Good Night, Moon (Lullaby for June) (click for sample) (Children's/Lullaby) was written just after I rocked our granddaughter to sleep for the first time. The title comes from her delight in seeing the moon every evening, and from one of her favorite books, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown & Clement Hurd (New York: Harper & Row [Harper Collins], 1947). It's not like anything else I've written; we appended it as a "bonus track" on the new CD (Has It Really Been So Long? - but we may change the album title to Hello In There). Babies seem to like it: I once played it for June and she toddled over, laid her head on the sofa, and closed her eyes.
June.
One Town at a Time (click for sample) (Country/Satire) came about in 2000, when Elise and I were driving to New Mexico and decided to write the quintessential country song. It has a cheatin' wife, whiskey, gambling, and a truck. The final version, due around Christmas, 2009, will have either Stephen on dobro or a pedal steel, since we want people to understand that it really is a pretty good country song. The towns are along Interstate 35 just north of Austin, Texas.
Autumn (click for sample) (Folk/Pop) was written for a friend of mine, about his first serious girlfriend. After all that trouble (and some exciting exploits from Minnesota to Oklahoma when we were all too young and stupid to know better), she dumped him. He recovered, went on to much better things (including Mardell), and got pretty famous in his chosen field. In retrospect, the song's the best part of that memory. On stage, it is quiet and simple, not a song for outlaw bars. Here's to Eric, and to Raye, wherever she may be. CLICK HERE for CD version, so far without vocal.
I wrote Talkin' Junebug Blues (click for sample) (Children's/Folk) when our only grandaughter, June, was about a year old. Her parents (Troy and Liz) had whisked her off to Baton Rouge from Austin, Texas, and one of the things I do when I lose people is write songs about them. June likes it, and it's a great song for kids (as long as they're old enough to know what a toad is -- does that make you curious?). Talkin' blues are easy to write and easy to play, but the words get wrapped around my teeth. I'm on the old D-28, Chris Reeves is playing lead guitar, and Ron Knuth plays mandolin in this version, recorded at Timbre Lodge in late 2009.
Christmas Song (click for sample) (Seasonal/Folk/Pop). This is the finished version, gussied up and pre-released for the 2009 Christmas broadcast market. It's one of my favorites, though it sounds much simpler when I'm the only person on stage. The locations are in northern California and northern New Mexico. Ron Knuth plays great fiddle on this version, with unusual "octave" strings (an octave lower than standard violin pitch). Chris plays lead guitar and Sue Ann handles the other strings.
She Always Had a Place Inside My Heart (click for sample) (Country/Folk/Pop) is a sad song, about a dying grandfather. I was writing short songs for our new granddaughter and the initial lyrics just sprang to mind. I found myself getting very sad as I sang the words. I'm not any closer to kicking the bucket than other guys my age who are ticked off about finding it harder to walk a few miles uphill to fish all day in a cold, fast stream, but there's a nagging poignance. It shouldn't be played for her until it's time. The song sounds pretty good solo, but Sue Ann's orchestration is what really makes this particular performance.
Bill's Jump (click for sample) (Blues/Cajun) is my arrangement loosely taken from an old, traditional southern field song. It's a simple song that makes a great jam, the kind of thing you play for as long as you want, with everybody jumping in for solos and playing off each other. Nobody knows how to stop it once it takes off, so we just end up in a musical train wreck.
The Pirate and the Swan (click for sample) (Folk/Pop) is a driving folk song I wrote in the late '70s. Search your soul for the deep meaning of the lyrics. Then try to enjoy it anyway.
(We Say) "Grace" Before Breakfast (click for sample) (Children's) is for my grand-neice (Gracie), who is spending a couple of years in London with her family. She's a natural entertainer who uses her older brother as announcer and straight man. (She's 4, and already knows what to do with men.) Then I had to write one for her brother, Max, and one for baby Will. It's hard not to appear to be playing favorites. Anyone with a child in kindergarten or early elementary school with get the point immediately.
Drivin' Home (click for sample) (Country) was written during my Green (Army uniform) Period, while stationed at Ft. Polk, Louisiana, during the early 1970s, the rewritten for the new CD. I'd been drafted and was living by myself in an old trailer outside DeRidder, depressed, and missing everybody. It was probably raining, too. The truck was a pickup then, and the song was a little shorter. Then I had a chance to do a session with Chris, who likes honky tonk, and tried to impress him by making it sound like an over-the-road driver. I'm not sure that worked, but Ron's fiddle and Stephen's dobro (coming) dress it up for the country market.
Max Growing Up (click for sample) (Children's) is about a six-year-old grand-nephew who is quietly strong, takes care of his little brother, and is a tolerant straight-man for his younger sister, the born entertainer. He'll make a fine grownup some day. I don't get to see Kirk & Tricia and the kids often enough, especially now that the family lives in England. (Dylan, be patient; your song's coming.)
Merryville Highway Song (click for sample) (Folk/Country) is about thoughts on the road, in the middle of the night, when I was in the middle of nowhere. Freedom isn't always everything it's cracked up to be.
Blimey, Guv'nor, Will Has an Accent! (click for sample) (Country/Folk/Children's) (early demo) is for my grand-nephew, William D. Reid, a brilliant and talented individual who just happens to be the first child ever named after me. He was ripped from his Colorado roots (along with the rest of the family) and replanted in England on the pretense that his father had a good job opportunity there. Their address is their house's name, not a number; very fancy and traditionally English. It's bad enough that the boy wasn't born in Texas, but growing up with a British accent? That's a heavy cross to bear.
The Requiem Series (complete recordings) (Prelude [Requiem Vivace], Youth, Age, Postlude [Afterlife]) (Classical) was written during the early 1990s, mostly in our weekend house on Lake Buchanan, Texas. My mother picked the prelude for her memorial service. The primary movements were dedicated to our daughter, Stephanie, before they became part of the Requiem Series (Steph is alive and well and a great artist). It is copyrighted but not a BMI-registered work. Individuals or orchestras interested in the updated score should contact me via the email address on this site.
Central Louisiana Daydream (Country) is sort of just what it says. Nothing fancy. Written for a lady I didn't marry, so let's stop the story right there.
Image (She Comes Into the Room) (Pop/Folk) should have been written in some pastoral setting, for my wife, Elise; but the fact is, I was between wives and trying to impress a lovely young nurse. She saw the guitar and asked if I played. I said yes, and went out on a limb and said I wrote a little, too. She didn't believe me, and bet that I couldn't write her a song in 10 minutes (the stakes will remain private). She left the room, and when she came back, I had written it on the proverbial paper napkin. I'd love to know where she ended up.
Anesthetic ([With] Half a Bottle Left Inside) (Folk/Pop) was another song written during yet another maudlin phase many years ago. It was probably raining then, too.
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