Category: Music

October 29, 2010

Every Song Tells A Story: The Walking Man

The Story

I’m a big fan of the blues. It doesn’t matter to me what kind of blues it is. I just love the raw emotion and honesty mixed with mostly simple progressions. Most rock is derived somehow from the blues, when you look back and analyze things. It’s also as American as apple pie and all that jazz.

Odd as it sounds, this straight-up blues song is a story about a story. Well, it isn’t its own story with its own narrative, but I think you get the idea. If you read the lyrics, you’ll find it’s plain to see that this song is based on Stephen King’s opus, The Stand.

I moonlight with cover bands. There was a time when I was fronting one a few years ago. Usually when we warmed up or had time for a sound-check, I’d lead the guys into some sort of blues number. Sometimes it would be The Replacements’ “Hootenanny”. Other times it might just be some sort of blues in E since I’m a fan of the E-A-B progression. If we just broke out into slow E blues, I’d start to make up lyrics on the fly.

During this time, I was reading The Stand so the characters and plot were fresh in my mind. On more than one occasion, while we were playing some blues, I just started singing about The Walking Dude, the Trashcan Man and whatever else came to mind. I didn’t write any of it down right away but tried to repeat it each time we played.

Then one day as I was recording drum tracks for my original stuff, I decided to lay down two blues tracks knowing one of them would be this homage to The Stand. After that, I wrote down as much of the lyrics I could remember and polished up the rest.

If you’re a King fan you’ll know right away that the title of the song refers to Randall Flagg, the chief antagonist in the novel. He’s one of those villains you love to hate and shows up in many of King’s works. “I saw the Walking Man/Dude in the city of sin” refers to Flagg in Las Vegas, which is his de facto headquarters of sorts in the book. That verse is repeated at the end for emphasis and to create a “bookend” feeling, lyrically.

“Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?” is a song in the book by one of the principle characters, Larry Underwood. This poor guy was probably just about to make it as a musician when the crippling Super-Flu (nicknamed Captain Trips) hits and wipes out most of civilization. Since the song is mentioned in the book many times and since Larry is a musician, it stuck in my head. I felt I had to include it somehow.

The line about “your sister can” is a take on the traditional blues line where the jilted lover asks his girl for something (probably sex) and says that if she won’t, her sister will. It’s fairly common in blues songs. Initially, I wanted to include Larry’s name in the verse to enforce that the lyric was part of his song. At first, the line read, “If you don’t, my man Larry can.” I realized that made no sense though. That would make Larry gay and while that’s not a bad thing in itself, it diverts from the novel where Larry is clearly not gay at all (that we know of). So I changed the line to refer to “your sister” instead. Larry’s name didn’t make the lyrics.

The Trashcan Man verse was made up on the fly and one of the verses I remembered fully. Trash is a crazy pyromaniac in the book. The bit about desire at the end is just vague enough to be cool. I’m not 100% sure what it refers to but it rhymes and can be interpreted a few ways.

I wanted to get Mother Abagail in there somewhere since she was also a musician. I love that visual of the old woman playing her spirituals on the front porch with a guitar. That image stayed with me, just like Larry’s song. Of course, the “Hand of God” is an important reference, especially at the end of the book. I liked the notion that she could foresee things.

The song is mainly in first person to give people the impression that the singer is just another character in the book, watching the events unfold. It’s a very long book but if you get the chance to read it, I highly recommend it. Just be patient with it, especially in the middle. I know a lot of people who say they just couldn’t get through it and I admit that the middle drags at times but almost everything that happens is essential and connected in some way. It’s a fascinating read with lots of characters and some great imagery. Without it, this song might just be about some guy bitching about his girlfriend.

So thanks, Steve. Please don’t sue me.

The Recording

I recorded the drums for this song first, and on the same day I recorded the drum track for another blues shuffle I wrote called “Did You Tell Your Man”. These types of songs are very easy to play for me, so while I don’t remember how many takes I did, I can assure you it was only one or two. I just sang along in my head to make sure I was in the right place. I played loudly or quietly where I felt certain parts were happening. It all fell into place and felt natural.

The bass is very direct and to the point. There isn’t a lot of walking or moving around. Looking back now, I think I should have played a bit more, but at the time I was trying to finish the basic tracks in one big session (for both blues songs) because I wanted a friend to come in and play lead guitar for me. I wanted the tracks to be ready.

