SEEKING
Vocalist, Vocalist - Baritone, Vocalist - Soprano, Saxophone, Keyboard, Background Singer, Flute, Vocalist - Alto, Steel guitar, Clarinet.ABOUT
- Screen name:
- roy1068821
- Member since:
- May 16 2015
- Active within 1 month
- Level of commitment:
- Very Committed
- Years together:
- 1
- Gigs played:
- Over 100
- Tend to practice:
- 2-3 times per week
- Age:
- 73 years
MUSIC
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HOODOO MAN (Son of Perdition)
HOODOO MAN (Son of Perdition) Track number: 1 Year: 1971 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
HOODOO MAN (Son Of Perdition) --- Hoodoo root doctors claim to have 'magickal’ powers. They while engage in African folk magic while calling upon Roman Catholic saints or Biblical characters like Moses to strengthen their spells. They avoid citing the name of Jesus. During a conjuring the practitioner may use roots, herbs, crystals, animal parts, or various body fluids from the person who is the focus of the conjuring. The concept of the Hoodoo Man seems similar to the Voodoo Child of popular culture, but they are not the same. But there is one strong association: an unnatural birth (Hendrix’ Voodoo Chile says, “The night I was born I swear the moon turned a fire red”; The Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flash was 'born in a crossfire hurricane'; The Hoodoo Man says, “The night I was born blue blood ran red”; while Albert King is simply 'Born Under a Bad Sign'). The Hoodoo appears in many guises: a purveyor of the dark arts, a hyper-sensualist, abandoned and without hope, misuser of the Bible, bringer of bad luck, living under the curse of the Mark of Cain. The Hoodoo will betray you. The subtitle, ‘Son of Perdition’, refers to Judas who “went to his own place” after his betrayal of Christ, “into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”. --- Chris Childress -- Drums. Albert Vernon -- the 'Accusers' voices. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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FLIGHT OF FANTASY
FLIGHT OF FANTASY Track number: 2 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian / Gospel
FLIGHT OF FANTASY --- This song was written in the very early ‘70s as a political protest influenced by anti-war folk-rock ballads in the style of The Byrds, Barry McGuire, Buffalo Springfield, and others. It has remained essentially unchanged, the first and fourth verses have in retrospect an unintended but oddly prophetic character. Now the Twin Towers have fallen, and China threatens the world with hypersonic nuclear weapons. Who could have known? --- My brother George provided rhythm accompaniment on this song. As a young, awkward, and inexperienced teenage guitarist he invited me to join his first garage band. I was 13 years old. That single act, that simple courtesy changed everything for me. It led to a life of playing and enjoying a variety of musical genres at many levels and in numerous venues. Now, after many decades I am grateful that he joined me in this project and added his talent to this musical adventure. Chris Children -- Drums. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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COOL OF THE DAY
COOL OF THE DAY Track number: 3 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
COOL OF THE DAY --- In Orson Welles’ justly celebrated 1941 film, Citizen Kane, there is a brief scene in which the enigmatic newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s former business manager, Bernstein, is interviewed by Thompson, an investigative reporter. He seeks to solve the riddle of Kane’s deathbed utterance – ‘Rosebud’. ---- “BERNSTEIN: Anything you want to know about him…? …about the paper…? THOMPSON: We thought maybe, if we can find out what he meant by that last word…, as he was dying…. BERNSTEIN: That Rosebud? Maybe some girl? There were a lot of them back in the early days, and…. THOMPSON: Not some girl he knew casually and then remembered after fifty years, on his death bed…. BERNSTEIN: You're pretty young, Mr. …, Mr. Thompson. A fellow will remember things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on a ferry and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in…. And on it, there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on…, and she was carrying a white parasol…, and I only saw her for one second and she didn't see me at all. But I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl.” --- I was touched by the winsomeness of that story, the sadness of unrealized love, the futility of earthly longing. The image remained in my mind’s eye, just like Bernstein’s, for decades. In this song I attempted to paint a picture, to capture a similar moment in time. --- Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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TUPELO
TUPELO Track number: 4 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
TUPELO --- I had the great good fortune to land my first summer job at Marco Records, the best record store in Columbus, Ohio. My responsibilities included managing the Top 40 section and the Blues Album section. The soul and blues culture in Columbus was thriving at that time. All the best local and national players frequented the store. As a young guitarist this was my introduction to the blues. B.B. King, Albert King, T-Bone Walker, John Mayall, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Steve Cropper…. The list goes on and on. They all influenced me. But in the beginning it was B.B. King. I spent that happy summer learning his licks. His Live at the Regal album is still a personal favorite. Blues has remained a recurring interest throughout my musical life. ‘Of all the things I lose I never seem to lose the blues.’ --- Chris Childress -- Drums. Glenn Laubaugh -- B3. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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APOCALYPSE
APOCALYPSE Track number: 5 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
APOCALYPSE (A Lyrical Montage) --- This song started life in the early 70s as a political protest song. It failed to achieve that purpose. But the core of the idea stuck with me. Somewhere along the way I was told John Lennon had wanted to write a song with a single note melody, but that song idea eventually became I am the Walrus. Although the story is likely to be urban legend I loved the idea. After all, Beethoven had done it with his 7thSymphony; 2ndMovement. Lyrically I drew inspiration from many of the popular ‘end-of-the-world’ songs of the era. It was the Age of Nuclear Phobia and the Vietnam War, Kent State and the Black Panthers. In the mid-Seventies I pulled the song out of mothballs and rethought its themes, framing it in a Christian context, what I termed Pre-Evangelism, a phrase I had acquired from Francis Schaeffer. It became a staple when I performed. In preparation for this version I updated a few of the metaphors to make them timelier and more relevant. Jay Spurling and I often performed this song as an acoustic duo. I called him on a whim and asked if he still remembered the guitar solo he wrote for this song. Much to my surprise and delight he said he did. So, with very little coaxing he resurrected it and performs it here. And, again, like the old days he joined me on vocals. Chris Childress -- Drums. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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NOCTURNE (A Night Meditation On Psalm 19)
