Well, there's a couple more copies of Rough Edges out in the world, so I might as well get on with the business of doing the liner notes. Tonight, I'll tell you about tracks three and four.
3 - The Train Song
This was inspired in part by the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, but the musical form came from a TV show I was watching on PBS one night. It featured a group of women folk singers, and included the Indigo Girls, Holly Near, and several others. I liked the way the songs tended to be put together. I especially liked the light touch they used to get their points across. It was gentle, thoughtful music and so much of mine at the time seemed heavy-handed in comparison.
It's in a standard tuning, but capoed on the third fret. The little opening theme is from Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train," so credit where credit is due. I couldn't resist putting it there. I hope Ms. Cotten's estate will be satisfied with a small percentage of the vast profits I've realized off the six or seven copies I've sold so far. ;>
4 - Speaking In Tongues
The long title for this is "My Fingers are Speaking in Tongues." Lyrically speaking, it's pretty self-explainatory. The music came from a warm-up exercise I came up with that makes use of a lot of 'tone clusters.' That's where you take a chord form usually used in the first three frets of the guitar and shove them up and down the neck. Cool stuff.
Both of these songs differ from most of this collection, in that they were recorded at New Sherriff Studios in Laconia, NH. I believe this facility is now defunct, as the Sherriff, one Dave Marsh, has left the area. Too bad. Very generous and talented guy. He was part of a three-piece project called MD2, which put out one CD. Musically, it's kind of in a little grey area that resides between New Age, mellow Techno, and soft jazz. It was a sax player, a percussionist, and Dave on electronic stuff. He helped turn Greenlaw's Music in Laconia back into a serious music store. Anyway, I recorded these two songs and the opener, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins," at his place.
Showing posts with label Rough Edges notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rough Edges notes. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A couple more songs
5 - The Painter's Song
My brother, Rett, is a painter. We've always had sort of a mutual admiration society between us, because I wish I could paint, and he wishes he could play music. I am also a huge fan of his painting, and have many examples of his work hanging in my house.
Every fall Plymouth, NH has an art show on its town common. I've managed to get to several of these events over the years, and I get a big kick out of it. The one problem I have with it is that it's kind of landscape overkill. Nothing wrong with a good landscape, but when you've got fifty or seventy-five painters showing their work, and the vast majority of them are showing New England landscapes, it gets to be a bit much. I don't blame them, because that's what sells, but after a while they all sort of run together.
So, I usually end up finding that one painter that is doing something radically different. This song was inspired by a fellow whose name I'm afraid I've forgotten, but I'll never forget his art. I could go on and on about it, but suffice to say it was very striking. This song was inspired by a trilogy of paintings he'd done, two of which he still had. All together I think it referred to the twilight of the gods. One was of a small group of Norse gods looking like the morning end of an all-night drunk. The other appeared at first to be little more than swirls of brown and beige color, but on closer examination was a mass of nude bodies all mingled together. Very striking.
6 - Heroes
This one was written as I was reading "Taliesin" by Stephen Lawhead. He spent a couple of years in the British Isles researching the Arthur legends, and in the end got four books written. Personally, they're my favorite telling of the tales.
One of the core ideas that's always in the back of my mind is that everyone has greatness within them. I believe that with all of my heart. Too few people in this world are willing to truly make the effort to try and live up to their own ideals. It's like Albert King used to say; everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
As a Christian, the example I try and follow is that of Christ, but of course I have much more than his example to follow. That's the advantage the Christian has. Whatever it is that you are into or believe in, you owe it to yourself to set yourself aside and follow that which you believe is the core of true faith. Find out if it works, dammit. Use yourself and your life as a laboratory. Then, you can speak about it with authority.
For myself, I have put Christ, His spirit and His word to the test for 23 years and counting, and my life has progressed. I have tried to follow the hero's path. Not very well, I'll grant you; lots of mistakes and failures, but then again I don't feel like I've missed anything. There are things I know I've needed to do, and by God they've gotten done, or at least attempted. Who could ask for more?
My brother, Rett, is a painter. We've always had sort of a mutual admiration society between us, because I wish I could paint, and he wishes he could play music. I am also a huge fan of his painting, and have many examples of his work hanging in my house.
