Burning In This Blaze

			FRANKIE FEVER'S DUBONNET - Raise a glass of Blonde or Rouge. It’s bittersweet this aperitif, but hey, it’s “old L.A.” The beat goes on at K H J and Frankie Fever had his day. “Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet”.
			SADDLED WITH ME - SADDLED WITH ME is a deeply inspired vision that was revealed to me in an odd dream that startled me awake one morning.
			THE BURDENS OF A BEAST - BURNING IN THIS BLAZE IN A QUICKER SAND. THINGS I LOVE THE MOST, THINGS I NEED THE LEAST, WEIGH UPON MY SOUL THE BURDENS OF A BEAST.
			LATER THAT SAME AFTERNOON - EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON I STRUCK A CHORD AND I HUMMED A TUNE. SPIRITS WOULD BE COMING SOON SO I PICKED THEIR LOCKS AND THEY OPENED.
			THE MUSE'S MOTHERLODE - TOWNES VAN ZANDT TOLD OH SUSANNA THERE’S AN ANGEL HERE WITH ME. TELL GUY CLARK SHE’S A “KEEPER”.  LET US KEEP HER COMPANY.
			ON THE RADIO - ON THE RADIO is a creative reflection on my life in music business pursuits over many long years. It is loosely autobiographical and it is also a personal homage to my favorite New York top 40 radio station in the mid-to-late 1960s, WABC 77. **Click to view NYC radio image here
			TRULY YOU - YOU CAME TO BE AS A BABY / STILL A KID IN ETERNITY / YOUR SKIES WERE BLUE, BABY BLUE / AND TOGETHER YOU WILL DANCE / ANGELS SWOON AT YOUR ROMANCE / EACH AND EVERY LOVING GLANCE SAYS THERE'S YOU / TRULY YOU.
			HEAVEN'S REMAINS - WHERE THERE'S NOTHIN' TO LOSE / NOTHIN' TO GAIN / THERE'S NOTHIN' AT ALL BUT A MOURNFUL REFRAIN / PARADISE IS A SONG PRIDE ACHES TO RECALL / EVERY DREAM OF ITS OWN A FAR CRY FROM HOME / HERE IN HEAVEN'S REMAINS
			THE STORY OF OLD LOVE - inspired by the age old spirit of youthful romance, never-ending summer nights and a ghost whose story I just had to tell.
			STAR LIGHT SHINE - SINKIN’ DEEPER NOW / INTO A DEAD MAN’S DREAM / OUT IN THE DESERT AIR / WHERE A STAR LIGHT SHINE / FILLS A COAL BLACK NIGHT / THAT’S ALL MINE
			RAIN ON ME BABY - NO MORE AGONY / NO MORE GOOD INTENTIONS / I’LL BE BY YOUR SIDE / LIKE THE DUDE I WILL ABIDE IN YOUR LOVE / RAIN ON ME BABY / WASH THIS DUST AWAY FROM ME
			UNKNOWN CAMEO - JUST ACCEPT THAT YOU'RE ON CAMERA / IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S SHOW / EVERY WHERE YOU GO / YOU'RE AN UNKNOWN CAMEO
			BABY I'M OVER YOU - FROM EVERY CRAZY FREAKIN’ LYIN’ TONGUE YOU SPEAK IN / BABY I’M OVER YOU  Classic country honk with more hooks than a Mississippi trout line. Hoyt Axton would dig this one.
			A STRANGER TO MYSELF - A STRANGER TO MYSELF / THE TROUBADOUR / I'M A SPIRIT NOW / BLOOD RED / THE FALL / ATLANTIS / FLY WHILE THERE'S LIGHT TO GO / WOUNDS OF WAR [The Troubadour Revisited] / JUST LIKE A LITTLE BABY / THE CRIMSON FIREBALL
			DNA CHAINS OF A ROGUE'S REPUTATION - features This Mighty Ragin' River Of Love / County Line Signs / Long Gone Glory Bound Son / California / Love Is / Messin' With My Mind / Where'd You Leave Your Heart / A Trail That Leads You Home
			TRANSFIGURED - 12 Songs - tracks include: TODAY / THE LAW OF LOVE / TRULY YOU / CARMEN CAFFEINE / PRECIOUS STONES / UNKNOWN CAMEO / MUSIC MESSIAH / BLOOD RED / THE SOUND
			THE GRACE & GRAVITY PROJECT w/ The River Rock Groove Alliance - The Taste Of Your Own Poison / Heaven Helps / A Way Of Life / When The Tide Comes Rushin' In / Down On Highland Street
CLICK ON IMAGES OR LINKS TO ACCESS FULL SONGS & LYRICS, PHOTOS AND STORY

 

Long Gone Glory Bound Son

I lived and worked for a decade of years in "The Big Smoke" [Toronto], writing songs, recording, gigging and selling guitars on Yonge Street. A successful run of national hit records at country music radio in the mid -to- late 80’s resulted in my being signed to a publishing deal with the legendary major Nashville music publisher Combine Music, home of Kris Kristofferson and famously known as The House Of Quill Repute. Combine merged with SBK which got sold to EMI which is now owned by SONY MUSIC. For several good reasons, I demanded release from my writer’s contract with SBK prior to the EMI sale and soon after departed Music Row and the commercial country music business for good. Next, it was west to the Rockies, where the mountains meet the sky. Who knows when the Muse's transcendent trails will finally lead me home. This mystical road has been long traveled and it's my Maverick Tunesmith Duty to share the Blood & Bounty Beauty. In Touch With The Mystery, where no time exists, no space is wasted and no point is missed. Hope you enjoy!

