way to -- "King of My Mountain" and "No Matter What Goes Right" come to mind -- so the word favorite kind of loses its meaning. But still. That's just one of those perfect songs that I wish I'd written.

Following are live videos of "Don't Touch My Stuff" and "Lullaby." Neither is from the show we were at, but enjoy them anyway.

Three more notes regarding Trout:
Fred Bogert doesn't tour with Trout anymore, which is a shame. I still like the music, but they had more freedom with a third person on stage. On the piano, Fred made "We weary Deer" something special. Of course, they don't do that song anymore, so I guess that's not an issue. I also really appreciated Fred. After one of their shows (more than five years ago) I spoke to Fred about music, songwriting and making demos. He was wonderfully gracious, and even gave me his email address. After a few emails he recommended a studio in Nashville that he said could produce good demos. County Q Studios produced my demo of "Jackpot," and that is by far the best-quality demo I have. But I believe Fred stopped touring in order to devote more time to his wife. I could be wrong about that, but I have a vague recollection of Keith or Ezra telling me that. At any rate, I wish him well, even if I miss seeing him perform with the others.

They are now working on their next album, Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers, which is slated for release later this year. It can be preordered from their website, www.troutmusic.com

Keith and Ezra definitely seem to recognize my family at their New York area shows. I'm not narcissistic enough to think they know our names or anything, but still... Actually, I have mixed feelings about their apparent recognition. As a fan, I am gratified by a connection that I feel as if I have with the musician. On the other hand, I wish they would get more of the recognition they deserve. It would be great if so many New Yorkers would realize how great these musicians are that they would never recognize us within the huge crowds that are swarming to see them.

on the difficulty of writing parodies

In a recent post I presented the lyrics (as best as I remember them, anyway) of the one parody song I ever wrote.

I was talking about parodies with a co-worker (whom I will call Aryeh because I feel like it) who thinks writing a song parody is easier than writing an original song. I disagree. Aryeh says that writing a parody provides structure. I think it's more accurate to say that it imposes structure.

A good parody is more than just a song written to the tune of another song. For a parody to be any good, there have to be other elements elements that evoke the original, be they parallel structures or words that sound similar to words in the original -- particularly in the title. Part of what makes Allan Sherman's "Harvey and Sheila," "Won't You Come Home, Disraeli" and "My Zelda" work is that the titles sound similar to "Hava Nagila," "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" and "Matilda." And I think the parts that work best in my "Game of Pac Man" parody are the ones that clearly remind the listener of the original song. For example, "And the sign said the score that is highest is written on the Pac Man screen" which is similar to "And the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls."

But while a good parody should be similar to and evocative of the original, it can't be too similar. If a parody has too few words changed, then there's not enough payoff. I remember once hearing some performer in a comedy club doing what she introduced as a parody of Cyndi Lauper's ""Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." But it just consisted of replacing the word "fun" everytime that title line appeared. The first time it was "Girls just want to have sex." Then "Girls just want to have cock." Then...well, you get the idea. There just asn't enough to make it funny. I suppose if she had ended it with "Girls just want to have a chance to be taken seriously and paid the same as a man would be paid for doing the same job in the same circumstances and with the same experience," then it may have been funny in a kind of anti-funny way.

So it's a tight rope to walk. And it's never been my thing. I much prefer the freedom of writing something original. I can vary the melody as needed, or put in just the right number of verses. And if one verse is shorter, then I have the freedom to be clever with it and just make that part of the song.

But my hat is off to Allan Sherman and Weird Al Yankovic who could write damn good parodies.

I sign off with one video of each.

in the church of bobtown

Another Bobtown concert, though this one was on the east end of Long Island -- about 85 miles away in Southold.

It was supposed to be one of those free outdoor concerts -- part of the town's summer series of shows, so it seemed like good venue for the whole family. The kids could wabnder around and alleviate their boredom in a way that wouldn't be possible at a conventional indoor venue. And I was looking forward to enjoying the music with my wife. After the last show, when I eagerly played the Bobtown CDs I had just purchased, she was impressed by the quality and originality of the music.

But we got a late start -- the HelpXer staying with us wanted to come, but we had to meet him at the subway. His train was delayed, so he didn't get in the car until almost 6:00. So we set off, hoping to get to a concert set to start at 7:00 while the GPS estimated a trip of over an hour and a half, and we knew we'd run into heavy rush hour traffic.

