Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded October 22 & 23, 2016. Mixed October 23, 2016.

Genesis: I wrote this song on March 6, 2008. It is about the unexpected in life. One minute someone is doing fine, the next moment everything changes for that person and those around her.

Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, B3 Organ, Alto Sax, Drums and Percussion.

Lyrics

T-Boned

The road of life is filled with signs

Stoplights and yellow lines

You have to keep your eyes wide

That’s for sure

You never know, friend

What might occur

 

Belt yourself tight move through life

Check your mirrors not once but twice

Watch your speed

Do what you can

But there comes a point

When it’s out of your hands

 

CHORUS:

A new transaction with each intersection

Part fate part natural selection

Right of way

Light so green

A split second later

It’s an accident scene

You got T-Boned

Out of the Blue

You got T-Boned

Nothing you could do

You got T-Boned

Didn’t have a clue

You got T-Boned

Believe it’s true

You wake up or you don’t

When you get T-Boned

 

Around the corner down the block

Take your chances cheat the clock

With no guarantees

Hesitation won’t do

You’ve got to keep moving

And work things through

CHORUS

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded October 16 and 20, 2016. Mixed October 20, 2016.

 

Genesis: This is another song I wrote during FAWM (February Album Writing) 2008. I wrote the words and music on February 10, 2008. I was dealing with some serious issues with a family member and this song was my safety valve to blow off some steam.

Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Pedal Steel, and Drums.

Lyrics

If Truth Be Told

You’d be out of this house

Out on the street

Walking away

With a small valise

You’d be out in the cold

If Truth Be Told

You’d be pleading and crying

Claiming what’s true

Defying the facts

With your latest tattoo

You’d lose your foothold

If Truth Be Told.

If Truth Be Told

And you shed that skin

Coated with lies

Denial and sin

Standing there naked

Exposed to the light

Wouldn’t make no difference

If you’re wrong or right

You’d be searching for words

Trying to evade

The cards that you dealt

The hand that you played

You’d cross a new threshold

If Truth Be Told

You’d be out in the cold

If Truth Be Told

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded October 11 and 13, 2016. Mixed October 13, 2016.

Genesis: I wrote this song on February 23, 2008 as part of FAWM (February Album Writing Month). The title for this song came from a quote by music producer T-Bone Burnett in which he talked about how he liked the rumble and boom of bass drums. (Many of his productions feature the bass drum and the tom-toms over the snare drum.) But I didn’t write about drums, I wrote about violence.

Looking back, the music, structure, and lyrics owe a lot to Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” and Rodney Crowell’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This.” The middle verse is a homage to the famous opening shot in the Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil. The last verse weaves in a few phrases I picked up in Army military intelligence.

Last year, Jan Hauenstein wrote a cool, swinging tune for the lyrics and released it on his album Romance, Predators, Death and the Universe.

Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, and Drums.

Lyrics

ONE BIG RUMBLE, ONE BIG BOOM

Joe and Sonny were down by the swamp

Got into a Friday night contretemps

Sonny got the better of Joe with his fists

Joe ran to his truck man he was blitzed

He cursed and made a grim remark

With a shotgun barrel gleaming in the dark

By the light of the silvery moon

One Big Rumble

One Big Boom

 

Time bomb ticking in a border town

Disguised by noise you couldn’t hear the sound

A fat cat crossing the borderline

In a rag top Chrysler that looked spit shined

Blue-eyed blonde sitting by his side

The clock struck twelve there went her ride

By the light of the silvery moon

One Big Rumble

One Big Boom

 

Adjutant general and the diplomat

Sitting at the bar chewing up the fat

Near miss wars and high commands

Black bag codes and poker hands

Comparing notes they both agreed

The end will come with blinding speed

By the light of the silvery moon

One Big Rumble

One Big Boom

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

 

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded October 4 and 6, 2016. Mixed October 6, 2016.

 

Genesis: Since hearing Richard Thompson in Fairport Convention in the late 1960s, I have been a fan of his songwriting and guitar playing. His English take on folk and folk-rock is very special. I wrote “Come the Early Spring” in 1987 and I can see his influence both in lyric style and melody. This dream song about the singer’s beloved marrying the miller’s son came before I learned that my surname means “grist miller” in German. Perhaps I was the one who stole her away from the singer.

Over the years I experimented with a number of arrangements, from acoustic guitar-vocal to heavy electric guitars. I finally settled on an arrangement that suggests the dream state of the singer. The pedal steel guitar, fiddle, and synthesizer produce an undulating drone background that is supported by the rhythms of the guitar and mandolin. The introduction and the interlude were created by extending the first half of the verse chords from half to full measures.

 Production: Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle, Pedal Steel Guitar, Synthesizer, and Drums.

