THIS IS IT

I really wanted to see this Michael Jackson movie; THIS IS IT, for many reasons. I wanted to see the gargantuan production that was to be (and wasn’t disappointed), wanted to see if he was in any shape to perform (and duh…he was unbelievably ready to rock…and did), wanted to see how much talent he really had (which was limitless!) and wanted to see if he could really sing. As far as his singing, have you ever heard someone sing and you could hear the whole band in their voice? Have you ever heard someone who could effortlessly go from full voice to falsetto and never sing outta tune…ever? Performance-wise, Michael knew exactly what he wanted. He knew where everyone was supposed to be, what note everyone was supposed to sing and what every musician was supposed to be playing.
The best I can remember, I never said anything on the blog about Michael’s death, mostly because I’ve always respected his talent and because he was so unbelievable in so many ways. He was hard to figger out really. Most geniuses are. Isn’t that why we can't figger’m out? The movie gave me not a little more insight into Michael but a LOT more! His gentle corrections to his fellow performers usually started... “with love”…then the corrective instructions…then the obligatory “this is why we rehearse”. Throughout the movie he looks happy, NO signs of wariness or not wanting to live. He seemed really excited about the upcoming shows.
I didn’t cry at the movie but there were definitely times when I wanted to. You may not care that MJ is gone and honestly, I was plus/minus on the guy until yesterday. But I can’t think of another living soul that has that much to give. The magnitude of his talents and LOVE for people and the planet were off the charts.
…and besides, anybody that has a bulldozer come up outta the stage is OK by me.

hoppy halloween!!

 

I gots worms in my head!

I’ve just realized that October ‘09 has been my most productive month ever as a songwriter. I’ve assembled a total of at least ten crafty little ditties, plus started several others yet to be finished. Yes, it’s exciting to have that many new songs rolling around in your head but it also drives you crazy! I know you’ve all had “ear worms” before, songs that you can’t stop singing to yourself, so just imagine if you had about 12 going on at the same time! It’s no wonder I haven’t blogged much lately, songs are all I think about. It’s like the band (The OakTeam) has become a song eating machine and I have to go feed them every Monday night. Dave especially is such a quick “learner”, once I show him how it goes a few times he’s got it. We’ll run the thing down onto “tape” with just drums and guitar, if no one else is around. 40 minutes later, he’s like “OK, that’s great. What else ya got?” So I gotta show him another. It’s really FUN! Don’t get me wrong about that, but it takes up a lot of hard drive storage space in my brain to put these things together. So during my work day these tunes are rolling around in my head and I’m finishing up a line here and a line there or writing entire verses as I’m going up and down the ladder or rolling a wall out. When I was a writer for BMG and BUG all they wanted was 12 a YEAR! (Of course, when the pressure is on you to write only hits for the radio and not necessarily songs that YOU like it’s a little harder.)
“Nervous Around Pretty Girls” and “Losers Take All” (which will be re-titled) was actually written a week before October came, so it’s really cheating for me to say the actual MONTH of…but during 30 days including MOST OF October is what I really mean. “Didn’t Feel as Bad as I Wanted to” was inspired by something that was said on our early month jaunt to Ohio. The BEAUTIFUL Miss Linda Potts, one of our biggest fans for sure, was explaining to me how our last show wasn’t as lengthy as she’d have liked and how she woke up the next day not feeling as bad as she had planned on. The song idea takes that to romantic tilt. You’ll see, it’s a bunch o’ fun and reminds me and everyone who’s heard it of the band who always referred to themselves as the “Masters of Controlled Sloppiness”. PLUS! I get to rhyme “pajamas” with “vomit”, maybe a first in songwriting history! I’ve already discussed “(While I was) Hittin’ It”, it’s nothing short of a classic and the recording of it is remarkable, with its “Al Green” snare sound and its sleepy sexy feel. I’ve mentioned “Too Much Information” and “Ridin’ Around”, both rockers, and “Time For You to Go” a last minute remembrance I had as we were packing up session before last, but I haven’t brought you up to date about this past Monday. It was really a lot of fun as the whole band was able to make it, so we sussed out “Spend the Night”, a “perfect” Pop song and NOTHING like that other band’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together”. It’s really about hitting it off on your first date and knowing where its headed anyway. “Not Turning Around” has been a bugger for me lyrically; still a few lines short but we ran that one anyway, knowing the melody. That one has all the feel and energy of a great Replacements song. It’s gonna KILL live! Add to those songs great recordings of two older songs, “Miracle of the Sun” (more purty Pop) and the Roger Miller-esque “Take a Leak and Go”, then we’re starting to get somewhere on another record. Next week their assignment will be to get “He’s Your Girlfriend” outta my head, one that has been dancing around in there since my drive to last week’s session. The hits keep coming! And Like Neil Young says “It’s all about the songs…and that’s it.”

