The official site of author, editor, and musician Lou Tambone, and the home of 2 Jokers Publishing and Entertainment.
THE STORY
This song is the fourth song of a concept album I wrote called The Code of the West. It’s basically an outlaw tale and this song is about the symbiotic relationship the main character has with his gun.
The Story
I got the idea for “One More Round” while thinking about drinking songs one day. I thought to myself, “I need a good drinking song.” Most of the gigs I play are in bars and clubs and everyone’s drinking, so why not? Let’s get them invested and give them something they can relate to, right?
A simple drinking song wasn’t good enough for me, though. Being a fan of artists like John Lennon and Paul Westerberg, I admired their use of double entendres and wordplay. One of Paul’s more famous twists (and he used it in multiple songs) is when he sings something about “whose Suicide you’re on.” I’ve always loved that one.
So it occurred to me at some point that the term “One More Round” could actually mean more than one thing. One more round of poker. One more round of golf. One more round of drinks. One more round of applause. That was all I needed to bang out the lyrics in about five minutes. While writing the lyrics, the chords took shape in my head and yes, it was that simple.
It’s by no means a complicated song. Not counting the bridge, it’s all of three chords but many a fun song has been created using three chords, right? It became quite popular at shows so we often close with it. It’s a good one to jam to, has lots of good energy, and gets people singing along. Can’t ask for more than that.
The Recording
Once the lyrics and chord progression were in place, the recording was pretty simple. From the get-go, I knew that near the end I wanted to have a drums-only chorus section which would be where I’d try to get people to sing along at shows. So while recording the drum track (which I usually do first) I made sure it happened. I didn’t have a bridge in mind so I just played some hits and fills and figured I’d play something over it later, which I did. I do this a lot with songs where I don’t have a specific part figured out in the pre-composition phase. Gotta keep moving forward, right?
I used my trusty Rickenbacker 4001 bass and my ’52 Reissue telecaster for the basic tracks. For the missing bridge parts, I played D-E-F#-A and backed that up on guitar. Easy! After that, I threw an organ backing track down which I hope to insert into the live shows once I get a good keyboard player. I would love to have a good organ part there. Mine is pretty basic.
It was all guitar and vocals after that. The lead guitar parts are always tough for me. I experimented a little with acoustic slide guitar. I can’t say I’m totally thrilled with how it came out. I split the solo into half acoustic slide and half electric slide. The electric part came out better. When we do this song live, I actually play harmonica instead and like that better. If I ever re-record this one, I’ll do that instead.
The lead vocal was easy to do and everything just fell into place exactly as I heard it in my head. The backing vocals are a little weird but somehow they work. I’m sure a real singer or vocal coach or producer might cringe a little listenting closely, but honestly, I don’t care. When we play it live, it’s more of a gang vocal thing, plus the crowd is always singing along, it seems.
On the whole, I think this one only took a few hours to complete. Not bad!
The Lyrics
I’m tired of holding
I’m tired of folding
I ain’t seen a face in forty hands
You run your mouth
And I’ll run my business
Baby I was born to take this chance, so…Rock me baby – Gimme one more round
Rock me sugar – Gimme one more round
Rock me honey – Gimme one more round
Rock me baby – Gimme one more roundTap the ball
Drop it in the cup
That’s a big eighteen, baby shake my hand
Now go get your bag
Meet me at the One
Let’s tear the green grass up againSun’s going down
I find a seat
Have a drink, maybe find a new friend
I check my watch
It’s just 3am
It’s a crazy night – we can’t let it end, so…I take the stage
Play my guitar
Make you smile, make you sing along
Don’t sit there staring
Get up on your feet
Put your hands together, wanna hear you all night long
Today I have the pleasure of announcing my new album, The Code of the West. I’ll be releasing it slowly in all the usual places soon but these are your best bets for now.
There’s a SoundCloud widget where you can listen to the songs:
OR you can…Listen to The Code of the West via Dropbox
The Code of the West is a ten song concept album that takes place in the US Civil War era. It’s about a boy from St. Joseph, Missouri who lives on a farm with his parents until one day, during the Civil War, a general rides into town looking for new recruits. The boy’s father, sensing some big trouble ahead on the home front, figures his son’s chance of staying alive a soldier might even be better than his chance at home, so he allows his son to ride off to war. While away, due to some political machinations in town, his parents are killed – burned alive with their farm. The boy, now a man, comes home to find his farm burned down, parents dead, and no answers.