So we're driving there, and I'm going nutsoid with frustration -- after I missed their last performance in the area (due to my own brainfart), I was annoyed at the prospect of missing this. Especially knowing that it would be months before my next chance to see them. Ihen we're getting closer. It looks like we'll get there at around 7:30. So I'm thinking maybe if they started late I'll get to see the end of the show. And damn. The road is closed. Detour. Fuck! This is going to add another ten minutes to the trip.

We get to the park, and it's deserted. Empty. But there's a small sign. Due to the potential for rain, they've moved the concert to the First Presbyterian Church of Southold (a few blocks away), and it's at 7:30. Whew! The long drive has not been in vain. We get to the church, and decide that the kids at this venue would likely be disastrous. So I go in alone. My wife and kids (and the HelpXer) go the beach. The show's already underway, but it doesn't look like it's winding down. Maybe I missed a few songs, but there's still more show to see.

First (or is it too late for "first"  given that this is like the sixth paragraph?) a word about the venue and the audience. Bobtown were clearly not doing a hometown show. I wasn't the only one there familiar with them, but it appeared that most of the people hadn't heard of them. As I was going into the church, a family walking up asked if this was where the concert was. I said "I hope so. It's Bobtown, right?" They seemed puzzled, and said that it's Southold, and that they didn't know where Bobtown is. I shrugged and went in.

Between songs I heard lots of comments along the lines of "how interesting" and "they have such great harmonies." It was an older crowd, and I gathered that it was mostly locals who worked the weekly concert series into their schedule, without knowing who was performing.But they went over very well. People were into it -- including the old guy in the row behind me who was keeping the beat on the back of my seat. Not that I'm complaining about that -- I had too good a time for something small like that to bother me.

The venue, an old church (it was established in like 1640), actually seemed somewhat appropriate for the band (notwithstanding the few songs that have a sacrilegious tone). Gospel is a strong influence on the Bobtown sound, so the music didn't seem out of place. And the stagey area (I don't know what you call it) served to frame them very nicely.

Of course, the music was very similar to what I saw the first time I saw them play (back in April), but this time I had heard the songs before, so I could follow along (even if I couldn't sing along). There were too many highlights to list them all, but a few follow:

Mama's Got the Backbeat: Jen McDearman has an incredible set of pipes. This is one song I didn't really like when I first heard it -- after learning that Alan Lee Backer was in this band, I found them on the web to give a listen and this was the first song I tried out. It has grown on me since then, though I will say it's better in concert than on CD.

Magilla Lee: This is my favorite from their two albums. It's just such a catchy melody. For some reason I think of Carlene Carter when I hear it. Not sure why.

Jesus Walking on the Water: This is a fun little number that sounds like something Mojo Nixon would have recorded. After running through this, they offered a free CD to whoever could identify the band that did that originally. Without thinking I called out "The Violent Femmes" in what was sort of a cross between puzzlement and triumph. It seemed like they kind of heard me say something, but didn't know what I said. I then realized that the reason I knew it was a Violent Femmes song was that they did the same thing back in April. Since it doesn't seem cricket to get a free album that way (using the knowledge of the answer that I gained by hearing the same question last time), I clammed up. They announced that it was the Violent Femmes and moved on. I'll note that the Violent Femmes will get one extra sale on Amazon because I heard Bobtown's version of their song.

Rattle Them Bones: Or some similar title. This is sort of a playful variant of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died." Fred Stesney's Fred Schneider-like vocals are perfect for this. It's too fast for me to pick up on all the lyrics. I was happy to hear that this is likely to be on their next album.

And that is one difference between this show and the one back in April. They specifically talked about working on songs for the next album. I asked Katherine Etzel afterwards if they are looking for material. Sadly, they're not. I understand even if I'm disappointed. It wasn't really professional of me to ask her that, but, well, nothing ventured nothing gained. I did suggest that "Poor Ellen Smith" would be a good song for them to cover. But looking on Youtube, I can't find any renditions as good as the Milner Brothers' on their album Haven't Lost a Thing (which, coincidentally, has my composition, "Music No One Else Can Hear." And now we have come full circle. Katherine confirmed that they'll be back on Kickstarter, so I'll be able to pledge and get them to record one of my songs. Presumably I can then use that recording as a demo to shop the song around.

The band was selling CDs, but they decided to let the customers pay what they felt was appropriate. I already have copies of both discs, but I did buy another copy of each, which I plan to give to my friend, Tall Judy. She plays in a contra-dance band, and I think she'll like these albums.

a band name i'd like to see

Cold-Blooded Animals with Limbic Brains

That was a phrase my daughter uttered when she was asking me about biology.

and speaking of tommy james...

