Download Instrumental   … another love like mine, of course.  The name of this song should be “You’re Gonna Miss My Loving”, as that phrase is repeated more than the actual title.  And it’s not a “boy meets girl” love song.  It’s more of a “boy warns girl’ type of theme.  He claims that if she leaves him, she’ll spend the rest of her life looking for some one just like him.  Hmph.  A bit arrogant, don’t you think?  Maybe just confident.

Now, if I could wave a magic wand and sound like any singer I wanted, who would I choose?  Sinatra?  Naw… he really didn’t sing all that well – just had the charisma.  Elvis maybe?  Nope (too hubba-hubba).  Bob Dylan?  Uh… I don’t think so.  It would be the guy who made this song a hit – Lou Rawls.  Even Sinatra once said that Rawls had “the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game”.  I agree.  The songwriters (Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff) wrote this tune specifically for Mr. Rawls in 1976.  A better pairing of voice and music I’ve never seen.

I used a tenor sax on the lead line to emulate his voice – doesn’t even come close, but a guy has to try.  So, if you can sing like the man (lucky you), download the backup track and wow ’em at your next gig.  For some reason, this song is by far the most popular tune at skating rinks.  I have absolutely no explanation for that.  We’ve never played a skating rink, but if we ever do….

  Download Instrumental   I constantly complain about how many of the contestants on “The Voice” are like… 12 years old.  I like to see someone up there with some experience in life and love.  However, Brenda Lee was 15 when she recorded this blockbuster hit in 1960. Maybe I better rethink my position on those young, aspiring vocalists.

“I’m sorry” wasn’t released as a country tune, but is touted as being the motivation for the new “Nashville Sound”.  This new genre of music was intended to compete with the rapid rise of rock’n’roll in the music industry at the time.  It incorporated smooth tempos, lush strings, and sophisticated background vocals into something not quite country but with that country “feel”… whatever that means.  Anyway, it worked for awhile, but faded away completely with that British invasion known as “The Beatles”.

Brenda Lee grew up in an extremely poor family.  At the age of two, her parents would take her down to the local candy store, prop her up on the counter, and have her sing and dance for candy and tips.  So at that tender age, she was already helping support her family and carving out a career for herself.

If “The Voice” trots out a two- year- old next week, I am definitely turning it off for good!  One can only take so much…

  Download Instrumental   My job here is to create professional-sounding (stageworthy) backing tracks for singers who either don’t want the hassle of a band or can’t afford to pay other musicians…. or just don’t want to pay (vocalists are a greedy bunch).  They take my arrangement, mute the lead vocal track (I usually use flute), rehearse (hopefully) and head for the stage with a new song.  I tend to produce songs I already know cause I’m basically lazy.  And I like to resurrect pieces that have sort of fallen through the cracks into oblivion.  This is one of those tunes.  A friend and valued customer, Lori, suggested this 70’s classic – good call, Lori!

The British group “Ace” recorded “How Long” in 1974.  It was written by Paul Carrack, the group’s keyboard player and lead singer.  I have to say it’s not what you’d call a musical masterpiece.  The verses  are carried by only one chord – that’s right, no chord changes – that’s unheard of!  Can’t think of another song that gets away with that.  Maybe Carrack’s a genius, after all. His chorus does manage to incorporate three chords, but one of them is the same chord used in the verse – so that one doesn’t count.  The guitar solo is relatively uninspired.  And the lyrics repeat themselves.  But somehow, the music comes together to form a great sound and was a huge hit.  I think the Fender Rhodes piano is what makes it work – but then I’m kinda partial to the ol’ “Rhodes”.

The lyrics would make you think it’s all about adultery, as in “How long, has this been going on” and “Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem” (grammar notwithstanding).  But, actually, it was discovered that the bass player had been playing in another band on the sly (the scoundrel!), so Carrack wrote this song about his treachery. Secretly playing with other musicians?  That’s WORSE than adultery!  Shame on bass players everywhere!!

  Download   If you’ve ever prowled the streets of New Orleans after midnight, you know the sweet sound of a muted trumpet floating through the air from that bar right over there.  You’re drawn in like a sailor who can’t resist the bewitching song of the Sirens. You recognize the tune now – that old standard “You Made Me Love You”.  Ah, this is why you ventured onto Bourbon Street in the first place – to take a step back in time and listen to how it used to be.

