This is one that Noel Adams and I just finished writing, called When I Wake Up In The Morning. All the instruments are RealTracks/RealDrums, along with some organ, strings, and percussion that I played. I hope you enjoy it!

When I Wake Up In The Morniing

Here are the RT/RD's used...
RealTracks in song: 1759:Bass, Electric, Pop16ths Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 910:Piano, Electric, Rhythm SmoothBallad Ev16 065
RealTracks in song: 1581:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Folkie16ths Sw16 085
RealTracks in song: 1829:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopModernGrooveBrightArp Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: 2110:Horn Section, Background, R&B Ev16 110
RealTracks in song: 1950:Piano, Acoustic, Soloist PopRootsyJohn Ev16 100 (Bluesy)
RealDrums: RealDrums in Song: SmoothJazzPoppy^2-a:Snare HiHat , b:Snare Ride
*******************

Here are the lyrics...

When I Wake Up In The Morning
Words and music copyright Noel Adams and Stephen W Young

When I wake up in the morning
I thank the Lord above
Every day is a gift from Heaven
A gift of His love

When I wake up in the morning
And I see the sky so blue
All around me, a new day is dawning
And it's calling me to you

You're the one that I think about
Every minute of the day
You're the one I can't live without
My heart is here to stay

When I wake up in the morning
With a thousand things to do
I just stop and I count my blessings
But they wouldn't mean a thing if I didn't have you

[Instrumental]

You're the one that I think about
Every minute of the day
You're the one I can't live without
My heart is here to stay

When I wake up in the morning
With a thousand things to do
I just stop and I count my blessings
But they wouldn't mean a thing if I didn't have you

===
Have a great day!

Steve

Now that's a good collab.

"Radio Ready"


--Mac

Hi, Steve and Noel !

Instant hit ! I liked everything about
this tune ! The mix was just perfect and
the lyrics wonderful !:)....and that
voice of yours, just incredibly soft and
beautiful !!!

Cheers
Dani

Hi Steve and Noel,

what a beautiful song!
Everything about it is just perfect.
I think the lead vocals is Steve, but who made
the wonderful harmonies?
A really great collab.

Guenter

Steve / Noel,

This is EXCELLENT! You need to get this on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Fantastic work...

Bob

Steve and Noel,

Well done guys. Already listened twice. Easy going, catchy and uplifting. Nice touch with the horns too.

Loving it here.

Well done Noel and Steve (or Steve and Noel)

Wonderful song

I like it a lot.

George

Well done collab.

The writing is really good. And I especially like the chorus.

The song has a nice clean mix and a groove reminiscent of some of the Seals & Croft or Hall & Oats, soft rock pop that I was listening to in the 80's.

All around good job.

Some things I maybe would have done differently:
I'd pull some mids out of the vocal.... just a tad. It has a mid almost boxy sound to me....
I'd probably not use horns in this, just my thoughts...
On the solo.... give it a solo. There are plenty of soloists to select from either piano, guitar, or since you have horns in it, sax, etc.....

These are minor nits and don't really detract from the song or the mix.

Steve/Noel,

Terrific! From every-which-way (to sort of paraphrase a Noel expression).

The usual perfect production, Steve! A fresh, clean sound. Which fits the song perfectly. Super vocal - of course.

A solid write. The song and the presentation sound like something off a later James Taylor project. Not an easy thing to pull off...

Color me impressed... once again. Great job, guys!!!

floyd

Steve & Noel, Nicely written. Great Production as usual. Very well sung. I wasn't sure if it was Steve, for some reason your voice sounds different. I am interested in what programs you record and mix in and what do you master in. Thanks, Tom

Here a little late and everything positive has already been said so all I can do is echo the same superlatives.

Steve and Noel you guys killed it in every aspect.

You should be very proud of this project.

Later,

Steve and Noel. I really enjoyed the easy laid back lyrics and melody and also the way the track was sung. There was no "forcing" in there which is something I tend to be very guilty of. Shows what simplicity can deliver!

Mac,

Thanks! I appreciate your time and comments!

Dani,

Glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Guenter,

Thank you so much! I did all the vocals on this one.

===
Steve

Bob,

Thank you for your very kind words! Now, I just need to figure out how to get this on iTunes, Amazon, etc., and then how to promote it! Always good to hear from you!

Josie,

Thank you! Again, always good to hear from you! Glad you like this one.

George,

Thanks so much! Glad you like it.

===
Steve

Herb,

Thanks so much for your constructive comments. I am now 2 cents richer! I do appreciate your time and thoughtful comments. And I'm glad you like the song.

Floyd,

Always good to hear from you! Thanks so much for your kind words. I have always loved James Taylor's music. I'll have to go give another listen to some of his later works. Thanks again.

Tommy,

Thanks so much for your time and kind words! Yes, I did all the vocals on this one. I have been dealing with some health issues the past few months that have had a little impact on the texture of my voice. But I'm still singing'!

I did this song in Logic Pro 9. I also mastered it there. I use a mixture of plugins (whatever works for my ears). I do use quite a bit of Waves products, along with the ones that come with Logic, and a smattering of others I have picked up along the way.

Danny,

Thank you very much! Your time and kind words are very appreciated!

Joanne,

Thanks for you taking the time to listen and comment! Your kindness is appreciated. I do try to keep things simple.

===
Steve

I must also say thank you to Noel! His writing is excellent, and it is a real joy to work with him. This technology thing is sure a blessing!

Steve

Wow! Where to begin...?

First of all, I like the chord progression.... it avoids being predicable without sounding contrived.. in fact, it flows perfectly, the kind of progression that leaves you feeling like it couldn't be different without being less.

