Secrets - By Colin Kennedy

Secrets

by Colin Kennedy

Tortuga CDPA1008

Issued January, 1999

~ Secrets Liner Notes ~

Instruments, vocals, effects, album design and engineering by Colin Kennedy, except where indicated.

Notes by Colin Kennedy:

1. Poor Old Fred (Robert Lewis - Colin Kennedy)

Most of the songs found on Secrets were recorded several years (sometimes decades) after they were written. This is especially true of my earliest songs because I did not have access to multitrack recording facilities until 1978. During this interim the arrangements tended to evolve and were refined into the versions heard today. Robert Lewis and I wrote the first two verses for Poor Old Fred during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1972. Since this was our way of poking fun at the emerging "redneck rock" scene in Texas at that time, we were soon surprised by warm receptions wherever the song was performed. Audiences wanted to sing along but, with only two verses, "Fred" was over just as they had learned the chorus. A third verse and lead guitar break were added (by yours truly) before it was finally recorded in 1978. Bob Meisenbach - Lead Guitar. Stan Lawrence - Drums. Colin Kennedy - Vocals, Guitar, Bass. David Paulissen - Engineer.

2. The Albert Einstein Blues (Robert Lewis - Colin Kennedy)

Robert Lewis handed these lyrics to me in the Summer of 1976, singing a few bars of how he thought the music should go. It was rather "bluesy" and I was not on that "wavelength" at the time, so the lyrics wound up gathering dust for the next three years. At last, on June 14, 1979, a light bulb clicked on in my mind and I "heard" the same sort of tune that Rob had originally sung for me. As with Poor Old Fred, the musical arrangement for "Albert" evolved over subsequent years until May 1985, when it was recorded by the Temperature Men: Frank Cebello - Drums. Mike Smith - Backing Vocal and Lead Guitar. John Bockelman - Bass. Colin Kennedy - Lead Vocal and Guitar.

3. It’s Raining (Colin Kennedy)

On June 7, 1986 I was sitting on the floor beside a window, staring outside at the rain when this song came to me. Still in the afterglow of a recent dream about an old flame, I wondered where she was and what she was doing now. It’s Raining was recorded in March 1988 by After Hours, the last Houston group with whom I was affiliated before my move to California. Arden Bjerkeli - Keyboards. Melissa Dorr - Backing Vocal. Paul Fremont - Bass. Mike Smith - Lead Guitar. Mike Ross - Drums. Nick Nicholson - Sax. Colin Kennedy - Lead Vocal, Backing Vocal and Acoustic Guitar.

4. On Mother’s Day (Colin Kennedy)

Written a few days before my seventeenth birthday in May 1973, this was the first song in my catalog that was inspired by Sande Stallard. Although she was "mother" only to a few pets at the time, she enjoyed receiving gifts and cards for Mother’s Day and I included this tune as a surprise. Recorded February 1981.

5. Sunrise (Colin Kennedy)

In 1974 I began hatching lofty plans for my own recording studio, publishing company and record label. For research and planning purposes I thought it best to get advice from someone who had already done it all. The person I chose was Huey P. Meaux, owner of Houston’s best known recording facilities, Sugar Hill Studios. (The same Huey Meaux whom was soon to produce a string of hits by a then unknown artist named Freddie Fender.) Over the course of half an hour, Meaux graciously gave me a synopsis of his life story, how Sugar Hill Studios came into being and how much his first studio cost him. At one point during our conversation, Meaux paused to ask what I was going to call my new studio. I drew a blank! I would ponder that answer during the next few months, looking for a name that would represent "a new beginning." "Renaissance Records" was considered and eventually rejected in favor of Sunrise Music Publishing and Recording Co. Deciding the label could use a theme song, I wrote Sunrise on June 14, 1975. Years later I learned that a record company was already using this name so I came up with Tortuga. John Bockelman created the art work for the new label and, to my delight, he incorporated a sunrise into the design. Recorded in 1977. David Paulissen - Engineer.