As you push through the saloon doors of the club, a tenor sax takes over the melody – sultry and low – like a beckoning whisper in the night.  Oh, and now the piano has joined in – very subtle.  You sit at a small table in the back, order a draft, and let your eyes drift toward the stage.  The trombone is taking a lick now.  Oh, yeah…this is how they do it in “Nawlins” – take a simple piece of music and let everyone in the band show their chops.  When the clarinet player steps to the mike, you just know you have arrived. Finally… what you’ve been waiting for.  Trumpet.  It is “The Big Easy”, after all.  The last go-round has the entire band joining in for the ending that you hoped would never come.  Better order another draft…. the night is young and there’s so much to hear.

  Download MP3   Who doesn’t love “The Bee Gees”?  Or John Travolta, for that matter?  Or the movie “Saturday Night Fever”?  Well, I guess you have to be of a certain age.  Anyway, here are the backing tracks to a great song from that era.

Take yourself back to 1977 – if you can.  The manager of the Bee Gees, Robert Stigwood, was producing a film that was going to be called “Saturday Night” – a movie about the New York disco scene starring Travolta.  He asked the group to write a song of that name.  The band thought the title was dumb, but had already written a song called “Night Fever”.  They convinced Stigwood to change the name of the movie to “Saturday Night Fever” and, Voila!  A classic film was born.  And the music from that flick defined a generation.

Bands don’t play much disco anymore, and singers seem a little embarrassed by it.  No matter.  Now that I’ve moved my life to this place near the sea, disco seems faraway and slightly unreal… maybe surreal.  But I miss that time.  Hell, I’ve got a disco ball in the top of my closet right now.  Maybe I should attach it to the living room ceiling, grab a white suit, strike a pose,  then invite the neighborhood for “Disco Night”!  Yeah!  That’s what I’m gonna do!  But I’ll have to clear it with Karen first.  You know… that hole in the ceiling thing.

  Download Instrumental   Sway, baby!  Dancing is inherently romantic, but dancing to this song takes romance to a whole new level…. if you do it right.  Do not even attempt this provocative dance unless you are completely infatuated with your partner, preferably lover.  Even more intense than the tango, the “sway” dance just oozes sex and perhaps mayhem.  Not for the faint of heart.

The song “Sway” was written in 1953 by a Mexican bandleader named Pablo Ruiz.  It’s original name was “Quien Sera” and was strictly an instrumental to accompany the dance itself.  Lyrics were finally written to accompany the melody: “When marimba rhythms start to play/dance with me, make me sway” is the first seductive line.  Dean Martin picked it up in ’54 and had a pretty decent hit on his hands.  “Like a flower bending in the breeze/bend with me, sway with ease”.  See?  Sexy.  Well, I think so.

I heard an arrangement of this tune by Michael Buble and really liked his take on it.  So, being the “ever present copier of arrangements without an original thought of his own”, I tried to come as close to his version as I could.  If you’re a singer without a band and need backups, here they are!   It’s all about the rhythm, darlin’.  Sway!

  Download MP3   If you were going to rename “rock’n’roll”, you could call it “Chuck Berry”.  The man was born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in St. Louis on October 18, 1926.  Sadly, he passed away of natural causes just two days ago, leaving a hole in the music industry that will never be filled.

This is one of my favorite Chuck Berry songs – I must have sung it a thousand times and often threw in piano solos that shouldn’t have been there.  I like the constant breaks in the music leading up to classic guitar solos.  Berry wasn’t what you’d call an “intricate” guitarist – he played primarily open chords but had lightening fast strumming that made it sound like a guitar solo even though it really wasn’t.  The man was a genius.

He wrote “No Particular Place To Go” when he literally had “no place to go”.  He was in prison in 1959 for a crime that probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted if he weren’t black.  He spent that time writing songs (this was one of them) and studying accounting – which helped him tremendously in his career after he was released – except for the fact that he then insisted on being paid in cash – which eventually got him in trouble with the IRS … well, CRAP!  His life had its up and downs, but he’ll always be remembered as the “Father of Rock’n’Roll”.  You’ll be missed, Mr. Berry… by all of us.  Now you’ve got a place to go forever – rock’n’roll heaven.

If you’re a singer out there doing a job this weekend, use my backups and learn this song quick.  Pay tribute to “the man”.