And the way you develop the song, it just gets richer the longer the song goes. Whereas most songs stay basically the same all the way through, you introduce variations from start to finish which really keeps it fresh.

From a genre standpoint, the first verse was classic Contemporary Christian ... but by the time the horns entered the scene it felt more like 70s-80s pop... which, I suppose is a testimony to the way various instrument mixes and effects can be so frequently used that they define a genre

I also really liked the transition with horns, and the way you resolved it back to the verse

As always your mix, vocals and harmonies are awesome... I won't even try to use words to describe that which is indescribable, because that would only serve to come up short

And of course, my favorite part of every Steve Young song is the wholesome theme.

Since it was a collaboration, I'd like to know what each of you contributed (enquiring minds, you understand)

Pat,

Thanks so very much for your very thoughtful comments! Glad you enjoyed this song. Noel came up with the chord progression, and an outline of the lyrics. He sent me a recording of it with him "talking" the song. I just took the progression and did some arranging of the instruments. Then I took his lyrics and tweaked them to fit the melody that I heard from the progression, and finished it up (with Noel's approval). Noel is a very prolific and knowledgable songwriter. He has a good understanding of the craft of songwriting. Makes for a fun collab.

And now, enquiring minds know.

Steve

This is a very good example of the power of BIAB, the users instruments, up lifting lyrics, and the ability to collab via the net. Put all that together and you get a fine tune like this. I'm not gonna try and pigeon hole it stylistically -- just a simple I like it.

Steve is an amazing musician. It's a pleasure to write with him. He has a well-honed sense of melody and always manages to come up with something fresh and memorable. In addition, his sense of orchestration is outstanding. When I first heard what he'd done with the chord progression I sent over, I was speechless. Never in a million years could I have put together the backing that he assembled.

Mac: Thanks for dropping in and having a listen. It's easy to have a good collab with Steve!

Dani: When I read you comments, you gave me a smile. Thank you I agree with you, too. Steve has an excellent voice. I'd love to be able to sing like he does!

Geunter: Appreciate your time and comments. Everything you hear is Steve and Steve's work. My contributions were towards the lyrics, the rhythmical movement of the lyrics and the chord progression.

Bob: It's always good to see you! Thank you for taking time out to listen and to comment. Like Steve, all I need to do now is to find out how iTunes works!

Josie: The “easy going”, “catchy” and “nice horns” are all Steve's efforts. I helped contribute to “uplifting” if it's applied to the lyrics. If “uplifting” is applied to any other aspect of the song then that belongs to Steve, too! Thanks for dropping by. It's always a pleasure to read you.

George: Your positive feedback is appreciated a great deal. Thank you for giving our song a play-through. All the best

Herb: Your comments are valuable. They give insight into how you heard the song and, as such, provide very useful information. Thanks for taking the time.

Floyd: It's always good to see you. Thank you for taking time and listening and writing a few words. I don't know about Steve, but I'm still aiming to become as proficient and as productive as you! You set very high standards indeed.

Tommy: Thanks for having a listen. I agree totally with you. Steve's production ability is incredible! He certainly gives me something to aspire to.

Danny: It's always good to read you. Thank you for dropping in and taking time to listen. Much appreciated.

Joanne: When it comes to lyrics, and writing in AABA form, I like to use what I call the “Yesterday Principle”. I'll explain. When Lennon and McCartney wrote the song “Yesterday” using the AABA form, they only used 84 words (that's ignoring repeated sections). When I write a song in this form, I always keep that in mind and aim to keep my word count down as much as possible. My workflow is to write the lyrics and then go through and try and reduce them to 130 words or less. I also always challenge myself to see if I can reduce them to under a 100 words and still maintain the integrity of the lyrics' meaning. The end result is that what is obtained is 'simple' but it's often a long haul to get there! "When I Wake Up" has 109 words. Thanks for dropping by. It's always a pleasure to see/read you.

Pat: Hi there Whenever I read through your comments, in whatever thread you post, I'm always left impressed with your ability to think clearly, concisely say what you mean, and come across as a 100% decent guy. That's a rare feat on the internet. It's also why I smile when I see you avatar in a thread; I know I'm going to enjoy the read. I'm a fan Thank you for your input regarding this song. Every time I hear what Steve has done with the material I sent him for "When I Wake Up", I'm left feeling very very impressed. He's one fine musician.

Janice and Bud: Ain't the internet amazing. The other day at school, I was trying to give my students insight into what it was like before the digital age. They have grown up never knowing anything other than cell phones, colour TVs, the internet, computers, etc. I pointed out to them that today's reality only used to exist in science-fiction novels: no-one ever thought it'd become real! It's incredible to think that I can write a song with someone in Texas and he can put together a radio-ready version on his home computer! How far has the world travelled in the last 20 years?! Thanks for having a listen and the positive feedback. Your comments are always much appreciated.

I too love the chord progression as well as the orchestration, but what pulled me by the ear was the melody - in a word fantastic!

and lyrically it covers familiar ground but somehow rises above it and makes it fresh, that is hard to do!

Janice and Bud,

Thanks so much for your kind words! Very much appreciated.

Gruverider,

Thank you for taking the time to drop by and listen. You comments are very appreciated.

===

Steve

Hi Noel,

Listened to it. Are you singing or is that Steve? No matter - a wonderful performance.

Dean

Hi Dean,

Thank you for popping in and listening. Steve is singing. He's also the one who did all the arranging. All I did was to send him a chord progression and some words.

All the best,
Noel