The song is very stripped down and for rhythm guitar, I only played an acoustic. If you listen closely in the background, you’ll hear it drift in and out between the vocals.

The great lead guitar on the track is played by my old friend Tommy Hayes. We used to work together at a local music store when he was just a kid and I was in my early 20’s. He was always a big blues guy and after reconnecting, I heard some of his playing and thought he’d really be great. He agreed to come down and play on the two blues tracks for me.

All the electric guitars you hear on this track are by Tommy. He does some great lead work and I especially love the little fills that decorate the song here and there. There’s one I really love at around 2:45 (right after the first Trashcan line).

The vocals are pretty subdued at first but pick up a little before the solos for some emotional weight. “She’s a bad girl” was just ad libbed on the fly. The “Hand of God” stuff was intentionally big to lead into the more powerful guitar solo. The first guitar solo was on the mellow side but I asked Tommy to really kick it in for the second one. I kicked the vocals up a little at the end, also, just to have some fun and try to get a big ending out of the tune.

While it’s really just a plain, traditional blues romp, there’s something I like about the song. I don’t know if it’s just nostalgia or whatever, but it’s got something I like. I believe it’s the fact that it’s not over-produced. It’s very simple and has a live sound to it. It’s raw and honest, as the blues should be.

The Lyrics

I saw the Walking Man in the city of sin
I saw the Walking Dude in the city of sin
Looked in his eyes; what a mess I was in

Tell me baby, can you dig your man
Tell me baby, can you dig your man
Because if you don’t, I know your sister can
She’s a bad girl

The Trashcan Man likes to play with fire
The Trashcan Man likes to play with fire
Little did he know her name was desire

I dreamt about that woman strumming her guitar
I dreamt about that woman strumming her guitar
She said, “You better take care children. Here come the Hand of God.”

I saw the Walking Man in the city of sin
I saw the Walking Man in the city of sin
Looked in his eyes; Lord, what a mess I was in

Lou's News / Music

October 11, 2010

New Song: Space Reggae

I have a wacky little treat for you today – an instrumental! It’s a bit far out and loaded with crazy synthesizer mayhem but I think it’s pretty fun! I hope you enjoy it.

This will be part of the Workin’ Progress record which is starting to really shape up. Check it out in the music player and let me know what you think.

Look for more news, songs and hopefully some gigs in the near future.

Workin’ Progress titles, so far:

Welcome to the Party
There You Are
Something New
My Own Private Babylon
Secrets
Space Reggae

More soon…

Thanks for coming by and listening.

Lou's News / Music

September 29, 2010

New Song: Welcome to the Party

Today I’m proud to release a new song from the Workin’ Progress project called “Welcome to the Party”. This one was a bit different for me and a bit challenging but a lot of fun. It’s basically a funky party jam.

The amazing sax you’ll hear on the track is by Gary Breitling, a local NJ player. The organ parts were played by Chris Preston. I played everything else.

You can play the track on the right in the music player or if you want, you can hit one of my other links listed here and get to the song that way. If you’re having trouble, just contact me.

Hope you enjoy it!

Lou's News / Music

September 20, 2010

Every Song Tells A Story: Will We All Be Friends At The End Of The World?

The Story

This song is, basically, a protest song. Protest songs and rock and roll seem to go hand in hand. I’m not one of those activist-types who go to rallies with signs and stuff but I’m certainly not opposed to writing a protest song when the feeling hits me and the inspiration is there.

This song is the end result of the combining of two song ideas, plus a little Utopia. I had a batch of lyrics with a loose melody called “The World’s Gone Crazy” lying around, waiting to be worked out. That song was more of a misanthropic ode than a protest song and it still has a few good bits in it that I’m going to eventually re-work and transform into another song when I have time.

The other idea was the protest song that eventually ended up as “Will We All Be Friends at the End of the World?” This idea was straight-up inspiration from both a vibe and a lyric from another song I was listening to at the time. That song was from Utopia, Todd Rundgren’s side project, and is called “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” from the album Oops! Wrong Planet.