6. The Circus (Colin Kennedy)

Beginning in 1975, the year in which The Circus was written, I would go on to write more songs to - or about - Sande Stallard than any other subject. After our breakup in January 1975 I thought about her incessantly. One day during the Summer of that year I was sitting at my piano, reminiscing about her love for the circus and its animals. Still kicking myself for having even left her, I felt like a cad for declining to take her to a circus and for dismissing it as "kid stuff". I wrote this in thirty minutes. Recorded in May 1985 by the Temperature Men: Frank Cebello - Drums. Mike Smith - Guitars and Backing Vocal. John Bockelman - Bass. Colin Kennedy - Lead Vocal, Electric Piano and Effects.

7. Double Zero (Colin Kennedy)

On November 1, 1980 I was writing this as an instrumental "self-jam" on the fly, track by track, when I ran into a little problem. A faint voice had been picked up on tape at the end of my bass track. It was easy to hear that this was coming from an illegally high-powered CB radio rig. What I did not know was that it was being produced by a neighbor just two doors away. Rather than allowing this mystery person to destroy my session, I got an idea for having some fun with him. Since his transmissions were strong enough to be picked up by any powered amplifier in the house (including my bass guitar pickup), I merely placed a live microphone in front of my PA speakers and recorded his voice for half an hour or so. I then mixed bits of his bizarre banter throughout the finished piece. Colin Kennedy - All Instruments. CB Banter by "Double Zero".

8. Sande (Colin Kennedy)

Sitting alone with a guitar at a friend's ranch near Johnson City, Texas, I made this another tune that was finished in thirty minutes, on September 3, 1977. The song tells the rest. Recorded March 1981.

9. Goodbye (Colin Kennedy)

Another song to Sande, written March 5, 1975. I performed it for her two months later, when she dropped by for an unexpected visit. Recorded July 1982.

10. Melody (Colin Kennedy)

Within walking distance of my boyhood home in Shady River (near La Porte, Texas) stood an apartment complex where I had begun running with a new crowd during the Summer and Fall of 1972. In that complex was a large apartment - the Babcock Place - owned by an open-minded couple. Former "beatniks" themselves, the elder Babcocks enjoyed the company of all their two daughters' friends, often twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week! I became a regular here, "earning my keep" by playing original tunes such as Poor Old Fred. Among my new friends there was a person named Ani McCurry. One day, Ani decided she wanted a nickname and that it would be "Melody." The nickname itself never caught on but I wrote this little song around it, thinking it made for a clever title. Recorded February 1981.

11. Cindy Sunshine (Colin Kennedy)

One night in 1972, while dropping off into that netherworld between consciousness and sleep, I "heard" this tune in its entirety. I jumped up, ran to my piano and fleshed it out, then went back to sleep. (I was very lucky to remember it the next day!) Naming it after Cindy Alexander, whom I was thinking about when the music first came to me, I also wrote a set of rather corny lyrics that were not included here. Instead, since the music was originally intended for use in a music box, I chose to present it here in a similar form. Recorded January 1999.

12. Come To the Country (Colin Kennedy)

Written to celebrate all things natural, Come To the Country pays homage to anythingbearing the least possible resemblance to concrete. Initially penned on February 20, 1975, additional singing parts were added in 1977 by request of my friends Donny McCorquodale and Steve Soward. The three of us had a group called Ravenwood and the guys needed something on which they could harmonize. So, "It's what the doctor ordered..." was custom made for them. I ultimately left this band, started another, moved from La Porte to Houston and time passed. When I got around to recording it by myself in February 1979, I chose to use this - the "Ravenwood version" - as a salute to the group.

13. Life In the Big City (John R. Bockelman - Colin Kennedy)

My old friend and former Temperature Men band mate John Bockelman sent me a tape in March 1994 with a "work in progress" piece of music that he called Life In the Big City. It was very basic, having just a simple mix of drums, bass and a keyboard playing a chord progression. Listening to it, I began hearing a lead guitar part in my mind that seemed perfect for the piece. I immediately dashed a letter into the mail which in essence told John, "Stop! Hold the phone! I want to finish this myself!" Then it sat until October of that year when I finally brushed the cobwebs from my guitar. (I must confess that, after not playing for a year or so, I had to practice for a week before I could record this single track.) John Bockelman - Bass, Drum Programming and Keyboard. Colin Kennedy - Guitar & Effects.

