Four Bucket Winter

Update: 6 13 08 (written by Tom) Whelp, we've settled on "Share The Blame" as our next CD Title, primarily because there are so many different people involved in our music that it would be unfair to blame only one or two people for a bad song . . . accordionly, we will all be eager to "Share The Fame" if one of the tunes became a hit . . . We are hopeful that we'll have this album done before the end of this year, along with a 1st time CD from Jonesie and the Cruisers, (all originals), and a brand new effort from the Rod Nickson Project which is also shaping up nicely. . . Thanks, Tom Update: 11/11/07 (written by John) WHY? When we first started telling people that we were thinking of re-releasing IN THE PINK (our first CD), the word we heard most often was, ”why?” Assuming that they meant, “Why did you wait so long?” we took those encouraging words to heart and decided to make it happen. The result of all our hard work is what you’re holding in your hand right now (again, we’re assuming that that’s what you’re holding in your hand right now). One night, while working late in our studio, we started thinking back to some of the earlier songs that we had worked on and pulled out a copy of our first ever CD, IN THE PINK. We realized that those songs, recorded on a (now) rather primitive 8 track cassette “porta-studio” still sounded pretty good, and they had never really been made available to the general public. We would have made them available but this was a time before the internet made this sort of independent effort viable. Anyway, we hope you enjoy hearing this truly diverse collection of recordings; we sure enjoyed making them. Thanks for listening… Tom and John (founders of This Song’s for You) Update: 11/8/07 We're happy to announce the upcoming release of our very first recorded CD, "In The Pink", which until now was never released for sale. We originally recorded 17 songs on this album back in 1986, but started our sales on CD Baby with the album "No Regrets" after upgrading our recording system to ADAT recording equipment. While we're currently working on our next yet to be named album, we've decided to edit the "In The Pink" album down to the 12 best songs on it. We've decided to call it "In The Pink" The Early Years. We normally concentrate on writing and recording new material and finishing old material from our "early days", and we ended up forgetting how much we enjoyed hearing the songs on our first CD effort. It should be available before Christmas of '07, with our next CD soon to follow. In the next weeks we'll be recording some of our talented friends who'll be performing their own material with their bands, and we'll barter some talent from them for parts in our new material. We hope that you enjoy this "new" CD, along with the other albums currently available on our CD Baby "This Song's For You" page. Thanks, Tom Mayers Update: 8/28/07 Right now, we are in the middle of replacing our recording equipment, using ProTools to record our, and some of our friends' next albums. This move came about, mainly because our ADAT digital recorder and the "previously-owned" replacement ADAT machine have both let us know that they would really like to retire. So, it's on to computer recording instead of using a digital machine that uses tape . . . and it's a LOT of "dobs and knials" along with a big learning curve for someone like me. 1/1/09 The learning curve has been completed for ProTools recording, at least to my limited current ability, and we're very proud of the way it has recorded our new baby "Share The Blame" As of now, we are temporarily set on "Takin' In Strays" for our next album title, primarily because that's what we do here at This Song's For You. Otherwise, we wouldn't have any performers for our songs. I thought it might be interesting to see what other people suggest as an album title for our next CD currently being worked on. Based primarily on how they would describe the music that they've heard from our free samples of songs on our "No Regrets", "Four Bucket Winter", "In The Pink", and now "Share The Blame" CDs. So, if anyone has any ideas for our next CD title, especially you who have listened to more than one song, please let us know by telling us in our guest book below. Feel free to elaborate, good or bad because we want to know. 6/21/07 (Bio) "THIS SONG'S FOR YOU" Sent to Tina Peel @ 107.7 the Lake First of all, "This Song's For You" is NOT a band. It is more of a collection of professional musicians that met each other by word of mouth through friends. They pool their talents to help each other realize their creative ambitions. The songs on the 2 enclosed CDs have many different authors, and many different styles, with the musical performances being contributed by a wide variety of players. The basic concept behind this collaboration is simple: If you have a song idea that you want to get (professionally) recorded, there are friends available to help you get this done. The atmosphere is casual (beer and pretzels) and there's never any time pressures since we're not really "on the clock". The levels of experience of the various players ranges from a world-class touring progressive jazz saxophone player to a solo acoustic guitarist and all stops in between. The two "founders" of this little community, Tom Mayers and John Swanson, basically handle production chores, but the