As most of you probably know there has been no music posted by Pumping Station Road (PSR) in a long time. The reason is that one member, DannyW was, a very very heavy drinker, i.e. a big time alcoholic. About two years ago he was found laying on the floor of his apartment. As he lived alone no one knows how long he was there. He was rushed to the hospital where brain damage was diagnosed. He is now in a nursing home. He has lost a lot of his memory and he will never get out of the home. He was only 50 when this happened.

This was devastating news for all of us but it hit BobH and StevenS, the other members of PSR, extremely hard. They had been friends for 40+ years while I only knew DannyW for about 5 years. Thus it took a long time for this song to develop. BobH had written some lyrics a couple of years ago but we could not find the right venue for them.

I was listening to Annie Sellick's "Is You Is Or Is You Not My Baby/Hit the Road Jack" and a light bulb when off, OK I know Peggy Lee had this bass line first. So I quickly jotted down some chords in Band-in-a-Box and wrote a few lyrics. BobH came over, liked it so we finished the chord progression, finished the lyrics and laid down the vocal and lead guitar parts the same afternoon.

An interesting afternoon it was! BobH, our usual lead singer, was having some timing issues with the vocal so I sang the song to give him the idea. He said 'That's it, we are keeping this track. You are the singer for this song"!
I replied "OK if I'm going to sing you are playing the lead guitar part". Thus I am singing and he is playing lead. It is his first time recording a lead guitar part but what you hear was in one take, as was my vocal.

The BiaB style is Laid Back Blues (65RS).
We deleted everything but the drums. I modified the drums to better fit the song.

BobH is playing the lead guitar.
I am playing the rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and my keyboard controller using a B3 sound.


Demon in a bottle

verse 1
a demon - in a bottle
got a hold - on me
that demon - in a bottle
wont - set me free


verse 2
that demon - in the bottle
stopped the only girl - that could be my wife
that demon - in the bottle
also took - away my life.


Chorus
I'm staring out my window
I'm only 50 years old
No place to walk no place to go
just sitting here in this old folks home
no where to go no where to go

Verse 3
now I can't have any more
cause they found me laying on the floor
now I can't recall
anything any more

Chorus - Ending - that demon 3x
that took my life

Demon

Very cool Mario. I like the Lennonesque effect on the vocal.


Regards,

Bob

Really looking forward to hearing this, Mario...

but at the moment, Soundcloud has a few demons of its own... and won't play in IE11...

later..

Mario,

Your vocals are ABSOLUTELY perfect for this sad, sad song.
Drink, as I know all too well, is an EVIL demon.

Good use of the echo on the vocals.
The solo fits perfectly.

A haunting,beautiful, sad, sad song.

My heart goes out to DannyW but what a tribute to him.



I can't say I enjoyed the listen, because that would be so wrong, but I did listen 3 times before I posted.
Good song

Alyn
ps I posted my ode to the horror a year ago.

Sad story. Musicians seen to have more than a fair share of demons...

What a very fitting tribute to your friend and bandmate.

Nicely done. Sounds like it was a difficult write.

To my ears, the vocals seemed a bit difficult to make out. Perhaps they were a bit low in the mix? I don't think it was the echo effect that caused the problem.

Thanx everyone for listening and commenting.

Bob - I wasn't thinking about that until you mentioned it. It is a little Lennonesque isn't it.

Floyd - it isn't just E11. I am now having problems and I use Firefox.

Gibson - thanx so much. I hope this didn't bring back any bad memories.

MWG - yes we do have our share of demons. I have seen more than my share of marriages broken up because of 'the girls all look better at closing time' syndrome!

David - you are probably right. I am not a good singer so I tend to bury my vocals. Maybe too much here!

Hi Mario,

a great tribute to your friend.
Your voice really fits.
My regards to BobH.

Guenter

The vocals fit the song really well.(nice keyboard)

Lamenting the loss of a friend - a very difficult write for sure. I don't think anyone could have done it with any more authenticity than what you guys did here.

Everything fit into place perfectly to me. Inspiration from reality is hard to beat even when it hurts.

A lot of people will likely resonate with this one.

Good work.

Nice to see that you have several live players and used BB for drums.

Yeah, musicians are strange people at times..... very creative in one side of their lives but totally messing up in others.

A buddy of mine is currently in state prison due to his drinking. DUI about 20 years ago and never got his license back from that but continued to drive and get more DUI's. Finally a judge put him in a cell for several years since he didn't seem to be learning his lesson. Having served well over a year and with more than a year left, perhaps this time he will. He just got moved from minimum security to medium to finish his time.

I realize this is a very personal song and the emotion is palpable. However, even w/o having known the back story I find it to be a powerful production. Janice and I immediately thought "John Lennon." We think the vocals are effective, strong and right where they need to be in the mix. And the write hits home for any one who's had friends or family go down that path.

I can think of a lot of folks to pass this on to.

Excellent piece of work guys!!!

J&B

Hi Mario,

Wow, that's quite a story.
The song is very cool, beautifully played and your voice suits the subject very well.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Fantastic Mario. With such a solid foundation in reality the song conveys genuine emotion.
I think the backing the production and your voice are great. Nice one. Cheers.

Thanx all for listening and the very nice comments, especially those about my so-called vocals.

Herb, this song only has two organic players, BobH and myself. Yes, musicians can be very strange and egotistic! Your friend deserves to be in a prison and probably for a longer time span IMHO.

Hello,

Great sound and instruments choice; great organ.

This song remind me to some Bob Seger's song or
Joe Cocker's song.

Hello.
Sergio.

Thanx Sergio!

This is simply great Mario!! There are a lot of talented musicians writing/recording, and moments of great inspiration. When talent and inspiration find themselves entwined in an ephemeral dance, magic happens. This is magic. The emotion just drips out of the vocal and performance. Wonderful effort!! Take care. Greg

What a tragic - heart rending story. I've lost two friends in the last couple of years to alcoholism.

the production non-the-less is very good.

It does hit (too) close to home.