(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Here it is in all of its glory...
THIS is the song that Mrs R and I had decided was a suitable response to a request to "Upload something HAPPY, stat!!!!!!!!!"
I tried to record it back in 2013 when I wrote it…
I was once asked to write a happy song. It turned out to be about a woman who killed herself and when I found out THAT SHE ACTUALLY KILLED HERSELF I wasn't sure what to think about my premonition.https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/a-happy-song. THEN, later an old friend asked if I had any happy songs so I wrote this:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/if-it-makes-you-happy-092914-1
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I was asked (told?) to upload something happy. Hmmm, I thought. This will end well...
So, a few days later, I was rehearsing a pleasant little thing I wrote several years ago that has a working title of "She Was…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Here's the very latest from the broom-cupboard.
I wrote it one dark night over 23 years ago.
****
**All I Have To Do - A A J Russe**
There isn’t much time to get this out
You won’t hear me if I have to…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Okies, so I'm working on some other thing and it's taking a while... drums to do and wotnot. But in the middle of it I'm digging how my Martin acoustic is working out. You probs won't even be able to hear it amongst…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I wrote this one last September.
Allison Jane Sixsmith 1965-2016.
****
**Forever - A A J Russe**
I can see you on your rocking horse now
The one that turned around and kicked you in the teeth
He thought…
I hear you’re drinking at the chocolate fountain
You pulled the handle off the door
But they won’t mind
They’ll be mending it forever..." Great images...
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I wasn't even sure the recording machine was still going to work after nearly five years... Certainly, bits of me don't work anymore... But, surprisingly, I got this done in 24 hours, start to finish... Strange old world…
As If It Really Matters - A A J Russe
Written 16th January 1999
Recorded 12th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
Crumbs, even this is 23 years old!
We used it as a set-opener in the last band I was in.
I've been trying to make…
Gates Of Heaven - A A J Russe
Written 15th January 1988
Recorded 6th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
This is about as naked as I can get.
This is how I wrote it. It's never had any accompaniment.
I was a bit young to sing…
As If It Really Matters - A A J Russe
Written 16th January 1999
Recorded 12th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
Crumbs, even this is 23 years old!
We used it as a set-opener in the last band I was in.
I've been trying to make…
No-one To Blame - A A J Russe
Written 1st January 1988
Recorded 6th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
Nearly forgot to post this one! (it's been a busy week at work)
I was 24 when I wrote it. What more can I say…
What's really cool about these songs written long ago is that you are still able to remember the melody... I'm always having to remember my own music. I really like this one! Wise words of a twenty something... wiser that his years!
Who Is My Neighbour - A A J Russe
Written sometime in 1992
Recorded 12th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
I wrote this 30 years ago when I was 29. There were a bunch of people killing other people. There were refugees.
By the…
As If It Really Matters - A A J Russe
Written 16th January 1999
Recorded 12th March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1
****
Crumbs, even this is 23 years old!
We used it as a set-opener in the last band I was in.
I've been trying to make…
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 15
Written Wednesday 23rd February 2022
****
I wasn't able to stop! I really meant to, but... Oh well.
It's still February, so it can go with the others.
IT IS MY FIRM INTENTION TO…
Congratulations!!!! Ended with another amazing tune - YES! That is a wealth of creativity in you my friend. I look forward to hearing all your other tunes. I hope you took a good rest after all this!!!
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 14
Written Monday 21st February 2022
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This is it ... FAWM's all finished for me... time for a lie down now.
There's still nearly a week to go, but I'm done, 14 songs written in 16…
Amazing how this came towards the end of the challenge...simply gorgeous. I don't hear any fatigue in it. A sad song though and I'm imagining the story behind it. Beautiful.
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 13
Written Saturday 19th February 2022
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UPDATE: 8 Hours after posting I just spotted that I listened to and favourited a song called... um... "We're Done" by oldfolks2 - check it out…
This is another great one!!! and catchy too. I also loved hearing your description of how this came about - I totally relate!!! I actually don't like most of my own songs. This song captures the spirit of these challenges :)
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 11
Written Thursday 17th February 2022
****
Feels like I'm on the last lap now. Only 3 more needed.
This one came from a suggestion from Mrs R this morning. I didn't quite fancy it, but…
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 10
Written Wednesday 16th February 2022
****
I've had the little guitar bit in the middle for years and years and years.
Even my wife recognises it, I play it so often.
Yesterday while…
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 9
Written Tuesday 15th February 2022
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I decided it was time I wrote a song that wasn't so hard to sing and play!
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**Once Again - A A J Russe**
Every day
You keep asking…
oh yeah!!! Great song and loving that chord progression. Beautiful with all the changes ...loving it. How did you do all this in such a short time period? Wow, wow, wow.
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 8
Written Monday 14th February 2022
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It's not entirely true. But it's CLOSE ENOUGH!