THE LEFT BANKE

The Left Banke story with video clips

I met the guys in The Left Banke in the spring of 1967. The original members, Steve Martin Caro [vocals] – Tom Finn [bass guitar] – Michael Brown [keyboards/songwriter] – George Cameron [drums] – Jeff Winfield [guitar], were topping the American pop music charts back then with their big debut hit record, "Walk Away Renee".

My ears were glued to top 40 radio in those years so when it was announced that the band was going to be performing in my home town and also appearing at a promotional meet & greet at a local record store, I was determined to meet them and take some photos. 

Unable to attend the band’s concert at our small town university’s spring carnival event, I figured there would be a crowd of kids like me at the record store meet & greet the day of the show. Surprisingly however, only a few kids other than myself had actually showed up. The Left Banke guys were gathered around an empty display case counter ready to sign autographs and meet their fans and seemed disappointed that that so few came out to meet them. The band was not well known at that point however, despite their big hit record. 

The other few indifferent kids, their curiosity satisfied, got bored and left. I was far from bored and thrilled that I was indeed the last fan standing and could now talk with these guys exclusively. So, for the next hour, it was just me and The Left Banke guys hanging out with me taking dozens of pictures of them and asking them many questions about their music and their fashionable New York duds. 

Their individual personalities and modish style clothes made a huge impression on me and my sincere interest in everything about them opened them up to me as we joked around laughing and making their lonely meet & greet a bit more fun at least. I sensed they were quite appreciative that a kid like me was interested in communicating with them all personally on the level of being drawn to their world and so inquisitive of the substance of their music and songs. My photos were taken with an old Polaroid instant camera that spat out a hard copy of each picture taken after a few seconds of processing each new image. The guys dug their pictures. I dug The Left Banke. 

Memories of that special day remain undimmed especially now that all 5 original members of The Left Banke have passed. Tom Finn, the last original member to pass, died in June of 2020. Steve Martin Caro died in January of 2020. George Cameron died in 2018. Michael Brown died in 2015 and Jeff Winfield died in 2009. 

I kept my treasured polaroid photos of The Left Banke in a shoebox in our attic for years. Unfortunately, instant polaroid pics of the era deteriorated with oxidization eventually. So, my pics soon faded and completely decomposed over time. Not so my memories of hanging out with The Left Banke. Those guys and their baroque/pop classic Walk Away Renee, are indelibly imprinted in me until the day I die.

The Sojourner

Stranded at a standstill on the edge of blue and sky
The Sojourner, my spirit, whispered “fly”
Beyond this Desolation where Eternal voices cry
Down the highway where the dreamers go to die

My vagrant’s desperation for a better place to be
Set its course to trust the dream and drive in me
I got the hell out young, alive, still holdin’ 17
Charlotte’s suitcase held a poor boy’s elegy

It was on a Thursday morning, ever grateful for that day
At 5 AM I wrote my heart and soul away
My hope was now a ticket on a never ending train
A brand new guitar and some songs about the rain

 

Richard Manuel’s mother sat beside me for awhile
“You in a band”? she asked, I said, “no ma’am I’m not”
“I’m just going to Toronto where I hope they’ll dig my style”
My sense of purpose caused her face to smile a lot

“My son is in a band” she said, “you may have heard of them”
“What’s their name”? I asked, “they’re The Band” she said
“The Band…?..you're kidding me…your son is in THE BAND..?”
“That’s right”, she said “he’s in The Band” and so her tale began

I can’t remember where we stopped, the station she called home
It must have been in Stratford, might as well have been in Rome
I only knew, as rounders do, a long and lonesome time
Would pass until I’d find her in my verses and in rhyme

This train’s a conflagration now, a fire burning free
It sparks the restless soul that bears the life and death of me
So listen, hear my wheels race beyond this dreary grey
Of shadows, long dead habits and the dust of yesterday

These tracks are harder, tougher now, much colder than the clay
I’ll ride them on until the dawn when sleep might come my way
Stealthy devils, dead-end proud, all hungry for the grave
Invite me to be hungry too, but further on, I pray

Nothing lives that doesn’t die in suffering and pain
Charlotte’s bitter torments were just shackles on my brain
So true compassion justly now requires of a need
To say at last I suffered her because I had to bleed

And suffering and blood just means that nothing will remain
That hasn’t been transformed upon this sky bound mystery train
We’re crossing now, the station up ahead is bathed in Light
The Band is playin’ “The Shape I’m In” & everything’s just right

FRANK TRAINOR - SONGS FROM THE ROCK (1973-1975)

 
THE SOJOURNER
© 2021 Frank Trainor Music Inc.