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Belladonna posted the words to a song she wrote and invited anyone to write music for it. I heard it as a jazz thing and I'll add that it was a lot of fun as I'm always looking for an excuse to Croon! The vocal was so dynamic It gave me fits. I wound up downloading and using "Waves Vocal Rider" plugin.

RealTracks in style: 2126:Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Half,Half Sw 110
RealTracks in song: ~771:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Jazz Sw 110
RealTracks in style: ~938:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm JazzFreddie Sw 110
RealTracks in style: 2593:Horn Section, Background CroonerBigBand9-Part Sw 110
RealDrums in Song: JazzBrushesSticks: a: Brushes b: Snare, Ride

Bottom Dollar Blues words by Donna Evans, music by Lawrence Olivier

Verse 1
She’s a candy red hot
Fire whiskey, tequila shots
She’s waitin’ for me at the bar
Spends my money like a wild fire
Think I’m scoring but I lose
Got the bottom dollar blues

Verse 2
Hoping she’s my Lucky Star
She plays me like a lotto jar
We cruise and schmooze around
My ticker tape’s runnin’ down
Then some final rounds of pool
Goes my bottom dollar blues

Bridge
Sunday church I’m confessin’
Can’t seem to learn my lesson
Party girls and booze
Give me the bottom dollar blues

Verse 3
She always revs my engine
Sparing any intervention
I’m addicted to the night life
We live the weekends right
For her I’ll play the fool
With the bottom dollar blues

Lawrence

That's a hell of a big amazing vocal! Wonderful stuff.
Excellent song, nice use of the band and a good set of lyrics.
Really nice all round.

Peter

Lawrence & Belladonna

This is simply outstanding.

You've got those horns piping hot. You got the vocals sitting there just great.

This cooks, from start to finish.

Top effort, team!

Hi Lawrence and Donna
Great job in this. Wonderful lyrics and a wonderful interpretation. More collabs please!

Donna & Lawrence - a nice combination of lyric & music...

Lawrence, your vocal on this is powerful and free. There is "fun" in the sing - a real delight in a vocal.

The horns sound great! They fit so well and really carry the underlying track.

Especially like the way you handled the bridge.

A truly excellent listen.

fj

Nice collaboration!

Fun lyrics and production, enjoyed the listen.

Re: the vocal rider plugin, great tool! I use it all the time here too.

Great collab, Lawrence, I always know it's going to be a great vocal and it is, but I thought the real star of this production was the arrangement. Especially the bridge and outro. Inspired chord choices. All of it was unexpected and a rewarding listen, Tom Also that vocal rider is one of my go to plug-ins.

Awesome vocal Lawrence. Loved what you did with these awesome lyrics. Super tune to listen to.

That was great Lawrence...the crooner side of gruverider. Who would've thought? We've used the bass rider but have never thought about the vocal rider...interesting.

This was the first type of music Bud ever heard -- from my parents in the 50's -- Janice was yet to be born but we both love the genre and sometimes mix in Frank, Tony and others along with our love of Americana.

We've always felt that a really great singer can handle about any genre and, man, does this ever support that notion.

Your arrangement, chord choice, RT and vocal are over the top good.

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!

Wow!

J&B

Really good job. Smooth vocals. Now where did I put that Zoot Suit?

Thanks Peter. Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you for listening and commenting. It was fun.

Hi Joanne! So far this is the year of the collabs. More indeed!

Wow!!!! Wonderful take on my song lyrics. I love it. I would have never thought to do it that way. It's really great seeing others creativity. Loved your vocals. My husband's favorite music is the big band sound as he used to play alto sax. He thought it was really COOL!!! Thank you so much and really appreciate how you made the lyrics come to life in a big way.

Hello Floyd. I did five takes of the vocal and comped the final from three of them. It was a work of joy. The chord changes were partly inspired from the "generate intro" function. And I massaged it from there. Especially For jazz, after you've typed in your arrangement that function is a wonderful idea expander.

Dave, I've never used the vocal rider before this song. And at first I overused it, I set the sensitivity to high. But after I dialed it back and got comfortable with it I wound up using it on the horns and the piano, and bought the Bass Rider and put it on the bass and drums (just a touch). To my ear it adds a bit of focus. Thanks!

Hey Lawrence, loved the style of the song and your voice as well. Thanks for mentioning the vocal rider! I spend so much time on setting levels for vocals. This sounds like the perfect solution!

