I have been writing songs since the early 1970s. Since 2011 I have produced albums for two singer-songwriters and have collaborated with other musicians on two albums. I am in the home stretch of finishing a solo album that I began last spring. However, I have not made a dent in recording, mixing, and releasing dozens and dozens of my songs. I have plotted albums for these songs, based on a number of factors. I now realize that constructing albums this way leads to a faulty quest for perfection, which then leads to procrastination.
So, what to do? I have decided to release an original recording each week in 2016. 52 tracks. Most will be newly recorded weekly but a few will be final mixes of songs that have sat dormant on my computer for years. There will be no rhyme or reason for the song selected each week.
I will document each song on this blog. I will discuss its genesis, its lyrics, and how I produced and recorded it.
My goal is to end 2016 with 52 well-arranged and recorded songs. There may be some tunes that would benefit from an overdub by a singer or musician but my intent is to make these recordings as finished as possible. My motto is “More than passable, less than perfect.”
It would be great if you would join me on this journey. I would love to get feedback. If you think you could add something musically to a recording, let me know. I am willing to revisit a song.
52 tracks blog 
Great song Fred. Nice to see the story behind it. Congrats on an ambitious project. Tim
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As your ambitious project is nearing it’s end, I feel obligated to comment on a larger level. I probably should have known better but I’m still amazed at the variety of music that we’ve heard in this blog. We’ve seen a few old familiars with a slightly different spin and a large group of songs never before heard, at least by me. We’ve seen slow ballads and up-tempo, old country and blues, with some outright rock’n’roll thrown in for good measure. We’ve seen music I would expect from you and a number of songs that were totally unexpected. And yes, there were a few that I didn’t really like, but just a few.
Over the years we all learned how to put together chords on a guitar and write lyrics to create a song. There’s often a huge gap between that and what you call the production of the song – adding all the instruments, mixing and basic nuance that it needs to become a great recorded song. You’ve come light years since the old days when you recorded Copper Lined Sky and Sugar Babe in your home studio. Even if I didn’t fully appreciate a song you offered in this blog, I thought you got the song construction and mixing were done very well.
Aside from all that, my appreciation for your skill at writing lyrics has grown over the last year. I always felt you had a knack for putting words together and there wasn’t a weak effort among these 52 songs. I have all the more appreciation considering the “lyric’s funk” I went through from around 1998 to 2016.
Since this was a blog and everything on the internet has devolved to top ten lists, I feel obligated to offer mine. It may be a couple of weeks premature but I decided to to it now lest I forget – Red River Night, China Sky, Something’s Gonna Give, Sorrows of the Moon, Down on the Cabin Floor, From Memphis to Cairo, Monterrey Sun, Done, Marita Marita, Come the Early Spring. I was charmed in early February by Red River Night and that would have been my all around favorite were it not for one that came much later and was totally unexpected – Come the Early Spring totally blew me away!
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Thanks, Dale, for your thoughtful comments. The top ten list is a great idea. I will throw that out after the 52nd song.
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