Somewhere in that song is a lyric that goes, “They will all join hands at the end of the world,” and I thought to myself, “Hey, that’s a neat little visual.” That led to a stream of consciousness that led me to all sorts of places. I was thinking about current events and how all the nations of the world can’t seem to get it together. There’s hatred all over the world pointed in all sorts of directions. There’s hatred within political circles here at home. It’s like a cancer, eating away at humanity.

So I was thinking to myself, “What’s it going to take before everyone gets along and can be friendly to each other? When will we all be friends? Is it going to take a big alien invasion? A nuclear war? The end of the world as we know it? When the world is about to blow, will we then be able to hug it out? Will we all be friends at the end of the world?”

Now, the Utopia song has a couple of different parts to it. The first part and the bit at the end are very upbeat and bluesy which I liked a lot. The part with the quote that I mentioned above is a slower part with a totally different feel. I thought that the bluesy vibe really fit the idea I was trying to convey.

As the newly re-worked lyrics came around, the music in my head started to change a little also. The upbeat vibe was still there and was joined a little by some KISS; specifically the song “100,000 Years”. So, musically, if you take Utopia and KISS and throw them together in a blender, then add a little Alice Cooper and maybe some Wings, and then let me have at it for a while, you’ll come up with something like the song I ended up writing.

As I said, I’m not really a big fan of protest songs, but sometimes inspiration hits and you can’t just turn that sort of thing off. It’s really easy to get angry at the state of the world today. The chorus is something you might hear me say in casual conversation while scanning the news stories of the day. The world really has gone crazy. Nothing makes sense anymore and no one can really tell me why. I don’t get it.

There was a time where I started to really pay attention to politics and what was happening in the world and more so in our own government. Slowly, as Presidents came in and out of power, I just started to realize that there was really no difference between any of them at all. Politicians say what they have to in order to get elected and keep a career going. I also realized that political parties are a bit of a joke. There’s no room for a centrist like myself. If you don’t fall totally and completely down the party line, you don’t fit. I don’t vote based on party, I vote on the issues. I agree with one party on this or that, and I agree with the other on certain other issues. But why is there all this hatred between the parties? There’s no agreeing to disagree. There’s blame, pointing fingers, excuses, lies and red tape. Meanwhile, the people bear the brunt of their mistakes. I’ll stop there. Let’s just say the world was making me angry and therefore, I wrote a song in protest. Do I feel better? Maybe a little. Will the world change? Nope.

The Recording

As usual, I recorded the drums first on this one. I usually try to map the song out in my head and then jot down a few notes so when I’m playing the drum track I know where I am in the song. I’m usually singing in my head as well which is why it’s important for me to have lyrics, even if they’re scratch verses or whatever.

The song starts out with a drum intro that I did “on the fly”. I tried a few different things and it wasn’t until after I was done with the track that I noticed my subconscious inserted a little Peter Criss into my playing. The little intro is a bit similar to what Peter used to do in his old KISS drum solo. So I recorded the drums, made sure I added some accents, left room for some other ideas I had in my head and that was that. As usual, there were not many takes.

There are specific accents in the song, so when I was laying down the bass parts, I tried my best to hit them well. There were no issues that I recall. The song is a bit repetitive, especially on the bass. There’s a constant bluesy thumping that provides a secure foundation.

The guitars were a whole different scene. Once I got started having fun, I found it hard to stop. The tune is very guitar driven and almost “anthemic” in a way. So the basic rhythm guitar is intact, mostly a big A with some C and D accents. Over those accents, however, I started to add some harmonized guitar fills that worked really well. I’m very pleased with the results on those. They added another layer to the song.

The guitar solo is 16 measures, which is quite a bit for me. I pieced together something that I felt worked really well though. The solo took me quite a while. It wasn’t so much playing it as it was coming up with the parts that worked best and then quickly putting them down. I layered a lot of other little guitar parts over stuff where it fit, most noticeably over the bridge which was another bit that I felt worked really well.

This kind of song is especially fun to sing. You can yell a bit and it’s OK. I didn’t pay too much attention to the way I was singing. I just did what felt right and it seemed to work well. The one thing I pre-planned vocally was the little a cappella breakdown with the hand-claps toward the end. That was something that came to me early on when I was writing the song and I wanted to make sure it sounded good. When it was done, I walked away for a while so I could give it a fresh listen and when I played it back later it sounded great. I was actually surprised I pulled those harmonies off. My approach to harmonies and backing vocals is so laid back that I never know what I’m going to do until I do it. This usually gives me mixed results but in this case, I just got lucky and nailed the parts quickly.