Lawrence,

This is really outstanding - a great interpretation of Belladonna's lyrics. I love the vocal styling and big band sound.

You should sing more in this style - you really have a feel for it...

Production and mix is excellent as well.

Bob

Dear "gruverider"...

Man, let me tell you something, and I mean right now. I compose music mostly in the jazz genre, and there is no way in the world I would EVER, ever have imagined Ms. Belladonna's lyrics for "Bottom Dollar Blues" being set in a big band arrangement. This has got to be one of the most original takes on a set of lyrics that I've ever heard. Step up, step up to the podium and accept your award, "gruverider"!!!

Your music combined with Ms. Belladonna's vividly descriptive lyrics makes the song sound as though it was composed during the 30's at the height of the Depression, when damn near every American was suffering from the real "Bottom Dollar Blues" and attempting to lift their spirits a little by listening and dancing to upbeat numbers such as "We're In The Money". It would have been a sure hit because your danceable, cheek-to-cheek, smooth-as-silk arrangement would have enabled folks to put just enough distance between themselves and the hard reality of their Depression-era woes so that they could look down at them -- if only for no longer than the time it took to dance to it -- rather than look forward to more suffering, which was certain.

I tip my hat to your originality, "gruverider". Bravo -- and would you ask the waiter to bring us more champagne with that order of caviar, please ???

LOREN

Amen Bluage. I second the post.

Wow Lawrence that is great.

Takes me back to the big band era immediately.
Great lyrics and arrangement.

Cheers.

Excellent song both music and vocal.
Really great performance.

Sergio

Thank you Tommy. As I stated some of the chord choices I made were inspired by the generate intro function. I used the Vocal Rider on the horns and piano. Do you use it on instruments as well?

Glad you liked it Scott.

Thank you so much for your generosity. There is so much music I enjoy, I'm thrilled to be able to indulge myself thanks to BIAB. About the Vocal Rider, it sure is an interesting tool. I look forward to learning more about it as I go forward.

I found mine in the hard drive where my Realtracks live lol.

The second time I read through your lyrics I could hear the brushes of the drums, the pluck of the upright bass and those gorgeous horns. I'm glad that you liked it.

I really love that everyone has been doing such fantastic, open-ended collaborations lately. This is really great, and I love how you interpreted the original content.

Great job.

Awesome work Lawrence! Such a great job with those horns and the vocal is over the top! Thanks, Torrey

Lawrence & Belladonna,

An unlikely marriage of lyric and style! But it sure does work! Belladonna's lyric is spot on and you took it to the high place they should be. Love the crooner side of your voice and that mix is fabulous. Those horns as about as good as they could ever be placed and arranged.

love the recent collabs on the forum. Would love to get in on them. If they're still floarting around the forum when I get more time, will have to indulge. Great work here!

Alan

Plus 1 to all the positives: stellar arrangement to a fine set of lyrics and it really sounds like you had fun with the vocals.
Very cool collaboration!

Robert

Another great version!

Love this style. Totally swinging man. A ton of fun.

Every once in a while I check in on this forum and it puts a smile on my face to hear all the the wonderful songs created that utilize the crooner horns or other horn sections I've created for Band in a Box.
Nice going Donna Evans and Lawrence Olivier!

Regards,

Jim Clark

Hello, Lawrence and Donna

A nice combination of lyric & music...
Your vocal on this is very powerful.
As Joanne said, great job in this. Wonderful lyrics and a wonderful interpretation.
I am also a big fan of "Waves Vocal Rider" plugin.
I always use it when making my own work.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thank you Steve.

Thank you Bob. I'm always looking for an excuse to Jazz.

Loren, how can I respond to such a generous comment except to say thank you and the champagne is on the way.

Thank you Rich.

Thank you Sergio.

Ember, thank you and I hope to continue being a part of the collaborations!

Thank you very much Torry.

Thank you Alan. Those horns are great! And yes the collabs are wonderful!

I did have fun Robert. Thank you.

Thank you David.

Thanks for checking in Jim. I have often wondered if the creators, the musicians who did the recordings ever hear what becomes of the tracks.

Thank you very much Shigeki.

YES!! I always love your vocals, and this is one of your best! Croon away!!! Take care. Greg

Thanks for stopping in for a listen Greg. Glad you liked it.

Lawrence this is outstanding. Loved the big band backing tracks and the swing you put into this. Totally different but totally outstanding.

Two thumbs up.