Seeking justice, he makes some decisions, for better or worse, and starts a journey West with plans to hit California, mine some gold, and then grow old rich in Mexico. On the way from St. Joseph to California, he changes and the lines between trying to survive and becoming a full-fledged outlaw begin to blur. After unintentionally bedding a Sheriff’s daughter, a relentless posse is dispatched. Our outlaw friend is forced to make some hasty and fatal decisions in order to realize his dream of Mexican freedom…
Once again, this is a concept album. The lyrics tell the story so try to listen to the songs in order. There are a wide range of influences here from old Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, etc.), Eagles (Desperado, etc.), The Band (Music from Big Pink, etc.), and there’s plenty of that Johnny Cash/Lou Reed style of spoken-word singing, if you catch my drift. My goal was to tell a story, plain and simple. It’s not a grandiose rock opera in the vein of The Who’s Tommy, but it tells a story nonetheless and I feel I’ve been successful. It’s certainly not a deep story. It’s very simple and easy to follow, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll hopefully pick up more things with repeat listens.
I took a few small liberties here and there but for the most part, I feel I’ve remained historically accurate. Whenever I needed names of towns or events or guns or even horse’s names from the Civil War era, I took to the internet and researched. I did so much research as I was writing the lyrics and the story that that’s where the title came from. There really was a “Code of the West.” I liked the phrase so much, it became its own song and ultimately the title track.
From Wikipedia (although I can’t seem to locate the link now):
A new code of behavior was becoming acceptable in the West. People no longer had a duty to retreat when threatened. This was a departure from British common law that required citizens to have their back to the wall before they could protect themselves with deadly force. In 1876 a Ohio court held if attacked a citizen was not “obligated to fly”. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the legality of “no duty to retreat”. The Code of the West dictated that a man did not have to back away from a fight, needing to retreat no further than “the air at his back”, and could pursue an adversary even if it resulted in death.
I want to spotlight some people who helped me out on a few tracks.
Brian Csencsits played piano on the opening track, “My Father Was a Good Man.” I laid down a pretty basic piano track but it wasn’t fluid enough and didn’t really groove. The opening is really the only happy track on there, representing youth and innocence, so I wanted it to be bright and moving. Brian provided a much better track than I did and it sounds great.
Paul J. Baccash provided all the electric guitar leads on the country song “Lawless.”I had the song recorded and it was very basic. It sounded like an old Johnny Cash traditional number; tell-tale country. I needed a good lead but didn’t know what to do. I was going to put an accordion lead or something in the song later. I took to Facebook and asked if anyone felt like playing a lead on a track. I’ve played gigs with Paul before so I was really excited when he made the offer. He went above and beyond what I needed, providing me with multiple, harmonized tracks and instructions on how to pan them to sound nice. Once added, the song took on a new life. Listen to his playing and you’ll agree.
Rob Ferraro provided all the lead guitars on the track called “On the Run.” A hard rocking bluesy number, I knew it would need special attention as far as lead guitar went. I’m not fast enough to pull off what he did here. I gave him a few tracks one night in my garage and he just unloaded with some fun leads and great fills. Once again, the song totally woke up.
I know the album isn’t for everyone. It has more going against it than for it in today’s musical climate, but it was something inside me that I had to get out before I could move on. As usual, before you critique my production value, remember that nothing you hear on these tracks was recorded in a professional studio. It was all done at home, mostly in my garage in less than optimal conditions and with less than optimal tools. Everything I do has a “demo” quality about it. Until the day someone pays me a bunch of money to record in a real studio, this is it folks. If you want to see the songs shine, come see the live show.
So that’s all for now. In the coming months, I’m sure I’ll be posting more about the album and the songs/story. Making this album was a long process (well, longer than I’m accustomed to) but it was well worth it and I really like how the songs turned out. If you have questions, just let me know. If you have favorite tracks, please let me know as well.
Thanks for reading and listening and I really hope you enjoy the music and story!
The track listing is as follows:
The Story
From my late teens to my mid-twenties, I was fairly busy in a musical sense. I was in a few bands (mostly on drums) and had begun to explore songwriting. At some point, life happened and more serious issues started to arise.