What, exactly, is a shondell?

the one parody i wrote

Listening to Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence," I had a vague memory from 30-plus years ago. I was in high school, writing songs. That was my most prolific period as a songwriter, if you don't consider quality. Translated: I wrote crappy songs, but I wrote a lot of them. Anyway, I recall one of the songs I wrote was titled "The Game of Pac Man." It was a parody of "The Sounds of Silence." As best as I recall, it was the only full song parody I ever wrote. Oh, I wrote isolated lines or phrases of parody here or there. And I have written a few verses of parody here and there. Not that I committed them to paper. But I wrote them in my head. An example is John Hiatt's "She Don't Love Nobody." It was, however, obscene, so I'll not recount the lyrics here and now.

I wish I could recall the exact lyrics to "The Game of Pac Man." Following is the best I can recall:

Hello Pac Man my, old friend.
I've come to play with you again
Because a gremlin slowly creeping
Ate me up while I was sleeping.
And the gremlin that is driving me insane
Still remain
Within the game of Pac Man.

In the arcade I walked alone.
In the aisles I still roam
Beneath the bright glow of a Pac Man screen
I turn around and let out a scream.
When my eyes were stabbed by the pills of enourmous size
That energize
Within the game of Pac Man.

And in the naked light I saw
10,000 Pac Men, maybe more
Pac Men chasing without catching
Pac Men eating without retching
Pac Men eating dots that gremlins never shared
No one dared
Disturb the game of Pac Man

"Fools" said I, "you do not know
Obsessions like a cancer grow.
Give me the stick I beseach you.
Watch my play that I might I teach you."
But my words, like silent Pac Man fell
And echoed in the well of Pac Man.

And the people stayed and played.
And the little pills they ate.
And the screen flashed out its warning
'Cause many points they were scoring
And the sign said the score that is highest
Is written on the Pac Man screen
And that would mean
You've beaten the game of Pac Man.
Whether it was a good parody or not is up for debate. Certainly there were good elements.

But I'm not really into writing song parodies. More about that in a nother post if I ever get around to it.

no justice in the world

Today I learned that, while Tommy James' "I Think We're Alone Now" peaked at #4 on the charts, the cover version by Tiffany went all the way to number 1. There is no justice in the world.

latest order from amazon

Today saw the arrival of a couple of albums that I ordered on Amazon. I hjaven't been able to listen to either one yet, so I can't comment on the music.

The Album After the Last One by the Toy Dolls is (to my knowledge) the band's most recent release. The one before it was called Our Last Album. Looks like their sense of humor is holding up. The song titles are classic Toy Dolls: "Credit Crunch Christmas," "Dirty Doreen" and "Don't Drive Yer Car Up Draycott Avenue." None of them matches my favorites, but they're pretty good. Also, the booklet insert includes lyrics and some great crisp clear concert photos.

Life on the Line by Eddie and the Hot Rods is a CD-reissue of the second-generation pub rock band. It has most of what is the band's strongest material -- "Quit This Town," "Telephone Girl" and their best-known track, "Do Anything You Wanna Do." As with other reissues on the Captain Oi! label, there are plenty of bonus tracks. A couple of them are listed as being "with Robin Tyner," so I'll have to look up who Robin Tyner is. Also typical of Captain Oi! rereleases, this has liner notes that are at once interesting and annoying. I'm surprised that I hadn't bought this reissue before now -- especially since I have a couple of compilations on CD that are really just inferior to this album. FWIW, their first album Teenage Depression, was also a great disc.

Here's a video from the Toy Dolls album:

And one from Eddie:

And, for the record, my favorite song titles from The Toy Dolls are "The Ashbrooke Launderette (You'll Stink, Yer Clothes'll Shrink, Yer Whites'll Be as Black as Ink)" "If You're in a Pop Group You'll End Up Paying a Fortune Practicing at Peter Practice's Practice Place" and "Queen Alexandra Road is Where She Said She'd Be, But Was She There to Meet Me…No Chance"

music for the chief actuary

My employer recently hired a new Chief Actuary. For the purposes of this post I will refer to her by the initials IL because that's the abbreviation for Illinois, which is one of my fifty most favorite states.

