OCEANBOUND PUBLISHINGTM
THE MUSIC
HERE THE PAST WILL SING
I HAVE BEEN WRITING SONGS, COMPOSING MUSIC AND PERFORMING PROFESSIONALLY FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. I HAS BEEN MY GOOD FORTUNE TO HAVE PERFORMED WITH MANY DIFFERENT ARTISTS DURING MY CAREER AS A MUSICIAN. A FEW OF THE ARTISTS I HAVE HAD THE HONOR AND PLEASURE TO PERFORM WITH ARE LARRY & THE BLUENOTES, MY BROTHER ARVEL STRICKLIN, DELBERT McCLINTON, BRUCE CHANNEL, BILLY WADE SANDERS, RED STEAGALL, DOUG KERSHAW, GLEN CLARK AND CHUCK BERRY. AND SO MANY OTHER MUSICIANS, IN SO MANY BANDS ON SO MANY GIGS OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS. IT'S BEEN INTERESTING AND IT'S BEEN FUN. CURRENTLY I AM PERFORMING WITH THE SNEAK PREVIEW BAND, PLAYING REGULARLY IN THE GALVESTON-HOUSTON AREA. THE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSICAL STYLES AND GENRES USED IN MY SONGWRITING ARE ILLUSTRATED IN THE SEVERAL COLLECTIONS OF MUSICAL WORKS LISTED BELOW, COVERING MANY YEARS OF MAKING AND WRITING MUSIC. WHAT FOLLOWS, IN ROUGH CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, IS ONE MUSICIAN'S HISTORY, TOLD WITH PICTURES, LYRICS AND MELODY (THE TEACHER).
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"SONG BOOK VOL. 1" (EARLY ORIGINAL SONGS) AVAILABLE SOON
THESE SONG COVER THE PERIOD FROM ABOUT 1968 TO 1978, MOSTLY STUDIO CUTS AND SOME SOLO VERSIONS OF EARLY SONGS. A LOT OF ROCK AND ROLL MIXED WITH SLOWER MELODIC TUNES, BEGINNING TO BECOME MORE COMPLEX IN ARRANGEMENT, ESPECIALLY THE USE OF PIANO, SAXOPHONE (SECTIONS) AND BACKING VOCALS. SOME OF THE SONGS ON THE "TAKE A LOOK" CD ARE ALSO FROM THIS PERIOD. THIS CD IS MAINLY EARLY LIVE AND STUDIO RECORDINGS. THE QUALITY OF THE RECORDING VARIES FROM SONG TO SONG. THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE. LITTLE PIECES OF HISTORY. MUSICAL PICTURES OF A YOUNG MUSICIAN LEARNING HOW TO WRITE AND RECORD HIS MUSIC.
"TAKE A LOOK" CD NOW AVAILABLE
THE SONGS ON THE "TAKE A LOOK" CD, ACTUALLY THE FIRST ONE THAT WAS DONE, REPRESENT THE RESULTS OF ABOUT 5 YEARS OF WRITING AND RECORDING WITH A COMPUTER (166MHZ, 64MG RAM, WOW!) ALONE AND DOING EVERYTHING ON ALL THE SONGS. SOME OF THE TRACKS ARE COMPUTER-GENERATED (I HAD NO DRUMS, FOR EXAMPLE) AND SOME ARE LIVE INSTRUMENTS, ME PLUGGED INTO THE SOUNDCARD AND RECORDING STRAIGHT TO DISK. ANY LEAD GUITAR, SAX AND SOME OF THE BASS AND KEYBOARD PARTS ARE "REAL" AND ALL OF THE VOCAL PARTS ARE ME, USING A MICROPHONE PLUGGED INTO THE SOUNDCARD. I LEARNED HOW TO DO DIGITAL MULTI-TRACK RECORDING WITH THIS SET OF SONGS. I DID EVERYTHING ON THIS CD MYSELF, FROM WRITING, RECORDING, ENGINEERING TO DESIGNING AND MAKING THE CD LABEL. OTHERS CAN JUDGE HOW GOOD, OR BAD IT IS. FOR ME IT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF EARNING A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN DO-IT-YOURSELF MUSIC PRODUCTION. ALONG WITH A MILLION OTHERS LIKE ME.