14. LeBuff Goes Undercover (Colin Kennedy)

This was (and still is) a work in progress. Several takes exist of this - a "Bond-style" piece intended for film - but this version is the most refined. I have always been a fan of the "Bond music" genre and I named this after a former alter ego, perhaps as a means of vicariously "getting into the action." Recorded December 11, 1994.

15. Edwina (Colin Kennedy)

Written during the Summer of 1969, Edwina is the second song I ever wrote. Although I had been making up little ditties on the piano since age nine, my first full song appeared in 1968 at age twelve. This second tune was inspired by a crush I'd had on Edwina Kendle throughout the seventh grade. Unfortunately for Edwina (later known as Wendy), my emotional growth was stunted and my affections took the form of non-stop taunts, goads and teasings. I still don't know how she put up with me! (Maybe she knew after all, and just dealt with it.) So it was, during Summer vacation between seventh and eighth grades, that I found myself missing her. A lot. My mood took musical form on guitar as I hummed the melody. Next came some syrupy lyrics which I later burned under the Shady River Bridge! I transcribed it for the pianosoon afterward and the tune remained an instrumental ever since. Never recorded in its entirety until this version was taped on December 4, 1994, Edwina was one of my best-kept secrets.

16. Chelle (Colin Kennedy)

Pronounced "shell," Chelle was another of those tunes that came to me as I was dropping off to sleep. This time it was in September 1976, while thinking of my soon-to-be girlfriend, Michelle Hondros. Originally entitled Shell, the first version had lyrics personifying a beautiful sea shell. This was because I noticed that her friends addressed her by the abbreviated name and I wanted to capture that sound in song. The problem was - when seen on paper - the title always reminded me of an oil company. My radical solution? Drop the lyrics and restore the "proper" spelling. Recorded January 1999

17. Alice Alice (Colin Kennedy)

Like many in high school I was always going through one crush or another. The focus of my Freshman year attention was a fetching Sophomore cheerleader named Alice Blackwell. Lucky for me, she was positioned in front of the school band during pep rallies in the gym. I was smitten from the moment I first saw her in September 1970. Ah, but since she was a "whole year" older than me - and because I was this geeky tuba player - why allow myself the luxury of hope? I resigned to secretly admire her from afar. Fast forward to Summer 1975. Still reeling in heartache from my breakup with Sande the previous January, I found it soothing to remember Alice Blackwell. It seemed to help and, after I fell back "in crush" for several days, Alice Alice took shape in a matter of an hour on June 24, 1975. In 1976 I proudly performed the song for members of my band at the time, hoping to make it a partof our act. They said that it sounded "too much like the Eagles" and the tune was dropped. Dismissing their opinion a decade later, I brought it into the Temperature Men repertoire where it received enthusiastic reception from club audiences around Houston. This irony is augmented by the fact that I never met Alice Blackwell. To this day she has no knowledge of this song. Recorded Fall 1985. Frank Cebello - Drums. Mike Smith - Lead Guitar. John Cebello - Backing Vocal and Keyboard. Nick Nicholson - Sax (tracks added in 1987). Colin Kennedy - Lead Vocal, Bass Guitar, Horn Arrangement.

18. The Trailer People Are Coming ! (Colin Kennedy)

Intended as a cheesy fantasy radio trailer for an even cheesier film, this was inspired bya series of Mickey Gilley commercials advertising mobile homes. Recorded April 1983.Music from The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. Colin Kennedy - Voices and Effects.

Song Credits:

All tracks except Chelle and Cindy Sunshine digitally remastered for Compact Disc by Colin Kennedy, 1998.

Produced by Colin Kennedy

A Surface To Air Production

Special Thanks to: Wolf Pinkstaff at Warner Bros., Jim Lucas at Tascam, John Bockelman, Bob Meisenbach, all of the musicians appearing here and, especially, to the women whom inspired so much of this album.

Alice Alice is dedicated to Alice (Kolodzaike) Paulissen.