I wanted to write a song about my oldest sister Julia before she lost her battle with cancer. I spent a couple of hours with her asking a lot of questions about her past to try and come up with an idea. After our conversation I realized that her happiest time in life appeared to be her teen years. This inspired me to write about her senior year in high school when she and a friend spent some time decorating the gym for their senior prom dance. I started writing the song in November 2014 and I was glad that I had finished the complete song by the end of November for Julia died the week after Christmas 2014. I have attached her senior year picture taken in 1957.

1957

Julia arrived at the gymnasium
Wearing a blue and black skirt
Smiling and laughing with Peggy Walters
Knowing all the boys will flirt

Everyone there was decorating
Soon there would be lots of romance
There was so much anticipation
For the 1957 prom dance

The night was young and everyone was leaving
Excitement was everywhere
The girls drove Love and Main street
And cruised the Varsity
With Elvis singing on the air

When they had parked and ordered
The girls then started to dream
Of all the hairdos and the dresses
The 1947 prom would bring

The night was young and everyone was leaving
Excitement was everywhere
The girls drove Love and Main street
And cruised the Varsity
With Elvis singing on the air

Although it’s Julia reminiscing
Of times that she felt were so sane
Looking back at all those memories
Helps her to ease the pain


Style - c_conway.sty conway-classic
Drums - Nashville 128 - Brian Fuller
Bass - 532 - acoustic - Byron House
Tenor Sax - 403 - motown - Jack Stafford
Guitar - 1570 - high back beat 60’s - Sandy Williams
Piano 1 - midi hq grand
Piano 2 - 895 - pop slow - Miles Black
Strings - 1543 - PopBelieve - Blair Masters


HP AMD Athlon(tm)II B28 processor with 3.4 GHz 16GB ram - Mixcraft 6 DAW with Waves Diamond effects - 32" Westinghouse flat screen monitor - Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 interface - Studio Projects B1 mic - Sony HDR 7506 and Sennheiser HD 202 headphones - 2014 BIAB.

Beautiful tribute Sonny!! You really nailed the sound of the era. Are all the BGs your son? They sound great. This is a classy production all the way around. Wonderful!! Take care. Greg

The instrumentation, sound and feel are very authentic to the time but the BGV's steal the show for me on this one. The lead vocal is right in the pocket. Seems to be a minor timing glitch just after a minute into the song. Other than that small nit, this is a good production. A great song to honor your sister.


Charlie

Excellent tune for your sister. You captured that 50's vibe, for sure. I enjoyed my listen. Well done. Yea, the bgv's are pretty cool. You worked that sax in just right.

Very nicely done Sonny. Love the BGV's, and the feel on this one.
Your sister Julia was a beautiful girl. I love old photos - they freeze time, and preserve our fondest memories.


Regards,

Bob

What a great tribute, and total capture of the period music. Really nice. Fantastic sax work.
Great work.

A very nice tribute, Sonny. Captured the era perfectly.

Those BGVs, as others have said, are incredible. We need some RealTracks that do that!

The piano is perfect. I never check the all MIDI styles - so miss things like that... had to go find that to listen to (thanks for posting that info).

Thanks for a terrific listen!

floyd

Hi Sonny,

what a nice tribute! The background vocals are
phenomenal. Who did them? The sound of that era is
very authentic.
Thanks a lot for the touching background story.
I enjoyed my listen very much.

Guenter

Hi Sonny,

Sorry to hear about your sister.
The song definitely captures that 50s feel!
Real American sounding too.
Great job!

Rob and Anne-Marie

Good one Sonny! The sax into really got my attention and the song held it throughout. Great use of that sax RT.
Wonderful vibe all round. Takes me back. Cheers.

Sonny,

A beautifully sad song, a good memory.
The sax is perfect for the song.
Daniel's vocals are perfect.
Wonderful


Alyn

Thanks Greg. All the vocals are done by my good friend Daniel Hensley. I cannot say enough about Daniel myself...he is so good.
Sonny

Charlie I appreciate your critique and yes I agree the bgv's added so much to the overall sound. I hear it in my mind and try to communicate what I want to Daniel and he always does a wonderful job of getting it just right. Thanks Charlie!
Sonny

Kevin I am glad that you enjoyed the song...that is it what it is all about. Thanks for listening and giving me your comments.
Sonny

Thanks Bob for your comment on my sister Julia...I will let the family know what you said...they will be pleased as I am.
Sonny

Thanks for dropping by and sharing your comment. I do appreciate it very much!
Sonny

Thanks Floyd for listening and giving me your thoughts. I am glad that I was able to help with the midi piano...I do not know about you, but I find it very time consuming sometimes to get just what I want searching BIAB. I will tell Daniel that he should make a user track of his BGV's (lol)...then I would not need him any more (just kidding).
Thanks Floyd!
Sonny

Hi Guenter,
Daniel Hensley did all the vocals on this song. He is a good friend of mine who has given a lot of his time to my cause.
You have really encouraged me with your comments and I am glad that you let me know.
Thanks,
Sonny

Thanks Rob and Anne-Marie for your kind words. From what I have heard so far, you guys always produce some very fine music. I look forward to hearing more from you.
Sonny

Thanks Rich...the sax was a big part of what I was trying to accomplish and in my mind it had to be just right. I am glad that you liked it.
Sonny

Thanks Alyn,
It always takes every part of the song to make it what it is and I appreciate your thoughts.
Sonny

This sounds fantastic. Good write and some fine vocals. The production is outstanding. Super mix. The sax sits perfectly. Loved everything about this. Way to go! Tom

If we could've said it any better...we would have.

What a heartfelt tribute. Thanks for sharing it.

J&B

Thanks so much Tom for the feedback for I really appreciate what you have to say. Speaking of mix, I have been working on a CD for a quartet (friends of mine) that Daniel (also friends of his) wanted to do the mix, pitches, etc. on his computer to which I was very grateful. Daniel brought over the final mix this morning for me to master so I have been quite busy but it is always good to hear from you guys.
Thanks again,
Sonny

Thanks Janice and Bud for listening and letting me know your thoughts. It is always a pleasure to have you guys take the time to listen and respond to what you heard.
Thanks,
Sonny

Sonny,

This is beautiful. What a wonderful gift to your late sister. Presents don't get any better than this. Julia must have been absolutely delighted and I bet that this song brought her a great deal of comfort to help her with her journey.

May good things come your way.
Noel

Thanks Noel,
Julia was very surprised because I had not told her what I was planning to do. I had mentioned it to others in the family and everyone was so pleased that Julia was able to hear the song. It was such a blessing to me to see her face and for her to know that all of us loved her very much. And yes you are right, it did bring her a great deal of comfort. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me.
Sonny

Nice song.
I like the sax intro and the melody of the song.

Perfect '50th style. Very enjoyable.

Sergio