A part of the reason why I got things done was that we were working nights for about three months, which meant before back to days, I wouldn't be able come up with songs while my folks were home. As much as they could, they did let me continue to play music and write songs before I eventually found my own place a few months later.
Anyway, the glut of songs I thought about putting together a double album but Brian Mullahan, stung by the bloatedness of 1989's Moonlight Chronicles said no, it's a single album deal with it. Therefore Drive In Blues was a long LP of sorts, perfectly crafted for the cassette hour long capability. For the most part, a lot of songs were written about a certain girl that captured my fancy, the dour Wynna Witmer, a Sarah Palin lookalike with shorter hair and a more dingbat personality. Given my track record of bad picks with women, Witmer fitted quite well and basically most of my band mates and friends didn't think a lot of her. The key term, Miss Prim And Proper was bestowed upon her. Wynna could flirt but everytime I try to get her to go out for a McDonald's burger, she said that she was seeing somebody and how dare you blah blah blah, and then turn around a hour later and start flirting again. 23 years later and looking back, it's too bad I didn't have this attitude and pretty much tell her to go live in harmony with the failed candidate for Muscatine County Sheriff Assistant but back then I was naive as hell. And it showed.
I think it showed in the songs that were written. It didn't turn out that way but Drive In Blues is a cycle album about falling in love with the wrong one and at the tail end of songs the desperation of Baby Be Mine to Gone Too Far and the end song Pretender was that this fatal attraction between me and Miss Wynna that it was doomed to fail. I jumped off the cliff and knowing damn well that I would be splattered in pieces. In fact I told Geoff Redding that if things ended badly that things would never be the same again in terms of songs and life itself, and that proven to be right.
A slight change in band members, Robbie Knowles broke his wrist snowmobiling and Ken Miller reclaimed his spot as bass player. Outside of that me and Geoff did the main guitars and vocals. Jack Orbit co wrote a few songs but didn't play on the album. While Diamonds In The Skies was a interesting and almost perfect idea of the Townedgers sound, Drive In Blues actually goes more into a pop rock direction. In fact, it was the most pop sounding album that I've done at that time. But I certainly worked more different types of music beginning with the one minute acoustic On A Bridge Not Far Enough before If You See Her (originally called Song Number One, since it was the first song slated to open up the album). If You See Her was about Wynna since she was working a different shift than I was at the time. Come to think of it, this song was written after we attended a company holiday party and she managed to cast a magic spell (or bullshit cause) having me to be really into her. I can also tell you with her conniving ways, it also led to another song written later in the album, the bitter In The Wind Tonight, to which I question myself why am I there with somebody that's either playing me for a fool or just enjoying that she's getting all this attention given to her. A shame given that she lost out to a good man but then again, I'll never know what Wynna wanted in the first place. It's a powerful song if you listen close to the words and the way it's sang, right up till the bitter line of her going home to the man that she loves. It turned out I never had a chance in the first place. The Prettiest Girl Is Also The Strangest might sum her up better than In the Wind Tonight.
Not all the songs were about Wynna. Used Car Blues, was kinda tribute Blues romp to John Lee Hooker who was still alive and kicking at that time. I wrote about my old piece of shit 1979 Ford Granada. That's Brian Mullahan tapping on the drummer's seat for the beat. Mullahan had some interesting ways to make things sound like instruments. Realitiesville is an attempt to go country and has turned out to be one of the main songs that I still play to this day.
Love Me Anytime might have had Wynna in mind but we never talked on the phone so I'm thinking this might have been from when Amy was part of my life and she would call at ungodly hours at night and not say much. In any case it's a wishful thinking of having somebody over and getting some I suppose. Another song that still gets played live.
We're Getting Nowhere (Rene): There was this girl in town that I got set up with, her name was Rene and she had a friend that was friends with Ken that thought a blind date would work wonders with me. So me and Rene went out the first time and it was awkward but we had a good time, the next time it was Rene and me only but somehow the second time around wasn't as memorable. Like this wasn't going to work anyway. She lived in one of the older houses in Marion, it looked like one of those haunted places you seen in B grade horror movies and I don't think her dad was that keen on me. A musician drummer! Still Rene was a nice girl but I think I wasn't for her and vice versa. At least we parted on friendly terms unlike Wynna.
Believe: A work song. I worked in a department full of women and of course I'm doing something to piss somebody off. But that could any department of any place. Basically a song telling my co worker to mind her fucking business and do her own work.
Get It Over With: When things go south and love dies, it dies a horrible death. For some reason leading off with No arms to hold you with, no marriage in your sights sounded pretty damn good to me. I don't think Wynna was the target on this song, nor Rene.
Holding On To Nothing perhaps sums up things quite nicely about Wynna who as you can tell was beginning to frustrate the hell out of me. Some of more interesting lines come out of this song beginning with A memory makes a poor companion. But I believe this song was supposed to be one of a few songs we were slated to do as The Wapsipinicon Dreamers, a band that Chris Dutcher was going to play a role in., He also figures in Couldn't Tell You, which was the only song credited to the Wapsi Dreamers on a comp record long ago forgotten. He does play guitar on Couldn't Tell You, but his record label forbid him to contribute anymore to the album without us paying a substantial fee. Chris and I go back to years of collecting beer cans and listening to bluegrass music on the side, by then he went to Nashville and scored a contract with Island but none of his albums ever did come out and they forbid him to play in any bands till his contract went up in 1995. By then we pretty much went different directions with our music.
I Keep A Close Watch, the lyrics date from the 1985 years to which we didn't put the music together till 1992. I think I was going for a John Mellencamp sound although the riffs were more AC/DC. Fun fact: that's the old K Mart amp you hear in the forefront. And it still works fairly well 45 years later. They just don't make them like that anymore. At least not in the USA.
Baby Be Mine, was done differently, the guitar was plugged through the Four track itself giving it a new wave type of sound. Janice Ferguson, later Mrs. Redding was part of a local band called Scanner before changing over to a more acceptable The Night Flowers, and that's her deep in the backing vocals department. It's a little fun pop song, although Richard Dennanbaugh did record the drums, he forgot to switch the other open channel so it turned out more one dimensional. Despite the mess up, the drums actually came through sounding very well.
Basically Gone Too Far and Pretender are the dire end of my tenure with Wynna, the former song clugs away at 6 minutes plus, it's me telling Wynna to shit or get off the pot with us being together. Pretender is a one take, made up on the spot suggested by Brian Mullahan to capture the feeling and the moment and while it's very ragged and loose, I actually have played it live a couple times. Pretender is admitting defeat on a love affair that never did ever gotten too far.
The record got done, Wynna returned back to her boyfriend, married him and ended up having a child a year later. I pretty much sunk into a deep depression of being played once again. Last time I saw Wynna, was when I went across the street for a pepsi and something other and she managed to corner me at the station while driving into town and telling me about her amazing life style. And I could have cared less. Thanks to Google and the internet, she works as a Building aide at a Muscatine School, and her hubby is a deputy assistant. In the end, she did marry her soulmate and that's all that matters. I wish her well.
But to be the odd man out once again in love, Drive In Blues is a study of human emotions, the infatuation of being with somebody, the fun of doing things together and of course the frustration and anger of knowing it wasn't to be and the continual mind games. I do wished that the former Miss Whitmer would have heard Drive In Blues just to hear what I wanted to tell her, that somehow would have fallen on her deaf ears anyway.
But in the Townedgers' catalog, Drive In Blues does a fine job to hide the emotional frustrations through the music and lyrics and I believe it's a strong followup to Diamonds In The Skies. The leftover tracks were compiled later for an album called The Art Deco Sessions, and perhaps adds more to the story than the final tracks that did make it to Drive In Blues. The songs were good enough to be placed on later albums.
Certainly by now, I had became a expert on failed love through the 90s and I can credit Melissa and Wynna for being the catalysts to touch my inner soul to come up with these songs. But it's a good thing they're not around. I would have had that heart attack years ago after flipping out over them.
The songs:
On A Bridge Not Far Enough (R.Smith) 1:00
If You See Her (Smith/Redding) 4:14
Used Car Blues (Smith/Redding/Miller/Mullahan) 3:23
Realitiesville (Smith/Miller) 3:50
Love Me Anytime (Smith/Redding) 3:55
We're Getting Nowhere (Renae) (R.Smith) 4:44
Believe (R.Smith) 4:30
In The Wind Tonight (Smith/Redding) 4:30
Get It Over With (Smith/Miller) 2:45
The Prettiest Girl (Is The Strangest) (R.Smith) 2:33
Holding On To Nothing (R.Smith) 3:55
I Keep A Close Watch (Smith/Miller) 3:35
Couldn't Tell You (R.Smith) 2:30
Baby Be Mine (Smith/Redding/Ferguson) 3:32
Gone Too Far (R.Smith) 6:06
Pretender (Smith/Mullahan) 5:10
Lyrics by Rodney Smith, Music by those credited (C) 1992 Townedger Music Emporium
Recorded at Maier Studios, Marion Iowa between Feb-May 1992
Recorded by Richard Dennanbaugh
Assisted by Hugh McConnell and Miles Delancey
Band: Rodney Smith, Geoff Redding, Ken Miller
Chris Dutcher: Acoustic 12 string on Couldn't Tell You
Janice Ferguson: Backing vocals on Baby Be Mine
Brian Mullahan: Drum throne on Used Car Blues, percussion
Troy Paiva: photography
Special Thanks to: Mike Davenport, Jerry Scott, Our parents for putting up with the noise, Merrill Birchmeier and Skip Lowe at West Music Coralville, James Kibler (I'm guessing the guy from Rock N Bach and sometimes I see at the SW side Goodwill in town), Bruce Stanley (the other Relic), Neil Delanie, Alison Melevelan, and GOD.
This record wouldn't been possible for Gregory Lee Nutter for getting me back into the groove again.
Contrary to rumour, I'm not in love.
This record is dedicated to Wynna Draper. To which I hope she can choke on it.
Produced by Rodney Smith and Brian Mullahan
Issued as Maier Records MRK 24579, Released In June 1992
More Notes:
Love Me Anytime and Baby Be Mine are our attempts to go Top Forty (of course it failed)
Used Car Blues is dedicated for John Lee Hooker (the boogie one)
Couldn't Tell You is an attempt to go country (and failed too)
The Prettiest Girl is also the strangest is dedicated to Wynna Whitmer.
If You See Her, Pretender and Get It Over With suggest otherwise.
Recording Notes:
Drive In Blues begin under the working title of Blue Highway but was changed to Drive In Blues after seeing a show about the demise of the Drive In on I think it was the USA Network.
Amazingly, we did take notes of sessions that were Drive In Blues. There were 15 different sessions of songs recorded for Drive In Blues, the earliest started on February 17, 1992 and the final guitar sessions ended on April 27, 1992, Drum tracks were done on April 28-30, 1992. Richard Dennanbaugh recording the drum tracks, Hugh McConnell helping out.
Records do not indicate when On A Bridge Not Far Enough was recorded, my guess it was recorded on April 30, 1992, Hugh McConnell recording that. But we do know when what songs were recorded and what session. As follows:
If You See Her (Session six, April 13, 1992)
Used Car Blues (Session 6, 4/13/92)
Realitesville (Session 7, 4/14/92)
Love Me Anytime (Session 8, 4/17/92)
We're Getting Nowhere (Session 9, 4/18/92)
Believe (Session 10, 4/20/92)
In The Wind Tonight (Session 10, 4/20/92)
Get It Over With (Session 5, 4/2/92)
The Prettiest Girl (Session 3, 3/12/92)
Holding On To Nothing (Session 3, 3/12/92)
I Keep A Close Watch (Session 9, 4/17/92)
Couldn't Tell You (Session 13, 4/27/92)
Baby Be Mine (Session 13, 4/27/92)
Gone Too Far (Session 2, 2/29/92)
Pretender (Session 11, 4/21/92)
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