"SONGWRITER" CD NOW AVAILABLE
THIS SET OF SONGS CONTINUES THE PROCESS OF RECORDING WITH A DIGITAL WORKSTATION, THIS TIME A BETTER COMPUTER (450 MHZ, 256 MB RAM), BETTER SOFTWARE AND KNOWING HOW TO DO IT. ALSO THE SONGS ARE BETTER, I THINK. THE ARRANGEMENTS ARE MORE SOPHISTICATED, MY GUITAR PLAYING STILL SUCKS, BUT IT'S OKAY. I'M NOT PLAYING "HOT LICKS" GUITAR, I AM PLAYING A PART, AS WRITTEN, THAT FITS IN A CERTAIN PLACE FOR A SPECIFIC REASON. TO CREATE THE SOUND AND RHYTHM PATTERN THAT I WANT RIGHT THERE. I CAN'T PLAY AN OBOE, EITHER BUT I COULD MAKE ONE PLAY A PART AND SOUND THE WAY I WANTED IF I NEEDED TO. IF I COULD FIND AN OBOE. OR A TROMBONE. A PART OF THE ORCHESTRA I CREATE FOR EACH SONG. BUT THE RECORDING TECHNIQUE HAS IMPROVED A LOT. MOST IMPORTANT TO ME, THE VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS AND HARMONIES ARE MUCH BETTER. I'M LEARNING TO SING WITH MYSELF, AND TO USE THE BACKING VOCALS TO SUPPORT AND SURROUND THE MELODY, WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION AND CORE OF THE SONG. SOME OF THESE SONGS ARE PERSONAL FAVORITES BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT (ALL OF MY SONGS ARE ABOUT PEICES OF MY LIFE) AND BECAUSE I FINALLY WAS LEARNING HOW TO USE THEM TO CONVEY EMOTION, HOW I FELT WHEN I WROTE THE SONG. THESE GUYS AREN'T JUST SONGS ANYMORE. THEY ALL HAVE JOBS TO DO, A PURPOSE OTHER THAN TO SOUND GOOD. THE MUSIC IS GROWING UP AND IT'S COMING AFTER YOU. THE MESSAGE IN THE MUSIC, THERE ALL ALONG, IS GETTING ORGANIZED, UNMISTAKEABLE. THE PLAIN, SIMPLE TRUTH IS ALL THAT IT IS. AND ALL THAT IT NEEDS TO BE.
"THE COMPOSER":
CONTEMPORARY WORKS BEING COMPILED FOR THE NEXT CD, AS YET UNTITLED AND UNFINISHED. (BETTER COMPUTER, 2.4 GHZ, 1 GB RAM) THESE WORKS (SOME STILL IN PROGRESS) ARE AMONG THE MOST COMPLEX , AND SOME THE SIMPLEST OF ANY SO FAR, REFLECTING 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE CRAFT OF WRITING MUSIC. AT SOME POINT I REALIZED I WAS NO LONGER MERELY WRITING SONGS AND THE MUSIC HAD MOVED TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL. THE MUSICAL PIECES ARE STILL ABOUT SONG-LENGTH, BUT THE APPROACH HAS CHANGED. IT ISN'T JUST WORDS AND MUSIC ANYMORE. THEY ARE BECOMING MORE COMPLETE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS, USING SONG FORM AS A BASIS. BUT THE INSTRUMENTATION AND ARRANGEMENT, DOWN TO THE LAST LITTLE NOTE AND ACCENT, ARE AS IMPORTANT AS ANYTHING ELSE, ALL PART OF WHOLE, DESIGNED TO SUPPORT AND CARRY THE MELODY (STILL MY TEACHER) FROM BEGINNING TO END IN ONE CONTINUOUS PIECE AND CARRY THE LISTENER ALONG WITH IT. THEY HAVE BECOME PAINTINGS DONE WITH MUSIC INSTEAD OF COLOR ON CANVAS. THEY ARE MY PIECES OF ART, MUSICAL ART DESIGNED TO LET THE LISTENER SEE THE TONAL COLORS IN THEIR MIND'S EYE AND FEEL THE EMOTIONS EVOKED BY THE MUSIC WITH THEIR SENSES. TRUE PARTICIPATORY AND INTERACTIVE ART, DESIGNED TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE, SHOW YOU SOMETHING AND TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND IT, KNOW HOW A CERTAIN THING FEELS. AND THE MESSAGE, UNCHANGED FROM THE START, IS STILL AT THE HEART OF THE MUSIC. I CANNOT KNOW HOW SUCCESSFUL THESE PIECES OF MUSIC ARE OR WILL BE. AT THE LEAST I HOPE THEY ARE ENJOYABLE TO LISTEN TO. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR BUY A CD. I'M NOT TRYING TO GET RICH, JUST MAKE MY MUSIC FOR YOU. OR MAYBE EAT MORE ENCHILADAS AND BUY HOME-MADE TAMALES ON A SEMI-REGULAR BASIS. AND A MAN CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH FISHING GEAR, RIGHT?
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