NOCTURNE (A Night Meditation On Psalm 19) Track number: 6 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian / Gospel
NOCTURNE (A Night Meditation on Psalm 19) --- To reflect the lyrics and the message of this beautiful Psalm I tried to capture a dreamy contemplative middle-of-the-night ambience in keeping with someone gazing at the stars in wonder and wondering what more there can be. The thunderclap that heralds the song represents the voice of a compassionate God calling out to a devasted world in need of his saving grace. The guitar chords portraying the ‘Music of the Spheres’ are intended to create a sense of limitlessness. The bass line represents the heart of the believer. The closing guitar solo represents ‘a voice of one calling in the wilderness’, calling humanity back to a relationship with God. --- Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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ELYSIUM (The Prodigal’s Song)
ELYSIUM (The Prodigal’s Song) Track number: 7 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
ELYSIUM (The Prodigal’s Song) --- During the ‘Year of the Plague’ I found myself in a funk. I could feel the weight of isolation. Song ideas were dark and morose. To shake off the spiritual torpor I thought back to a time in life when I was happiest. As a child I lived at a crossroads. My side of the street was the city. The other side of the street was the country. My side led continuously through neighborhoods, schools, manicured city parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, sports fields, libraries, and museums. Children were everywhere. The other side of the street led to the open pastures of a dairy farm where I fed the Guernseys crab apples through the fence. The big yellow farm dog and I became friends. There were hand-pumped wells, pumpkin patches and fruit growing wild from trees and bushes everywhere. Deeper into the woods there were streams, tadpoles, turtles, snakes, and adventure. It was everything a little outdoor boy could wish for. I would ride the little bike my cousin Skip made for me miles out into the country to my favorite fishing spot. It was where the Little and Big Darby Creeks merged. Just downstream a high train trestle crossed overhead. It was the end of the Steam Era and I got to see the big New York Central locomotives passing by thundering their approach from miles away. It was a magical time that is sadly no more. Mutatis Mutandis…. --- Jason Spurling -- Cahon and Percussion Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP), Pinellas Park, Fl, by Glenn Laubaugh.
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WATERBROOKS (A Musical Celebration of Psalm 42)
WATERBROOKS (A Musical Celebration of Psalm 42) Track number: 8 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
WATERBROOKS --- A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF PSALM 42 --- I wrote this song in the mid-‘70s. The image of a deer, the Hart of the Psalm, running through the woods, splashing through a tumbling brook attracted me. To capture that image sonically I penned the descending guitar chord motif to suggest falling / rushing water. I added a rotating speaker effect on one guitar to further emphasize the idea of swirling living waters. I often performed this as an acoustic duo. This is the first time the song has been performed with parts beyond two acoustic guitars. Chris Childress -- Drums. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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BECAUSE
BECAUSE Track number: 9 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
BECAUSE --- I wrote this song about the ineffable and persistent love of God. There was a time when I was spiritually and physically drained. My plans seemed shipwrecked. Adrift in a sea of uncertainty, I clinged desperately to a faith that seemed to be failing me. Everything around me compelled me to doubt. I was unsure of God’s purpose in my life. I felt abandoned. My prayers seemed unanswered. The sky was an iron dome. I could see no way out. And yet, despite my broken spirit, I refused to surrender to the despair. I could not deny that moment when I experienced the reality of God’s saving grace through the touch of His hand. I never truly doubted. But I was angry. I argued. Then, one day, as I thought about His Passion, I remembered that even Jesus, as He hung on the Cross, cried out with the words of the Psalmist, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Even He had felt the weight of the iron sky. This revelation was not like the revelation that blinded Paul on the Road to Damascus. It crept into my awareness. And in time, like Paul, the scales fell from my eyes. I grew to understand that in all of life’s circumstances God relieves the sufferer, consoles the mourner, strengthens the weak, enriches the poor in spirit, blesses the needy. We can be reassured that God’s love remains constant despite our own inconstancy. He is not like us. He himself says through the prophet Malachi, “I am the Lord. I change not.” And the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews assures us that, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Paul also elegantly wrote, “But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” --- Chris Childress -- Drums. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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GOD IS LOVE (In Memoriam)
GOD IS LOVE (In Memoriam) Track number: 10 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian / Gospel
GOD IS LOVE (In Memoriam) --- This is a love song to my Grandma Ada Sites. Every letter and card I remember from her closed with the words I use to close this song. The first verse is derived from an ancient Persian poem later embraced by the Medieval Church. The poem has been used in differing religious contexts due to its universality of message. Truth is Truth. The second verse is original. The guitar ‘solo’ is actually a guitar ‘duo’. Two guitars are played independently but with differing tonal characteristics, one clean and crisp, the other with 60s era ‘fuzz tone’. I tried each sound alone but was unsatisfied with the results. I also tried playing the same solo an octave lower, but it created a 12-string effect that was entirely unpleasant. When, by a happy accident at the mixing board, I blended the two tonalities together it gave me just what I was looking for. The minimalist bass line was designed to stay out of the way of the message. --- Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP), Pinellas Park, Fl, by Glenn Laubaugh.
