Album Notes
I’m one of those “lawyer/would rather be a musician” guys who took the safer path in life despite my love for music that began with my Revere tape recorder that I used to keep by my bed and record songs off the radio in the 1960s. Now that I’ve retired from practicing law, I’ve taken to recording at my home studio on a Roland VS 2400 CD, which is now an antique, but at least I know how to use it. I’ve recorded all of the tracks, except the bass tracks on the Nirvana Album, Stan VI and Stan Does Dylan, which were laid down by my great buddy, Ken John. Ken also did the piano keyboard on “Gotta Move On” (Nirvana Album) and rhythm guitar on John Wesley Harding (Stan Does Dylan). Credit also to Ed Lowe, another great guitar-playing buddy, for the rhythm guitar on "I shall Be Released" (Stan Does Dylan). I took to recording bass on Stan VII and Stan VIII, which was a lot of fun. I stuck to the basics and didn’t try anything too fancy.
More recently, after adding all of my original material to the site, I've started to add some of my favorite songs as singles. All of them are published as singles and available on the various streaming services. Because I have to pay for the right to publish these songs, downloads are $.99.
I have to struggle to write lyrics. I wish I could write like Dylan with the fantastic poetic metaphors and illusions that don’t appear to make any sense, but leave you with a definite feeling, or Neil Young, who leaves you with the impression that every song relates to a personal experience in his life. I’m encumbered by the restriction/need for the lyrics to make sense (I’m a stickler about rhyming), and also find that my personal experiences rarely trigger lyrics for a song. Sometimes I’ll just start fooling around on the guitar and come up with a chord sequence or rhythm pattern and then come up with lyrics to fit the song. For example, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (Stan VIII) started out as a practice track for lead guitar. As I continued playing it, I started to pace how the lyrics would fit the rhythm. Then I asked - what kind of song is this? Well, it’s obviously a “let’s dance and f…. song,” so then came the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll wake up with the music rolling in my head (not lately). It’s amazing how great the music sounds while you’re half asleep, but how dull it becomes when you try to play it out on the guitar. “Hello Sunshine” is one of those songs that came to me while half asleep.
A bunch of songs on the Nirvana album are “two-chorders” with me strumming on the guitar (“Definitely” “Blues Over You”). I’ve developed a two finger strum (thumb and forefinger) and it’s now hopeless for me to try to strum like other guitarists using four or five fingers. It seems that once I get going on the two-chord pattern, there is no way to break out for a bridge. I’ve gotten away from that, but still like two-chorders for jamming (“Arizona” and “Down in Mexico” - Stan VIII; “Cadillac Jam” and “A-G Jam” - Stan VII), and most recently, "And So It Goes," which I just released as a single.
“Hit the Road Again” (Nirvana album) is the first song I ever wrote (my one and only attempt at writing a “country” song). It was around 1970 when I was a VISTA volunteer in Gainesville, Florida. Originally, the song went: “Found me a place to stay, for about a dollar a day.” Now it goes, “Found me a place to stay, for about ten dollars a day.” You could actually find a room for about $50.00 a month at that time.
Somewhere around that time I wrote “Arizona” (Stan VIII Album). Never actually been to Arizona. It relates back to the summer of 69 when I drove out west on Interstate 80 from Michigan to San Francisco. Somewhere along the way, I stopped at a gas station and was talking with a crusty old fella who said to me that he wouldn’t trade a life in New York City for one piece of sagebrush out west. Never forgot that and was thinking of him when I wrote that song.
“Streets of the City” (Stan VIII Album) is another song that relates back to that time – written based on my memories of living in New York City in the fall of 69. It used to go: “Streams of cars and buses everywhere; nowhere can you find a breath of air.” Now it says, “Catch an Uber if you can afford the fare.” At least this is one area where things have gotten better over the years, although I haven’t been back to New York since 1990.
“Another Morning Paper” started out with me strumming the chord pattern (love that FMajor7 - C Major chord sequence). Throw in the F, F minor, D7, and G and you’ve got a song. Lyrics came later to fit the music. Very sad (but beautiful) - that’s how the music goes.
“First Day of My Life” (Stan VIII) was written around 1990 with Debbie Gibson in mind. I hesitated to put it on the album. It drags a bit. Needed to be recorded at a faster tempo. Hope I didn’t make a mistake.
Around that time frame I also wrote “Maybe Someday.” Amazing and sad that the lyrics ring truer today than when I wrote the song.
There are a few songs dedicated to my loving wife, Jo, such as “All I need is You” (Stan VIII) and “For You” (Stan VII). Heck, you ain’t no songwriter if you can’t write a decent love song!
The lyrics to “I’ve Got the Blues Over You” (Nirvana album) are definitely dated - “out-of-sight” “up tight” “dynamite,” but what the heck. Maybe it has some historical value.
Strawberry Wine is another song that came to me half asleep (including the lyric). Never drank strawberry wine, but it does exist. I checked it out on the internet and there is actually another song with the same name.
And I mustn’t forget to mention “Walkin’ on the Beach” (Stan VI). That actually came to me while walking on the beach wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my life, being retired. You’ll find that theme in some of the other songs, including “Just Killing Time” (Stan VIII).
My most recent song, "Comphy Cozy Cudly With You," is dedicated to my loving wife, Jo.
So, they tell me on CD Baby that I need to maintain constant contact with my fans in order to be successful in today’s music environment. I’m a studio musician, don’t play with a band, so there is not much to talk about. And I’m not doing this to try to make money in any case. But I will keep you posted as to anything worth mentioning and would love to receive your comments and word that you are hopefully enjoying some of the tracks.
Very best,
Stan