Anyway, IL has been having a series of one-on-one meetings with the actuaries. During her meeting with me, I mentioned that I write songs as a hobby. It came up because we were discussing some of the regularly scheduled actuarial-wide meetings, and I mentioned that I spoke at the last one. My topic was a song that an employee wrote (and recorded on a 78-rpm record) some 65 years ago. My presentation was the light portion of the afternoon's program. Anyway, I explained to IL that it was natural for me to present that topic since I write songs. That led to some obvious questions. "Anything published?" I was able to proudly note that I wrote a song that was recorded on a dozen-selling CD. "What style?" I explained that I generally write country music of one sort or another.

And that's true. I don't try to write C&W. But somehow everything I write sounds country. "Jackpot"? That's modern Nashville. "Five Missing One"? That's old style Western. The idea I have been toying with now (without going into detail, it's a novelty song)? Sounds like something ray Stevens would have penned.

As luck would have it, IL is a country music fan. So we talked a bt about music. She also likes Bruce Springsteen -- which I was able to relate to Dave Edmunds via "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)," a song that Bruce wrote for Dave.

By the end of the meeting I had promised to make her a CD of some of my demos. She said she'd bring it into her car and give a listen. I casually suggested three as the number of tracks to put on the disc, making it sound like I was being considerate in not wanting to overwhelm her with dozens of demos. In reality, I only have three demos worthy of getting spread around. Gee, I hope that if she reads this blog she doesn't figure out it's me.

I also hope that, if she likes my songs, she has connections in the country music world.

some videos from wilko's career

The last thing I posted was my goodbye to Wilko Johnson. As a followup, I figure I should link to some videos of him. Here goes:

Wilko as part of Dr. Feelgood (he was the guitarist)

Doing "Cairo Blues," after he left the Feelgoods

Wilko explains his guitar technique, and performs "Goin' Back Home"

Wilko on British television, discussing his diagnosis

goodbye, wilko

I learned from a colleague at work that Wilko Johnson is ill. He has cancer and is not expected to live for very long.

For the uninitiated, Wilko Johnson was a singer, guitarist and sogwriter. He is probably best known as one of the founding members of Dr. Feelgood, though he was also part Ian Dury's backup group, The Blockheads, he was leader of the Solid Senders, and a solo artist. He had a peculiar style of guitar playing that enabled him to sound like two guitarists at once -- playing both rhythm and lead. If memory serves (and I am too lazy right now to check), he nicked that from Mick Green.

I have, in this blog, written about Wilko, so I'll not go into great detail here -- which is not to say that I am swearing off writing longer posts about him.

I'd be overstating things if I were to say that I will mourn Wilko's death. I am a fan of his, but I am not his friend or relative, and I will leave the mouring to those who knew him and will have a real loss in their life. That said, I will feel sad at his passing, and I will think of the hours of pleasure his musicianship has given me. There are the songs he wrote -- "Roxette," "She Does It Right," "You Shouldn't Call The Doctor (If You Can't Afford the Bills)." And there were others, but I'll stop at three. I remember when I first heard his solo album, Ice on the Motorway.

Thank you, Wilko.

brainfarted out of seeing bobtown

Well, I'm bummed. After seeing Bobtown perform (a couple months back), I was looking forward to seeing them in June at the Beczak (I may be misspelling it) Center in Yonkers. I was really looking forward to it, but somehow it slipped my mind, and I didn't go.Now I'll have to wait until July 10 to see them in Southold.
Damn brainfarts.

a freecycle load of nothing

Remember how, early in 2012, I got a couple of freecycle batches off CDs in short succession? Those were really successful. Even though they included stuff that I was not interested in and had to pass along, they also had lots of stuff that I was happy to get --especially for free. In fact, truth be told I still haven't finished going through them.

Anyway, I got another batch of CDs. The freecycle entry indicated that many were without the cases. That's OK -- I have extra cases. And in any case, I can buy some. Or take them off the CDs that I'm not interested in from the last batch. This listing also indicated that I'd have to takle everything. That's also no problem. I don't mind going through stuff and picking out what I like.

But this batch was utter garbage. It was mostly homemade CD-Rs without any indication of what was on them. And they were all badly scratched.

You win some, you lose some.

a great album and my mixed feelings

The other night I went out to meet a friend who's moving away. The venue was a small bar/rerstaurant in Sea Cliff. They had a band -- the Rusty String Band -- playing bluegrass. The band was good enough that I was up for buying some recotrded music. Without going into great detail, I ended up buying a solo CD by the fiddler, Russ Seeger.