Every fall Plymouth, NH has an art show on its town common. I've managed to get to several of these events over the years, and I get a big kick out of it. The one problem I have with it is that it's kind of landscape overkill. Nothing wrong with a good landscape, but when you've got fifty or seventy-five painters showing their work, and the vast majority of them are showing New England landscapes, it gets to be a bit much. I don't blame them, because that's what sells, but after a while they all sort of run together.
So, I usually end up finding that one painter that is doing something radically different. This song was inspired by a fellow whose name I'm afraid I've forgotten, but I'll never forget his art. I could go on and on about it, but suffice to say it was very striking. This song was inspired by a trilogy of paintings he'd done, two of which he still had. All together I think it referred to the twilight of the gods. One was of a small group of Norse gods looking like the morning end of an all-night drunk. The other appeared at first to be little more than swirls of brown and beige color, but on closer examination was a mass of nude bodies all mingled together. Very striking.
6 - Heroes
This one was written as I was reading "Taliesin" by Stephen Lawhead. He spent a couple of years in the British Isles researching the Arthur legends, and in the end got four books written. Personally, they're my favorite telling of the tales.
One of the core ideas that's always in the back of my mind is that everyone has greatness within them. I believe that with all of my heart. Too few people in this world are willing to truly make the effort to try and live up to their own ideals. It's like Albert King used to say; everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
As a Christian, the example I try and follow is that of Christ, but of course I have much more than his example to follow. That's the advantage the Christian has. Whatever it is that you are into or believe in, you owe it to yourself to set yourself aside and follow that which you believe is the core of true faith. Find out if it works, dammit. Use yourself and your life as a laboratory. Then, you can speak about it with authority.
For myself, I have put Christ, His spirit and His word to the test for 23 years and counting, and my life has progressed. I have tried to follow the hero's path. Not very well, I'll grant you; lots of mistakes and failures, but then again I don't feel like I've missed anything. There are things I know I've needed to do, and by God they've gotten done, or at least attempted. Who could ask for more?
Sunday, March 11, 2007
More Rough Edges notes
7 - Prophet Sharing
This is a two-parter, written around 1989-1990. I spent the better part of a month parked on my couch with a back injury so I took the time to do some bible study. I headed for the minor prophets and got particularly interested in the book of Joel. The first half of this song is a rough paraphrase of Joel. I've noted that the old testament prophets were particularly fond of proclaiming woe; oh, woe unto thee, though stiff-necked and badly-dressed people. And so, the first half of this song is called "Woe, Nellie."
The second half is an extrapolation of the first half's warnings into the modern day. If you read Joel, he has a lot to say to us. About that time I learned that the word "secular" does not mean simply "without God" as I once thought, but instead "in the world." There's a lot of talk in Evangelical circles, and the contemporary Christian music community, about secularism. If this world truly belongs to Satan, then I am a spy for the other side.
This was one of the recordings that was hardest to include, and hardest to leave off. I'm particularly proud of this song (I suppose I should say, grateful) but am definitely not satisfied with the recording. I've been known to do it as a solo acoustic piece, but there's been a couple of opportunities to play it live with a band, and it comes off much better. Someday I'd like to record it that way.
8 - The Promise
This was written for a young man I knew who was having a very serious crisis of faith. I guess I offer it up as a prayer on his behalf. I'm pleased to report that, the last I knew, he was walking the walk.
As for the musical construction, this one's written on a guitar tuned to DADGAD. It's a tuning that Martin Carthy developed to help him better interperet Irish music for the guitar. The fingerstyle master Pierre Bensusan uses it a lot, as did the late Michael Hedges. With endorsements like that, how could I resist?
9 - A Voice
Pretty self-explanatory, lyrically. Musically, it's an acoustic guitar capoed on the fifth fret. I like the sound of it up there.
10 - Up
This was more or less an experiment to see what I could do with the sequencer and some tape speed adjustments. It's also some serious thought on the state of the world today.
11 - Wheels
This is one of my wife, Lynn's favorites. She especially likes the two overlapping synth patterns. This one's a tough one to do live, but we always have a lot of fun with it. Without the sequencer, I instead do a slapback-echo thing on the guitar, a la Edge of U2. Oftimes, the end of the song turns into an extended jam. Still, I think I prefer this version.
