This compilation came about after the Spanish label Hanky Panky contacted me about doing an album for their label. I was very impressed that their first two releases were by members of the Honeybus (a British group who have been a big influence on my songwriting and especially my musical arrangements). 33 was compiled and completed during 2005 (my 33rd) year and includes six new tracks. In the process of producing this compilation, I also recorded an album called From Me To You, which hopefully will be issued in 2007.
What follows is most of the liner notes included in the collection. An aside, I was surprised just how much work was involved in reviving my lost tracks like “Greener Days” and “I Don't Need It Anymore” (it literally seemed to take forever)! My arranger, Roger Neill, wrote a new score for the song “Sad And Lonely Life” and watched as we added back in the lost parts to “Dream About You.” It was an interesting process, but a strange one. I'm in more of a mood to look forward now (rather than look back). Nevertheless, 33 is 66 minutes of andrew music from December '94 to October, 2005. So, this is how my past is presented to you.
DREAM ABOUT YOU [remix]
This song was written in June 1991 about a girl I was very hung up on (I hope it isn't too obvious). When things didn't work out with her, I simply became hung up on this song. In fact, there are quite a few versions of “Dream About You” stashed in my vault (well, my garage anyway). It wasn't until I met producer and engineer Brian Kehew that any of my recorded endeavors could truly be deemed successful. His sympathetic ear and commitment over the years has been a key to my records.
“Dream About You” was issued as my first single in October of 1996. Yet, I was never able to complete the full arrangement due to some production and financial mishaps. That is, until now. The mix included here features much of my arranger Roger Neill's original score newly performed, as well as some other musical embellishments. I think I'm finally done dreaming (at least about finishing this song).
WHERE I WANT TO BE
“Where I Want To Be” is about the loyalty and friendship that I found for a brief moment in my life. This idea may be simple, even slight, but it is the small things that I have come to really savor. And, there are a lot of small things I appreciate about this song. Jim and Steve's backing vocals, Veronica's amazing harpsichord work (on an instrument hand-built by her husband, cellist Matt Cooker) and of course Roger Neill's grandiloquent interlude.
HIGH TOWER
The time I spent writing and recording my second album, Happy To Be Here, was one of the happiest periods of my life. For those of you wondering, “High Tower” is named for a street near my home. And yes, there is a high tower on High Tower. The song itself is really about the experience of driving around in my dream car: the Volvo 1800. The traffic around my house can be pretty bad, but driving towards High Tower can provide a short cut, or at least some relief. Hill Park after dark still seems lonely, but if you sing along with Tom and Don (or maybe Marty), you may find your place someday.
WHAT DO YOU SEE IN ME? [single version]
I remember recording this one cold Sunday night at Control Center (a now defunct studio strangely located behind a Korean barbershop). Actor, musician and bon vivant Robbie Rist played the drums and really brought a lot of enthusiasm to the session (that's him yelling at the beginning of the song). Robbie gigged with my band frequently around this time and made our live shows fun and fairly spontaneous (since we rarely rehearsed). Though I later remixed and remodeled this track a bit for my A Beautiful Story album, I have included the original single version here, because it just sounds good.
UNREQUITED LIFE
I grew up loving music more than anything else. Whether it be performing it, producing it or otherwise getting near to it, music has really been my only direction in life. This brings me to the point that the person I'm singing about in “Unrequited Life” is not really me. The song was actually written for my wife, who when we met was looking for her place in the world and an all-important career path. I think what I'm trying to say in “Unrequited Life” is that direction isn't always that important. Ambitions don't guarantee fulfillment, nor do they equal success.
I WISH YOU WOULD
Since I managed to exhaust my philosophy of life in the notes for the last few songs, it may be time for a word about drummer Ric Menck and bassist David Nolte. When I started recording Happy To Be Here with them, I felt I had finally found two people who really knew where I wanted to go musically. “I Wish You Would” comes from the first session for that album (and it may be the very first thing we ever taped together). I initially wrote “I Wish You Would” as a gentle folk song, but Mssr's Menck and Nolte helped make it rock. The song was later used in the background on a DVD of the show Dawson's Creek, something I am perversely proud of.
