I had this title, and thought about it last week during a trip to California, and the death of Glenn Frey. I decided to try to write the song in the style of the Eagles. I don't have a proper BIB note, there are about a dozen guitars in the song, the only thing I played was the arpeggios on my Rickenbacker, and the tambourine and maracas. The lead solos are from Real Band,I tried to do lead myself but don't have the chops.

https://soundcloud.com/willrockwell/across-the-great-divide


Across the Great Divide - for Glenn Frey

FA#C intro

F He was a New York boy with his heart on his sleeve
A# She was a California girl that you wouldn't believe
CF When they got together on a summer night, it's all right
A# all right

F He woke up dreaming that she was there
A# the smell of colitas still in the air
C He remembered her smile, the laugh so bright
FDm the music played as they danced all night
A#CF Oh-oh it was a wonderful night

A#F She lives in Monterrey, in a townhouse down beside the bay
A#FC She left a kiss, no more than this, nothing much to say
A#FDm But in the air she can't decide, she thinks of him on that long, lonely ride
CA#CF across the great divide

FA#C

FDm He thinks to himself, what did I say
A#Gm How could I let her get away
FDmA# I was a fool, I played too cool, and she's gone
C she's gone

A#F When the flame is lit, it's hard to quit, you know you can't just blow it out
A#FC but life goes on, her smile is gone, and you're haunted by doubt
A#FDm so you think of her and stare across that lonely feeling deep inside
CA#CF across the great divide
CA#CF across the great divide

FCDmF A#CF (2)

F Sometimes love comes in a minute
A# sometimes you can't tell that you're in it
CF you never know if she's thinking about you
A#CDm you just keep hoping that it's true
A#CA# there's nothing else to do

A# you can touch and hold her, kiss and enfold her
F she's there for you if you decide
A#FDm your love is waiting, anticipating, fly to her, go on and take that ride
CA#CF across the great divide
CA#CF across the great divide
CA#CF across the great divide
CA#CF across the great divide

Nice song and good harmonies. The guitars have a Beatles "words of love" vibe that I thought was cool.
Enjoyable listen.

Excellent throughout.

Guitar break reminded me of Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love" mainly because my reference library is etched in the 50-60s. That's not a bad thing, but a fact.

Looking for your next offering.

Don

Nice! I enjoyed the listen. Great sound and mix. Your vocals are very good. I noticed that when the harmony voices came in there was a jump in volume on the voices. Good job overall.
Sonny

Excellent tune. I am hearing a Tom Petty vibe. Loved the jangly guitars.

Listening to Words of Love, I see the resemblance in the opening arpeggio, which is just a random picking across the three chords of the intro. This is the only guitar part I played, tracked twice on the Rickenbacker, the right side a string higher.
I'm afraid my nasal voice, love of 12 string guitars and background (we're both from central Florida) will give anything I do a Tom Petty feel. Could be worse.

the smell of colitas still in the air

Nice tribute line!! This is really well done in every way. I was so sad to hear about Glenn. Him and Bowie in very short succession. So sad to see the great ones go. I was about 15 years old, and heading to the beach the first time I heard Take it Easy. Always an Eagle fan since then. Nice work here!! Thanks for posting! Take care. Greg

Very cool song! I love the Rickenbacker. It really makes it. Very nice production!

Great song ! And I envy u ur voice !

"I'm afraid my nasal voice, love of 12 string guitars and background (we're both from central Florida) will give anything I do a Tom Petty feel. Could be worse."

Nothing to apologize for there...we both love Tom Petty -- just read the new biography.

I've had the Eagles in mind all week. This is a cool tribute and really captures the spirit of the 70's California feel that we love.
Enjoyed this fine production.

Nice!

J&B

You are the first to mention the colitas reference. I looked it up, colitas are "little buds". And Leo, saying you envy my voice may be the highest compliment I've ever received, thank you.

I want to put in a word for the multi-riff solo function in Real Band. I've come to rely on this feature for the fills and solos I just don't have the talent to play. First I "audition" the musicians by trying out different solo artists. When I find one I like, the multi--riff function gives me six variations at a time. If I don't like those six, I listen to six more, or however many it takes. I may keep an entire solo or select and replace parts of it. The end result is a solo track that sounds like the musician "gets" the song, and is actively contributing to it. I think this feature is my favorite part of BIB/RB, because it really sounds like a collaboration.