What's interesting about this is that it's not a bluegrass album. Live in Peace is a strong blues-flavored album.The songs are generally strong -- although -- interestingly, there are a few places where I, thinking as a songwriter was conscious of how my decisions would have been different. Not necessarilly better. Just different. Seeger sings with an invigorating attention-grabbing snarl. The production is crisp, and the arrangements are generally spot on. My favorites are "California Blues"and the country-flavored "Towne Called Mercy." I hadn't heard about Seeger before Friday's show, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the disc. Following is a video of the title track:

This was not my favorite track on the album, but I didn't see any videos for my favorites. So this is what I'm posting.

Now, all that said, my enthusiasm is somewhat diminished by something else I found while I was looking for videos to accompany this post. A video for another song by Seeger that expresses an acidic fantasy of the deaths of Bush administration players and others who supported the war in Iraq. This is accompanied by various images, most notable being one of President Bush as a vampire biting the neck of the statue of liberty. Musically, the track is great. But the imagery is over the top, and the message is one I cannot support. There wasn't anything remotely close to this on the album I bought. Or if there was, then it was during a part of the album that played when I wasn't paying close attention (or it was subtle enough that I missed it). But I'm human and my feelings for the music will be tainted by my associating it with "Heroes." I'll let you judge for yourself:

wreckless eric collection complete

My Wreckless Eric collection is complete. More or less. I got a used copy of A Roomful of Monkeys, the album he did ion 1985 with The Captains of Industry. I'd been looking for it for a while, and couldn't find it. But there it was on Amazon. Of course, this copy is on vinyl, so I'll have to copy it to CD through my computer. That'll be tricky. I have a USB turntable, but I got it several years ago. Our new computer has the 64-bit version of Windows 7, and I don't know if the software that came with the turntable is compatible. Of course, I don't even know if I still have the disc that came with the turntable. Maybe I'll just download Audacity. That should work.

By way of background, after Wreckless Eric left Stiff records, he became -- how to be diplomatic? -- less prominent. For a good stretch of time, I really wasn't into keeping up with his album releases. Remember, this was before the intertubes really took off. It wasn't quite as easy then to keep up with whether an artist is still recording, or find copies of albums. As that changed, I became better and better able to keep up with news. At some point I learned that Eric had albums that I hadn't known about -- Karaoke, which he realeased under his real name (Eric Goulden), and a few albums that he recorded as a member of bands -- two albums with the Len Bright Combo, one by the Hitsville House band and one with The Captains of Industry.

It was reasonably easy to get the LBC and HHB albums on CD. But the CoI album has eluded me. At one concert, Eric explained to me that there are some legal questions standing in the way of the album being reissued. Something about no one knowing for sure who owns the recordings. But now, after repeated searching (OK -- occaisonal searching) on Amazon, I found a copy. I don't honestly know if the album ever made it to CD. But this copy will. Of course, I haven't even had a chance to listen to it yet.

the animals -- we gotta get out of this place

In response to a comment on the previous post, I present a video of The Anuimals doing "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"

on mistaking covers for the originals

After the Bobtown show last Friday night, I was chatting briefly with one of the singers (I think it was Jen McDearman) about their cover version of the Blue Oyster Cult song, "Don't Fear the Reaper."  I noted that, while I had heard of the song, I wasn't really familiar with what it sounded like.

Actually, I'm kind of puzzled here. I had this whole memory of Blue Oyster Cult having gotten heavy criticism because some teenager commited suicide and it was somehow blamed on the song. I was sure I could get some details by looking up the song on Wikipedia. But there's no mention of any real controversy. The closest I can find is a quote from Buck Dharma:

I felt that I had just achieved some kind of resonance with the psychology of people when I came up with that, I was actually kind of appalled when I first realized that some people were seeing it as an advertisement for suicide or something that was not my intention at all. It is, like, not to be afraid of it (as opposed to actively bring it about). It's basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners.

Maybe they were criticized for supposedly encouraging suicide, but weren't blamed for any specific suicide?

Anyway, Jen commented that it was a good thing -- I will always know that song for their version and not for BOC's. And that reminded me of growing up. There were several sopngs that I knew better via their cover versions than by the better known hit versions.

Prominent example? "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." I knew it as a Partridge Family song because it was on their Notebook album, which my sister had. It was only years later, when I saw an ad in a catalogue for an Animals compilation, did I learn of the better-known rendition. While I love the Animals's hit, I also have a soft-spot for the Partridge Family's version. You can listen to it here:

Another example was "Me And You and a Dog Named Boo," which I knew by the Brady Bunch version -- my sister had their album, Meet the Brady Bunch. I only learned of my folly when I was at a friend's house.Her older sister had a friend over, and they were listening to the radio. On comes Lobo's hit version. I said something like "That's a Brady Bunch song!" What a look I got. Unlike the Partride Family cover I mentioned above, this was a horrendous cover. Judge for yourself:

The Brady bunch cover of "American Pie" (yes, it was years before I learned that it was not their song originally) was even worse:

Of course, I remember at summer camp explaining to someone that "Daydream Believer" wasn't originally an Anne Murray song. So at least then I got to feel superior

great misheard lyrics

I've heard lots of variations of the misheard lyric meme.