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
This track always brings to mind the ironic sacrifice of selling my 12-string guitar to pay for the session. Unencumbered by label backing, recording budgets or even a rich uncle, I've had to make a few tough choices over the years. On the other hand, there is now someone having to suffer through playing my oddly appointed Baldwin 12-string guitar. I borrowed a Rickenbacker to record “The Man Who Would Be King” and now own a beautiful one of my own. I will also add that this song was not actually inspired by the Byrds, but rather by the Muffs and the Kinks. It's not about practicality.
I CAN'T BE LONELY (WITHOUT YOU)
This was the first thing I wrote and recorded for my third album, What's It All About. The project was kind of a reaction to my previous long players, which had all taken years to put together and occasionally suffered from prolonged production. Speaking of productions (prolonged and otherwise), Probyn Gregory quickly improvised all of the horn parts on this track in between rehearsals for Brian Wilson's first Smile performance in February 2004. During the overdub session, Probyn regaled us with stories of Brian feigning stomach aches in an effort to escape rehearsals for his thirty-plus-years-in-the-making project. He told us some other stuff too, but I don't want to get sued.
FRIEND OF MINE
I remember being sick in bed, propped up with my acoustic guitar writing this song about a friend of mine named Bob. We spent a lot of time together growing up and I wish we could have shared even more time beyond that. The track itself was taped at the last session for Happy To Be Here in which Ric and I knocked out “Friend Of Mine,” “Magic Harpsichord” and “Till I Met You” in just ninety minutes. Overdubs and mixing took even longer. This is one of my all-time favorite songs.
WE'LL DREAM
One reviewer said “We'll Dream” was Bobby Fuller inspired, which I thought was great since I actually imagined it as a cross between Buddy Holly and the Troggs. I have now come to the astute conclusion that the Bobby Fuller Four were like a cross between the Troggs and Buddy Holly. So, what does that make me? Lyrically, “We'll Dream” is about the second life we all live in our subconscious minds (very heavy). Geez, now I feel like Donovan or maybe Enya.
HE CAN FLY
“He Can Fly” is about Duke Alvarez, an amazing cat who invaded my subconscious and just about every other aspect of my life. For three years, we spent nearly every day together listening to music, eating and relaxing. It was quite a time. In late 2001, I got up the nerve to ask my hero Tom Dawes (formerly of the Cyrkle) to get involved with this track. With some caution he agreed to listen to the demo and then kindly said, 'Yes.' I duly sent Tom a newly recorded twenty-four track tape of “He Can Fly” and in February it came back laden with harmonies and other Dawesome accoutrements. He said, “You wanted my sound, so I'm giving it to you.” Having two of the all-time greats - Tom and Duke - on the same tape is literally a dream come true.
ROUND GOING ROUND
Grapefruit's first LP, Around Grapefruit, was one of those albums that stayed on my record player (and car CD player) for nearly a year straight. Kristian Hoffman was responsible for gifting me a copy of the vinyl and he also helped me figure out all the chord changes on “Round Going Round” (that's him you hear on the tack piano). The guy who wrote this song, the sadly departed George Alexander, was an incredible songwriter, as well as being the brother of George Young from the Easybeats (maybe one of the five greatest groups ever). Still, there is no way in Hell I will ever be able to sing as high as Grapefruit's John Perry. All I can say is that I did my best and that you should buy a copy of Around Grapefruit (I have four already) if you want to hear some more great tunes.
MAGIC HARPSICHORD
It came to me one day, in a special sort of way… I had always wanted to own a harpsichord. In the mid-'60s Baldwin made an electric harpsichord that was used by bands like the Beatles, Left Banke and Chad & Jeremy (are they a band?). It was black and red with wheels and featured a Lucite top that revealed the strings. As you probably guessed, this song came along when I too joined the proud and few to own such a beast. Initially, “Magic Harpsichord” was to be included on the Happy To Be Here album but was replaced by “He Can Fly.” Somehow, I couldn't imagine an album with both “He Can Fly” and “Magic Harpsichord.” That is, until now.
GREENER DAYS
I first heard this song on Peter & Gordon's criminally unheralded masterpiece, Hot Cold & Custard. David Gates' “Greener Days” was also recorded by the Gants, Paris Sisters and of course Gates himself (sans his Bread buddies). The song was also the centerpiece of an incredible 1967 BBC documentary called Can She Sing, Does It Matter in which a unknown singer, Judith Powell stakes her career on this number. Without giving away the whole thing, I will tell you it was not the right song for her. In other words, it did matter.
