A song I wrote with Danny "Bear" Mayo


Written to pitch to the crop of sassy-girl-singers at the time.
The publishers (UMG and Polygram) pitched it well (late 90's), but no takers.
So it goes.

I decided to do a "BIAB version".
I needed a sassy girl singer for the new version.
Needless to say... I asked Janice if she would help me out.
She came through with flying colors.

The BAND:
Style is _SWAGGER.STY (Swagger Organ Country Rock)
RealTracks in style: 1174:Bass, Electric, PopCalypso Ev 100
RealTracks in style: 2764:Organ, Rhythm CountryBluesRockMike Ev 110
RealTracks in style: 2635:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBluesRockHigh Ev 110
RealTracks in style: 2625:Guitar, Baritone Electric, Rhythm BluesBoogieBassAndLicks Ev 100
RealTracks in song: 848:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryRockRiff Ev 120 (A:sync)
RealTracks in song: 1718:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm TexasBluesRockStraightBrent Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 2689:Guitar, Electric, Soloist RockBrentSimple Ev 120 (Simple)
RealTracks in song: 3521:Guitar, Electric, Soloist AmericanaGritty16thsBrent Ev16 075
RealDrums in style:PopRock8ths^01-a:Closed Hat, Snare, b:Open Hat, Snare
I added a track using NI Vintage Electric (there just weren't enough guitars )

Janice Merritt: vocals and harmonies
I dropped those into the mix with the processing Bud had added to them.
They worked perfectly.



I'LL LET YOU KNOW


i was flattered when you said it was love at first sight
but this ain't the first time i've heard those lines
before i take your hand and run for the covers
we're gonna take some time to get to know each other
that same old goodbye kiss is all you're getting tonight

      i'll let you know when i'm ready
      i won't put up a fight
      cause love worth loving
      is worth loving right
      we're not rushing to a fire
      we're not running a race
      i'll let you know when i'm ready
      to pick up the pace
      this heart of mine likes to take it slow
      so ease up baby and
      i'll let you know

i don't want you to assume too much
but the roses and the cards are a real nice touch
you're on the right track, you've got your foot in the door
everyday you impress me a little bit more
i'm beginning to feel this feeling you're feeling is love

    i'll let you know when i'm ready...
 
 
 Janice - ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou
 
 
 Have at it.
 Comments of any kind.
 Thanks for listening.
 
 fj

Hi Floyd,

Good country rocker - I'm surprised no takers in Nashville - maybe give it another whirl.

Best Regards
Nigel

Danny went on early.
This does kick along really well - cool song and yes THANKS Janice.
No accounting for an accountant's taste.

I listened to a fair bit of country rock music back in the late 90's and this is a good as any of them and better than many.

Great mix, lots of instrumentation going on but no mud, I can hear everything clearly.

Janice sounds fabulous, no surprise there! Love the little vamp right at the end

Good one, enjoyed!

Excellent. Yeow, I see Danny died on his 49th birthday. This is a terrific song, Floyd, and you finally pitched it to the right sassy gal. The mix is that high standard you bring to everything you do. Love the lyrics, especially the chorus. I'd also like to add a couple ThankYouThankYou, Janices.

Well done. Great mix with all those guitar tracks.

A well-written song that could have been a hit if the right person listened.

And Janice continues to amaze me. Loved the layering of vocals on the chorus.

If ever a country song had swagger and pluck it's this.
Great lyrics
Great vocals
Great mix

Thanks for the vocal comment Ray. It was fun revisiting the country music world. It’s been quite a while!

Janice

If I hadn’t have read the song description I would have thought this was Patty Loveless singing a number 1 from the 90’s. Killer groove, great choice of real tracks, clean clear mix per usual and a damn good vocal all add up to to another winner in a long list of winners. You and Danny must have had a good run. I remember hearing some others. I’m pretty sure that some of us that have followed you for years are amazed that some of your songs never got cut. Thankfully we didn’t miss out hearing them. The same should be said about Janice. She’s a star! Happy Thanksgiving to you and Deb and to Janice and Bud, Tom

Thanks for mentioning my vocal Dave! And, yes, it is amazing the clarity floyd gets from his mixes and the way he uses multiple guitar RT's, etc.