"There's a bathroom on the right"? Heard it.
"Let's pee in the corner"? Heard it.
"The dude I'm in"? Heard it.

But there is one that I heard recently that I hadn't heard before. Instead of "Smoke on the Water," someone quoted a lyric as "Slow Uncle Walter."

I like that.

a (probably) overlong story of how i came to hear of bobtown

"Alan Lee Backer is playing on Long island Friday night." I was trying to prepare a presentation for work. My wife was checking into activities for the kids, when the email came in on her computer. And that comment was what led to my seeing Bobtown yesterday (see yesterday's post). For I am an Alan Lee Backer fan.

Some (OK, a ton of) background: in college -- actually, I don't remember if it was college or the years shortly thereafter -- I saw the Beat Farmers play at the Lonestar Roadhouse. The Lonestar was a C&W bar /restaurant / venue on 57th Street in Manhattan. It's no longer around. Anyway, I was one of the few people who came around early enough to catch the opening act -- a local country-flavored band called Five Chinese Brothers. They gave me a copy of their single, "Baltimore," which was out on Diesel Only Records. Diesel Only specialized in New York country-flavored singles. Often it was truck driving music. They also provided me some of my earliest experiences with alt-rock. Influenced by the Five Chinese Brothers's single, I eventually bought a copy of each of the brand's singles that were still available. Actually I bought two copies of each -- my Christmas present tro Desmond that year was one copy. One of my favorites was "Two Hearts (Tender Lovin' and True)" by the Twanglers. I wish I could find a Youtube video of it, but I can't. FWIW, here's a video of the Twanglers live doing "My Babe:"

I loved "Two Hearts," but that single (and the song's appearance on Diesel Only's compilation, Rig Rock Jukebox, was all I had of the Twanglers. I bought the three Five Chinese Brother albums as they came out. Those were the days when I still bought a lot of albums. I had a job and no kids. Money flowed freer then. From the liner notes I could see the names of the brothers. One of them had even played in a band with a guy I was freinds with in college. Small world. Anyway, the Twanglers never did an album. So I loved the track, but never knew names or anything. One of the names that I didn't know was Alan Backer.

Nearly twenty years later, I was with the family at the Long Island Children's Museum. We were there for a performance by Ken Waldman, Alaska's fiddlin' poet. I should write a post about him. No promises. Anyway, he recites his freeform poetry while playing the fiddle. On this occasion, he had a drummer backing him up. I recognized the drummer. I was sure opf it. But I couldn't quite tell from where. At the end of the show, Ken thanked him by name. It was Charlie Shaw. I knew that name. From somewhere. But I couldn't place it. So I approached him and asked if he had been in any New York area bands that I might have seen him in. Among the many names he reeld off was Five Chinese Brothers. I responded by reciting lyrics from "Baltimore." So we talked music for a while. I mentioned other bands that I liked from Diesel Only. Including the Twanglers. He mentioned that he's in a new band called The Wicked Messengers with a couple of the guys from The Twanglers. Really? So I got the information.

Some time later I went to see them play at Hill Country, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Manhattan. I surprised Alan Backer before the show by asking him to autograph my copy of the Twanglers' single. I mentioned that it was one of my favorite songs. I later learned that he wrote it, so I must have sounded like I was just buttering him up, but I was being honest. It was great show. I saw the Messengers play a couple of other times -- they do a great show. But between work and family commitments, I don't get out to see them as much as I'd like. They do a karaoke show at Hill Country on Tuesdays, and I hear that's a great show. It's sort of like karaoke, except instead of having pre-recorded music, you have a live band behind you. Here's a video of someone doing Billy Joel's "You May Be Right:"

It's difficult for me to work that in. I should make a point of picking a Tuesday and going. Come hell or high water.

Anyway, As I posted yesterday, I almost didbn't make it to see Bobtown. But I'm glad I did. And Alan even gave me a copy of the Wicked Messengers' second album, Livin' Fast

Anyway, I leave you with Bobtown doing "Hell and Gone." I admit that I can't tell if this is the version from before Alan became a member.

a night in bobtown

Thank God for parkour. Earlier this week I heard of a concert that was really tempting. I wanted to go.