This is a two-parter, written around 1989-1990. I spent the better part of a month parked on my couch with a back injury so I took the time to do some bible study. I headed for the minor prophets and got particularly interested in the book of Joel. The first half of this song is a rough paraphrase of Joel. I've noted that the old testament prophets were particularly fond of proclaiming woe; oh, woe unto thee, though stiff-necked and badly-dressed people. And so, the first half of this song is called "Woe, Nellie."
The second half is an extrapolation of the first half's warnings into the modern day. If you read Joel, he has a lot to say to us. About that time I learned that the word "secular" does not mean simply "without God" as I once thought, but instead "in the world." There's a lot of talk in Evangelical circles, and the contemporary Christian music community, about secularism. If this world truly belongs to Satan, then I am a spy for the other side.
This was one of the recordings that was hardest to include, and hardest to leave off. I'm particularly proud of this song (I suppose I should say, grateful) but am definitely not satisfied with the recording. I've been known to do it as a solo acoustic piece, but there's been a couple of opportunities to play it live with a band, and it comes off much better. Someday I'd like to record it that way.
8 - The Promise
This was written for a young man I knew who was having a very serious crisis of faith. I guess I offer it up as a prayer on his behalf. I'm pleased to report that, the last I knew, he was walking the walk.
As for the musical construction, this one's written on a guitar tuned to DADGAD. It's a tuning that Martin Carthy developed to help him better interperet Irish music for the guitar. The fingerstyle master Pierre Bensusan uses it a lot, as did the late Michael Hedges. With endorsements like that, how could I resist?
9 - A Voice
Pretty self-explanatory, lyrically. Musically, it's an acoustic guitar capoed on the fifth fret. I like the sound of it up there.
10 - Up
This was more or less an experiment to see what I could do with the sequencer and some tape speed adjustments. It's also some serious thought on the state of the world today.
11 - Wheels
This is one of my wife, Lynn's favorites. She especially likes the two overlapping synth patterns. This one's a tough one to do live, but we always have a lot of fun with it. Without the sequencer, I instead do a slapback-echo thing on the guitar, a la Edge of U2. Oftimes, the end of the song turns into an extended jam. Still, I think I prefer this version.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Some more from Rough Edges
Hi. Doin' the Rough Edges CD back to front.
12 - Loser
Wrote this one in the late '80's for my wife, Lynn. She deserves an opera or something, but this is what I did. Sorry, honey. ;> Actually, I kind of like this song, or I wouldn't have included it. It's done solo with 1 acoustic guitar, tuned to a deep-C tuning
13 - F15 / Woodstock Nation
This is a two-part thing. F15 refers to a repeating rhythm pattern of 3 5's, into a riff and jam, and then cut away to a poem. The poem was written in Sacramento, CA late one night. California Public Television was running the movie "Woodstock" on its 15th anniversary, and it made me think of all the changes I'd been through since that time. The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival took place the weekend of my 14th birthday, and though I was not there, it had a profound effect on me.
I should also mention that the recording of this piece was different from the rest of the collection. This, like most of the rest of the CD, is me on guitar and vocals with the rest coming from a sequencer and synthesizers. Where as the others arranged this way were recorded piecemeal into a 4-track cassette deck, this one was done live, in stereo, into a home deck. Everything into my little 6-channel mixer and done live, in one take.
14 - BC-AD
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on March 14, 1984. The church I went to was a little house church in Sacramento, CA named Heart Ministries, which was a mission of a local Southern Baptist fellowship. By mid-April, there were five new believers who wanted to be baptized, including myself.
The Pastor, a dear friend named Jim Arnold who is now a missionary in Thailand, asked each of us to take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side we should write "BC," and on the other, "AD." On it, we should write down what we thought of ourselves, what we perceived our friends and family thinking of us, and what we think God thought of us before accepting Christ and after. I took his idea a step further and wrote this song. I got to play it at my baptism on April 15, 1984.
