This is a co-write between Marty Straub and myself. Just the two of us this time, Chris is on hiatus for the next month or two.

Winter Memories

The Band:

~2494:Piano, Acoustic, HeldChords 120
~509:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Dire Ev 120 (panned right)

Drums: EZDrummer2

Dave Bell: Vocal, Lead Guitar (strat), Rhythm Guitar (tele, panned left)
Marty Straub, aka BabuMusic: Bass Guitar

Mixed with Reaper using plugins from Waves and iZotope, Mastered with Ozone9

Winter Memories (2020, Dave Bell & Marty Straub)

Winter is a' comin'. There's a chill in the air.
You get a nice fire goin', sittin' in your favorite chair.
The birds have flown South, the leaves have gently fallen.
Colder days are early dark, my warm fireplace is callin'.

Gotta go on livin' though the end is drawing near.
Memories are flowing in the shape of happy tears.
All my life is laying bare while the bell continues ringing
Memories are rising high, my soul keeps on singing


Chorus: Winter memories are the treasures that I count.
They show success and strife.
Winter memories hold the meaning of my life.

SOLO

Fallin' back to Autumn is a colorful dream.
I can see the children playing as I look on them and beam.
Back in Summer when I met you our life was just beginning.
Earlier in Spring I felt the call for winning.

Chorus

All comments welcome! I'll upload to SoundCloud soon.

Dave & Marty,

Your openings always "grab" me. Nice combination of guitars, bass and drums. LOVE that snare sound - "leathery" - always been my favorite...

A nice write. Kind of hate the fact that I can relate so well... smile

Love the vocal, too. Fits the song to a T.

Needless to say... EVERYTHING about this is good. Top-shelf.
Super bass.
Gorgeous leads and fills.
Exquisite mix. Buttery. Silky. Warm on the ears.

A real pleasure to listen to.

fj

Good afternoon Dave,

I can only join Floyd with all he wrote on your song, vocals and guitarplay.
The way you sing gave me a JJ Gale-feeling. I'm not sure it were the vocals or the song as well.
A very nice performance where everything fits perfect (but that Floyd already wrote too)!

Abouth the lyrics; I smiled on that line "Memories are flowing in the shape of happy tears".
So nicely said,

Hans

A good topical song for this time of year Dave and Marty.
Good vocal and great guitar work (now if only I could play like that, I can only wish)

Enjoyed the listen.

Dave & Marty,
A very well written (and timely!) song with all the pro-quality production values we expect.
The vocal sounds natural and good, lead guitar work is AWESOME.
Marty seems to be bringing excellent bass, plus a new dynamic to Blue Attitude; this offshoot is a cool example.
Well done!

Robert

We trust all is good with Chris.

"All my life is laying bare while the bell continues ringing
Memories are rising high, my soul keeps on singing"

Ah yeah, the inexorable march of father time.

Your brooding vocal really captured the lyric ... well done.

And, man, Joe B came to mind immediately on the solo!

That bass is not only excellent in performance but the tone and the way it sits in the mix is outstanding.

Enjoyed it big time!

J&B

The usual top-shelf performance and production from Blue Attitude. The guitars (all of them) sound great and Marty's bass sits just right.
Stay well,
Mike

Dave & Marty

Some wonderful playing throughout by a top notch blues band.

As always enjoyed the song production and musicianship.

Excellent.

Peter

Really awesome job on the co-write. I think you guys did a excellent job. I'm not ready for winter yet myself - and there's supposed to be snow warnings in effect along the southern portion of BC. It looks like it might skip us though! Fingers crossed.

Anyways, wonderful job and thanks for sharing!

I like the way the lyrics move progressively into the past in the last stanza. Guitar work (Strat) is brilliant - somewhat reminiscent of Eric Clapton in "Layla." Everything seems to fit together nicely.

Hi floyd,

Getting a good sound from EZD2 is something I've spent a good deal of time on, so thanks for mentioning that. I think I've got the snare pretty good, kick still needs some work though.

Most of the credit for the write goes to Marty. I started things off but had no idea where to take it after the first verse, so he pretty much wrote the rest, although I rewrote a couple of his lines so that I could sing them.

Thanks!

Hahaha. Come on, man. We still gotta use that "scythe swiftly swinging" line somewhere.

Sounding great, guys, esp. love the guitar solo with the Layla quote. Outstanding work. Listened several times. GOOD lyrics!

Very much like Dire Straits "Six Blade Knife".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIIivQnIsU

Everything fits nicely, guitar and vocals ...excellent.

moto

Way to go you guys. I love the bass beat. The lead guitar is thrilling, as always. Cool lyrics and vocals. Very nice. The band is in time too.

Love this tune. Nice to hear your sing Dave. This gives a whole new dynamic to Blue Attitude. Your voice fits the song perfectly. Loved Martys bass work. Your guitar was very cool I got a Santana vibe from your tone and phrasing. Well done

Good morning Hans,

That particular line you mentioned is probably my favorite, written by Marty.

Thanks for the listen and comments!



Thanks very much!

Hi Guys,

A great song and fabulous instrumental work from you both.

Along with Ghostgum, I also noticed a nod towards "Layla"

Great lyrics, vocals and mix.

Loved the whole thing.

ROG.

