Welcome to where I jumped the shark...my White Album.In the fall 2004, after a long hiatus from writing and performing music, I began work on a collection of tunes that would ultimately be released in the summer of 2007 called Does Anybody Wanna Rock And Roll???. I use the word released very loosely here, because I had no record label support and a shoestring budget. So released, in this scenario, can be translated to: burned a bunch of copies, designed and printed my own covers, sold them in a handful of stores and gave a lot away.
If you happen to have a copy, thanks, consider yourself one of a very select few.
And before you think that this is going to be some sort of self-indulgent, misguided, delusional, love fest as I wax poetic about my own songs, let me say this: I think I suck. Really. I'm not fishing for compliments. I'm not looking for any stroking. Ask anyone who actually knows me, I really do think I suck and I'm okay with that fact.
So yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with my musical compositions. I love to create, but then hate my creations. I've made a few records through the years, and with the exception of a riff or two here and there, a magic moment of melody or a nicely turned phrase, the majority of these songs and collections are very forgettable. I say that without a shred of sadness or doubt. Yes, I consider myself an artist. Yes, I consider songwriting my primary creative outlet and, as I've said before, that's really all that matters...me getting what's inside, out.
I think it comes down to the finished product. While I'm creating and swept up by the moment, nothing is more important than the next brush stroke on the canvas...the next step to creating the picture in my mind. But when it's a finished work and I "hang it on the wall", the picture that was in my mind has become a soul-less collection of paint splatters. Especially when it sits next to the work of my favorite artists...artists that so effortlessly create beautiful, stunning landscapes that stimulate the deepest emotions of my being. Uh, yeah...I suck.
I've painfully realized over the years that in the grand scheme of things, I just don't have "it".
I can play guitar.
I can sing.
I can write songs.
I can perform, put on a show and look cool doing it.
I've lived life in a van, on the road, paying my dues.
I'm a pro.
So what is this crucial, intangible it? Sorry folks, if I knew I wouldn't be an insurance agent.
That brings me back to 2004. For whatever reason, the stars aligned and I created a collection of songs that (to me anyway) sound real, genuine. There's no soul-less paint splatters staring back at me when I look at this collection. I was mining some emotional gold at the time and I feel like it comes through...at least to me it does. So with all that being said, I'm going to share this art here in my blog. Hopefully a song a week, with an accompanying YouTube video and a (clears throat), brief explanation of where the song came from.
At the end of the process I'll put the whole collection out on Dropbox as free download for anyone who wants it. So in the words of Marty DiBergi, "Hey, enough of my yakkin'; whaddaya say? Let's boogie!"
Track One: Does Anybody Wanna Rock and Roll???
When I picked up an electric guitar for the first time in about two years, the main riff that starts the song immediately came out of the speakers. I loved it.
I was listening to a lot of The Shazam at the time and they had a song with a lyric of, "I'm gonna rock and roll with my rock and roll rock and rollers". Pretty damn ridiculous but that fed my mindset at the time...YES! I'm ready. It's time. Who's with me???
My favorite part is the guitar harmony solo that basically plays the vocal melody from the verse. I've always liked songs where the solo was a simple reflection of the vocal melody. Voila.
The line that starts the second verse, "Heaven is off for the night..." came directly from a visit to a Myrtle Beach strip club while on a company golf trip around that same time. I overheard a guy tell a very disappointed gentleman, "Sorry bud, Heaven is off for the night." Awesome.