Many protest songs are folksy and acoustic with lots of meaningful lyrics and are designed to make you think. This one’s energetic, sloppy, and pretty angry but somehow maintains an air of guitar-in-your-face fun. Protest songs don’t need to be dreary.

I’m really proud of this song and it’s one of my favorites to play.

The Lyrics

Wake up, put on your coat and your hate
The train’s moving backward – you don’t wanna be late
Road full of rage and a heart made of stone
Stupid people make you wanna go it alone

Countries of the word all acting like babies
All the pointing of the fingers and the drama and the hating
Every fist clenched tight raised high in the air
Now we can’t come together when there’s nobody there

The world’s gone crazy, it’s a hell of a time
Nothing’s making sense and nobody knows why
There’s only one thing I’m asking you girl
Will we all be friends at the end of the world?

Don’t believe in politicians they’re not working for you
They’re just thinking about elections, nothing they say is true
From the crib to the dirt you’ll find the sky ain’t so blue
It’s one hell of a quandary, I don’t know what to do

The world’s gone crazy, it’s a hell of a time
Nothing’s making sense and nobody knows why
There’s only one thing I’m asking you girl
Will we all be friends at the end of the world?

The hate is too much
Makes you wanna give up
Somebody please tell me why
I’m seeing bombs in the sky

Power makes you lazy, yeah it goes to your head
Anybody tries to save us, they’ll soon end up dead
How can we get it right when we can’t get along
Everybody like the singer but they can’t stand the song

The world’s gone crazy, it’s a hell of a time
Nothing’s making sense and nobody knows why
There’s only one thing I’m asking you girl
Will we all be friends at the end of the world?

Lou's News / Music

August 17, 2010

Every Song Tells A Story: One Step Closer

The Story

“One Step Closer” is another one of those songs that was written back in the mid-1990’s. I don’t remember much about where it came from but I do remember it was a quick write that all stemmed from one lyric: “One step closer to what love can be.” The phrase popped into my head and I just kept going with it, creating a little love story.

I presented it to the band I was in at the time but it never really made it past me playing it at rehearsal one night. It was unfinished, I was the drummer, and I was needed on the drums. They told me to bring back a demo. While making that demo at home, the band dissolved so I just kept it around.

The story of the song is not all that complicated. For the most part, it’s a generic love song performed in an upbeat, folky, acoustic way. It’s about getting to know someone, falling in love, and wanting to be with that person until the end. It’s about a growing relationship and what that might feel like.

Let’s face it. It’s so hard to find someone with half a brain out there. The message here is that when you find someone good, hold on tight and just enjoy the ride. It might not be a perfect ride, but with a little time and some hard work, you can make it.

Another point I was trying to make here was that love isn’t something you get to the end of, like a race. You can always get one step closer to what you think love can be. Love can always get better.

Some of the lyrics are a little hokey but I was in my early days of songwriting and sometimes you go through those phases early on where you just want to make the rhymes work. You say you’ll change it later but in the end, it works just fine so you leave it alone.

The Recording

As I said, this song is an old one so there are a few older recordings sitting around in my house somewhere. The first time I recorded it was at home, playing all the instruments myself. Around that time, I played a few acoustic gigs and featured this song. I wanted to have a better recording of it, so I went into a friend’s basement studio and we recorded it again with me playing all the instruments except for the guitar solo, which my friend performed. Then the song sat in waiting for something like 15 years.

When it came time for me to start recording again, I had a choice to make. I could seek out the original demos and just use them or I could re-record this song again. It’s not a hard song to play, so I opted to just play it again on drums and build on that.

So one day while I was set up for drum recording, I laid down the track from memory on drums. Within a week or so, I had finished re-recording the song. I made a few changes because even though the song was written and had existed in another form, I was approaching it as a new song. I wanted it to sound the same, but different.

One unintentional change I made was the omission of a short breakdown toward the end. I simply forgot about it when I was recording the drum track. I admit, I do miss it when I listen to the song now so I’ll probably add it in when I play it live.