But it wasn't going to happen. I've been a workaholic recently -- one of the reasons I've been blogging so sparsely. I have a lot to get done for work, and this week has been particularly tough for me. Tuesday I had to make a presentation at work. I may blog about it since it was about music, but I may not since it was about music about the company and I'll have to remove so much that any interesting aspects will be lost. Anyway, I lost a full day of my "real" work to that. And a half day on Wednesday taking my youngest to the dentist. So despite wanting to go see this show, I probably would have missed it.

But I lucked out and was saved from myself. The kids wanted to go to a Friday parkour class. It just so happens that the class was near the venue (a library in Long Beach) and it staretd at the same time. So we all went out. My wife driopped me off at the library and went off to parkour with the kids.

I can't stress enough how glad I am that this worked out. The band was a five-piece called "Bobtown." According to the introduction, Bobtown was originally an acapella group that Katherine Etzel put together as a vehicle for her field hollers. She learned that artform working on farms in Iowa. The band is different now -- for starters, it's not acapella. But there is a heavy emphasis on vocal styling  - they feature some of the most haunting vocal harmonies I can recall hearing. The style can best be described as eclectic. There are songs that sound like gospel with an appalachian flavor. At one point they sounded like Motown with banjoes. And there was one song, "Resurrection Mary," that sounded like an Andrews Sisters number. Oh, and I loved their cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." For another cover (though not one they performed at this particular show), follow the following link (which, for some reason, I can'tr seem to embed in this post):

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di7zx9rHMBw

One thing that I found interesting was the visual aspect of the band. Ther's no big drum kit. There was plenty of percussion -- spoons, a triangle. And Etzel herself was playing a small drum, and had a small suitcase rigged up for use as a kick drum. Interesting.

My big regret? They were on Kickstarter about a year ago. See their plea video:

I wish I'd known. For a $500 pledge, they would record a cover version of a song of your choosing. Did the pledger have the option of choosing a song he or she wrote? That's an option I would have loved to go with -- similar to my donation to Wreckless Eric's and Amy Rigby's Kickstarter campaign. Or for $501, the pledger gets the cover version and an appearance in one of their videos. Too late. Maybe there'll be another campaign for their next album?

five missing one -- well, the lyrics anyway

I finally got around to registering the copyright on "Five Missing One," the song I wrote last year. I recorded a demo with HP Mendoza when my family visited him in december. I blogged about it back then. The process of registering the copyright online is remarkably easy, once one gets over one's natural tendency to procrastinate over any task that's not entirely familiar.

So now, with copyright registered, I present the lyrics:

Five Missing One

 Guiding horses with able hands
Through valleys and tablelands.
Another night by the fire
With the freedom we desire.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He thought it was all for fun.
And in a moment gone.
A day I won't forget.
But a life I can't regret.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He kne the risk. He took the chance.
And gave us his last dance.

So we drink to the family we found
And to the one who's not around.
And we ride on.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together 'til the ridin's done.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

I'm kind of proud of it, since I succeeded in a few specific goals. I wanted something that was evocative of the old western songs. Almost a Louis L'Amour novel in musical form. It didn't quite get to LL novel stature, but I managed to get a little bit of s atory in there. I also succeeded in leaving a certain mystery in the story. It's clear that someone died, but I don't say how. That's a biggie. At some point over the last couple of years I had the realization that one of my problems as a songwriter is this urge to fill in every gap. That can make things too cumbersome. If I tried to tell the whole story of how the missing one died, I'd have to add a couple more verses. (at least). And that's not really the point of the song anyway. It would be, I guess, if I had written more verses to completely flesh out the story. But I like this better. And I like the point of the song better this way. I have to remember this going forward. There's one song in particular that I've been toying with for years. If I consciously leave details out, that might help me make progress.

Also, I think I succeeded melodically. If I ever figure out how to add widgets to this blog I can attach my demos so you can listen. Anyway, I got away from the same chord progressions that I tend to fall back on. CDG GDC GDGC. Transpose as you like, but you get the idea. Here the verses are based on going from D to D-suspended then back to D. Then transitioning to A7 via an A7-suspended. Of course, to play it again, I have to reconstruct the exact chord progression. I have an early version on my computer. But I made changes in San Francisco and hand-wrote them. But I lost the copy that I wrote them on. I think I'll manage, because those suspended chords were the only things that were in any way exotic.

