Don's thoughts on Looking Back:
It was fun to be reunited with old Odyssey bandmate Frank Johnson on Looking Back. So many great memories reworking songs written over forty years ago and adding several new ones that are about those days of our youth in Arlington VA. Here are my thoughts on these nine songs:
Wish You Were Mine : The gold standard of our songs back in the day. Performed many times by Odyssey and Quitting Time (Charley, Frank and Bill Munson). My first song always remains near and dear to me. So much speculation over the years on who the song was about…in truth…just a girl from dreams…
Never Say Goodbye: One of my first collaborations with Charley and as Frank aptly states, “Our first Adult song”. We worked hard on the harmonies and mostly sang it with just an acoustic guitar. Always enjoyed singing and playing…
Timeless Love: My favorite song on the EP mainly because I had nothing to do with the writing. It was a song project for Frank in our AEM Seminar class, (great learning experience at W-L – Dr Baxter was one teacher), that Charley added lyrics to Frank’s music. I remember being so proud of figuring out a piano part for the song in a music room at W-L. I remain the main torch bearer on this song proudly…
Long Live Your Song: A song I wrote after Dr. Baxter (Choir and Madrigal Director at W-L) passed away. I shared the song with Frank, who agreed to sing it and bring it to life. The lessons he taught us became wiser with time and my appreciation for him musically continues to grow every year. Dr. Robert Baxter lives on in my heart…
Look To The Sky: This “acoustic” version is the closest to the original form of the song. Our version on the Sounds in the Air EP is more guitar driven, while this rendition is more piano driven with magical nylon guitar added by Paul Bell. As Charley told me, it took a while, but we got this song where it is supposed to be…only took 45 years…
Sign of the Times: A new song written about my years in Jr High…I enjoyed having three years at Swanson because being the “big fish” in ninth grade was much better than a “freshman” in high school Going through old yearbooks brought back a wave of memories of a much simpler time…and who could beat the wisdom shared…
Swim Team: I remember Frank’s reaction when I first played the song for him….instant connection. I came up with the song one early morning driving by a swim team practice and saw all those familiar looks and the memories came hard and fast to me…. Frank truly took ownership of this song and added all the frills….
Top Shelf: Be careful what you send Charley to work on…Seriously Frank and I sang in Madrigals in High School so I sent Charley a tune and he created Top Shelf…freeform singing and a lot of fun for us. Recorded in two takes at a BnB in Harrisonburg, VA,…. with a lot of editing. The song has more meaning for us as we get older; and indeed-- if only the mug could fly…
Until We Meet Again: A fitting last song… The tune is taken from a piano instrumental on my Stepping Stones album entitled “Sounds Like”…. Appropriately named because it sounds like it could be from any theatre musical… Charley, following the spirit of the tune sent me this song with the lyrics he added and Sounds Like became Until We Meet Again. The beauty of music creativity……