I made some subtle changes to the bass line which I feel were improvements. They’re not all that noticeable but they’re there and they sound nice. The two acoustic parts are all pretty much verbatim. I’m quite happy with the guitar solo also. I got some really nice tone out of the Telecaster.

Vocally, there were a few small changes. Now, I know I mentioned that I had these songs around a while and in various forms but when I was re-recording them, I didn’t have all the lyrics or the old tapes with me. I had to try and remember the lyrics. I recalled most of them pretty quickly except for the second half of the last verse. I could not, for the life of me, remember those words, so I wrote some new ones which are actually better than the original ones.

Of course, I eventually found the lyrics. The original lines were, “Step by step we climbed that ladder of love, and girl you’ve given me more than I could ever dream of.” Pretty hokey, I know. I replaced those lines with, “We’ll brave the storms and we’ll walk the miles, and the smile on your face will make it worthwhile.” Still a little hokey but definitely better. 🙂

I tried to add a little vocal harmony here and there. You’ll hear some in the bridge and during the ending. They’re not bad but I think we’ll do something better when we play it live.

One other change I added was some organ. There are no keys in the original versions of that song. I added some organ to the pre-chorus parts and at the end. They’re back in the mix but help fill out the sound a bit.

So, on the whole, it was a joy to re-record. It’s a fun little song and one of the few that I feel comfortable just sitting home and strumming on an acoustic without accompaniment. It’s pretty basic but it works for me.

The Lyrics

In this crazy old world where love can rule your life
You gotta search the world over for someone who’s right
Cuz when you find somebody who will love you so
It’s the greatest feeling you will ever know

So if I seem to like you and you seem to like me
Then we’ll be one step closer to what love can be
One step closer to what love can be

With every day that goes by I seem to like you more
Just a little bit better than the day before
When we’re together girl there is no past
It’s the only way to make this friendship last

And if it feels a little strange then that’s ok with me
Cuz we’ll be one step closer to what love can be
One step closer to what love can be

Driving down that lonely road
Where destiny controls your soul
It can’t be wrong if it feels this right
Stay with me baby – let’s run away tonight

And now we’re happy together, yes I knew we’d be
Words will never explain just what you do to me
We’ll brave the storm and we’ll walk the miles
And the smile on your face will make it worthwhile

And when youth fades away and there’s just you and me
Then we’ll be one step closer to what love can be
One step closer to what love can be

Lou's News / Music

August 2, 2010

New Music & Some Progress

In my latest attempt at genre-smashing, I’m heading south for some country flavor. I’m admittedly not a big country music fan and I’m not sure how this country song came out of me, but it did and so I’m releasing it into the wild today as part of the Workin’ Progress record. It’s called “Secrets” and you can check it out in the player on the site or on my other music pages listed under links.

I want to note that the Pedal Steel Guitar was played by a really great guy aptly named PJ Steelman. You can hear his work on ReverbNation or you can check him out on Facebook as well. Drop by and let him know how you like his songs. He’s a great player and I’m honored he played on the track for me. Thanks PJ!

The other song I’m releasing today is not going to be part of the Workin’ Progress record because it’s technically a cover song. When my wife and I were first married we used to drive around and make up our own Weird Al versions of songs in the car. One that comes to mind was Chic’s “Good Times” which I turned into a song called “Good Fries”. We had just finished eating. Fast food can be inspirational, I guess.

Anyhow, this song is called “Elmo & Grover” and it’s a Weird Al version of Tommy James’ “Crimson & Clover”. It’ll be a free download on my sites, just like my cover of McCartney’s “Every Night” because who wants to deal with all those legal tangles, right? As long as I’m not making money from it, no one cares. So head over to ReverbNation or one of my other links and feel free to download this comedic parody. You can hear it on this page as well. That’s right, it’s a joke, folks. Fun. Does anyone remember laughter?

There will be more music coming. I’m always working on more songs but for now I’m trying to focus on a live band because while some of the recordings you hear on the site aren’t amazing quality, I think they’re going to be fun and really pop live. I’ve got one old friend of mine playing bass for me and yet another old friend who is going to be the lead guitarist and double on keyboards until I find a keyboard player. We’re going to start trying out drummers in the next two weeks and hopefully I’ll be able to start announcing some gigs. That’s where the fun is!

So enjoy the new songs and the older ones and hopefully I’ll see you out there in the fall!