Janice

Hi, Floyd and Janice !


Well, I´m awestruck, this was just so good !
Wonderful in everyway !


Cheers
Dani

I don't listen to country rock that often, so of course I'm not an expert, but if you had told me, "This is currently #1 on the US Country Charts" (or whatever those charts are called there), I would have said "of course".

Excellent arrangement and a mix where all those millions of guitars still have room to shine. Very, very well done.

But topped by Janice's vocal performance, not only because of her great voice (even I know she's good by now), but also because of the way she sings, with that slightly ironic tone in her voice.
Super

Wonderful! A production done with aplomb, expertise and not just a little sense of humour. Love the, as someone has already mentioned, slightly ironic tone in Janice's voice. And, as we all know by now, what a voice. Love it how she goes just underneath the note, at times, to create the perfect sound and the perfect harmonies for this song. The mark of a singing expert, that :-) . The writing is stellar, the arrangement spectacular. What a team. Congratulations, everyone involved!

Floyd, Janice and Bud...ditto to everything that's been said...very clever write and professional sounding production all round...Floyd, you captured the female perspective quite well and Janice you sang it so well...super effort by all!

(BTW Danny's song, 'The Keeper of the Stars' is one of my favorites of all time)

Thank you Marty! I’m glad you liked my vocal.

Janice aka Sassy Gal

floyd & Janice

Excellent work all round. Great mix, write, production and performance.

How all the guitar parts work together is very impressive.

The vocal is genre perfect and I loved the outro.

Great work.

Peter

Hi Janice and Floyd
Very cool catchy song
Taking Janice as the singer was a very good idea
Really fun to listen to
Even with guitar solo ;-)))
More of it, Floyd
Really good work
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Thank you … a lot … for the kind words!

Janice

Super clear sound,positive rollin all the way

Jona

I agree with everything that has been said!

All I can add is that I am always amazed at your professionalism on each and every song. That goes for all three of you.

A sassy little tune by a sassy 'lil' vocalist. Great groove to the song and it really sets well with with Janice on vocals.

Enjoyed this one.

Charlie

Well, this didn't get its chance on the charts, but it's Number One with a bullet on Tunemonger's ReTreaded Tracks to Watch! Janice was ace on the vocal and the production is the usual primo job. Great work, enjoyed it a lot!

A lovely rocker if you can say it like that!
I read a post from bass Thumber and i can't agree more with what he wrote: If I had to pick a song, it would be this one (or something like that).
I was expecting to hear your vocals to, Floyd. Say, somewhere in the chorusses or just in between.
But I'm not complaining, because Janices' voice is so nice to listen to. And this song fits her as that 'famous' glove.

Enjoyed it!
Hans

Ahhh! Good old country rocker.
Great mix and vocal.

Vic

That is a million dollar chorus. Sounds like hit material to me.

Janice's vocal is top-notch professional.

Another one of my top Floyd songs.

Thank you!! Swagger and pluck was what we hoped for.

Janice

Floyd and Janice,

First I had to look up what was meant by "to pitch to the crop of sassy-girl-singers".
Although I know what "sassy singers" are now, Google translate didn't make any sense as far as the Dutch translation was concerned.
So I just paid attention to the song itself.

Great rocksong!!!!
Music that makes you moving and fabulous vocals, especially in the chorus!.
Wonderful job.

Anne-Marie

Thank you!

Janice

Yeah, this sure is a sassy little number!

Sass and swagger. That is a double double shot of trouble and I like it.



So does my best friend Tater.

He said good job.

Tom, thank you very much from l'il sis! Patty Loveless is one of our favorites so the comparison brought a big ole smile to my face. Also, I couldn't agree with you more about floyd's songs and I was happy to be a part of this fine production of his.

Janice

What they said! Excellent vocal, great backing, clean mix. The tracks sound like they were custom recorded for the song.

I'm sure you could fit in at least one more guitar track!

One weird thing I noticed after listening - I couldn't remember the title of the song! I guess that fit in so naturally with the lyric that it didn't stick out when I was listening to it. I wonder if that had anything to do with people passing on the song, because it's got sass and attitude and good vibes for miles!

Thank you Dani!

