EVERY SONG (AGAIN)

                                                                 You Didn't Know.... "Patron Saint" is another of the songs written during the initial Won Out sessions. Like "You Know Me Blues", "Whatever You Want" and a few others it's about reconnecting with my first love, the "little red-haired girl" of my dreams, Denise Evans. I've discussed this unfortunate series of events in an earlier post. Typical of my songs from this period it's a sad reflection on the hopeless sadness of lost love. I managed to turn what should have been a happy reunion of two friends into a tragedy of epic  proportions and behaved like a love-struck teenager. Got a few good songs out of it, though. I didn't call the song "Patron Saint" for any reason other then that it sounded good. I say it once in the song, apropos of nothing, and it's never brought up again. I found a chart of patron saints of various occupations  and activities.

                                    THE BAND PLAYED ALL NIGHT             Wind him up and watch him do the Busby Walk! I haven't posted for a while because there was computer stuff I couldn't do and I had to wait until my computer guy son, Webmaster Ian Lee Grinstead, had time to walk me though. I've got most of it now so I should be able to limp along. All of my kids are up on this new fangled computer stuff, but it's beyond this old-timer. Just give me a chisel and a flat rock and I'll get the message out.   "All Friends" was written and recorded during the first sessions for Won Out but left unfinished (like almost everything else). The recording provided here is a rough mix we put together after the basic tracks had been laid down. We slathered it with echo for fun. The surfy instrumental coda is called "The Busby Walk" because I took it from a pattern bassist Jeff Busby used to play around with between songs. I've always hated most of th

                                                            Too Loud?  I met Norman Famous and Ned Smith in '78. They were ahead of me in line to buy beer at a neighborhood convenience store. They were talking about music and since the line was long (there was a drunk guy at the counter who kept dropping things) I joined the conversation. It turned out that Norman and Ned, who were both about my age, were a rhythm section of sorts with Norman on bass and Ned playing drums. The problem was they had no idea how to play their instruments. They had recently, on a stoned whim, gone out and bought a set of drums and a bass rig that were now sitting in Norman's garage. The conversation continued as we completed our purchases and walked out to the parking lot. I liked them - they were friendly and funny and, best of all, fans of Beatles and Zappa. We exchanged numbers and agreed to get in touch soon.  We soon became friends, hanging out together, talking about music over drinks. They m

                                               I Could Have Offered To Drive                                                                  Loused-up In Space                    I wrote "I Don't Mind", words and music, in February of 1979 - around the same time as "Everything They Say" - as we were heading into the last few sessions for Won Out. I was trying to write a herky-jerky Talking Heads-type tune. The lyrics detail an outing with a beautiful young telephone operator I'd encountered. Back in the 70's adults were allowed into Oakland's Children's Fairyland (a quaint little nursery rhyme-based amusement  in Lakeside Park) with or without kids. That seems strange, creepy and dangerous now but that's the way it was in those trusting times. We would sometimes get stoned and enjoy the sights and sounds there like the big dragon that greets you at the entrance and speaks when you pull it's tongue, the Peter Pumpkin Eater-themed concessi

                                                                                                      SHOO-BE-DOO-BE-DOO-WAH                                                                      First stop of the world tour? As Neil Young once sang: "There's a world". The current version of the Backorders is really the best yet. With two lead singers - Carole "Zingo" Starr and Johnny "Three Bags" Rafferty - the band features the most cohesive and powerful vocal combination ever, especially when adding the voice of talented keyboardist Chelly DuNord, who pitches in on harmonies and backing vocals. Drummer Laura McDrummie plays with style and finesse that brings to mind a more adventurous Charlie Watts with solid beat and Ringo-esque tempo control. Lead guitarist Davey The Turk can actually play guitar - I mean he knows stuff. His lead lines and chord voicings add much more to the music than my clunky strumming ever did and of course bass guy Mighty Mark

