Join Now
LoginBiography
I was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1943 and grew up musically during the transition from the big band era to the rock and roll period. My first active musical phase ran from about 1959 to 1963. Starting out in concert bands at school, I played baritone sax in the swing band at my high school and then a rock band before switching to guitar and playing in a couple of other rock bands and a vocal group (I sang lead or backup in two of those rock bands).
Growing up in the South meant that I listened to a lot of early rock and pop that now sounds very country--Elvis and knockoffs like the young Conway Twitty and Charlie Rich--less pure country of the Hank Williams variety. It gave you a sense of being close to the middle of things, even if only as a wannabe, allowing you to come into occasional contact with real players like Elvis's Scotty (Moore) and Bill (Black), Conway Twitty's drummer and songwriter Jack Nance ("It's Only Make Believe"), and the Silver Fox himself, who grew up in a town about twenty miles from Little Rock and whose bass player at that time was the older brother of a guy I sang with.
Growing up in the South also meant that I listened to a lot of black music, from Little Richard on to The Eldorados, The Statues (the "real" "Blue Velvet"), Jerry Butler and the Impressions, and Little Anthony and the Imperials, as well as to a lot of Southern gospel quartets. I especially loved those quartets and doo-wop, black and white: think Dion and the Belmonts, The Elegants, and Johnny Maestro and the Crests (although they were actually triracial), even barber shop, because of the close three-part harmony with a deep bass. That's probably the reason that since then I've always been partial to the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young), The Eagles, and similar groups--though they haven't had the deep bass, like most of the great black groups from the Four Tops and Temptations on, which I've also enjoyed.
I wrote my first song in 1959 and had written over a hundred by the time I went in the Navy in 1963 (most of them throw-aways). When I got out two years later, the British Invasion had begun, the whole music world seemed to have changed, and I had gotten married to a girl who felt threatened by some aspects of the musical life. So I went to college, for a long time, and had an academic career that didn't allow much leisure for music, though I didn't abandon it entirely, either as a musician or a song writer.
About 2005, looking toward retirement, I started playing guitar and singing more often, began learning to play the bass, picked up a sax for the first time in forty-four years, and discovered GarageBand. Since then, I've been revising older songs, writing some new ones, and recording them. I'm fairly comfortable with GarageBand now but am very much on the learning curve with Bias Peak and mastering. I did most of my recordings using an inexpensive Radio Shack mic and a bass amp as an interface, with predictable results (maybe not entirely out of place with the retro songs, but...). In the meantime I've bought a couple of Shure mics and an M-Audio interface, still not high budget, but the change should be noticeable, even though I'm uploading older and newer recordings intermingled.
I'm still playing the 1960 model Gibson ES 300 I bought in 1961, a very sweet axe, now mainly as a rhythm guitar. Most recently, I've been playing lead on an early eighties Lotus, a Strat knockoff I bought for my daughter years ago that sounds very bright and perky to my ear. My bass is an Epiphone Embassy Special IV, a good entry-level instrument, I think, and certainly serviceable. I didn't own a sax forever, renting Yamaha and King altos and a Yamaha tenor for my relatively limited needs. However, I now have a used Yamaha alto and recently came into the possession of a C-Melody (tenor) that has cleaned up very nicely and has a smooth, full sound (though not with the original mouthpiece!). Maybe the sax will figure more prominently in future recordings.
I retired in May of 2010 and am spending much of my time getting songs and recordings into decent shape, most of them original but also a few covers. I plan to release an EP of retro songs from the early sixties before too long. Future uploads will include more early sixties rock, Johnny Mathis/Andy Williams-type ballads, bossa nova, blues, some seventies sounds, and whatever comes to me along the way. Life is good!
Growing up in the South meant that I listened to a lot of early rock and pop that now sounds very country--Elvis and knockoffs like the young Conway Twitty and Charlie Rich--less pure country of the Hank Williams variety. It gave you a sense of being close to the middle of things, even if only as a wannabe, allowing you to come into occasional contact with real players like Elvis's Scotty (Moore) and Bill (Black), Conway Twitty's drummer and songwriter Jack Nance ("It's Only Make Believe"), and the Silver Fox himself, who grew up in a town about twenty miles from Little Rock and whose bass player at that time was the older brother of a guy I sang with.
