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Prelude
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R.C.: Larry and I agreed early on about using string
interludes to tie songs together on the CD. About halfway
through the project I had this idea as an opening. The second
and third movements take their melody from the chorus of track
three.
L.L.: Randle played me a rough demo of his
Prelude just as I was working on the final mixes for our
project. I really felt it would be a wonderful setup piece for
the rest of the CD and that all it really needed was to be put
into the hands of someone who had both a true orchestral
understanding and who had some great samples. We handed it
over to our friend David Hoffner, who brought it all together
beautifully. |
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The Drum
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R.C.: The theme we tried to keep running through the CD is
love and its various aspects. It's amazing how someone can
make your heart rate increase when you see them. This song is
about the physical aspect of love and that _expression. The
heart IS the drum.
L.L.: First time Randle played me the demo
for this song I immediately knew what he was going for and I
could almost hear what we ended up with within my head.
Putting this one together was lots of fun for me because I
love production and The Drum was written to take full
advantage of studio technology along with the use of some
thoughtful arrangement.
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What I Need Is
Your Love
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R.C.: We re-wrote a song idea I had from the past on this
one. I love what Larry brought into it. To me this is totally
spiritual.
L.L.: This project with Randle started out
to be in essence an R.C. solo record. One day Randle said he
thought this song would be a good one for me to sing and as
things progressed I ended up singing more songs. Though it was
mostly written by Randle, What I Need Is Your Love could have
really been penned by me alone because it hits really close to
home both musically and lyrically to what I've written in the
past. |
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My Old Band
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R.C.:
It's been a pleasant surprise to me how well this song has
been received. Larry put in some great production ideas. What
once was a bitter memory has now become a sweet one.
L.L.: Talk about "hitting close to home."
This one IS "personal", and I have to hand it to Randle for
being able to dig deep to pull this out of himself while at
the same time doing it in a way where anyone who has ever been
in a band or a love relationship can connect to the emotion of
something being lost in the past. |
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Love
Shouldn't Treat You That Way
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R.C.:
I'm so glad this tune became part of the package. Great melody
and tremendous performance by all.
L.L.: When you write songs for the love of
writing them and the real reward is in their completion, after
years of doing this you end up with many songs that kinda get
stuck away in a drawer and forgotten about. About halfway
through recording this project Randle asked me if I had
anything of my own that I'd like to do. Songs are like babies
and it's hard to single out one you favor over another, so I
played him several things and once he heard this song he said
"Yes, let's do that one." It's not hard to tell that our music
is British Invasion influenced. Production wise, it's a style
we trust will last forever. Lyrically, this song sends a clear
message that love should never hold you down. |
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Eisenhower's
Farewell Excerpts
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R.C.:
We had a great time the day we put this together. I had
previously located two sound effect programs on my keyboard
that I thought we could use for it and they worked well. Ike's
farewell speech from 1961 is chilling and available from the
Eisenhower Library, free upon request.
L.L.: For months Randle kept telling me
about this Eisenhower speech he'd found and that somehow he
wanted to include parts of it within our project. I kept
wondering just how it could be made to fit and to what song it
might relate. After we completed editing the speech down and
Randle added the eerie music bed I really didn't care if it
related to anything else or not. To me it's just a reminder
that in this day and age, where everyone is so focused so much
on our tomorrows, that if we'd just turn around once in a
while and look back into history we'd see that in truth we're
just running in circles and repeating the same mistakes over
and over. |
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You Can't
Give Enough
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R.C.:
This is one of my favorites. It ties into Eisenhower's
warning, as the father dies in the 1964 in Vietnam. The mother
makes the decision to carry on raising her kids by herself,
only to find an early grave. This song is a tribute to all who
give everything for their families.
L.L.: This is one of Randle's songs that for me could have
easily fit nicely within an "Ozarks" record. |
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Getaway
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R.C.:
Everyone in today's world probably has an escape wish from
time to time, to put a lot of ground between them and all the
junk they have to deal with. This one's about having fun and
if you can't get away for real, maybe the song can take you
off mentally for awhile. Once again Larry's distinctive vocal
style fits perfectly.
L.L.: At first I was concerned that this
song might come across as being a bit "lite" when compared
with all the other songs. But Randle kept saying maybe we need
something "lite" to break things up, so I went along with it
and now I'm glad I did. It may not be everyone's cup of tea
but there are a lot of people out there working 40+ hours a
week, month after month, who I'm sure, will relate. Plus I
like the little lyrical turn at the ends of the choruses where
it's declared that in truth it doesn't really matter where we
get away to, because as long as we're together, "any ol' place
will do." |
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Starlight
and Broken Strings
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R.C.:
I think this recording captures the essence of loneliness.
Moreover, it hints to the possibility of gaining higher
consciousness as a result.
L.L.: I believe this was one of the very
first songs Randle played for me when we were about to get
started. It was the one that perked my interest right from the
get go and it was the song that showed me the path we should
follow. I think it's my "fav" on this record. |
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Invisible
Man
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R.C.:
Good track, great parts, great vocal. I love the idea that the
person's desire is so well hidden that it's completely
unnoticed.
L.L.: This is another of Randle's songs
that he wanted me to sing. I didn't know if my little voice
could push a track like this and it was something a little new
for me to try. After we had most of the backing track finished
and the vocals down we had our friend Pat Buchanan come in to
play some electric guitar. He added a nice slide part that I
only noticed weeks later that reminded me of the sound of
Randle's solo on Jackie Blue. It wasn't intentional and came
about quite by accident. |
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Houses Of
Blues
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R.C.:
My favorite track instrumentally. Bill Cuomo sets the mood so
perfectly at the top with the B-3 organ. It's a soap opera. So
many young people now have to spend so much time working to
have a dream home, that they're never home to enjoy it.
Ironic, isn't it?
L.L.: I like this one for many reasons.
But one of the things I like best about this track is that it
starts off as this very simple and open "blues" song and ends
up being symphonic. I'm not sure this is what Randle had in
mind when we started, but he allowed me to run with it and
have fun while trying to make it into something different. |
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We Don't
Need To Say Goodbye
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R.C.:
This is the Ozark Mountain Daredevil sound. The ultimate
cosmic country come on. Larry spent a lot of time making sure
all of the solos in the long fade worked together.
L.L.: I really enjoyed singing this one
and I kept telling Randle I had this crazy idea about the
ending where the song could turn into a strange Aaron
Copeland-ish, Appalachian hoedown wrapped up in a modern pop
track. Once again, Randle allowed me to go for it and it's
that kind of selflessness on his behalf that has made working
with him again after so many years such a pleasure. |
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Reprise
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R.C.:
I had no idea how melancholy this piece was until I heard
the final mix. It knocked me over! It sets a mood of resolve
for the last song perfectly.
L.L.: Originally this little piece was
going to close out the CD, but once it was recorded we thought
that it might work better as a lead in to When God Made Love,
so at the last minute we flipped it around and for me it fits
like a glove as if it was written right along with the song. |
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When God
Made Love
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R.C.:
I love the way this song is connected, yet stands alone
and looks back over the musical movie that has just rolled by.
It brings a closure while at the same time lets the listener
know that the story goes on.
L.L.: This is another one of my "favs"
from Randle. It's a really beautiful lyric idea and the only
problem with the song is that I didn't get to put my name on
it as a writer too. |
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