Hello BlueAttitude,

Splendid composition. Your lead guitar and your playing reminds me of your influences and in particular DireStreet (I may be wrong). It's super well orchestrated and we feel that we are dealing with seasoned professional musicians. I'm really enjoyed.

Ps :Your singer has a voice that adapts to all ranges. In one of your previous compositions, I found the voice of Léonard Cohen. And I can tell you that it's a compliment.

Kindly regard

Dero13
alias
JaniJackFlash

Hi guys
Good song and great playing, as always. Enjoyed your vocal, Dave. You should do it more often.
Regards,
Leon

Yes, Marty has certainly added a new element. This song wouldn't have happened without him, he is far better at writing than I am.

Thanks, Robert!



Thanks, guys!

Chris is fine, she just has a lot on her plate at the moment with work and a couple of other things. We are hoping she will be able to join us by the end of November.

Hi, Dave & Marty !:))


Absolutely superb tune
right on the spot when
it comes to describe
the coming of winter as
we both are used to up here
in the North !

WOW !

Cheers
Dani

Dave & Marty,

that's a heckuva collaboration! Both of you did an excellent job. Who coukld not realte to the lyrics at our age? Marvellous. Great vocal, terrific work on the guitar, a perfect bass. Mix top-notch, too.

Really enjoyed the listen a lot. Thanks for sharing.

Stay safe,

Stefan

Thanks, Mike!



Thanks as always, Peter!



You guys on the west coast usually get snow before us I think. Although we could get our first snow of the season any day now unfortunately. Thanks, Ember!

Very enjoyable singing, fits with the story and the melody. Great bass and guitar playing, I like how the tone is bit lower, works well together with the male vocals. I got some Marc Knopfler vibes.

Nice progression, I was expecting a melancholy song based on the title, but this has more positive mood, even though "the end is drawing near." Ending the chorus with a minor chord and using the line "the meaning of my life" works surprisingly well. Very clever idea to go backward in the lyrics, like in the Memento movie, I haven't noticed that kind of approach before, it has a strong emotional effect (looking back at the past life).

Janne

I love Chris's stuff, but you guys do just fine on your own too!!! Great track......strong lyric, great playing......just SO easy to listen to!!! Love it guys!! Take care. Greg

Fbaulous stuff.
The I'm not excited by the drums but they do their job unobtrusively enough.
Bass is cool and REALLY consistent.
Guitar licks n kickk really well.
Vocals are well sorted for the song...personally I'd edit some of the uhs from the end of phrases but that's me - they give me the lounge singer vibe when & where ever I hear them.
Very cool tracks.

Thanks!



Great line, impossible (for me) to sing. Plus it would cause my de-esser to self destruct I think



Thanks, Bob! I always jam the solo part a few times to figure out the best approach before hitting record, and one time that little layla quote popped out. I thought it sounded cool so I decided not to change it. Plus they copped it from an Albert King song anyway, so I don't feel guilty about it.

Doesn't sound much like "Six Blade Knife" to me, but someone else mentioned a Dire Straits vibe, so there you go! I certainly listened to them a lot back in the day.

Thanks, Captain!



Thanks jpt*3!



Well, I would prefer just come up with song ideas, play guitar, and do the production work to be honest, but both Chris and Marty have been encouraging me to try doing vocals.

Thanks, Scott!

Cheers, Scott!

Really nice job on this - loved the bass on it, and though the mix was really well done. Someone else mentioned a Santana comparison, and I didn't think of it initially but totally hear it now.

Solid work here - thanks for sharing!

Great job guys love the vocal fits perfect awesome guitar work perfect sound for the song love it from the beginning excellent mix thanks for sharing Eric

Yeah, I figured the guitarists on the forum would pick up on the Layla quote They actually copped that lick from an Albert King song, but you probably already knew that.

Thanks, ROG!



Thanks, Leon!



Appreciate the listen and comments, Stefan!



I initially planned on ending the chorus with the E7#9 chord instead of the Am, that would have been the obvious thing to do, but thought the Am gave it a unique feel. Very impressed you picked up on that!

Thanks, Janne!



Well, we are having fun. But! Very much looking forward to when Chris can join us again



Yes, I should clean the vocal up. Problem is I've been spoiled working with a great vocalist, it's much more work trying to make my crappy vocal sound decent

And "I'm not excited by the drums but they do their job unobtrusively enough" is probably the nicest thing you have ever said about one of my drum tracks, LOL.

Thanks Ray, as always I really appreciate your honest and thoughtful reviews, I've learned a lot from you

Blue Attitude team,
Again, I am late for the party. Nevertheless, "lateness" gave me a chance to listen to this amazing tune several times during past week. Love it! Just good music, which is a rarity these days on popular radio (except for classical and pearls of particular genres). Dave & Marty excellent collaboration in all respects. I hope your tunes find wider audience. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Dave and Marty, I enjoyed this one! Dave, I don't ever remember hearing a vocal from you...It's excellent!! As J&B mentioned, that bass sounds really good in here! Great playing Dave and overall sound! Thanks, T

Dave and Marty,

Love the write—timely to listen to this one tonight with daylight savings falling away tonight. Here comes winter and dark for real! Nice groove on the tune, great, great lead guitar. Nothing here not to like—well done!

All my best,

Deej