Album Archves: The 1985 albums

When Tyrus played their last show on December 7, 1984 that left me without a band so I started on working on a new album called Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today.  For this album, I borrowed my brother's stereo to hook up my guitar sound that you heard on Town's Edge Rock. But for the first time I started to use the Route 66 band name since Ken Miller and Jack Orbit become more viable players when I played live but in the studio it was myself doing most of the instruments.  Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today begin life on April 11, 1985 and concluded on May 1st. The reason why I rushed the album was that Mike Swearingen got me to join up with a reunion of Stone Garden a band featuring Virgil Hanson and Rick Novak. Kraig Spratt was the original drummer of this band, but he also played in some of the area's best rock bands of the 80's Rampage, Hostage to name a couple.  http://www.wildcatspratt.com/stone_garden.htm

Virgil and Mike were part of another band of a long time ago, and Rick joined up to complete this lineup but I don't think the intention was to call the new band Stone Garden.  After all, I was the newbie and not well known outside of Paraphernalia/Tyrus.  Wildcat Spratt I do believe is one of the top five drummers who roamed the area and various bands.  Certainly Mike was instrumental in getting me on to this new project and I looked forward doing something new and exciting.  Alas, the Stone Garden reunion fizzled after a month of playing together and basically I was back out on my own.  So I begin what would be the S/T album, or Rodney Smith And Route 66 in May of 1985, just two weeks after finishing up RARMMWIAT.  If the former album felted rushed, the S/T album was forced, as if I was trying to polish up some rough versions of songs.  Had I not been rushed into the Stone Garden project the former album would been the best of the bunch.   I had some great songs that I continue to do to this day, Someone Like You, Does It Matter, even Midnight Run got revisited on Forthcoming Trains and in a better version.  I did like the sound that Glen Tallible provided on RARMMWIAT and most of it holds up.  But the cassette version I threw everything in there, all the songs and some of them shouldn't been on that.  Same thing with Rodney Smith/Route 66, I had good songs but like Name And Number, the lyrics were not first rate.  The centerpiece song Desert Rain got ruined by bad backing vocals and Colden Days ends with a complete meltdown, I was trying for a John Cale sound and that didn't work.   The cassette versions of both albums are much different than the CD Version.  I took 9 of the best tracks from Rock And Roll....and 12 songs from the S/T and threw them together on a single.  I have been thinking of doing separate albums and add the best songs but a few of them are on unmarked cassette copies and I have yet to find Pull The Plug, one of the more key tracks off RAR.....

Eyes Of An Angel was written for Belinda Benford, a nice girl that I briefly dated when I was going to Kirkwood.  She was a good woman with a good heart.  It's too bad that I didn't feel the same way toward her.  

In closing, I don't think I will be satisfied with any of the albums mentioned. Both albums have their own personalities and they seem to clash even on the 2 on 1 CD.  With the completion of the S/T album, it was time for me to find a real job since being a rock star wasn't paying the bills and all showed to be a 24 year old living rent free and the parents tired of supporting my efforts.  Change would change when I finally got a real job at the old National Computer Service place, processing Pell Grants during the midnight shift, three days after getting foot surgery to remove a lump on my foot.  There would be changes in the wind, and for the better, but for now it was time for me to get into the working world and actually earn a paycheck instead of having 30 dollar payoffs playing bar band covers.  In any way, both 1985 albums, while good, remains a frustrating listen.  They should have been better than the way that they turned out.


The Album Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today

Someone Like You 2:35
Never Again 2:32
Lonely Man Blues (Smith/R.Swearingen) 3:12
I See You (Smith/R.Swearingen) 2:50
FYA  4:03
Come Off It  3:25
Song For Janice 3:35
I Wanna Love You   1:54
Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today  :35
Yuma  4:07
Lovers Without Locks 1:46

Pull The Plug 4:24
Nuclear Cowboys  5:15
Stranger Than The Truth  2:56
Taking A Chance  2:33
You Call This Love  2:19
Paint By Numbers  3:15
Computer Love (Smith/P.J.Trombley) 3:47
Asleep In The Desert  4:33
Nuclear Cowboys Reprise 1:20

Songs written by Rodney Smith, Music by Route 66 except where noted.
Recorded April 11 through May 1, 1985 Maier Studios, Marion IA
Produced and engineered by Glen Tallible
Co Produced by Rodney Smith
Released as Maier Records  MRK 24311  May 1985



Rodney Smith And Route 66 album
Songs:

Here She Comes Now  3:35
Midnight Run  3:57
Let It Down Easy  4:40
Better Days  3:18
End Of The Line  2:27
Does It Matter?  2:24
The Fire Down Below  2:30
Coming Around The Corner  2:38
Colden Days 3:24
Glasshouse  1:24

Desert Rain  6:20
Outside Of Inside  3:30
Eyes Of An Angel  3:00
I've Been Waiting For You (Smith/Orbit/Glarington) 2:57
Some New Highway 3:58
Life Gets Better 3:09
Name And Number (Smith/Orbit/Parman) 3:23
Late At Night 3:37

Songs written by Rodney Smith, Music by Route 66
Recorded May 16-June 5, 1985  Maier Studios  Marion IA
Produced by Rodney Smith for Maier Productions
Engineered by Ken Miller and Glen Tallible
Released as Maier Records  MRK-24324

Gaps in the song titles are considered the end of the cassette side.


In 1998, I compiled the best songs on both albums into a single Cd.  Fact of the matter was trying to get the right song sequence and it turned out that Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today songs were easier to compile.  The S/T songs not much so.  But in the end, this is the final song lineup.

Songs:

Someone Like You (Smith/Orbit/Miller)  2:35
Never Again (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 2:34
Nuclear Cowboys (Smith) 4:50
Stranger Than The Truth (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 3:00
Taking A Chance (Smith/Miller) 2:35
I Wanna Love You (Smith) 1:55
Yuma (Smith) 4:08
Come Off It (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 3:25
Asleep In The Desert (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 4:00
Glasshouse (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 1:25
Rock And Roll Made Me What I Am Today (Smith) :35
Some New Highway (Smith/Orbit)  4:00
The Fire Down Below (Smith)  2:35
Boogies (hamburger hell) (Smith) :50
Better Days (Smith/Orbit/Miller) 3:18
Outside Of Inside (Smith) 3:30
Eyes Of An Angel (Smith) 3:00
I've Been Waiting For You (Smith/Orbit/Glarington) 3:00
Does It Matter (Smith/Miller) 2:25
Midnight Run (Smith) 3:57
Coming Around The Corner (Smith/Miller) 2:38
Life Gets Better (Smith/Orbit) 3:05
Late At Night (Smith/Orbit) 3:38

Lyrics by Rodney Smith, Music by whoever's credited.