12 - Loser
Wrote this one in the late '80's for my wife, Lynn. She deserves an opera or something, but this is what I did. Sorry, honey. ;> Actually, I kind of like this song, or I wouldn't have included it. It's done solo with 1 acoustic guitar, tuned to a deep-C tuning
13 - F15 / Woodstock Nation
This is a two-part thing. F15 refers to a repeating rhythm pattern of 3 5's, into a riff and jam, and then cut away to a poem. The poem was written in Sacramento, CA late one night. California Public Television was running the movie "Woodstock" on its 15th anniversary, and it made me think of all the changes I'd been through since that time. The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival took place the weekend of my 14th birthday, and though I was not there, it had a profound effect on me.
I should also mention that the recording of this piece was different from the rest of the collection. This, like most of the rest of the CD, is me on guitar and vocals with the rest coming from a sequencer and synthesizers. Where as the others arranged this way were recorded piecemeal into a 4-track cassette deck, this one was done live, in stereo, into a home deck. Everything into my little 6-channel mixer and done live, in one take.
14 - BC-AD
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on March 14, 1984. The church I went to was a little house church in Sacramento, CA named Heart Ministries, which was a mission of a local Southern Baptist fellowship. By mid-April, there were five new believers who wanted to be baptized, including myself.
The Pastor, a dear friend named Jim Arnold who is now a missionary in Thailand, asked each of us to take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side we should write "BC," and on the other, "AD." On it, we should write down what we thought of ourselves, what we perceived our friends and family thinking of us, and what we think God thought of us before accepting Christ and after. I took his idea a step further and wrote this song. I got to play it at my baptism on April 15, 1984.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Rough Edges
Hi. For the legion of PPLS readers out there (sound of crickets chirping) just want to say, sorry it took so long for me to stick more stuff on here. Those of you who have the Rough Edges CD were promised content here, and so here it is. And, since things show up here in the order they're posted, I should start with the end of the album.
Bob's Cliche City
East Chahunga Dragway
Limestone for Mayor
These are the last three cuts on the disc. They were made roughly 1989-1991 when I was a DJ at WPNH radio in Plymouth, NH. I used to work there one night a week, doing the overnight Friday show, and when they stopped broadcasting 24/7 the late night Saturday slot. Given the odd hour, I was pretty much free to do whatever I pleased. Mwahahahaha!!
So, I started doing my own fake commercials, which I mixed in with the real ones. And, this is three of them. I stuck them at the end so that you wouldn't have to suffer through them while listening to the music. By the way, I should mention that East Chahunga was an invention of Marcus Jennings, "the Doctor of Rock and Roll," one of WPNH's regular hosts. To be honest, I've forgotten his real name, but he was (and I'm sure, is) a great guy and an excellent DJ. He eventually got offered a better job in Buffalo, which is his home town. If you're out there, Doc, thanks for everything.
WPNH is still on the air, but it's now part of a conglomerate. The FM and AM signals are both satellited in from, I think, Boston. The building the studios used to be in was sold, and later torn down, and they've not had live on-air talent for ages now. Dirty little secret time: Back in the day, we used to say that the station's call letter stood for We Please No Human.
Bob's Cliche City
East Chahunga Dragway
Limestone for Mayor
These are the last three cuts on the disc. They were made roughly 1989-1991 when I was a DJ at WPNH radio in Plymouth, NH. I used to work there one night a week, doing the overnight Friday show, and when they stopped broadcasting 24/7 the late night Saturday slot. Given the odd hour, I was pretty much free to do whatever I pleased. Mwahahahaha!!
So, I started doing my own fake commercials, which I mixed in with the real ones. And, this is three of them. I stuck them at the end so that you wouldn't have to suffer through them while listening to the music. By the way, I should mention that East Chahunga was an invention of Marcus Jennings, "the Doctor of Rock and Roll," one of WPNH's regular hosts. To be honest, I've forgotten his real name, but he was (and I'm sure, is) a great guy and an excellent DJ. He eventually got offered a better job in Buffalo, which is his home town. If you're out there, Doc, thanks for everything.
WPNH is still on the air, but it's now part of a conglomerate. The FM and AM signals are both satellited in from, I think, Boston. The building the studios used to be in was sold, and later torn down, and they've not had live on-air talent for ages now. Dirty little secret time: Back in the day, we used to say that the station's call letter stood for We Please No Human.
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