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SUNRISE
SUNRISE Track number: 11 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
SUNRISE --- It was the summer of 1971. I was playing a 10-week gig in Boston. The motel in Cambridge where I was staying was a favorite with road musicians. There were late night party noises and strange scents everywhere. One night after the show I was restless. I found a quiet corner and began softly noodling on my guitar. As I watched out a window the sky was lightening. It was there I wrote the first draft of this song. Since that time the song has gone through a few lyrical iterations. This version is closest to what I played in the mid-70s as a young Christian. The harmonies were inspired by the vocal stylings of musicians like The Beatles, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Simon and Garfunkel. The coda at the conclusion of the song comes from an earlier time. It is actually the first song I ever wrote. It was only a fragment, a single verse. I was 15 years old and didn’t know how to take it any further. As I began this recording I struggled with many aspects I had never tried to work out. The bass line is an example. Nothing I tried worked until I imagined what Paul McCartney might play. On the bass he often travelled between the beat, the melody, and the guitars. So I did the same. The lyrics are self-evident. --- Chris Childress -- Drums. Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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AND IF I GO (A Meditation on the 14th Chapter of The Gospel of John)
AND IF I GO (A Meditation on the 14th Chapter of The Gospel of John) Track number: 12 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
AND IF I GO (A Meditation on the 14th Chapter of The Gospel of John) --- I wrote this song in the Spring of 1975 while staying in Rome. Easter was approaching. The Eternal City was filling with pilgrims anxious to enter St. Peter’s Basilica in a procession through the Holy Doors, only opened once every 25 years. The song came to me in the middle of the night as a more or less fully realized piece. Musical influences were diverse: I inverted Eric Satie’s opening chords from ‘Gymnopédie No. 1’ as the foundation upon which to build the song; the harmonic breakdown in the bridge was inspired by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Carry On’. With the exception of the third verse the lyrics are from the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John. The third verse, the Meditation, was inspired by a phrase I once heard spoken by the celebrated Christian musician, Larry Norman. He has since passed into glory. --- Mastering at Even Steven Productions, (ESP) Pinellas Park, Fl, by Glenn Laubaugh.
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REQUIEM (A Celebration of Eternal Life)
REQUIEM (A Celebration of Eternal Life) Track number: 13 Year: 2021 Album: PARADISE LOST - PARADISE REGAINED Genre: Christian Contemporary
REQUIEM (A Celebration of Eternal Life) --- These are the words of Jesus Christ: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” He further reassures us of eternity in God’s presence, “Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” These are the cautionary words of the Apostle Paul: “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable….” But he gives us this reassurance: “But now Christ is risen from the dead.” He provides a further reassurance: “We are confident, I say, and willing to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” And as Jesus prepared to leave his Disciples and face the agony of the Cross, He gave them this benediction: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may also be.” John the Revelator, exiled to the Isle of Patmos, gave these final words: “He which testifieth these things saith, ‘Surely I come quickly.’” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen --- Drums by Chris Childress (with a nod to John Bonham). Mastering at Even Steven Productions (ESP) in Pinellas Park, Fl., by Glenn Laubaugh.
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Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood Track number: 14 Year: 2020 Album: Single Genre: Acoustic
A test recording as I was learning the ins-and-outs of a new recording deck. All credits and rights belong to the original authors. This is an interpretation of their work and is available as a sample recording.
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Love Found Me
Love Found Me
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Oh Pretty Woman
Oh Pretty Woman
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Sultans of Swing
Sultans of Swing
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STILL GOT THE BLUES
STILL GOT THE BLUES
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KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
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RED HOUSE
RED HOUSE