I had finished college with a degree in what Rutgers (the Newark campus) called “Theater Arts and Speech” which is a fancy way of saying “Communications” – and to boot, I had a specialization in TV Production. As you may well know, this degree will get you next to nowhere. It’s almost as good as a degree in music. 🙂 Unfortunately, it was the only thing that interested me at the time, outside of my first major which was Psychology. I was a lazy student and that major was way too much reading and writing. If I could go back, I would have stuck with it but alas, the past is gone.
Things were moving quickly and I soon realized that I would not be able to support a family while working in the wonderful world of retail, which is where I ran back to at full speed after realizing my college degree was pretty useless unless I wanted to intern (aka work for free) for a year or three somewhere in the hopes that it “might” lead to some kind of paying job. I had bills and other things to worry about.
So I went to a computer school, being already quite computer savvy, and started to make some life changes. Marriage, kids, and so on. Before I knew it, about 15 years had gone by and I was completely removed from the music scene. I had done absolutely nothing. No writing, no bands, no nothing and it was slowly eating away at me.
Eventually things settled down a bit and the itch became to annoying to ignore. Music is in me. It’s a part of me. When I’m not being musical somehow, I just don’t feel right. So I started to ease my way back into the scene. A cover band here, filling in for a friend on drums there, writing some new material, and so on. It was time to get back out there. I reconnected with a lot of my musician friends, some of whom were still playing, and they inspired me. I also met and networked with a whole host of new musician friends and that inspired me even more.
I decided it was time to start writing songs again. The next thing I knew I was staring at a bunch of lyrics, melodies and ideas. The song “Tonight I Ride” was one of the first of this new batch and it basically signaled how I felt at the time. I had been away far too long and it was time to come back.
“Tonight I Ride” is a song about returning to something. You can interpret it as returning to anything you like, but for me it was strictly about returning to music. I had been away so long that there were friends and new family members who had no idea that I could make music. When they eventually saw me play they were quite shocked. It was a fun feeling.
I promised myself when I wrote that song that I’d never take that huge break from music again. It became clear to me that there’s really no reason to. There’s always room for music.
The Recording
The first thing I remember about writing this song was the chorus. I had it clearly in my mind. I had the lyric and the melody/chords all in my head. From there it was a matter of just writing the rest of the song. I’m not sure where I heard the phrase “Tonight I Ride” but it must have gotten into my head at some point. I always picture some kind of Wagner-esque Viking on an armored horse marching into battle, but I digress.
After I had the chorus mapped out in my head, the next thing I thought about was the song’s opening drum beat. I could also hear that clearly in my head. All the lyrics flowed from there and then it was time to record. As usual, because I’m alone when I record, I tracked the drums first. I used that little beat I dreamed up and then just built upon it, bringing the dynamic up or down when needed.
I played it through on guitar just to make sure I had all the chords I needed and tracked the bass. I laid down some distorted guitars and a wobbly guitar solo which I’m not very proud of. I always figured the solos would be better when played live by more capable musicians.
The vocals were my first accidental experiment with double tracking. Many bands have done this. You basically sing in unison with yourself on another track. I didn’t really mean to do this. I did a vocal pass, and then did another on a different track because I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the first one or not. During playback, I forgot to mute one of the vocal tracks and they both played through the monitors. I was about to mute one but listened a little longer and the sound began to grow on me. They’re not perfect vocal tracks but they sort of work so I kept the two in there. So if you’re listening to the song, you’ll hear me singing along with myself and the two takes sort of stray from each other a bit here and there. It’s a little weird but I can see the attraction and how it can be effective when done right.
Lots of times, when I’m writing songs I’m actually not near any instruments. It sounds odd but sometimes they just jump out at me and I have to quickly write stuff down or else it’s usually gone forever. So when it comes to what we call in rock music the “bridge” or sometimes the “middle eight”, I will sometimes say, “I’ll come up with something later.” Sometimes I’ll have lyrics for the bridge along with a vague melody but it’s pretty fluid. I remember not having lyrics or a melody for this bridge when I sat down to record.
While tracking the drums, I just played a bunch of random fills that felt right and then brought myself back to the chorus somehow. I listened to those drums a few times and they sounded a little raucous to me. I decided to forgo the lyrics and just try some guitar stuff instead. After experimenting with a few things I settled on the bridge you hear which is basically a series of “D” shape chords moving up the neck with an open D ringing above them. It reminds me slightly of The Who, which is why I kept it.
