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Hello forum friends. This is my first post of 2017. It has been a busy and relatively stressful start to the year. I missed a lot of time on the forum but played a lot of catch-up in the last week and really enjoying your fine new tunes. I am trying to finish a CD (still like things you can hold in your hand). The title is The Lighthouse Keeper (after a track of the same name I posted over a year ago). At some point, I realized a melody that I've had for more than 30 years with only an opening line, could work as an answer to the Lighthouse keeper. This song will go at the end of the CD and have a Lighthouse Keeper reprise (I think that's what they called it in the LP days) to end the CD. Hope you enjoy it. Comments from you guys is the only feedback I get. Much appreciated. Take care. https://soundcloud.com/gjohnson-2/sailing-shipsFor those who have not heard The Lighthouse Keeper, or want to again, here is a link https://soundcloud.com/gjohnson-2/lighthouseSAILING SHIPS Sailing ships, looking for a light On a sea of loneliness, drifting through the night On these sailing ships, restless spirits roam The ghosts of lonely sailors, souls without a home Aboard the sailing ships Not a trace of land in sight On distant shores, fires warm the homes Families share an evening meal and no one feels alone But on the sailing ships, emptiness abounds The ocean sings a low, sad hymn to this hopeless lost and found Aboard the sailing ships And still, not a trace of land in sight
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Beautiful music, Greg. Congratulations and much success to you with your CD release.
Andy
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Greg,
Good to have you back- looking forward to hearing the CD.
I`m a big fan of songs about the sea and really enjoyed the mood of this ballad and can see it would make a nice reflective end to an album.
The sax is terrific and your upfront vocal very expressive.
The opening threw me a little even after reading the " reprise " idea - I thought it might have worked better (for the casual listener- probably not relevant if you`re listening to the CD) to begin at "he`ll be laid to rest"... going to listen to the Lighthouse Keeper to better understand.
Robert
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Hey Greg,
This is very nice. Everything sits together well. The sax sounds great! So does your vocal. The transition to Sailing Ships is cool. I like the strings too... Great Job!
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Marvelous Greg
Well written and produced.
This song stands out with the cool style, the sax work, the melody and the sensational vocal delivery.
Another winner.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Hi Greg.
Your music, vocals and lyrics are so tasteful and evocative of the scenes described.
The two pieces certainly belong together.
Beautiful music. Very skillful production. Thank you. Cheers.
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A superb piece Greg, with lovely changes that reflect the shifting emotions of the lyrics. Expertly sung, arranged and engineered. Sounds like this will be a pretty impressive collection of songs.
John
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Greg,
A really pretty piece and it compliments the Lighthouse Keeper track perfectly.
Really nice up front vocal and the track has been beautifully mixed with the haunting sax playing a strong role.
Very atmospheric and well composed.
Peter
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Greg,
I really like this song - excellent lyric and vocal. Your mix is also great - loved the sax.
Bob
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This is over the top good. The lighthouse light is shining bright. Looking forward to release of your CD. You are one of my favorite vocalists on the forum, or anywhere for that matter. This is a very sophisticated write, arrangement, mix, performance and production. Enjoyed this one a lot.
Charlie
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Greg,
Great project, great songs. Good luck with the CD.
Regards,
Bob
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Lighthouse remains one of our favorite tunes of yours.
We think you richly fulfilled your goal with this reprise. It is beautifully written, sung and produced.
And we have no doubt that equally excellent material will lie between these two compositions on the CD!
Kudos.
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Beautifully done Greg! Moving introspective flowing from that deep sensitive soul of yours drawing us in. Wonderful arrangement, sax and vocal. Congrats on the new CD!
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Great work Greg! Such a pretty and clean sound! I was particularly impressed with the string sounds here, they were excellent along with the vocal.
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A reprise on an album is such a great idea. Reminds me of 'wasted time' as an intro for the song 'victim of love' on the hotel California album.
This is some very good songwriting and both songs fit very well together.
The vocal delivery, as others said, is beautiful.
And indeed the saxophone is a great choice.
Rob
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Greg, A wonderful transition into Sailing Ships. These are extraordinary chord changes and an exquisite vocal. Arranged and mixed with great skill. Beauty at it's best. Tom
Last edited by tommyad; 03/13/17 03:33 PM.
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Hi Greg,
Using this and Lighthouse as bookends for your CD certainly makes the listener, to include us, wonder just how great a pleasure lies twixt and between.
The sax is a superb choice. It's bluesy and wailing ... totally relevant and ingratiating to the aura of the great production and delivery. And although so simple, the piano track is a strong contributor to the overall captivation of the production.
We're not sure if there's a specific reason you chose to fade in the vocal but it was very nice ... kind of eases the listener into the song.
Wishing you good luck with the CD and hope the rest of the year goes smoothly. We listened to it three times!
Alan & Di
Last edited by Al-David; 03/13/17 11:18 AM.
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Hello, Greg
Very beautiful and superb song.
And your vocal is so wonderful and impressive.
Taking the chord progression of "The Lighthouse Keeper", changing the key to D major but the chord progression of "SAILING SHIPS" also starts with Sub-Dominant chord and expands the progression.
The place where the chord changes from Dmaj7th to Dm7th is so cool and I love there a lot.
The backing orchestration is modest but so nice and beautiful.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.
I am looking forward to hearing the CD.
Best regards.
Shigeki Adachi
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Beautiful music, Greg. Congratulations and much success to you with your CD release. Thanks Andy. I consider success anyone who wants to listen more than once or twice. Thanks so much for the nice comments. Take care. Greg
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Beautiful music, Greg. Congratulations and much success to you with your CD release. Thanks so much Robert. You have been such a great presence on the forum-great songs and great vibes! Much appreciate that. Take care. Greg
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