Songwriter
Ancient Music Reclaimed

When my music first emerged, I was satisfied playing others' songs. But when I began to write original songs something opened up for me. In the beginning I would just copy the styles of others songs, but eventually I did develop a "voice" that was my own. The songwriting was my first storytelling expression and out of all the forms my storytelling took over the years, the most personal. These four come from 55+ years ago. As they say... time fly's when you are having fun.

 

I mostly wrote for me or one of my bands but occasionally I would write something for someone else or a project that was commissioned. 

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The Last Picture Show was written on a dare. I went to college at Cal Poly which in those days was a big AG school. Including cowgirls that were barrel racers etc. I was giving one of them some guff that country songs all seemed to be about their dog dying or something else tragic. She challenged me. If you so smart, you write a better country song she said. So, I had seen the film The Last Picture Show and there was an old theater in that small town I thought would be a good place to stage the story. I wrote it and showed it to my publisher Frank Slay but its was hardly a song a rock band would do so it sat until my friend Bob Spalding did a demo of it with a country western singer in the late seventies. Then it slipped away again.

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I originally recovered The Last Picture Show with help from Suno AI with a male voice like mine, but then on a whim I tried it with a female.​ I was a big fan of Dolly Parton. Great songwriter, entertainer and fabulous contributor to  those in need. Three days prior to reworking The Last Picture Show I had said its too bad Dolly passed away because the Xmas song would have been perfect for her. Needless to say when Suno spit out the female version of The Last Picture Show the voice sounded exactly (I mean exactly) like Dolly. There is no way that Suno under copyright law can offer or create voices of famous singers so I don't know what it means if anything.​ At my age just to be able to produce music at this level and hear the magic happen with Suno's help is such a gift.

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Springfield County was written when I left San Luis Obispo for Hollywood in 1969. The original version was very upbeat almost matter of fact about me leaving Cal Poly after four life changing years and heading for the unknowns of Hollywood to pursue a new record deal. The truth underneath all that confidence was I was truly sad to leave San Luis Obispo and all the people including Anita that had made SLO such a great place to re-invent myself. The thing I love about updating these originals with Suno AI's assistance is that I can really get to the emotional center of the original song. The version of Springfield County below is much more in that vein. Beautiful in its own right.  

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Pretending was another college heart break song. In those young days relationships came and went fleetingly. The original attraction would sometimes last a while but then fade. And no one was thinking marriage at that age. AND I had dreams of going off to Hollywood to create my music. Yet, the heartbreak still arose and seemed it would last forever.

 

Enjoy...