There are a couple of people I have to email mp3s to. Maybe I'll get around to it sometime in the 23rd century.

he was trying to eat my guitar

Not long ago my kids went on a tour of a chocolate factory. As a souveneir they brought me a chocolate guitar. I thanked them and set it aside. I knew that if I opened it, I would eat the wghole thing in very short order. Just a bite. Just another bite. Just a little bit more. And before you know it, it's gone. A couple days later, I still hadn't opened it. I came home to the news (courtesy of my daughter) that her younger brother was trying to eat my guitar. I ran upstairs, with visions of him prying my guitar case open -- wondering why he would want to eat a musical instrument. But all was well. He was trying to eat the chocolate guitar.

amy and eric -- the actual concert

I wrote about the social scene at Eric and Amy's concert. And about planning to talk with them about recording. But I didn't actually say a word about the music itself.

To a large extent it was the same stuff I've seen them play a couple of times in recent months -- at a club in Manhattan, and at their house after Hurricane Sandy. But they did throw in a twist. They noted that this concert would emphasize Eric's album, The Donovan of Trash, and her album, Diary of a Mod Housewife. They didn't play the whole albums. But they did play selections from them.

Being a bigger fan of Eric's than of Amy's, I'll talk about the stuff from DoT. Hearing a live version of "Joe Meek," and one of "Birthday Blues" were highlights. I can't help sounding lioke a little fanboy because -- well, I am. That's part of why I, a year plus ago -- explicitly gave up on the idea of doing "reviews" in the traditional sense.

One thing I can do without, though, is their penchant for getting into noise. They do this kind of wall of feedback that I just can't get into. I love seeing them in concert, and that's a price I pay for a show that I generally love. But when Eric starts fiddling with the knobs and they build this, this noise... Welll, at those times I wish i had earplugs.

I was surprised by their choice of closing song -- "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Where the heck did that come from?

the social scene at eric and amy's

The social scene at Eric's and Amy's house on Saturday (for their house concert) was interesting.

I'm not quite sure of the economics for Eric and Amy. Twenty dollars a ticket. There were probably about 40 seats. But I think most of the people there are friends and music industry contacts who don't have to buy a ticket. Certainly many of them are. Talking to people, it almost seems as if what they do is plan a pot-luck dinner party (did I mention, everyone brings some food or drink to share) for their frineds, add a conecrt to the evening's plans and then sell tickets. Maybe not. Maybe it's just what it appears -- a concert to which friends are comped. I'm not complaining either way. Whatever the case is, I'm paying to see a concert, and getting more than my money's worth. As I've said in other posts, the ability to chat with them before and after the show is great.

Anyway, I spent some time talking to a friend of theirs. Norma Coates is a musicologuist who studies music in society. The main questions she looks into have to do with gender roles in rock music. Why is rock music so dominated by men? My wife's answer, by the way, is "follow the money." If I get a chance, I'll do some searching for Professor Coates' research, and maybe talk about it. I've learned from past posts not to say that I will post about this or that. Too many times I have said that I would and haven't. A couple of times Norma mentioned that she bets that by going to a Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby concert I am doing something hipper this weekend than anyone else I know. Now, I agree with her. But, of course, others who are not into either Eric or Amy may not view itthe same way. I see it as seeing a legend of the new wave/punk era (whom I happen to think makes great music). Others, of a different perspective, may see it as going to see a washed-up has-been reliving his glory days. Either way. I go because I expect that I'll have a good time. Eric and Amy have yet to dissapoint me.

I also spoke to Clay Harper, who is a friend of Eric's. He started a conversation with me by asking what's my favorite Wreckless Eric album. I though a second, and decided on Le Beat Group Electrique, which Eric did in the early '90s. That album sticks in my mind for two songs: "Sarah" and "It's a Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick World." Surprisingly, Clay said that's also his favorite (while expressing surprise that I had named it). Turns out Clay was the special musical guest for the night. Introducing him, Eric explained that after LBGE came out, Clay loved its o much that he flew to France to meet Eric. Of course, he failed to forewarn Eric, who was out of town when Clay arrived. So Clay went home and then wrote to Eric asking what it would take to get him to come to Atlanta to produce an album.

The evening';s full circle moment was when it was mentioned that Clay had been in the Coolies, an alt rock band from Atlanta in the 1980s. I was never very into them, and know little about them. But I have an album of theirs, called Take That, You Bastards. What's noteworthy about the album is that it has a bunch of covers of Simon & Garfunkel songs. I always find it interesting when I learn of a connection between two musical realms that I didn't know were connected.