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 "Love Line" Released August 2001 |
“Love Line” CD #2
Recorded in the basement of my last home in Plymouth MA, It was my first attempt at recording, mixing, and mastering the entire project from soup to nuts. It was a blast! Recorded on Easter weekend 2002, we really had a good time laying down track after track until we had 11 songs ready for production. One had to be cut due to technical problems discovered after the fact. The title “Love Line” is also the title song of the CD. I chose that title because I liked the song as well as the multiple meanings that it can reflect. It can be any form or connection between 2 people that have a love interest.
“Love Line” (Click on the above link to listen) Track one; I wrote this with Pete and we have a very interesting way of co-writing. I write the entire song, Pete figures out the theme I’m working with, then re-writes the verses and leaves the chorus alone. He occasionally changes tempo and throws in a break. Mike Perkins gets a mention here since he wrote the third verse. There is no way the 3 of us could sit and write a song together so I said to Mike after Pete and I were done, “write the third verse”. I actually like the 3rd verse the best. Although I think the entire song makes a great title track. “Why Would I Lie” (Click on the above link to listen) Track two; Inspired by friends of ours that were going through marriage problems. Typical, one spouse goes off and has an affair, the other finds out, and then there’s this denial and expectation that everyone will get over it. I got to thinking about my marriage and how much I love my wife and kept thinking, why would you lie to your best friend and partner? The aftermath of an affair lasts for the rest of your life so all of you thinking that you and your partner could get completely over it, forget about it. I’ve never met a couple that has gotten back to the way it was before. “What They Say About You” (Click on the above link to listen) Track three; this song is about a relationship I was in, in high school. I actually ran into my girlfriend at the time, in a bar late at night after I finished work. She was at the bar talking to this guy I knew she had gone out with before, and when I finally got through the crowd to confront her, she and he were gone. Her best friend spotted me and tried to cover by saying I must have been mistaken, she wasn’t there that night. She almost had me convinced (I was 17 after all). I later found out that when I used to drop her off at night at her apartment, she would not go home and would go out bar hopping. In all fairness, I didn’t go home either. But I was out drinking with the boys, not sleeping with them. When I broke up with her, the scene was ugly and right out of the movies. I was leaving a bar near Manhattan College in the Bronx, and she pulled up in a car and confronted me in front of about 100 people in front of the bar. Long story short, she finished screaming and making a scene and ended by spitting in my face. I never felt so good about something like that in my whole life. I was free!! “Your Image Haunts Me” (Click on the above link to listen) Track four; another song written with my buddy Pete. Pete really liked the feel and changed some of the verses (usually he likes to change all the verses) and we kept the chorus and break. I really like this song. We really collaborated well on this one. I just wrote it around a great combination of chords I came up with. The words and ideas were generated by the sound and feel of the music. "I Know Now" (Click on the above link to listen) Track five; the bands first attempt into the reggae beat. I wrote the song with a big heavy metal 80’s sound in my head. While we were recording, Billy our drummer decided to play a beat and Leif our bass player started the reggae line. Mike kicked in with his best vocal imitation of Bob Marley, Pete added the rhythm, and I couldn’t stop laughing. It is a song about trust in a relationship and how blind people in love can be. Mike sings the wrong words in the chorus but it sounds good even if it no longer makes sense. Listen while you’re reading the lyrics and you’ll hear what I mean. “Too Blind To See” (Click on the above link to listen) Track six; I really love the way this song kicks right into high gear. It starts with a real punch in the guitars! In a nut shell, people don’t realize how good a relationship really is until it’s gone. There are many reasons for this like age, maturity, other distractions in life. It’s a sad time in someone’s life when they figure that out!! “Lonely” (Click on the above link to listen) Track seven; I wrote this track after seeing the Barbara Walter’s interview with the widow’s and children of the 911 victims. I just can’t imagine the pain and suffering they went through but this song is my attempt to try to express what they may have felt. Donna McClellan sang the song for me since it was written with a female in mind. Thank you Donna!! “Looking At You” (Click on the above link to listen) Track eight; a social comment on the down and out. Sometimes we just can’t see our own situations because we are so close to it or refuse to see ourselves in a negative light. “Saturday Nite” (Click on the above link to listen) Track nine; everyone has a past love that they have thought about from time to time no matter how much you care about your current spouse. It is human nature. I wrote this with a past girlfriend in mind who was someone I enjoyed being with but we both had such different goals in life that it would never have worked and that’s why it did not. My favorite line in the last verse “ the drive-in movies at Pelham Bay, it didn’t matter what we’d see, as long as it was you and me…”, we would go to the drive-in to see Grease at least once a week when it was out back in 77. We would go in my customized van and just fill a cooler with beer and wine and enjoy each others company. These were very fond memories during that stage of my life. Meeting my wife was still 7-8 years away. I didn’t realize how great my life was truly going to get!! “The Flag” (Click on the above link to listen) Track ten; I have to say this is my favorite track on the CD. I wrote it in 10 minutes. It flowed out of me with absolutely no effort. Shortly after 911 I took my 2 children to a candle light vigil being held at Plymouth Rock to help them to realize how somber this moment in history was for our country. Justine was working that night. People were standing around with lit candles singing God Bless America, and other Patriotic songs. I could see in my sons face in particular, some confusion and he kept questioning the reason why people were crying and so quiet. He is a very inquisitive kid as is my daughter. Cars were driving by waving America Flags. Flags were everywhere. It was a really touching experience for everyone there. The next day or so I went into my studio and started playing some chords and the words just poured out. When we recorded the song I decided to add the two parts that the kids speak instead of the usual guitar parts I would normally include. I still get chills when I hear my children on this song. My daughter after recording her part said she wanted to do it again because she stumbles slightly, but I overruled because to this day it is my favorite part of the song. My son and daughter both till this day cover their ears when their parts come up but some day when they are my age they will appreciate why I love this song so much. “Already Gone” (Click on the above link to listen) Track eleven (Cover of Eagles Song); we added this song to the record because when we play live it is one of our staple songs. Billy at the end of the session said hey let’s do one of those songs we do live and I love the way we did it. The guitars, drums, and bass are awesome!
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