Far from staking my career on this song, I actually erased the original master of my recording of “Greener Days.” Rescued from a rough mix, this song was resuscitated expressly for this compilation. Fun fact #1: Greener Days is also the name of my song publishing company.
TILL I MET YOU
Fun fact #2: over the last ten or more years, I've spent a great deal more money on recording sessions than I have ever made from playing or selling my music. However, my spirits have been occasionally lifted by the sporadic checks the BMI send to my Greener Days Music publishing company. One such check for “Till I Met You” was payment for some sort of radio or TV airplay in Norway. It is now with grateful thanks that I am able to honor the fine people of Norway for the wonderful and sumptuous dinner that their support of this song brought about. I only hope the inclusion here of “Till I Met You” results in another such snacktacular.
HEADING FOR A FALL
As you may have detected from the melodic turns of “Till I Met You,” the Hollies have been a major influence on my songwriting (now if only I could sing like them, or even one of them). Historically speaking, “Heading For A Fall” was actually my earliest record release as it was first included on a compilation of Hollies covers titled Sing Hollies In Reverse. Oddly enough, I snagged my spot on this release after Eggbert label owner Greg Dwinnell saw me perform a version of the Bee Gees' “Never Say Never Again” with Nick and Darian from the Wondermints. Darian went on to help engineer “Heading For A Fall,” after which Greg put out my first EP, Million Dollar Movie and album, A Beautiful Story. The Wondermints recorded their own track for Sing Hollies at this session (“You Need Love”) and their drummer, Mike D'Amico can be heard playing on “Heading For A Fall.”
I DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE
This song reflects my love of the album, A Hard Day's Night. However, I can't say I ever loved this song as much as that album. I recorded it twice, but both versions were left unfinished until now. This particular take features Tammy Glover (now in the band Sparks) who drummed in my group for about a year. Mention should also be made of my oldest friends and longtime cohorts Matt Lederman and Dave Jenkins, who are both heard on this and several other tracks on this set. Matt, Dave and I slogged it out in the clubs around Los Angeles before the Andrew operation became one of recording and not gigging. We recently reunited for something called the Andrewversary, which commemorated our fifteen years of shared obscurity.
THAT'S NOT ME [live]
One of the things I was involved in during my years of life performances was a series of charity shows that highlighted the work of various songwriters. One of these was devoted to Brian Wilson and he graced us with a remarkable performance in which he first met my friends in the Wondermints (most you know what happened next). Sometime later, we followed that show up with an evening that featured an entire performance of the Friends and Pet Sounds albums. Brian couldn't make it, but sent along a funny film instead. In his absence, such guest vocalists as Matthew Sweet, P.F. Sloan and, as you will hear here, me, took on the tunes. Fun fact #3: the original backing vocal choir that accompanied this live performance was lost in the recording process and it has been carefully recreated just for you (with a little help from my friends).
SAD AND LONELY LIFE
I used to keep an envelope in my drawer filled with mementos of what I thought was my great lost love: lipstick on a napkin, notes, things that are really rather meaningless when I look back on them now. Nick Lowe's album, The Impossible Bird, inspired me to write this sort of country song about my keepsakes. Much later, “Sad And Lonely Life” was recorded in between A Beautiful Story and Happy To Be Here, and more recently had a set of Roger Neill-arranged violins added to mix. For those who like the country sounds, be prepared for more great pedal steel from Dave Pearlman on my next album, From Me To You.
HAPPY TO BE HERE [remix]
Kristian Hoffman once commented to me that “Happy To Be Here” is a very sad song about happiness. I guess that's true of a lot of my work. On the other hand, someone else told me that it was a song that they were going to have played at their wedding. Either way, I'm happy (or sad - whichever fits the mood).
The lyrical setting is the view outside the window where my midget piano is parked. There is a tall pine tree still covering everything with sap and at the end of the day I still turn out all the lights. A lot has changed since I wrote this song, but I wouldn't trade the days I spent here with my friends. Thanks for reading all of this (and listening). Until we meet again, I've been happy to be here with you!