It was actually the 16th of February.
But we were corresponding by email on the 14th.
Then we…
**Song-writing Demo for FAWM 2022**
Song number 6
Written Friday 11th February 2022
****
I was meant to be resting and chilling.
In fact, I was resting and chilling.
But then I got a message from Lala saying she was listening to the…
I like this one a lot. Gotta get me a banjo, or a mandolin, or both!!
You realise you're gonna have to get a fiddle as well now? (Or have you got one already!).
Fine track. Love those falling chords.
I kept meaning to listen to this ever since you first posted it. I didn't have 9 minutes at the time!
Then I noticed the attention it was getting - so I reckoned it must be something special...
... found the 9 minutes and..
YES! It is...
Coming from a completely different space than I've been dwelling in for the past few hours - and very refreshing because of that.
Enjoyed it a great deal.
Once upon a life
By OsCKilO
Once
Upon a life
Do we find
A happy ending
More
Are the times
That we try
To race from the line
Slow down Laddy
Wont you go a little bit Slow
So Daddy can
catch up
Hey there Laddy
I could run fast in my day
And…
a new song finally came out of my head .....
Here's the lyrics:
Numbers spinning ‘round my head
like bees around a hive
if I try to divide them
they only multiply
even if I round them up
or try to find their root
colors swirling ‘round my…
And another one! Fantastic.
"Far too high, far too bright.."
Love it...
This is definitely the last one I'm listening to... I'll catch up some more later... I'm off to the broom-cupboard now.
Oh fantastic song and performance. Love the "mandolin" - is it one, or the "capo up the neck" trick?
(I keep meaning to stop and actually go and do some stuff myself - but another one of yours keeps starting and I keep listening instead!)
This one is utterly fabulous.
This was made for an EMUfest a year ago ... played on my really old Rolan D10 and the robot-voice is me through a vocal patch on my boss BR800.
Have fun :D
Here's a song I recorded a couple of months ago when I had the flu ... as the voice reveals :)
Recorded early in the morning,in the bathroom, using the built-in mics on my boss br800.
Yes. Lovely.
Not sure I've heard your voice like this before (away from lots of instruments). You've got a lot more bottom-end to it than usually shows up on bigger arrangements. Think about discovering how to bring it out on those as well - not too much, just a bit :-)
Of course, it might just have been the flu!!! lol
I haven't been listening to your stuff enough recently - kinda catching up here.
This is fab. Luckily I'm too old and creaky to attempt to dance to it, thanks for the warning anyway lol
Bethan wanted to make a lullaby for her new grandson and asked me for to make a music track for her to sing to.
Tess added 2 extra riffs and pitched it down as well. She also did the mixing and the vocal arrangement.
Shadows Come, Day Is All…
Fantastic, gorgeous, yum...
Bethan, so far, this is my ABSOLUTE favourite vocal of yours (not heard them all yet, though! lol).
And I reckon Tess must have the same muse bothering her as the one that watches over and hassles me: I was getting ready to type...
"and that line 'My love sits in the front row' is just fabulous"
... when I read the previous comments!
Superb job everyone. Now, does it actually work as lullaby on the chap in question? :-)
Wooo... Not heard this one before - I assume it was the same punkfest I know about and, as I didn't pay too much attention to the stuff getting posted, I must have missed this.
Love it. What it most reminds me of is Motorhead's first album (and, actually, the originally unreleased first album, On Parole), before they "became" Motorhead. So they were still a mixture of Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies, and goodness knows what else that went into it (speed and vodka lol).
My old live sound engineer from the 80s would have LOVED this, he always trying to get me more into stuff like this. Looks like some of it stuck, I love it too.
Had a bad day when I wrote this.
There is a rule I stick by though.
"Divert and sublimate your anger and potentially virulent emotions to creative energy"
So I did..
Picked up the Kay G101 and pressed record on the iPhone voice memo…
Ah - you've uploaded this one as well, nice one :-)
But I still don't quite understand how you manage to channel stuff so apparently effortlessly, and invariably produce a song worth listening to at the same time. (And do it so often)
Mebbe I'll just press record one day and see what happens! (And then spend 3 hours/weeks/months twiddling with the EQ afterwards lol)
Comments on Andrew Russe's stuff
I was once asked to write a happy song. It turned out to be about a woman who killed herself and when I found out THAT SHE ACTUALLY KILLED HERSELF I wasn't sure what to think about my premonition.https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/a-happy-song. THEN, later an old friend asked if I had any happy songs so I wrote this:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/if-it-makes-you-happy-092914-1
"But still I love the comfort I find in misery…" Great line. Beatle like...and that's always good.
Great guitar sound.
Love this. Beautifully done. Tonight I was trying out a song from that era: Twilight Time...https://www.e-chords.com/chords/the-platters/twilight-time
I hear you’re drinking at the chocolate fountain You pulled the handle off the door But they won’t mind They’ll be mending it forever..." Great images...