friendly environment created by the presence of so many selfless people keeps it a labor of love. Below is a list of players who have helped to make "This Song's For You" the great little project that it has become. Please pay special attention to "Song For The Vet" on the "Four Bucket Winter" cd. "FOUR BUCKET WINTER" Is a compilation of unique, original songs drawing from several genres of popular music. To date, we feel that it is our best work yet. Listen to the samples and we're sure you will agree. It's rock & roll, blues, jazz, easy listening and even a little bit country. As with most of our music we get influences from Steely Dan, Tom Petty, Bob Seeger, John Kay, Jim Morrison, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, Gordon Lightfoot, Joe Cocker and the Beatles. Every song tells a different story in a different way. The first song on the album, "Song For The Vet" by Patrick Schwab was originally written almost 30 years ago after the Vietnam conflict. It is a constant reminder of the important jobs our service men and women do, especially now with our war in Iraq and in general our war against terrorism. "Live With the Pain" written and sung by Dave DiBernardinis, lets us know that we can go crazy if we let our problems and life's distractions get the better of us. "Liquor & Poker" and "'Til the Cows Come Home" are two unique country-styled numbers you should enjoy. "Matter of Spine" by Phil Bronschidle, featuring powerful vocals by Rod Nickson of The Rod Nickson Project and Tom Mayers, plus Sam Falzone's (Don Ellis Orchestra) solo Saxophone tribute to his dad, "Father's Song" show the diversity of styles that emanate from our humble little studio. All of our songs are near and dear to our hearts, but "As Time Goes By" is special and sure to be enjoyed by all for years to come. It's a love ballad featuring Sam Falzone on sax and Tom Ryan (Weekend and Soul Providers) on brushes complementing the vocal arrangement by Tom Mayers. A Note From DAVE DiBERNARDINIS: 'Til the Cows Come Home is the first song I ever wrote in San Diego, California and was actually influenced by Hank Williams, Sr., it's simplicity and joy to perform, it however has not been without controversy. I added a bit of a so-called "Negro Spiritual" Mammy's Little Baby Loves Shortnin' Bread, etc., to the middle break which may not be "P.C." but is an homage to the wonderful song styles of the deep south that I love so much. It is also a thinly veiled suggestion of the warm love waiting for my "pretty baby" ! Live with the Pain was written for a lady friend in San Diego whose boyfriend left her for another woman. She was sure it was the end of the world and as I had been there more times than I'd care to admit, I fashioned a song out of what I was telling her "Yes it's true, someone's out there for you too." It was to be a single released for the band Spaghetti Western but because of the old cliche "contractual madness" it never saw daylight. Here at the studio, Producer Tom Mayers had to "inform" me I could no longer hit the original key it was written in and we managed to save the tune to a key more suited to my voice now. George Litz, a guitarist extrordinaire laid down the lead line I actually envisioned in only one or two takes! It also has a fantastic Bass line by Engineer John Swanson that captures the urgency of the tune which surprised even me! A Note From TOM MAYERS: "WAITIN' ON YOU" kinda reminds me of a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers style tune. It came to me as most all of my song ideas do, a phrase pops out, gets my attention as a possible song, and then the melody and arrangement follow. It's a song that I would imagine a lot of people can relate to, about a one-sided love affair where one party is being taken for granted by the other, but the relationship still continues. As with most of the song ideas I try to develop from my thoughts and inspirations, the lyrics have been blessed with the constructive criticism and suggested improvements by my good friend and partner, John Swanson, affectionately known as the “Grammar Grinder”. So many times thanks to his help, the songs are able to say what I mean in a more effective way. “WHEN YOU'RE LONELY” was created when my grandfather passed away. I was a young man, and was struck by the whole post-funeral get-together at gram’s house. The food, the beverages including beer, and most of all, the way my grandmother presented a strong front for all her family to see. It made me wonder what her feelings were going to be after all the people went home and she would be alone for the first time in 50 years. She was a church organist in the city of Buffalo for many years, with a beautiful and strong voice, and luckily I had the honor of playing this song for her on her piano before she passed. She liked it. I think this song definitely has some influence from the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. “I'LL PAY YOU TOMORROW” was one of those ideas that came to me all at once, melody and lyrics just materializing from the inspiration of a rhythm style on my Yamaha DGX 505 keyboard after playing a few random chords. Once the theme of needing money was established, the frustration of asking for help from a reluctant “friend” followed, making the story complete with a fun type of feel to a serious situation. It’s one of those songs whose arrangement came out