Quick! lemme blog before he takes it back!!

 

Yeah! I wrestled my laptop away from my 13 yr. old son long enough to…”STOP! I GET IT FOR LITTLE WHILE!”…tell you…”QUIT! IT’S MINE!!”…about all the fun we’ve been havin’ recording lately. Monday is the usual meeting night but sometimes it gets slipped to a Wednesday night. Last night was crazthy! Dave, (uhhh… I mean Falcon)

 

and I jammed on a stupid fun Rockpile-esque tune called “Too Much Information”. That one took a while, mostly cuz’a me. It was really fast and it took all I had to hold it together. I think the final result will be unbelievable though and could be the perfect song to kick the next (16 song) record off with, a la “Rip This Joint”, if I should be so bold. I brought in some pretty love rock with “As If (anybody cares)” after that. Jack was there by then and we found a comfortable groove in only a few takes. That one got a bit magical feeling; we’ll see how it turns… “HANDS OFF!! YOU LITTLE TURD, YOU’LL GET YOU’RE CHANCE!!”...out. We felt really good about the work we’d done and had pretty much called it a night at 9:45pm. Hmmm…plenty o’ time, nothing else was coming to mind though. Then while I was taking a leak, Dave and Jack we’re listening to “Take a Leak and Go” (an old novelty number of mine that we’d recorded last week). The word “go” triggered something in my brain. Ah Haaa!! There was another tune festering in the back of my brain. I don’t usually let them simmer close enough to the surface unless there are at least two verses and a chorus finished lyrically, and this one had all that and more. I’d just forgotten. I showed the guys “Time for You to Go” and it rocked just about like ASS! It’s about brotherly love gone bad. Tryin’ to help somebody out that takes advantage of you until you finally realize that some folks just can’t be helped. It was rocking so much that it took FOREVER for me to get to sleep when I got home at midnight!
It’s a little like sitting up with a crying baby. You love’m so much, it don’t hurt quite as bad when they keep you up at night. “OK! HERE’S THE COMPUTER BACK” (you little….#@@#$%^&*!!!!).

can't complain!

I used to be the first one to remind my mom of her sister-in-law, my Aunt Linda whenever she would complain about her aches and pains or lack of energy. Remember my Aunt Linda was the one severely stricken with rheumatoid arthritis for two thirds of her life and just recently passed. So, far be it from me to bitch about my life during a skid through the ditch. The last kick in the balls came Monday when my work vehicle, my ’96 Caravan shit the bed with a bad transmission, just hours after paying the late property taxes on it…as luck would have it. So IF the rain would ever stop and let me go back to work I couldn’t anyway. Well, at least I can stay home and wash clothes. Well, if the dryer worked. I COULD go to the laundromat and dry’m though. Oh wait, no car. Let’s see, guess I’ll cut grass then. Well…not exactly. Not only is it raining but the drive belt on the lawn mower is broke. Guess, I’ll go get…nevermind. OK, then I’ll get on my exercise bike for a while. Uhhh…with this bad knee? Hmmmm…so what can I do on this rainy Thursdsay besides “shit and fall back in it”, as they say in the South. I KNOW! I can pick up the ukulele and write another big OAKTeam hit! We just recorded 3 new tunes last night and we’ll need a couple more for next week on our current recording schedule. Ohhhh…Will’s downstairs jamming with his friend and I can’t even hear myself think!
Don’t worry, I’ll get a push outta this ditch soon I’m sure and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna complain about my life when I’ve got friends who’ve recently lost spouses to cancer and to infidelity. My problems are teeny tiny compared to theirs. “This too shall pass” and meanwhile I guess I’ll just shit and fall back in it!