I was still not well-versed in the art of compression or mastering/mixing. I still don’t know if I am, actually. So all of the mixes from those early songs aren’t panned well (or at all). There isn’t a lot of “space” there. One of these days I’ll go back to those old tracks and do some remixing with some of the things I’ve learned since then. I think this song can sound a lot better with some TLC.
It was a quick job but the song is fun and I’m finally getting around to playing it in my live sets. The band seems to like it and it does make me feel a little wistful in many ways.
The Lyrics
All my life I’ve been waiting
All my life I’ve been saving up
All my life I’ve been holding back
But tonight I rideAll my life I’ve been hungry
All my life I’ve been ready
All my life I’ve been so determined
But tonight I rideTonight, tonight I ride
Perpetual motion is on my side
The links are broken, the chains are dead
I’ve got to move aheadAll my life I’ve been sitting
All my life I’ve been lying down
All my life I’ve been static
But tonight I rideI look at you and you’re flying
I look at you and you’re in the air
I look at you and I’m jealous
So tonight I rideTonight, tonight I ride
Perpetual motion is on my side
The cage is open, the bird is free
I’ve got to get release
I’ve got to know release
I need to be releasedTonight, tonight I ride
Perpetual motion is on my side
Unleashed and I won’t be denied – YeahTonight, tonight I ride
Perpetual motion is on my side
I’m strong and I won’t take my time
The world is mine tonight
Yeah it’s my prize tonight
Stay out of my way tonight, tonight, yeah tonightI ride tonight
The Story
This song is about an aging rock star, sung from his point of view. He’s an amalgam of sorts. I guess you could say he’s based on a few characters, both real and fictional.
One of those would definitely be WASP’s Chris Holmes. I am by no means a big fan of WASP but Holmes was famously interviewed for the documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, during which he floated on a raft in a pool (fully clothed) guzzling three different bottles of vodka (and also pouring it over his head). He referred to himself as a “full-blown alcoholic” and even a “piece of crap”. He said he’d probably be dead in a few years and didn’t seem to care. This was all in front of his mother, mind you, who sat poolside trying to maintain her composure.
I guess there’s also a little Joe Walsh in this song. His big hit “Life’s Been Good” also covers the same subject matter. I think I tried to capture a little of his humor in my song. He has a line that goes, “I’m making records, my fans they can’t wait. They write me letters, tell me I’m great.” I have a similar line about devoted fans that keep me so rich, I haven’t done a thing in years. Of course, the “me” is the character and not really me. Wouldn’t that be nice.
There’s definitely some (older) Elvis Presley in the song. The list goes on. You can take any pompous rock and roll star and adapt them as you see fit, I suppose.
Structurally, the song is a musical transcription of an interview, I suppose. The aging rocker has allowed a journalist into his home. The rocker is quite friendly but clearly not sober, even directing his assistants (Hey, Pierre – don’t put that there…) while showing the reporter around his mansion.
He’s had enough success that he doesn’t really need to work anymore, but he’s completely bored and depressed. He’s hardly ever in the news except for the rare gossip column where he makes a drunken fool of himself. In fact, he’s really happy to have this interview, which is probably the first one he’s had in years. People aren’t interested in him anymore, which is why he’s depressed and suicidal – yet still partying it up like a madman.
The unfortunate truth is he’s waiting around to die. He drinks way too much, does every drug put in his face, has totally let himself go and yet, he’s still here. He can’t seem to figure out why. I know it’s grim but hey, I just write them as they come to me.
There’s some commentary about the music scene itself in the lyrics. Popular music has a way of changing quickly and ferociously leaving many who cannot adapt behind. I always envisioned the song’s protagonist to be one of these people. He’s perhaps the aged rocker who is not quite as relevant as he once was, trying to deal with the new music scene. Underneath it all, though, he’s quite depressed and even suicidal. The line about trying to check out before the real hurting starts refers to this.
I had a lot of fun writing this one because I was writing it as a character, much like acting in a play. Once I became the character, the words just poured out and what you hear in the song is what was written that same day, pretty much unchanged. The melody made itself known as I was writing the lyrics so when it came time to record, there wasn’t much left to compose.
While the song is a bit dreary under the covers, it was actually written to be a bit humorous and tongue-in-cheek on the surface. It’s a satirical look at celebrity and what goes along with it, nothing more.