A Look Ahead Next up will be the follow-up to Won Out , the singular Le Bonx,  which I've described as using the same notes as its predecessor only in a different order - as good a description as any as you will see. But first let's take a look at the A-side of the bonus single issued with  the second pressing of  Won Out a little ditty called "Wa". The final ultimately-dumplity version didn't slip into the stores in final for until the beginning of 1980. Back then you could bring a few of your albums into a record store - even a chain like Tower and ask the manager to carry it. They usually would and take a cut of every copy sold. It was in all of the big stores - Tower, Leopold's and a couple others I've forgotten. I remember one manager looking at the cover and asking me if he should file it under "Soul". I said "put it on" and he played it on the store's stereo. After listen to the first two songs  he said "Probably Rock.

                                                                   Let's Not Be L7 The Backorders, 2023 l-r Laura, Mark, David, Johnny, Chelly, some guy, Carole A lot of songs from the '75 sessions were in various stages of completion when disaster struck and my equipment was stolen, an event that caused a near-total rethink of the Won Out project. Fall On Me, Love Is All Right, Lend A Hand and Whatever You Want were the only songs that were completed and only the  first two ended up on the album (the other two were included as bonus tracks. The electric full band approach was abandoned for a softer acoustic sound. Going forward the songs would feature just my voice and guitar(s) and Arlene's keyboards.  "Feel Better Now" came from The Great Song Explosion of  '73, It's based on a Flo and Eddie song called "Feel Older Now". My GSE songs were influenced by what I was listening to at the time: The Mothers, Flo and Eddie (late of the Turtles and The

Warning: this entry may contain images and material that some may find disturbing or upsetting. Maybe kids or easily offended people should stay away. There's nothing really bad - nobody's naked and I don't use naughty language  I'm just sayin' he Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro  I think my favorite movie of all time is My Neighbor Totoro , the 1988 animated feature from Studio Ghibli directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki. If you haven't seen it, why not? It follows the adventures of two young girls as they explore their new neighborhood, make new friends and encounter Totoro, a legendary spirit (who looks like a giant stuffed animal) and go on fun adventures with it. There's much, much more to it than that but I don't have the words to do it justice. Well, I probably do but I can't find them right now. I know they're around here somewhere. Maybe they rolled under the table. If you ever watch it try to find the original version translated from the

  "Lend A Hand" was written as the Great Song Explosion was winding down.  It was recorded during the '75 full band overdub sessions the same week as "Fall On Me" and several other songs that may or may not appear here. I have no idea why it was left off the album - I remember it was going to be the leadoff song of the second side. It was mixed and mastered and then set aside. I may have had plans to put it on a single - I don't remember. When I was preparing Won Out for cd I went through the session tapes for songs that could be bonus tracks and found it. We didn't even have to remix it - it was ready to go. Ultimately it was the only unreleased song chosen to appear on both cd releases. Lyrically Lend A Hand is unlike any of the other songs on the album because it wasn't about the intricacies of love and romance. I was in a reflective mood when the song was written, thinking about  my life up to that point - what I'd learned and what I'd do

In Closing "Em No Llaf'" takes us back to the beginning, wrapping things up in a neat little package Won Out is a collection of ruminations on the 5 stages of grief: Denial (You Know Me Blues, Breaking Point), anger (Fall On Me, The Insulting Song and Love Is All Right), bargaining (Trucks In The Sky and Everything They Say), depression (No Magic), and acceptance (Ten Years and Big Ass together) It didn't start out that way - my original intent was to record an album of the best songs from The Great Song Explosion, but life got in the way. The concept developed over the four years it took to put together. I didn't even realize what I had until I was sequencing the songs. With that in mind the cover picture and album title make sense - gripping his guitar and leaping into the rest of his life and leaving the sadness behind, Sparky Grinstead won out over his grief in the end. So, yes, Won Out is a concept album. A post-apocalyptical redemptive accidentally-on-purp