Lyrics

Come the Early Spring

I dreamed her down to Birmingham

I dreamed her to my bed

I told her of my love for her

And this is what she said

“Dream on, dream on, you foolish man

You do not know a thing

For I’m to wed the miller’s son

Come the Early Spring”

 

I was meant to love you dear

You said that you loved me

I haven’t heard a word you said

No change has come to thee

“Forget the words, forget the kiss

Forget the wedding ring

For I’m to wed the miller’s son

Come the Early Spring

 

I told her I was foolish

I told her I was vain

I said that I was filled with love

A cloud pent up with rain

She pulled her hair she pulled her sleeve

She pulled the final string

“I’m to wed the miller’s son

Come the Early Spring”

 

When I awoke I wrote my love

Describing all I dreamed

I laughed and smiled as I penned the tale

The merry words they streamed

Her short reply was to the point

I still can feel the sting

“Yes, I’m to wed the miller’s son

Come the Early Spring”

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded September 28 and 29, 2016. Mixed September 29, 2016.

 

 

Genesis: I wrote this song during the Carter Administration—1977. This is a wistful song in waltz time that displays the singer-songwriter environment of that decade. I can hear traces of Dylan, Neil Young, and even David Blue. I never recorded the song until this week but I recall rehearsing it with a harmonica in a harmonica rack.

I wrote a new verse this week—I needed to fill in a gap. Apart from that, this song has not changed in almost 40 years.

Production: Acoustic Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Pedal Steel, and Drums.

Lyrics

Marita, Marita

Marita, Marita

Where are you now?

If you would tell me

I’d get there somehow

Trapped in this city

Give me reason to leave

Marita, Marita

My heart’s on my sleeve

 

I remember the moment

When you said goodbye

Snow on the ground

Smoke in the sky

Nothing has changed much

It still hasn’t cleared

The nights are so long

So much worse than I feared

 

I held you for a while

But I couldn’t hold you back

I tried to pursue you

But I only lost track

The postmarks keep changing

They show where you’ve been

Lost and found

And then lost again

 

Marita, Marita

My hope’s almost gone

With time standing still

I can’t get to the dawn

Wearied and wondering

What more I can do

Marita, Marita

Come out of the blue

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

 

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded September 5 and 22, 2016. Mixed September 22, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote the lyrics on July 2, 2009 in one sitting. I couldn’t find the right music until March 27, 2011.

The lyrics were written two years before I retired from my day job. It is a fantasy about how my days would be spent—waking early, sipping coffee, and writing. I think the song is heavily shaped by two of my favorite songwriting craftsmen, Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell.

Theresa laughed when I told her the gist of the song—I never get out of bed in the morning before her. That’s true. I also have to walk the dog and the cats have to be fed. As I said, it is a pleasant fantasy.

The arrangement is based on the Clark/Crowell Texas singer-songwriter sound. A pretty nylon-string guitar, a sweet accordion, and a short swell of pedal steel guitar give the song a mellow, morning treatment.

Production: Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitars, Accordion, Pedal Steel, and Drums.

 Lyrics

Morning Song

Sitting on the porch

The sun appears

A rabbit scampers by

The cobwebs clear

A mug of coffee

Pad and pen

Another chance

For me to spend

Time inside a place where I belong

Listening for another morning song

 

In my younger days

I worked the night

The world made much more sense

In black and white

Into the darkness

I would fly

To seize the words

Out of the sky

I had no doubts judging right from wrong

A bird of night with his evening song

 

All things settle

And come to rest

Some feel cursed

Some feel blessed

Some free and clear

Some repossessed

The chips always fall where they may

 

She’s sleeping in our bed

Just down the hall

When she gets up

She’ll scan my messy scrawl

I might just have

Some lines she likes

Some may end up

Called third strikes

In time I’ll have enough to string along

One more child one more morning song

Copyright Fred Grittner 2016 All Rights Reser

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded September 10 and 14, 2016. Mixed September 14, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote the lyrics on January 9, 2007. I revised them in 2010 and 2016 but they were minor changes. The lyrics appear to be random lines but I was dealing with work and family pressures. After 20 years as a court administrator, I realized I was being marginalized in part because of my long tenure. The music wrote itself.

For this recording I went for a roots rock/grunge sound.

 Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, and Drums.

 Lyrics

DONE

Done with the hollow laughter

Done with the sweet hereafter

Done with cash infusions

Done with these grand illusions

Done clean up this mess

Done clean out your desk

Done I can see the light

When all is said and done

 

Done cash in your winnings

Done no extra innings

Done with the slow striptease

Done turn in your keys

Done take it off the griddle

Done playing second fiddle

Done I can see the light

When all is said and done

 

I’ve been there and done that

Why would I do it again?

I wish I knew my beginnings

As well as I knew my ends

 

Done with these no-good feelings

Done with these old glass ceilings

Done stop heroic measures

Done there’s no buried treasure

Done turn the pages

Done open up the cages

Done I can see the light

When all is said and done

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

 

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded August 21, September 5 and 8, 2016. Mixed September 8, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote this song sometime during 1984, while working on a soon-to-be abandoned album project. The album was modeled on David Blue’s wonderful 1973 album, Nice Baby and the Angel. That album featured David Lindley on lap steel guitar, fiddle, and viola. I love the moody ballads and the up-tempo rockers.

