The Stories behind the songs and production of A Beautiful Story

This album was recorded mainly during 1998. Some of the backing tracks were older things that were overdubbed, spiffed up or remixed. It was originally to be called Even The Bravest (a reference to a Mark Wirtz song). When Sonny Bono died on my birthday it got me thinking about his song "A Beautiful Story," which is about a loner who talks to trees. To be honest, the title is really a reference to the thematic nature of the album. Most of the songs deal with one relationship I experienced. At one time I had a whole story worked out, but it has since thankfully escaped me. If I thought the songwriting and recording was in anyway traumatic, little did I know that it would take 18 months to get this sucker released! By the way, the cover was painted and drawn by Kristian Hoffman and now hangs proudly on my wall.

Title Song: A last minute addition to A Beautiful Story, the "Title Song" was written very quickly on the piano (all the other songs on the album were written on guitar). Unfortunately when we attempted to record the song (on the final day of mixing), a frame store was opening next to the studio and some builders were banging in dry wall. This hammering was, of course, not in time with the song, so we had to return to the studio very late the same night. It's pretty sloppy but it carries the theme of this semi-conceptual album: "Life could be beautiful, if you'd be mine - now."

Unrequited Life: This was written in my car driving along the 405 going North towards the 101. I finished most of the song at home and came up with the arrangement while on a tube train whizzing towards Picadilly Circus in London. So much for a song about going nowhere. The final verse was written in a record store that had signs hanging from the ceiling ("signs up all around"). The orchestral arrangement was a very collaborative process with Roger Neill, though the final verse's strings and horns were his work entirely – exquisite.

Carousel: This song was written by two friends of mine and it was recorded by their now defunct band the Seven Deadly Five on an album called the Hallmark of Flavor. I can't tell you much about their inspiration, though I feel as though they sum up most of what my album tries to say in just this one song. Production wise this thing is kind of all over the place. Many other instruments were recorded onto the backing track but not used in the final mix. I wanted to keep it really simple (but didn't really in the end), and because of the missing pieces the music falls in and out of time. This is a pretty honest record all round, if imperfect all over.

Wondering: Written about a girl who worked in a shop. I think I spent many a day visiting her work place, buying things I didn't need in effort to get to know her. The bridge is about another woman entirely who I knew much better. Originally this song was written to a different beat. A few abortive versions were recorded in the original style and tempo, but none seemed to work as well as this. Ric Menck bought us the ticket to ride to tomorrow never knows and things fell into place. I wanted to have a lot of echo on the mix like the Who's "Disguises," in the end we gave up and just settled for a lot of compression and limiting.

Dream About You: Written on my old couch (which now resides in producer Brian Kehew's apartment). The true story is that I was trying to eat a Papaya, but its stringy pulp got caught in my teeth. Frustrated, I resorted to writing a song and threw the rest of the fruit away. It was instantly my favorite song to date and I proceeded to record five different versions. This particular arrangement is like every idea in the book thrown together, which was exactly our intention! We wanted to explore the possibilities of loading down a simple melody with all kinds of crazy instruments. Luckily fate intervened in some cases. Brian Kehew erased most of the oboe by mistake and the harp player never called me back about coming to the studio. A success of excess?

Here, Hear: This was inspired by a phone call from the same character that "Dream About You" was written about. The song was recorded mostly live at the Sound Factory in Hollywood with the world famous Tchad Blake – you've heard of him? We did it on a Sunday because we could get a good deal on the studio (Richard Thompson had just finished something in the room and Sam Philips was just about to get going the next week). Hilarity ensued when an open-air farmer's market in front of the studio nearly prevented the musicians from driving their equipment in the door. No one was hurt and the track was eventually finished in the office room of my old house. Tchad Blake told me, "This song doesn't make it," but to me it kind of does.

What I Need: Another track recorded the same day as "Here, Hear" (we actually recorded six songs at that session). It was composed while watching TV. We later stripped away a number of the instruments and added acoustic guitars and a cowbell. Used to be a big number for us when Andrew was actually a live band.

What Do You See In Me?: This song was recorded behind a Korean barbershop late one Sunday night (again, cheap studio time). I liked the guitar sound so much (which is a '64 Guild Starfire 3 through a Fender amp) that I bought the amp we used from Brian Kehew. Sadly, the amp was not long for this world, as its first owner was a Keith Richards impersonator in a Rolling Stones tribute band. As I was later to find, he blew the speakers and crudely repaired them with rubber cement. Later, when I was rehearsing with Dave Davies the speakers fell apart and I traded the amp for a mammoth Guild amp which I used on the track "Wondering."

Forget You Girl: Actually the first song recorded for what I thought would be my second album. This song was going to be part of a foray into country rock (that's Dave Pearlman on pedal steel). It wound up sounding a bit more like middle period Monkees and is admittedly lyrically unfinished. When it started taking forever to get A Beautiful Story released, we finished it up quickly and added it to the track line up. The country rock angle was abandoned for the second album even before it began.

The End Of The Road: This was written while listening to a playback of the first session for A Beautiful Story. I tried to put myself in the place I was in when I wrote songs like "Goodbye Today" and "Can't Go On This Way." I quickly made myself miserable with memories. Luckily the song is short and so was the feeling.

Can't Go On This Way: Written at my old dining counter at my apartment in Santa Monica. At first I thought this was too personal to perform and record. I was convinced otherwise by Dave Jenkins and now I don't feel a thing. I wanted to do a song that was like if Gene Clark had been asked to write for the Dusty In Memphis album. A lot of despair with cellos and a harpsichord.

Goodbye Today: This was almost the kick off song to the album. In the end it just became the kiss off song. I originally wanted it to be slower and angrier (is that possible?), but this was take one and it sounded almost right. The "Auld Lang Sayne" is a reference to New Year's Eve – which is my least favorite (and least lucky) holiday. The bit at the end with the "Auld Lang Sayne" on harmonium was the last thing recorded for the album - at home in fact). It was placed into the fade during mastering.

Please Remember Me: Written for my late night friends, who would rather stay up on the phone talking about nothing than be alone. I'm grateful that they've been there for me. The arrangement is all Roger Neill – really beautiful and grand. Can you believe he's never heard an early Bee Gees record? That's the absolute truth.

The Man Who Would Be King: A funny story. I had to sell my 12-string guitar to pay for this session. The song is, of course, the ultimate 12 string showcase. I wound up borrowing one for the session. The recording did not go very well and the original drummer left the session on a bummer (I don't know how else to describe it). A friend of ours was fixing some keyboards in the back of the studio and I asked him to play. He said, 'I don't know what I'm doing.' I said, 'That's exactly the feel I'm going for: instant Michael Clarke.' It wound up being my favorite production of all. I'd love to hear Roger McGuinn sing it some day.