Janice

Thank you very much, B.D., on behalf of our friend floyd and myself for that super review. I was happy to be a part of his song and agree with you on his production skills (we have collaborated dozens times over the last decade). Thank you also for noticing my “tongue in cheek” vocal attitude!

Janice

Thank you very much! Floyd asked me to get in my “sassy mood” for this one but I’ll have to confess to getting tickled at myself while practicing.

I grew up listening to country singers like George Jones and Loretta Lynn so I tend to “dance around” a lot in my singing and I’m glad it had a positive effect for you.

Janice


Janice

Thank you! And yes Keeper of the Stars is a fine song. I sang it years ago at a friend’s wedding.

Janice



Thanks music partner!

Janice







Thanks!

Janice



Thank you!

Janice



Thanks Charlie! It’s fun pretending to be sassy.

Janice

Thank you!

Janice

Thanks, Nigel.
Things work a lot different these days than they did 25 years ago. The days of "pitching" are pretty much gone. As are most of the writers. And a good deal of the publishers.
There is simply no money in writing (as a profession) anymore...




Thanks, ray.
Yes, Danny was too young.
(I was there the night he passed. We were to celebrate his birthday with writers-in-the-round of many of his co-writers...)

Much appreciated, Dave....




Thanks, Marty.
As I mentioned earlier, I was there the night Danny passed. We had all gathered to celebrate his birthday at the Writer's Night at the Broken Spoke Cafe (the main every-night writer's night at the time). It was "attached" to the Ramada Inn and Danny had gotten a room for the night so that he did not have to drive (Danny loved his G&T's). He never made it to cafe. A bad night. I lost a good friend.

Rock me baby. Nothing like a good old 1-4-5 rock and roll song.

Nicely done

Thanks, Fred (I tried to listen to your latest, but it was gone...)




Thanks, Steve. Appreciated...




Thanks, Tom. As I recall, we started this as "let's write something to pitch to Patty Loveless" (and others like her). Lori Morgan was a favorite, too...

Thanks, Dani...




Thanks, BD...



Thanks, James...




Thanks, Dan.
It was cool to see Danny pick up the award for Song Of The Year for "The Keeper of the Stars" at the ACMs. I wrote with Danny quite a bit and knew his writing style well - so when I hear the song I'm always thinking "oh...that's a Danny line..." (mostly the verses)

Thanks, Peter....




Thanks, Andi....




Thanks, Jona...




Thanks, Mario....

Thanks Hans!

Janice



Thank you!

Janice



I appreciate that!

Janice




Thank you!

Janice aka Sassy Girl

Thank you David. Trying to get that double shot was fun!

Janice

Hi floyd jane,

Very nice musical construction. the introduction of the well-placed guitar solo. And Janice's voice still beautiful. I appreciated.

Kindly regard
derochette
alias JaniJackflash

Wow, where have I been? I love it. I could hear Mary Chapin Carpenter singing this one all the way to the top of the country charts. Well done.

Thanks, Charlie...




Appreciated, Bob...




Thanks, Hans. I tried adding a harmony, but it sounded awful, so I asked Janice to provide that, too (and she did a great job of that, too).




Thanks, Vic...

Thanks! I tried to get that sass and attitude thing down.

Jao

Thanks, Scott...




Thanks, Anne-Marie...




Thanks, David - and Tater, too!!

Floyd,

Yes, I can definitely hear sassy singers you might have pitched to doing this one—right up their alley. But Janice does it just as well as any of them, IMHO. Terrific mix, great write. Great effort all around!

Best wishes for a Happy Holiday,

Deej

Absolutely. Thanks Herb!

Janice




Thanks! You are very kind to say that.

Janice

Thank you Ronnie!

Janice



Thanks! Playing sassy was fun.

David - It is always satisfying when someone says "The tracks sound like they were custom recorded for the song." Thanks for that!

Interesting comment about the title. Guess we just needed it to be a huge hit so that when you hear that phrase, you think of the song





Thanks, Herb.





Thanks, Derochette...




Thanks, Ronnie...




Thanks, Deej...

Janice,

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU

Floyd

Boy did you ever pick the right person to sing this! This is right down Janice's alley! I think this my favorite vocal performance of hers!

This track rocks and can't believe nobody picked this up....still could happen!

The mix can't be improved in any way IMO!

Thanks, T