This song is very transparent: a drug deal that is going to go terribly wrong. I believe I had been reading several early novels by Graham Greene, hence the hint of religious guilt in the first line of the chorus.

Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Lap Steel Guitar, Organ, and Drums.

Lyrics

Monterrey Sun

Mexico on the Fourth of July

Ain’t nobody celebrating here

Standing in a furnace called Monterrey

Can’t drink I’ve got to stay clear

Sipping warm Coca-Cola from a Styrofoam cup

Waiting for a man who hasn’t shown up

One more day my cover gets blown

One more day ship my body back home

 

CHORUS:

Father forgive me for all that I’ve done

Stop torturing me with this Monterrey Sun

White heat pours from the end of a gun

Take me away from this Monterrey Sun

Take me away from this Monterrey Sun

 

The money I’m holding is covered with sweat

My nerves are crazy with heat

A child keeps crying but nobody comes

Mad dogs careen down the street

Can’t make a phone call no line is secure

The locals are restless I’m not so sure

When I get back gonna get what I’m owed

Got to get out or it’s the end of the road

 

CHORUS

Here comes the Chevy all covered in dust

With a woman behind the wheel

She motions me closer I shouldn’t move

No strangers was part of the deal.

It looks like a set-up but I want to go home

We drive through adobe bleached to the bone

When I came to there was blood on the stone

Took a moment to realize that it was my own

CHORUS

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

 

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded August 25 and 30, 2016. Mixed August 30, 2016.

 

 

Genesis: I came up with the music on December 10, 2001 and called it “Forgotten Laughter.” The jazzy chord changes and the slow tempo suggested a moody lyric but nothing came until August of 2003, when the song was retitled “Wishing Now Was Then.” I imagined a musician, actor or writer walking the back streets in the middle of the night, ruminating about missed chances, betrayals, and dead ends. I rewrote the lyrics in December 2006, and then revised the song heavily on August 25, 2016, eliminating a number of unnecessary words.

Since 2001, the arrangement of the song has moved from a slow jazz swing style to a mournful straight feel ballad with a pedal steel guitar and a string section and then back to the slow jazz style, this time with a tenor sax included. I imagined a torch singer performing this right before closing time. I can hear a bit of Tom Waits in this song but my voice is much too smooth to evoke Waits in this recording.

 Production: Acoustic Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Tenor Sax, and Drums.

Lyrics

Wishing Now Was Then

Sweetheart deals

Teardrop stains

Stale perfume

Flat champagne

Walking through

The back street rain

Wishing Now Was Then

 

I am blind

But I can see

The telltale marks

Of futility

There is little hope for me

Wishing Now Was Then

 

Much was promised

Or so I thought

Doubting questions were all spurned

At the time

I assumed the best

Oh but I learned

 

Drop the curtain

Strike the sets

No more drama in me now

I’ll depart

This worn out stage

Taking one last broken bow

 

Peeling off

The sugar coat

Of what I sang

What I wrote

All that’s left

Is this long blue note

Wishing Now Was Then

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved

 

 

Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded August 21 and 25, 2016. Mixed on August 25, 2016.

 

Genesis: Growing up the 1950s, I was a big fan of the Everly Brothers. Their harmonies were wonderful and their songs were always catchy. As I studied songwriting in the 1970s, I discovered that Felice and Boudleaux Bryant had written most their hits, including Bye Bye Love, All I Have to Do is Dream, Wake Up Little Susie, So Sad, and Love Hurts. They also wrote Raining in My Heart for Buddy Holly.

In 1982, I decided I wanted to write a song that I could hear the Everly Brothers sing. I had been keeping the title “Open Secret” reserved for quite some time in my notebook, waiting for the right opportunity. The lyrics and music were simple, with a bridge that harkened back to those songs by the Bryants. I recorded a fairly primitive demo using just guitar and a tenor banjo tuned like a 5-string banjo. The song was well received by my friends.

Soon after, I had an opportunity to pitch some of my songs to a Twin Cities music publisher that had an office in Nashville. The man who listened to Open Secret had a puzzled look on his face when I finished playing it for him. He liked the music quite a bit but did not know what “open secret” meant. I tried to explain but he dismissed me and suggested I rewrite the song and get rid of this troubling concept. Needless to say, my attempts at breaking into the country music market were unsuccessful.

Several years ago I uploaded my 1982 demo to the Folk Alley website. To my surprise, the song has been listened to thousands of times.

I kept this version simple but added a few more instruments.

 Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 12-String Acoustic Guitar, and Drums.

Lyrics

OPEN SECRET

No words to say
You must see what’s on my mind
No games to play
You couldn’t be that blind
It’s an Open Secret
Hiding’s hard to do
It’s an Open Secret
I’m in love with you

My heart’s a book
With a page I wrote for you
Just take a look
I underlined it too
It’s an Open Secret
Hiding’s hard to do
It’s an Open Secret
I’m in love with you

You came and you conquered
Now these feelings will not die
I can’t wait till tomorrow
Just look me in the eye

It’s an Open Secret
Hiding’s hard to do
It’s an Open Secret
I’m in love with you

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved