Thoughts From The Townedger-Diamonds In The Skies

With no gigs coming up, I thought I make myself known that I'm still alive and surviving.

https://archive.org/details/jamendo-080685

My 1991 album Diamonds In The Skies is still up and available as a crappy sounding free download.  This was the album that got me out of my first retirement.   27 years ago, my drums were gathering dust and I wasn't playing at all, simply put I wasn't interested in playing hair metal or classic rock and thought that being original was the way to go.  Upon my rustiness on drums, Greg Nutter asked me to help out his band and I did that.  We recorded a sloppy covers album that Maier Records sat on but it did inspired me to write again.  The inspiration became Diamonds In The Skies, with Geoff Redding helping out on guitar.  A bass player was credited (Robert Knowles) but it was basically me and Geoff, mostly me.

So I rediscovered the album and Julie gave me her two cents worth. Not much variation between Getting To This and Back To Marion and I'm pointing out my observations on the subject.  Both songs were jams and both songs were being making up as we went along.  It really was flying by the seat of my pants and no idea of where the songs would lead up.  A far cry from today where we go over the songs and polish them up before recording today.  Julie laughed and said that she should do that to her songs of the past, like some ole  rock legend such as me. I told her to have at it.  I may not have her vocals nor having hall of famers in her bands but I think I can listen to my old albums and be proud of what I did.  If they still sound good, play em.  Thus ends another episode of The Thompsons,

Back then,  I wasn't playing anywhere.  I look at this album as a hobby, and even as this is available to download or listen to, I make no money off this.  I'm sure there might be some band out there that might be playing it.  In my music career, I had to fight to get these songs recorded, many takes and do overs just for the sake of getting it sound worth hearing. And even in later years, I'm still taking notes on how to make the songs sound better.  So my songs are not Hotel California or For What Its Worth but they do have meaning at that place and time.

If making DIY albums for 35 years makes me a rock legend, so be it but only in my mind.  Dennis Lancaster was right, this was a hobby and nothing more.  But it was a attempt to put out original songs and doing things my own way.  But everybody is a rock legend in their own mind when they were putting together their own basement and bedroom tapes.  The music would have never gotten me a record deal, if it did, it would have made a beeline to the cut outs and the dollar section of many others who tried and failed.  I love the dollar section and get to listen to those forgotten artists.  And of course the local artists.  The Meekats' CDs can be found there, that's how I discovered Kyle and Brook Hoover or Sarah Cram.  I know if Diamonds was issued there would be multiple copies in the cut outs or dollar section.

To dismiss an album with no thought or variation with listening to the whole thing is speculation. There are surprises in store if your attention span is more than 10 seconds.   Getting To This was a song expressing my hatred of the morning rush hour, The Road You're On an uplifting note of wishing the best to people.  Jayne, another song about a failed relationship to the riff of Martin Briley's Salt In My Tears, to which he got writing credit for.  Still Strangers a song about breaking up with somebody on a love that didn't come through,  Sweet Melissa, a song about the stripper from Denver that I dated and saw on her last time through town.  When The Day Is Done, a love song.  Being There, written as an response to Greg thinking I had a better life than he did (he might have been right).  Oh Momma, a tongue in cheek about my mom crashing a recording session,  One In A Million Girl about a girl in a class I had that she had a crush on me, only to be crushed to death when I didn't go over and say hi to her when I saw her at Kitty's at a gig and thinking I would see her again. Victim Or The Crime about my encounter with the Marion PD on a Sunday Night walk alone around town.   Back To Marion a song about wanting to go home and Many Happy Endings was a song about turning down a married woman on a one night proposal.   No thought or variation?  Think again.

Diamonds In The Skies begins with a song here and there and sessions are recorded.  Brian Mullahan co produced, Richard Dennanbaugh recorded it and I filled in the blanks as needed.  Broken guitar strings, broken drum sticks, countless takes and countless swear words and sweat were there.  It's to the discretion to the listener of what he or she thinks of it;  not everybody is going to like it but you hope like hell that it won't be ridiculed or looked at the same way as Vanilla Ice, Poison, or Florida Georgia Line.  It took about six weeks to commit this to tape.

The drums used were the Yamaha stage set, the cymbals were Zildjian but at the time I was into power crashes.  I used a 16 inch Impulse Crash and a 18 inch Impulse China Boy and a 20 inch Impulse Ride, to along with the 18 inch Z Power Crash and 16 inch Rock Crash which was a mainstay of my cymbal lineup.  I used an 1988 Fender Telecaster made in Japan and a Yamaha acoustic guitar.

Upon my disagreements with certain folks about the songs having little variation, Diamonds In The Skies ushered in a new era of music for  myself. Somehow I found the vibe to continue to make music and albums.  It's a shame I didn't commit more to practicing and perfecting the songs, but at that time I had little desire to play in other bands or to suffer through another hapless version of Free Bird or At The Hop.   I don't think I ever had as many ballads as I did on any other album than Diamonds In The Skies.

But it does sound better on analog tape than compressed MP3 files though.


Sunday Funday Jam with Terry McDowell and the Two B's At Rumors

Songs:

Willin
Summertime Blues
I Drink Alone
Beast Of Burden
Betty Lou's Getting Out Tonight
Fat Bottom Girls
Blue On Black
Wagon Wheel (Gag)
Turn The Page

Billy Bourbon-Lead Vocals, Guitar
Randy Burghoff-Bass
Me-Drums

There's a couple other songs that escape my mind but I did play a good half hour.  Billy did a countrified version of Fat Bottom Girls and Beast Of Burden, but after the constant pounding of Herm Sarduay earlier, it's best to have a drummer swing and play without the showing off.

A very small crowd and not a lot of jammers, 81 year old Tim Fairchild joined up to do a medley of Chuck Berry songs and a novelty about chickens.  Dan Hartman joined later.  Randy Faulkner played drums for them.  He has a light touch when he plays drums, that I actually borrowed his style when I play.  It's very light and very tight and not much showing off.  

Upon arrival, Brenda and Jean were up there, we got the usual hugs and miss yous, but when I got there I was quite sweaty from walking around New Bo.  Jean says that she's now dating Randy.  They do make a good couple.

Steve Black Wolf went to the open mic in Stone City, and Glen Gardner went to Starved  Rock for jams and trail hiking.

Shelley Foley went fishing.

Since you asked,  this is Isabella Marks  (she called herself Rosselini after the actress) to which 20 years ago I managed to spend time with and seen the good and the looney side.   She was fascinating when we got together in July of that year.  What impressed me was that she had a cd collection that could rival mine and I managed to find her the Ray Manzerek Carmen Burita album on CD.   She was a great lover in that short of time.  Next time in October, something happened and she wasn't much fun to be with.  Being a Gemini and that double personality came into view and it turned into one of the longest week.  When she lost her meds at a pizza joint, I had enough and took her home and spent the rest of the Spokane trip hanging at Hastings.  Came home to have her telling the social media outlet we both were in, that I left her for somebody new.  To which I promptly set her straight  (it would be 8 years before I dated again) and bid her goodbye as she went back to her better half.  She may be still working the Spokane Theater and acting circuit.  Not to be confused with the real Isabella Rosselini.