Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded March 27-29, 2016; Mixed March 30, 2016.

Genesis: When I was learning guitar in the late 1960s I was drawn to country music artists like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Buck Owens. I had heard a few Hank Williams songs over the years but was unaware of singers from the 1940s and 1950s. When I came home on leave from basic training in December 1971, I saw the movie The Last Picture Show. It is a powerful movie on many levels, including the soundtrack. Set during the Korean War, the film is filled with songs by Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Lefty Frizzell, Pee Wee King, and others of that era. Then in 1972, Haggard released an album of songs made famous by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Western swing grabbed me with its driving swing beat and jazzy fiddle, electric guitar, and steel guitar playing.

Cut to 1977. I read a biography of the crime novelist Raymond Chandler by Frank MacShane. McShane appended to the text a list of unused titles that Chandler had recorded over the years. I came across “Once in Awhile Forever” and knew I had to write a song with it. Somehow in March and April of 1978 I decided to write the song as a tribute to Hank Williams. (A few years ago I used the bridge in another song, Something Borrowed, Something Blue….)

An early recording with two friends sounded like an old timey string band.   This version shifts the feel to country swing along the lines of the music made by today’s Time Jumpers band (including Vince Gill) in Nashville.

Production: Acoustic Bass, Electric Guitar, Steel Guitar, Fiddle, and Drums.

Lyrics

Once In Awhile Forever

I remember more

Than you forgot

You came loose

When we tied the knot

Often times never

Once in awhile forever

 

I asked for loving

And I had my rights

You said no Daddy

Not tonight

Often times never

Once in awhile forever

 

Bridge:

Half of the time I’m falling apart

The other half’s just a blur

I’m tired of singing these lovesick blues

But I can’t seem to find the cure

 

Now love goes up

And loves goes down

Mostly love

Don’t come around

Often times never

Once in awhile forever

Bridge

I remember more

Than you forgot

You came loose

When we tied the knot

Often times never

Once in awhile forever

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved