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A little song I put together recently. Have a listen and feel free to offer your thoughts. PRISONER OF SHAME The Band: style= Nonstop Blues Train Bass 2912 Piano 1727 Drums Train something or other G1 419 G2 2422 I'm playing the other 2 rhythm guitars and Vocals Mixed in Cakewalk with special ingredients. Lyrics Prisoner of Shame Verse 1 I'm sitting in this jail, thinking bout what I've done. Thinking bout the days, when I was free and young. The chains that bind me, oh they're heavy on my soul. Oh Lord won't you help me, get me out of this hole. Verse 2 The memories of my past, haunt me through the night Regrets and mistakes keep me up until daylight I see the world outside, but in this lonely cell I wait. Wish I could turn back the hands of time, and change my fate Chorus Behind these bars, I long to be free To feel the sun upon my face and taste sweet liberty The days are endless, and the nights are filled with pain Behind these bars I'm just a prisoner of shame. (break) Verse 3 The days turn into years, but my spirit won't break I'll keep on fighting for my sanity's sake Oh the choices that I made led me to this place of strife Now I'm paying the price serving 20 years to life Chorus Behind these bars, I long to be free To feel the sun upon my face and taste sweet liberty The days are endless, and the nights are filled with pain Behind these bars I'm just a prisoner of shame. Tag Behind these bars I'm just a prisoner of shame Behind these bars I'm just a prisoner of shame. Copyright 2023 Herb Hartley
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Herb ...
I liked this a lot.
The lyric sounds like something Tom T. Hall might written in the latter years of his career. It somewhat reminded me of his song, "A Week In A Country Jail". A different story with a different band, but still I hear a small resemblance.
The train beat works perfectly to keep engine running from start to stop. Nice fill on the guitar. The small amount of slap back on the vocal gave it the perfect touch. It filled the space without crowding it. Lyric is well-written.
Nicely done! I truly enjoyed the listen.
Take care,
Alan
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Herb, this is something that Johnny Cash could sing.
You vocal was perfect for this song, great work on the slap back echo.
Great choice in the backing band.
All mixed to perfection.
Dad, how will I know when I've become an adult.
When your day is ruined because they rearranged the grocery store.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Guitarhacker:
Very cool . . . Nice Cash-like feel (complete with the prison setting)—something he could have sung in Folsom. Guitars sound great . . . love that lead guitar. At first I wondered if there was too much reverb on the vocal . . . but the more I listen the more I think it’s just perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing. Terrific tune—Bravo!
All my best to you,
Deej
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Great Johnny Cash vibe.
Nice write, arrangement, and singing. I enjoyed listening.
But... to me, the second half of the verse feels a bit too close to Folsom Prison Blues.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Herb,
I really enjoyed this - sounds great.
Bob
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Cool tune for sure! Guitars and vocals are perfect, and BiaB instruments do their job quite well, too. Great job!
DC Ron
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Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
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That rockabilly slapback on the vocal really is the perfect effect for this song. I’ve always enjoyed your voice and this is no exception. Good solid write and the production is as good as it gets. A+ all the way,Tom
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Herb, I heard this in the meeting as you know. Really great job and I hope it goes far!  Happy Thanksgiving!
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Someone free this man!! A good write, Herb. The melody flows perfectly into the chorus, which is quite catchy. Great band, and that guitar sings --not in lamenting pangs of guilt, but more like he knows he'll be released soon. Well done.
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A raucous vibe for a sad song. As I learned from Tommyad an upbeat vibe can often, counterintuitively, well deliver a sad sentiment. The session guys, your vocals and the entire mix sound fine on the monitors. Really cool vocal fx! The lyric seems different in style (not the theme) from your writes - perhaps it's the above contrast. Or maybe because I'm immersed in an 18th century novel and the lyric seemed to fit that period. The book covers a lot of imprisonments 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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Al-David: Thank you for your comments.
Mario: Thank you... gotta have a slap back on this genre
Deej56: A "Cash" groove is actually the goal here. Thanks
dcuny: Good catch. Wasn't sure if anyone would notice but yeah.... I will record a different vox on the last line of the verses. Thanks
rsdean: glad you enjoyed it.
CD Ron: Thank you for listening.
Tommyad: I always question my vocals for things like this. Thank you.
David Snyder: Thank you.... you'll notice this mix is a bit different. Lyrics too. Edits.
Marty: Thank you Sir.
Thanks everyone for listening and the comments so far.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Grooves along wonderfully. I like it. Everything seemed to fit so well: the rhymes, timing, and chops. Good job!
Chad
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Janice & Bud as well as Chad HC...
Thanks for responding. I didn't want to seem ungrateful for your response so better late than never. Between the holidays and everything else, I've been busy reworking this song into a newer cleaner version.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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This is a new version: Prisoner of Shame ( new version) Here's the specs on the new version. It was slowed down a bit. Easy fix in BB to change the tempo. However, the lead guitar track was unique and the regen in BB didn't come close to the original. So, I used Audacity to change the tempo and was quite impressed with the result. I removed an extra measure in the original to fix the feel in the part prior to the solo. I recorded three new vocal tracks with slightly less slap back. Removed the piano track completely. It just didn't fit or sound right. I replaced that with 3 live guitar tracks. 1 is electric tele rhythm and the other 2 are Taylor acoustic doubled. Melodyne to fix a few bass notes and massage the vox..... copy and paste in a few places to smooth the groove and ........ waaa laaaa, the new version.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Herb,
This newer version is spot on! Removal of the piano was a particularly good choice, in my opinion. Can't mistake the Tele sound! I had a '54 Tele. I wish I'd never sold it, although I got an outrageous price for it (I sold it in Germany in 1979 for a little over $6,000.00 - brand-name American-made music instruments are very expensive there with all the additional taxes. Besides, a '54 Telecaster was hard to come by, even then.
I thought the vocal sounded terrific. Whatever massaging you did, put it spot-on.
Audacity has come a long way over the past couple of years - particularly the newest version, 3.42. Audacity and some prep work in BIAB are what I use in lieu of a DAW.
This is real nice! Much enjoyed.
Alan
Last edited by Al-David; 11/27/23 03:05 PM.
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Herb,
This newer version is spot on! Removal of the piano was a particularly good choice, in my opinion. Can't mistake the Tele sound! I had a '54 Tele. I wish I'd never sold it, although I got an outrageous price for it (I sold it in Germany in 1979 for a little over $6,000.00 - brand-name American-made music instruments are very expensive there with all the additional taxes. Besides, a '54 Telecaster was hard to come by, even then.
I thought the vocal sounded terrific. Whatever massaging you did, put it spot-on.
Audacity has come a long way over the past couple of years - particularly the newest version, 3.42. Audacity and some prep work in BIAB are what I use in lieu of a DAW.
This is real nice! Much enjoyed.
Alan Thanks Alan.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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This drives along well.
The voice tone fits equally well.
Nice one.
Vic
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Sounds like a companion piece to Folsom Prison.
Pretty hectic guitar pickin' but it does suit well enough.
The reverb on the vocal kicks the sibilance a little further forward...might be worth while editing/EQing the reverb.
Nice one.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Vic: Thanks for listening
rayc: Absolutely and with a purpose. Thanks for the points. I'll look at this.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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