The Recording
This was a quick one to record. I already had the song in my head when I sat down to play the drum track so all I had to do was throw in the fun stuff like accents and stops, some of which were simply made up right there on the spot. I like to do that, actually. It’s fun trying to record around and on top of a drum track once it’s done.
The small riff that is repeated in this song was composed while recording the bass track. Sometimes, when I record bass directly after the drums, I do a lot of composing via bass. The rhythm section completes the foundation and sets the tone for everything else recorded afterward. The little riff just happened by accident here and decided to stick around for the duration.
The bridge was also composed at this time. While recording the drum track, I knew I wanted a bridge of some kind for the song but didn’t know what to play in that space. I wondered what would happen if I just played a slower part there instead. In the end, that’s what I did but I didn’t know what would be there musically, only that there would be a slower part in the bridge. There wouldn’t be any lead vocal either, I decided. So, while playing the bass track, I went from C to E twice and then from G to A twice. It sounded weird to me at first but it grew on me.
There are both acoustic and electric guitars on the track. The acoustic was added to fill out the sound a little but also to provide a different tone than the usual electric noise. You can hear it pretty well in the bridge. These were all quick takes and fun to play.
Rounding out the sound are some keyboards. You’ll hear mostly organ sounds but there are a few cool things going on in the bridge. It’s mostly stock stuff but fairly effective.
I admit that I had a lot of fun with the backing vocals. I had a few people tell me I need to do more with backing tracks so I tried to hunker down and put some really good “Ahhhhs” in there. I was very happy with the way they came out after a couple of hours screaming in my living room.
The lead vocal was a breeze for me. It felt more like talking than singing and I think the result really worked. The cocky rock star thing comes off and I think people can recognize the character and the message, whether they just have a laugh at his expense or see some of the issues underneath.
I always get comments about the little ad-libs at the end. I’m not sure where they came from. They were spontaneously yelled out while recording. You can interpret them any way you like. Are they they ramblings of a drunken, aging rock star who forgot he was giving an interview and thought he was actually on a stage? Maybe he feels he always IS on a stage? Is he the last of his kind? You make the call. Good night, New Jersey.
Lyrics
Take it in – Have a swim
I’ll watch your face with a polite grin
I confess – It’s a mess
Take off your gloves I’ll never pass that testStill alive – flying high
Trying to burn out but not fade away
Hey Pierre – Don’t put that there
I might fall down and bust my derriereDon’t know how I get through the day
I’m tired, I’m hungover, and you’re in my way
Don’t try to save this ship I’m on
I’m just living in style in my own private BabylonIt’s a simple thing – I’m the king
I don’t throw parties, people bring them to me
What the hell? What’s that smell?
Something’s dead in the roach motelI got five master bedrooms
I got three heated pools
I got my own bowling alley
I got a helicopter on the roofI got fans so devoted
I can make them spray tears
They’re keeping me so rich
I haven’t done a thing in yearsTalent is irrelevant
It’s all about how you look
There’s no need for me to read
Because I wrote the bookI bet you don’t think
I see this hole in my heart
I’m just trying to check out
Before the hurting starts
Hi all. I have the pleasure of being the Featured Artist on PensEyeView.com on July 13-14, 2011.
I’m very excited about the feature and the interview posted so please have a read and let them know that you liked it. The direct link is http://penseyeview.com/content/lou-tambone.
New Jersey native and latest PEV feature Lou Tambone makes his albums the way they used to be made – a method he calls “true 70’s style”. Lou says “When I decided it was time to go out on my own I knew I had to start writing some new material. I cranked out two albums in under two years… I did this so I’d have a nice bunch of songs to choose from when playing live. I also did this so I could get a lot of these songs out of my head and off the paper.”
And playing live is something Tambone excels at – booking more and more shows as we speak. Those albums he references? The first is called “Damaged Goods”. The second? It’s titled “Workin’ Progress”. The sound comes from the same roots for both records – Lou says “I’m not 100% sure I even have a specific sound anymore. I guess that’s the whole thing I enjoy about genre-smashing. People don’t know what to make of you. They hear rock, country, blues, funk, R&B, jazz, ska and whatever else I feel like writing. At the end of the day, I guess I’m just a rock guy who enjoys playing more than rock. I don’t want to have just one sound.” So there you have it – the roots are all over the place. Sample some songs for yourself. There’s much more to read, so keep going for the answers to the XXQ’s.
For the full feature and interview: http://penseyeview.com/content/lou-tambone
More
Recent Comments