2005 was a new chapter in The Townedgers Music History, or yours truly. I ended up buying a new Guild Acoustic guitar from Bruce Stanley at Segal's Pawn Shop for about 400 dollars and it turned out that I have used that guitar more than the Yamaha acoustic that was the main go to guitar for acoustic songs. I also ended up selling my Yamaha drums to my best friend's son Matt who played them for a while and decided that this wasn't the way to go in life. I ended up blowing about 4500 dollars on a new DW set. All maple shells. The four track that I have been using died, so another 250 dollars was blown for a Made In China portastudio.
Originally the sessions started out in August of 2005 under the working title Mixed Blessings and done with Colin Richardson at a Ames studio on a couple weekends but I wasn't too impressed with the results and only Nevada Streets was saved for inclusion on A Long Time Forgotten. Another song Rolling And Tumblin was issued as a single only. I have no idea why I didn't include it on LTF. Perhaps it didn't fit the format although it would have been a decent album opener.
I struck up with a conversation of a dude at the pawnshop named Rhett Morrison, a twenty something that had his eye on music production. Rhett and Martin manned the recording. While I listed Jack Orbit and Mark McClelland as the other participants, it was basically myself doing all of the guitars and drums. McClelland would leave after a disagreement about band direction. Martin Daniels and Geoff Redding helped with backing vocals. The main recording of LTF was done during Thanksgiving weekend and ended two weeks later. Drums were added on December 8 and on the 9th. With a new four track it was hard to get the right drum sound and it shows on Jeanette 30 Years Later, A remake of the song originally done in 1990 on Nice Weather We're Having. Desolation Angels, another remake from 1992 Drive In Blues sessions was also tacked on. While I didn't care much for remakes, it seems that when I did revisit a past song that the new versions were a lot better the 2nd time around. Three songs from Mixed Blessings were redone and I think all three were a lot better as acoustic songs rather than the electric songs. Please Don't Leave Me was picked as a single and did so so on the local college radio station and some net radio stations as well. Man Out Of Time, originally known as Elizabeth Greene, was written about a co worker that I had a crush on but of course she had a boyfriend, so much for that. The electric version was done as a slow brooding grunge number but the acoustic version was stripped down and more to the point.
Everyone's Agreed was a cover of the Stealer's Wheel song and done with a strange effect sound. While the loud drums seemed like a good idea at the time hearing it now really is distorted and in need of a mix. When Gareth Cullers mixed it, he took out all the bottom of the guitars and added more treble. The only time I liked the big drum sound was on To Understand The Sun. It's been noted that when I hear the playback on the mix, that there's an extra sound at the end of it. I've heard that our house might have spirits and that a odd vocal can be heard or a odd sound. But rest assured we have friendly ghosts around here.
Diggy Kat, my good friend and music colleague has always said that A Long Time Forgotten is his favorite Townedgers album ever, at least from him. I think it's a good record but some of the songs I have problems with. Easier Said Than Done was a anti Bush/Cheney protest number about the forthcoming of Wal Marts taking over (in fact they were building two Wal Marts in this area) and the flood of Made In China crap but it should have been done better or had better lyrics. Teen Dream Nightmare, is another oddball song that Geoff Redding wrote the lyrics in the style of Pictures Of Lily by The Who or Girl In A Magazine by The Brains. But not as memorable as either one.
Despite that the best songs was A Touch Of Gray which was about turning fifty and seeing our hair going south and expanding elsewhere and our body and mind winding down. I wouldn't say it's a song about death but a song of seeing ourselves no longer young and the things I used to do I can't do anymore. Which is also suggested in The Things I Used To Do, which was yet another song about missing a chance to find the girl to settle down with. Which begs the question who was the one that got away. The answer may surprise you. There was a girl that I had in Public Relations class at a junior college who had her eye on me and I never thought much about it, till I saw her with a friend at a bar one night and she smiled at me for a while. But I smiled but never made an effort to do anything about it, till she got frustrated and walked out with her friend almost in tears. I remember she said that he wouldn't do anything about it. Well, next day I decided to see if I could find her at the college and hopefully get a second chance. To which I never saw her again after that.
I also enjoyed One From The Heart, which may have been another rewrite of Things I Used To Do. But the last verse instead of hoping for another chance with the one that got away, basically life has turned me this way and that perhaps I wasn't cut out for an relationship with anybody. Or in other words, be careful what you wish for.
Troy Paiva's colorful night photography was perfect for the album cover, whereas the inner Cd book had a picture of some old drive in speakers at an abandoned drive in. The album was issued in January of 2006.
I didn't intend for the album to be mostly acoustic, but I figured it was much more easier to record than the mess that was Mixed Blessings and only Nevada Streets was good enough the make the final cut. But strangely, I would start to do more songs with acoustic guitar for later albums, namely The Townedgers Christmas Album which was done a couple weeks later but issued in 2006 since it was too late to put a Chrsitmas album at that time. So I guess you can say that A Long Time Forgotten is The Townedgers' Unplugged. And for better or worse it would be a start of a new era.
Songs:
Everyone's Agreed (G.Raffery/J.Egan) 2:50
Jeanette 30 Years Later 4:30
The Things That I Used To Know 3:38
Love Me Like You Used To 2:45
Touch Of Gray 4:40
Lateness Of The Hour 3:52
Desperation Angels 3:40
Nevada Streets 5:10
Please Don't Leave Me 3:33
One From The Heart 3:14
Easier Said Than Done 4:41
Teen Dream Nightmare 3:00
To Understand The Sun 5:35
Man Out Of Time 3:20
Songs written by R.Smith
Recorded 11-25 through 12-9 2005 Lake Wandu Studios aka The Hoarder House Springville IA
Recorded by Martin Daniels, Gareth Cullers and R. Smith
Produced by Rodney Smith with Rhett Morrison
Nevada Streets Recorded Aug 2004, Produced by Rodney Smith and Colin Richardson
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