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Melodies and Memories

It’s been several years since we’ve produced a western swing song. We encouraged Peter to put on a cowboy hat and join in And he was game…and we are glad he was. Also I (Bud) talked Janice into a bit of whistling which she does around the house…a lot!

We both played some western swing in our bands and more often with Randy Howard as a trio. Randy could play anything from gypsy jazz to bluegrass to rock to western swing and more (he was featured on several grammy nominated albums). Randy passed away 20 years ago this summer and we had him in mind and heart when we wrote this tune as he would love to have played on it. RIP, good friend, and we hope we did the genre a bit of justice!

For those not familiar with western swing there are several mentions in the song of some of the great artists who played or often played it...The Texas Playboys, Asleep At The Wheel and Merle Haggard. The bluebonnets in the SC photo are a shoutout to Texas where it all started.

Thanks for listening and for commenting if inclined!

“It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!”

The techie stuff:

Janice: Lead vocal, harmony vocal, whistling, melody and arrangement
Rodes NT1 mic > Scarlett USB > Logic Pro > Nectar 2

Peter: Guitar solos, fills and arrangement

Bud: Lyric, arrangement, mix and mastering

Drums: RD NashvilleSwing8^5-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat / Waves CLA Drums

Bass: RT 1390 Acoustic, Jazz BeBop Sw 190 (Very Simple) Plays 2’s on the verses/solos and walks on the chorus / Waves Bass Rider / Neutron 2

Piano Rhythm: MST Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBentNoteJohn Sw 165 / Grand Steinway Logic Pro X sound / Neutron 2 / 140 EMT Reverb sim

Piano Solo: MST Acoustic, Soloist WesternSwingJohn Sw 165 / Grand Steinway Logic Pro X sound / Neutron 2 / 140 EMT Reverb sim

Guitar Rhythm 1: RT 812 Electric, Rhythm Western Swing Sw 165

Guitar Rhythm 2: RT 1128 Electric, Rhythm WesternSwingWarmA-B Sw 165

Fiddle Rhythm: RT 1114 Countryswingmelodic / Waves CLA Unplugged

Fiddle Solo: RT 871: WesternSwingAndy Sw 165 // Waves CLA Unplugged

Mastering: Ozone 8 adv > Ozone Tonal Balance

Melodies and Memories
© 2019 B. Merritt, J. Merritt & P. Fulham

Verse 1
me ‘n the band keep that bus between the lines
snowcaps to bluebonnets I love all the sights
small or big crowd just tell us where ‘n when
give me my guitar and turn on those foot lights

Chorus
melodies and memories keep my spirit alive
they’re my traveling companions from town to town
wouldn’t trade them for a gold one on the wall
I may be up or down but they are always around

turnaround

Verse 2
We turn on good music ‘n watch the miles go by
from all night radio ’n on to streaming
I ain’t asleep at the wheel, can’t be a texas playboy
but I love it when that western swing’s a playing

Chorus

solo

Verse 3
I’ve met a few good men along the journey
but none could help me stay around for long
guess I’ve got a touch of Merle’s white line fever
more miles more gigs just keep playing our songs

Chorus

Outro

Excellent!

A copy and paste from my soundcloud review:

Nice one guys and gal! Nice lyrics, Bud, and pro job on the mix as always. And Janice sounds great as usual. Love the whistling! Great idea to do that. And trading whistling licks with Peters guitar licks at the end was fun. BTW, Peter is doing a decent job with the country licks too!

Good song, enjoyed!

Well done Janice & bud! Excellent progressions as usual and really dig the use of plugins. Great use of processing to make it just slightly more crispy. How do you like Neutron 2?

Hey Dave. Glad you liked the arrangement and whistling

This is just AWESOME! My new favorite of yours. Love everything about it.

Very clever nods to so many greats. Your arrangement is one of the best I've heard here. Masterful placement of instruments. Trading licks among RealTracks, Peter's Guitar, and Janice's whistling gives it a really nice "down-home" feeling. That down home feeling is what really makes Western Swing work.

Great job! Keep em coming! I think you should do more of these.

Steve

Top notch...
I love western swing...
The only thing missing was a "yee-haw" & I supplied that ...
All of you have done your usual great jobs...
And have set a goal for the rest of us to strive for!

Thanks Joe. We appreciate you listening and commenting. I've been pleased with Neutron 2 but lately I tend to lean a wee bit more toward Waves CLA Series.

J&B

Strong start on the violin. The lyrics hook in the story, not much wait for the chorus. All good!

Great mix, excellent singing and harmonies. Of course, the instrumentals are perfect.

Not gonna lie, I wish there were more rhymes, 'cause I'm a lazy listener. So I've got to take points off for note rhyming streaming with dreaming, but I'll add back bonus points for the whistling.

Altogether, a pleasant listen to a genre I don't hear enough of.

A great fun listen. Love the solo tradoffs--midi based fiddle and piano, organically based whistlin' and guitar pickin'. Very good road song with a happy and nostalgic vibe. Janice shows off her range here, and it's all good to me.

Just love that swing. Congrats to all involved.
Great tune and great lyrics. Rob

The swing is the thing.
Well done all concerned.
Toe tappin' terrific.

Steve, knowing your familiarity with the genre really makes your very nice comments meaningful to us. And extra thanks for mentioning the placement of the instruments as we did give that a lot of thought! Thanks so much!!!

J&B

PS Your thoughts on eg settings for bass are golden.

Thanks Jim! I came close to asking Janice to do a Bob Wills “ah ha” after the fiddle solo

J&B

Excellent work all, as per usual. Janice not only sings like an angel, she whistles like a bird!
Love that Western swing (the first time I heard Bob Wills say 'take it away, Leon' I was hooked).
I think I might encourage Peter to don the cowboy hat a little more often.

Leon

Janice & Bud + Peter,
Colorful and fun! Probably out of all Western styles, swing is my favorite. Excellent in all respects. From arrangement to mastering, solid A! I am sure your friend Randy would smile.
Whistling was a very cool touch! Not to give Bud any ideas, but makes me wonder if Janice can do yodeling?

P.S. This tune reminded of my all time favorite swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

Swingin' PB&J!

Everything about this is Top-Notch.

A solid write. Cool references throughout.

The instrumentation is, needless to say (say it anyway) impeccable. The mix is mind-boggling good. EVERYTHING crisp. clear. cohesive. Man! that bass sounds good! Man! those drums sound goood, Man! that piano sounds gooood...well...etc.etc.etc. Peter's guitar fits in nicely.

Needless to say (say it anyway)...Gorgeous vocals. AND harmonies.

And, now....whistlin', too? Ain't you the Queen Of Enough Things Already?

A GREAT listen. Period.

fj


OH! and almost forgot!!...It seems this is SO good you dragged LEON out of the woodwork!! Could it be? Worth the price of admisssion....

Thanks! And extra thanks for adding those bonus points in

Glad you like the genre also.

We appreciate your comments as always.

J&B

Janice & Bud,
You`all sound so happily comfortable - writer,vocalist,the whole band...and of course the whistler.
This sounds darn close to those festival videos of you guys playing in your gigging days.With Peter fitting in perfectly.
The Bluebonnets would work for a band name?
Great toe tapping revival.

Robert

If it’s good to you then we are happy! Thank you.

J&B

Thanks for all the positive comments to date. It was an interesting learning experience playing on this one. Janice seems to be able to effortlessly pull off any genre she sets her mind (and talent) to, and how about that whistling!

Bud sent me some amazing stuff they did with Randy Howard - truly world class (and humbling) playing.


Peter