Rock on Dude...! Good to listen to some of your tunes. It's been a while. Strange relationship in this song.
Another great song! Maybe it’s time to get the band back together!,!
Like it.
Beautiful piece.
What's really cool about these songs written long ago is that you are still able to remember the melody... I'm always having to remember my own music. I really like this one! Wise words of a twenty something... wiser that his years!
This is a universal message with a hauntingly sad melody. Everyone should be open to these words. Thank you Andrew.
The words really speak to me … as ever!
Congratulations!!!! Ended with another amazing tune - YES! That is a wealth of creativity in you my friend. I look forward to hearing all your other tunes. I hope you took a good rest after all this!!!
Amazing how this came towards the end of the challenge...simply gorgeous. I don't hear any fatigue in it. A sad song though and I'm imagining the story behind it. Beautiful.
This is another great one!!! and catchy too. I also loved hearing your description of how this came about - I totally relate!!! I actually don't like most of my own songs. This song captures the spirit of these challenges :)
I can't help but comment again! This is fabulous!!! Love how it came about - thank you Mrs. R.
What a loving ballad .....just perfect. That "little guitar bit" found its home :) Beautiful vocals here too.
oh yeah!!! Great song and loving that chord progression. Beautiful with all the changes ...loving it. How did you do all this in such a short time period? Wow, wow, wow.
Another beautiful poetic song with such an excellent expressive performance. Love it!
I must take this train after hearing this song! What a great song :)....deserves a second comment.
Comments made by Andrew Russe
I like this one a lot. Gotta get me a banjo, or a mandolin, or both!! You realise you're gonna have to get a fiddle as well now? (Or have you got one already!). Fine track. Love those falling chords.
Not come across this tuning, not sure how it gets played, can't imagine it. Might have to give it a go. You seem to know what to do with it, though!
Good work guys. Very effective guitar track and mighty fine vocal from Hooky :-)
Nice. Like the riff, and lovely keyboards.
Rockin' :-) Sooner or later I've got to treat myself to a Sunday afternoon like this. Some well tasty guitaring going on here.
I kept meaning to listen to this ever since you first posted it. I didn't have 9 minutes at the time! Then I noticed the attention it was getting - so I reckoned it must be something special... ... found the 9 minutes and.. YES! It is...
Coming from a completely different space than I've been dwelling in for the past few hours - and very refreshing because of that. Enjoyed it a great deal.
Had to give this another listen before I lock myself away in the room with too many guitars. Thanks for the inspiration.
And another one! Fantastic. "Far too high, far too bright.." Love it... This is definitely the last one I'm listening to... I'll catch up some more later... I'm off to the broom-cupboard now.
Oh fantastic song and performance. Love the "mandolin" - is it one, or the "capo up the neck" trick? (I keep meaning to stop and actually go and do some stuff myself - but another one of yours keeps starting and I keep listening instead!) This one is utterly fabulous.
Lovin these guitar sounds.
Rockin
Always liked this one
Yes. Lovely. Not sure I've heard your voice like this before (away from lots of instruments). You've got a lot more bottom-end to it than usually shows up on bigger arrangements. Think about discovering how to bring it out on those as well - not too much, just a bit :-) Of course, it might just have been the flu!!! lol
Yep, still more of a Geir than a Hen (I can hear reverb on it for a start!) lol. VERY cool, sir
Crazy! :-)
I haven't been listening to your stuff enough recently - kinda catching up here. This is fab. Luckily I'm too old and creaky to attempt to dance to it, thanks for the warning anyway lol
Fantastic, gorgeous, yum... Bethan, so far, this is my ABSOLUTE favourite vocal of yours (not heard them all yet, though! lol). And I reckon Tess must have the same muse bothering her as the one that watches over and hassles me: I was getting ready to type... "and that line 'My love sits in the front row' is just fabulous" ... when I read the previous comments! Superb job everyone. Now, does it actually work as lullaby on the chap in question? :-)
Wooo... Not heard this one before - I assume it was the same punkfest I know about and, as I didn't pay too much attention to the stuff getting posted, I must have missed this. Love it. What it most reminds me of is Motorhead's first album (and, actually, the originally unreleased first album, On Parole), before they "became" Motorhead. So they were still a mixture of Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies, and goodness knows what else that went into it (speed and vodka lol). My old live sound engineer from the 80s would have LOVED this, he always trying to get me more into stuff like this. Looks like some of it stuck, I love it too.
Ah - you've uploaded this one as well, nice one :-) But I still don't quite understand how you manage to channel stuff so apparently effortlessly, and invariably produce a song worth listening to at the same time. (And do it so often) Mebbe I'll just press record one day and see what happens! (And then spend 3 hours/weeks/months twiddling with the EQ afterwards lol)