spontaneously in it’s entirety from the intro, all the way to the unique ending. The result was being taped as a possible idea, kept, and then refined with the proper instrumental and vocal parts. You let yourself go with the feelings freely pouring out, and you come up with a whole song that's got a nice blues' groove to it, and you ask yourself: "Where did that came from? .... I love it when that happens. “AS TIME GOES BY” arrived as a melody that my late mother would’ve loved to hear, and the words that came to me were initially about my wife Elaine and I and our love. Soon after the first verse, I realized that the song lyrics could apply to anyone who is in a relationship with another person and that they had a universal type of appeal to all couples. The style of music reminded me of the type of song that would be played near or at the end of the evening with perhaps a mirrored ball rotating slowly. During that final dance, you’d know by the way that you held each other, how the rest of the evening was going to go. The brushes whispering the rhythm and the gentle lilting saxophone in the background lend themselves to the perfect mood for a love song. It's a song that I would love to hear sung by Tony Bennett, but good luck on my being able to get it to him. “WE'RE ONLY HUMANS” is a song that was definitely triggered by my Yamaha DGX 505 again, with it’s auto-accompaniment and style leading the way for my melody, which inevitably led to the lyrics. The only way that I can describe that experience is to say that somewhere in my mind or soul there’s a catalogue of song ideas waiting to arrive through my fingers and my voice, and when you have such basic quality coming at you as an inspiration, it seems to happen on it’s own. On this particular song, as on almost all of my writings, John Swanson was once again “instrumental” with his fine tuning of the lyrics and his helpful suggestions on refining the musical arrangement. In it, I try to point out how no matter what race or religion we are, we all share the same desires and frailties, and we should try to enjoy our time and each other during our lives on this planet. “I’LL BE AROUND” started with a melody that reminded me again of the type of song that Mom would play for us five kids on the piano. It’s the kind of melody that’s easy to follow for a first time listener. The lyrics fell into place, making it an old-style message that tells the singer’s lady that if she’s ever lonely, “I’ll Be Around”, and even though she might not realize it, he’s going to be there for her through thick and thin, and he’s not just saying that to make her feel good, he means it from the heart. When we were adding the instrumental tracks to this song, drummer Ray Fournier intuitively felt the “tap dancing” sound that fit so nicely in the middle and which added that extra feeling of an era gone by. “LARRY LIKES TO FISH” was written as a gift to friends of mine that would annually vacation with us at Lake Chautauqua every July. One day in November I got the idea to write a song as a homemade Christmas gift for each of the three couples that we shared cottages with. Having worked with the husbands of the first two couples for a number of years, I was able to comment lyrically about them and their families with quite a bit of personal information. When it came to writing about Larry and his wife Marge and their children, I really didn’t know much about them except that Larry and Marge REALLY like to fish; everyday in fact. So, the song is basically about how much Larry likes to fish with sing-along sections and some group “whistling” instead of words. To finish the song, we came up with the idea of doing parodies of “We Are The World” by Michael Jackson, and “Give Peace A Chance” by John Lennon, changing them to “We Are The Fish” and “Give Fish A Chance”. It’s a great campfire sing-along where everyone can join in whistling or singing along to “Larry Likes To Fish”. A Note From JOHN SWANSON: Re: LIQUOR AND POKER (Jones/Swanson) As with a number of the songs on this compilation album, this song had it’s genesis in the seventies but is just now being released as a finished copy. The original inspiration for the song came from a tee shirt for a bar that advertised Liquor in the Front and Poker in the Rear. With that catch phrase in mind, the comic applications came fast and furious. The basic arrangement practically wrote itself, and the lyrics tightened up quickly with only a couple of re-writes being needed to finalize the song. The easy part being over, it only took another 25 years or so to finish the recording aspect of this project, but the results speak for themselves. As the years have gone on, I don’t see too much of Gary [Jones], my co-author, anymore, but I want him to know that if this song starts to sell, I’ll be sure that he gets what he’s got coming to him. Phil Bronschidle: guitar Dave DiBernardinis: guitar, vocals Sam Falzone: saxophone, flute, clarinet, percussion Ray Fournier: drums, percussion, vocals Russel Hatcher: percussion John Larson: drums George Litz: guitar, banjo Tom Mayers: vocals, keyboards, percussion Annie McKenna: cello Rod Nickson: vocals Pat Schwab: guitar, vocals, percussion Gary Styn: keyboards, vocals, percussion John Swanson: bass, guitar, vocals, percussion Tom Ryan: drums Joe Territo: guitar Bill Pavone: webmaster, purchasing, IT, CD stuffer/shrinkwrapper