Growing up in the South also meant that I listened to a lot of black music, from Little Richard on to The Eldorados, The Statues (the "real" "Blue Velvet"), Jerry Butler and the Impressions, and Little Anthony and the Imperials, as well as to a lot of Southern gospel quartets. I especially loved those quartets and doo-wop, black and white: think Dion and the Belmonts, The Elegants, and Johnny Maestro and the Crests (although they were actually triracial), even barber shop, because of the close three-part harmony with a deep bass. That's probably the reason that since then I've always been partial to the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young), The Eagles, and similar groups--though they haven't had the deep bass, like most of the great black groups from the Four Tops and Temptations on, which I've also enjoyed.
I wrote my first song in 1959 and had written over a hundred by the time I went in the Navy in 1963 (most of them throw-aways). When I got out two years later, the British Invasion had begun, the whole music world seemed to have changed, and I had gotten married to a girl who felt threatened by some aspects of the musical life. So I went to college, for a long time, and had an academic career that didn't allow much leisure for music, though I didn't abandon it entirely, either as a musician or a song writer.
About 2005, looking toward retirement, I started playing guitar and singing more often, began learning to play the bass, picked up a sax for the first time in forty-four years, and discovered GarageBand. Since then, I've been revising older songs, writing some new ones, and recording them. I'm fairly comfortable with GarageBand now but am very much on the learning curve with Bias Peak and mastering. I did most of my recordings using an inexpensive Radio Shack mic and a bass amp as an interface, with predictable results (maybe not entirely out of place with the retro songs, but...). In the meantime I've bought a couple of Shure mics and an M-Audio interface, still not high budget, but the change should be noticeable, even though I'm uploading older and newer recordings intermingled.
I'm still playing the 1960 model Gibson ES 300 I bought in 1961, a very sweet axe, now mainly as a rhythm guitar. Most recently, I've been playing lead on an early eighties Lotus, a Strat knockoff I bought for my daughter years ago that sounds very bright and perky to my ear. My bass is an Epiphone Embassy Special IV, a good entry-level instrument, I think, and certainly serviceable. I didn't own a sax forever, renting Yamaha and King altos and a Yamaha tenor for my relatively limited needs. However, I now have a used Yamaha alto and recently came into the possession of a C-Melody (tenor) that has cleaned up very nicely and has a smooth, full sound (though not with the original mouthpiece!). Maybe the sax will figure more prominently in future recordings.
I retired in May of 2010 and am spending much of my time getting songs and recordings into decent shape, most of them original but also a few covers. I plan to release an EP of retro songs from the early sixties before too long. Future uploads will include more early sixties rock, Johnny Mathis/Andy Williams-type ballads, bossa nova, blues, some seventies sounds, and whatever comes to me along the way. Life is good!
Music 
| Title | Genre | Released | Plays |
| Summer Days All Year | Pop | Dec 16, 2011 | 194 |
| Battle Song of the Republicans | Pop | Nov 21, 2011 | 131 |
| Bring Back That Seventies Spirit Now | Rock | May 13, 2011 | 282 |
| Strong Heart | Pop | Apr 22, 2011 | 187 |
| When I Think of You | Pop | Mar 12, 2011 | 193 |
| Sad Eyes | Pop | Jan 28, 2011 | 224 |
| Man on the Moon | Rock | Nov 17, 2010 | 282 |
| Listen to the Radio | Country | Oct 1, 2010 | 351 |
| Happy to Be Alive | Pop | Aug 20, 2010 | 363 |
| (Going Back to Stay in) Arkansas | Rock | Jul 16, 2010 | 332 |
| This Time Tomorrow | Pop | Feb 21, 2010 | 475 |
| It's Love | Jazz | Dec 24, 2009 | 317 |
| Fix Me on Sunday | Spiritual/Gospel | Dec 20, 2009 | 302 |
| Sissy's Song | Pop | Nov 10, 2009 | 367 |
When You Walk Your Walk  |
Pop | Nov 4, 2009 | 380 |
Favorites
| Title | Artist | Genre | Plays |
| Fairy Tale | gepo | Other | 159 |
| Out of Body | gepo | Other | 129 |
| That Thing You Do! | Beatle128 | Pop | 277 |
| Presious Love | morgan102 [+1] | R&B | 366 |
| when are we gonna be (back in love) | that80sboy | Pop | 550 |
| DRIFTING | KCsGROOVE | Rock | 480 |
| Known Me By Now (Rough Draft) | crissew | Pop | 327 |
| Montana Highway (Final) | crissew | Pop | 357 |
| JOVANA, BREATHE YOUR LOVE... | dr_elvis01 [+1] | Ambient | 2634 |
| Breathe Your Love | Everine | Other | 751 |
| Apologize - 4.0 One Republic cover by Rosebud | RMG_Music | Pop | 748 |
