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We agree with all of the nice aforementioned comments and much enjoyed our listens.

I have to confess to never having listened much to Elton John (those were my lost blues and bluegrass years :)) so I'm not one to get too deeply into how much you captured the sound. But for us the sound you created works well and it's a most cool pop write and production!

J&B


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Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
We agree with all of the nice aforementioned comments and much enjoyed our listens.

I have to confess to never having listened much to Elton John (those were my lost blues and bluegrass years :)) so I'm not one to get too deeply into how much you captured the sound. But for us the sound you created works well and it's a most cool pop write and production!

J&B


Thanks a bunch. Much appreciated. I might redo this one in the future. This was rough cut just to get some feedback, which it did.

Thanks again! best to you,

Alan


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You may be out of your comfort zone, but I really really enjoyed this one! Sometimes pushing ourselves out of our personal boxes can lead to some pretty amazing things. I also really love the lyrics on this one, especially:

"Wiping tears from her dampened cheeks
She said I’ve thought about this days and weeks
But I can’t find an easy way to say
I have no choice but to go away"

It totally broke my heart.

I loved this one, and can't wait for the next.


Cheers,
Ember
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Hi Al
Thought the lyrics and the vocals were great.
Found the drums a bit distracting. Cheers.

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Originally Posted By: Ember - PG Music
You may be out of your comfort zone, but I really really enjoyed this one! Sometimes pushing ourselves out of our personal boxes can lead to some pretty amazing things. I also really love the lyrics on this one, especially:

"Wiping tears from her dampened cheeks
She said I’ve thought about this days and weeks
But I can’t find an easy way to say
I have no choice but to go away"

It totally broke my heart.

I loved this one, and can't wait for the next.



Hi Ember (love your name!),

Thank you for that great feedback. Glad you enjoyed it. That verse you mentioned came to me pretty quickly. It's what predicated the rest of the lyric. Always enjoy hearing from you. best to you and all of Mr. Gannon's gang.

Alan


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Originally Posted By: RichMac
Hi Al
Thought the lyrics and the vocals were great.
Found the drums a bit distracting. Cheers.


Hi Rich,

thanks for the listen and comments. Glad you enjoyed it in spite of the drums. Elton John always had a striong rhythm section, He liked his bass and drums. Thanks for tuning in! Best to you.

ALan


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Alan. I really enjoyed this tune. I've always been partial to Elton's style. I would love to tackle something like this, but I'm pretty sure my country voice would be out of place in this style. I think you pulled it off nicely. Great job!


BTW-I saw a reference to an acquaintance of yours that I know as well. In 2000 I was doing a project in Nashville at Gene Breeden's studio at the old United Artist Tower. A wonderful steel guitar/saxophone player by the name of John Heinrich played steel on my second CD. The last time I ran into him he was set up at the Nashville Airport playing sax. Next time you see him tell him Gary Presson said Hello. Great guy!

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Nice job, Alan! Good to see you hard at work! Good song!

Steve


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"In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of." - Robert Schumann
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Hi Gary,

Thanks for the very nice words - I appreciate that very much. Although I played lead guitar in several Country bands, I don't have a Country or Rock voice. It's more suited to Smooth Jazz and Smooth R&B. I did this one on a whim - just because!

I've known John Heinrich since the late 1970s. I met him in Germany around '78 or '79. John's a real good guy. I've not seen him in several years but get an email ever so often from him. As of two years ago, he was touring with Ronnie Milsap as his pedal steel, dobra, sax, clarinet and flute player. He's a multi-talented guy and very good on all those instruments. I visited with him at Scotty's International Steel Guitar Convention in St. Louis a few years ago. He was one of the featured players. Scotty passed away in the spring of this year. I spent a lot of money at his music business in Overland, MO. (a suburb of St. Louis). I met him in 1968 when I bought a guitar and amp from. In fact, I bought the amp I currently own (a Peavey Nashville 112) from him in 2006.

His (John's) long-time girlfriend passed away a few years ago and it really devastated him. Next time I talk or visit with him, I'll let him know you said hello. I'm sure he will appreciate it.

Best to you, Gary.

Alan

Last edited by Al-David; 10/26/17 05:15 AM.

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Originally Posted By: Steve Young
Nice job, Alan! Good to see you hard at work! Good song!

Steve



Thank you, Steve. It's a pretty rough cut at this point - as I told Gary, I did it on a whim. Glad you enjoyed it. I have several waiting in the wings - I like to wait a few days between posts in order to not hog the board. Hope all is well in South-Central Texas. Wishing you the very best.

Alan


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Wow, what a tune Alan! It sounds outstanding, and I wouldn't have even thought you were outside your comfort range here. As others mentioned, in order to get that signature Elton John sort of sound on the piano it would need to sound a bit more "bright." That being said, it doesn't mean this isn't a delightful tune - it would just help it get that Elton John signature sound smile

Overall, a wonderfully written song and great pop tune. Thanks so much for sharing!


Cheers,
Deryk
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Hello, Alan

Very energetic song!
It is very a nice idea to use minor key for an Elton John type song.
It is wonderful to write songs out of your zone.
I also like to write songs out of my zone.
BIAB is very useful to do so.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

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Originally Posted By: Deryk - PG Music
Wow, what a tune Alan! It sounds outstanding, and I wouldn't have even thought you were outside your comfort range here. As others mentioned, in order to get that signature Elton John sort of sound on the piano it would need to sound a bit more "bright." That being said, it doesn't mean this isn't a delightful tune - it would just help it get that Elton John signature sound smile

Overall, a wonderfully written song and great pop tune. Thanks so much for sharing!



Hi Deryk,

Thanks for the listen and very nice comments. I tried to "brighten" the piano several ways, but none of them helped very much. I got the best results from Audacity, but even that wasn't very good. It sounded cheap and "tinny" when I raised the higher EQ. Midi tracks have always been a challenge for me.

Glad you liked it anyway ... thanks!

Alan


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Originally Posted By: animarorecords
Hello, Alan

Very energetic song!
It is very a nice idea to use minor key for an Elton John type song.
It is wonderful to write songs out of your zone.
I also like to write songs out of my zone.
BIAB is very useful to do so.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi



Hi Shigeki,

Thanks for the very nice comments. And yea, BIAB is a great tool for experimenting and trying new genres. I'm delighted you enjoyed the song!

Alan


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Good stuff Alan!! I think you've captured the Elton John thing melodically very well. As for the vocal, we all wish we could sing like him-one of the best pop singers ever in my opinion. However, you did a great job! This is very nice. I think Floyd's suggestions are good ones in terms of the mix. Great job!! Take care. Greg

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Originally Posted By: Greg Johnson
Good stuff Alan!! I think you've captured the Elton John thing melodically very well. As for the vocal, we all wish we could sing like him-one of the best pop singers ever in my opinion. However, you did a great job! This is very nice. I think Floyd's suggestions are good ones in terms of the mix. Great job!! Take care. Greg



Thanks a bunch, Greg. Yeah, if I could sing lim,ke that!!! Glad the vocal was tolerable. There are several songs for which I'm going to redo the vocal soon - this is one of them. As I mentioned in the intro paragraph, this is way out of my vocal ability; but I like to push the limits sometimes.

Thanks again. Much appreciated!

Alan


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