Late in the summer of 2007, after a long hiatus, I began writing again. This was one of the first songs of my renewed interest. I saw a song titled "California", and thought "I can write a song with the word California in it!" Rhythmically I wanted something odd so I messed around with different rhythms with my right hand on guitar and when I played this the song wrote itself.

http://soundcloud.com/lawrence-olivier/november-in-california


Key=C , Tempo 200
Style is _ELDO165.STY (Fast DirtyElecGtOpenChrds(165RS))
me on my acoustic
RealTracks in song: ~717:Bass, Acoustic, Samba Ev 190
RealTracks in song: 1446:Fiddle, Soloist GypsyJazzLatin Ev 165
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^3-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat Open





In November I’ll be in California
You can try me on my cell
But you… won’t be able to talk to me
Cause I’ll be walking up and down the halls of that hotel
California
It’s anything you want it to be

In December I’ll be in Louisiana
You can try me on my cell
But you… won’t be able to talk to me
Cause I’ll be walking down the isles of the cemetery
Of New Orleans
The city underneath the sea


You can try to catch me at the crossroad honey
You can try I don’t care
You can try to hold me at the crossroad sugar
If your quick you’ll find me there

In January I’ll be in Jerusalem
You can try me on my cell
But you… won’t be able to talk to me
Cause I’ll be wandering up and down that Judas trail
Jerusalem
The city where my savior be

I can't seem to find the link to the song...

fixed, thank you Pat

Luv the vocal grit!

What can I say? Love everything about it!

Different but in a good way, and I do like the way you attacked it vocally!

Later,

Fantastic Gruverider
Love the lyrics, and the build from the start, and the 2-beat bass works really well.
Congratulations, great job.
Trevor

Good stuff Gruverider, your vocal style is perfect for the song

Alyn

+1

Guenter

Lawrence,

What a cool song! Awesome writing (particularly after a long lay off)!
It remained interesting to very end.

The first time through, I thought you could do without the "up and down" in verses 1 and 3 and the "down" in verse 2 - to smooth that out some. After a few more listens I got comfortable with it...

I love when someone shows "another side of BIAB" - which you have done so well here. This (showcase) is, after all, about what can be accomplished using PG products. (It sometimes gets too focused on the songwriting). Nashville drums + a samba bass + a GypsyJazz fiddle!!! Great combo - that takes imagination. That fiddle solo is dynamite!

Add in your guitar and wow! And your vocals!!!... they are what careers are made from, man!

Awesome.

floyd

Lawrence,
you have real knack for avoiding all the cliches that tend to make songs schmarmy.

I really like the odd timing of the lyrics... you stretch the limits, but you make it work... and the result is a very fresh cadence. There's nothing "sing-songy" about the presentation of these lyrics!

I also really liked the various change-ups, hits holds and pauses you use for accents throughout the song. They add the same thing to the song that pralines add to ice cream.

And the ending was excellent! the final hit of all instruments except cymbals, which continued to sizzle until fade out... I would never have thought to do that!

But the thing I liked the most was the CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: using different locations and a cell phone to skirt the same point in several colorful ways. And its interesting the way the lyrics are vague enough to drive a feeling more than a message. What's the point of being unavailable by cell in all of those places? Who cares? Its a cool musical algebra equation and the variables change from parentheses to parentheses.

Lawrence,

Loved the entire song. The build up and yes the fiddle part.
Your really put your heart and soul into the vocals.
Delivery for me was outstanding.
Love the last verse, where you arrived at your destination.

Thanks for sharing your music!

thank you to everyone for taking a listen

@DannyC, I've been playing this song live for all these years. It wasn't until 2010 after hearing Carolyn Wonderland at the Whitewater Amphitheater that I began to completely sell out vocally and felt ready to record it. She drew thunder from the clouds above her that afternoon and fired it from her lungs!

@Floyd, I tried to record it BIAB and vocal only. but after trying many BIAB tracks, in the end I could not replace my guitar

Pat, While in New Orleans I listened to a lot of Jazz and Funk and have always loved odd meters and broken cadence. It sneaks in even when I write a "cowboy song". I ran the drums through a "drum" f/x that comes with Sonar and that final shot was the result. I processed just that clip, the final drum shot, and drug the tail out to fade.

seeker, thank you

Yeah baby! Hot track. Good job.

Another big +1.

The only thing that I can add is your mix is spot on!

This is a winner!

WOW!! How did I miss this one? Very late to the party and it's all be said and said well. Arrangement, production, vocals, instruments, lyrics -- everything is right in our wheelhouse. This is "go to" music for us -- meaning it goes on the pod.

Mario D, thank you



Janice & Bud, thank you too

Hello, Lawrence !


This song gave a dramatic feel
and the chords were just right for
that feel ! Enjoyed it very much !


Cheers
Dani