I have been involved in making music most of my life and have been lucky to have realized my dream of playing with the best which is how I measure success. Nationally recognized success came with a hit record called “Lies” with the Knickerbockers and after recording three albums, I was hooked on the whole process of writing, producing and recording.

 

Later I moved on to replace Bill Medley with the Righteous Brothers and recorded an album called “Rebirth”.

I participated as the drummer and in the writing and producing, learning much in the process. My goal has always

been to record an album of my own with the material and musicians of my choice and I feel we have accomplished this.

I don’t like to tell musicians how to play; I just show them the material and let nature take its course.

 

It all started with a chance interview on the phone with Katy Levy which led to a nine year-long friendship and now a partnership. After many discussions and creating a multipronged plan, we started by recording this album. Without Katy’s inspiration and support none of this would have been possible.

 

The first thing I did was to call my friend, guitarist Tim Manion and asked for his help.We played together in our band in Las Vegas. I was always impressed by his creativity and his ability to take charge in rehearsal and when the music needed direction. He now lives in Los Angeles and I was very happy when he said he would.

My first choice for the bass player was easy. Bobby Santa Cruz and I have played together many times over the years.

He has always been my favorite and also one of my favorite musicians. I knew he was the perfect fit for the project and luckily he was able to do it.

 

Through a friend I found the perfect studio owned and operated by John Simon in Sebastopol, California. John is not only a great engineer and a great keyboardist, he also helped with arrangements, with some of the writing and his playing on the tracks, especially his solo on “Fool’s Paradise” was an unexpected bonus.

 

I wanted a change of pace and felt a sax on “I Still Love Her” would be keeping with the mood of the bluesy feel and I immediately thought of Bernie Rivera, another old friend. As luck would have it, he was in the neighborhood and came by and in an hour or so, dropped a knockout track on us and we are all very grateful for his soulful contribution.

 

It also took two trips to LA for me and Tim to get together to write and arrange the songs. We recorded the album in two parts. Two sessions over two separate week-ends for the music. Then two more for me with the vocal sessions. Finally, another 20 hours or so for the mixing with John and a further 5 hours mastering with the great Ken Lee in Oakland.

 

During this time, Katy handled the mechanics of copyrighting and publishing. She’s also an artist of considerable talent and has produced a very tasteful cover for the album. She’s working on a logo for our own independent label “Demain Music” to be launched soon. She shares the concept of 100% in and is one of the most determined people I’ve ever known, so we are all in good hands.

 

That’s the little short story of the making of this album to let you know that a lot of love went into this project.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it!