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DownTown Blog – 10 Albums That Influenced DownTown Mystic

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courtesy of @markmaryanovich

I recently wrote a Featured article for Goldmine Magazine where I had to pick my Top 10 albums that had an influence on my music. As you might imagine, it was not an easy assignment. Trying to narrow down all the great albums that had an influence to only 10 required a good deal of thought. 1964-1972 were the years for the albums that I chose, and we all know how many great albums were made in that time period!

The albums are listed from 1 to 10 in order of the year they were made. This means in the order that I heard them and not in the order of importance.

The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

This is the first album that John (Lennon) and Paul (McCartney) wrote all the songs. In the U.S. we only got half a side of Beatles, and the other side was instrumental music from the film. RIPOFF!! Years later I bought a new stereo and decided to buy all the English albums (on vinyl) to experience the records the way The Beatles made them. I started buying their import albums on Parlophone but got an import Hard Day’s Night album from Japan. It sounded amazing. I couldn’t believe how bad the Capitol records sounded in comparison. Side 2 is pure Beatles 1964. This album shows how much John dictated the grooves with his rhythm playing. This is how I learned rhythm guitar from the master himself! Lennon’s “If I Fell” is pure and simple genius. I started writing songs because of this record.

The Beatles – Revolver (U.K. 1966)

Revolver is widely considered to be The Beatles best album, for sheer creativity and innovation. Nothing sounded like this before. Lennon called it their “guitar record” which makes it even better to me. This was their idea of hipper rock and roll in 1966. It certainly had an impact on me and my psyche as to how I listened to records and my taste in music. I also include the “Paperback Writer”/“Rain”single as part of the album. The Beatles would always record and release a single before an upcoming album, usually months in advance, and hearing this single when it was released was AMAZING!!

The Beatles – Yesterday and Today (U.S. 1966) 

Note: DOES NOT COUNT AS 1 OF THE 10 ALBUMS!!)

I had to mention the Yesterday and Today album on Capitol because THIS was probably my favorite Beatles album. This is the album with the infamous “Butcher’s cover.” It starts off with “Drive My Car“! We didn’t know that this was the first track on the U.K. Rubber Soul album because Capitol took “I’ve Just Seen a Face“ from Side 2 of the U.K. Help album and made it the first track on the U.S. Rubber Soul album! Even crazier, Capitol took three tracks from the UNRELEASED U.K. Revolver album and put them on Yesterday and Today, which is why I loved this record! I wasn’t that knocked out by Revolver when it came out three months later because it was missing thee of my all-time fave Beatles songs. That’s when I found out from a friend, who got an import of the U.K. Revolver on Parlophone with 14 songs, that the U.S. releases were BOGUS!!! Capitol got the message from the Butcher cover and stopped f–king with their releases.

The Rolling Stones – Aftermath (1966)

This is the first Stones album that Mick (Jagger) and Keith (Richards) wrote all the songs. It features band founder Brian Jones as “the soul of the band” with his amazing musical skills on full display. Without his added musical colorings to songs, playing a variety of instruments, there would be no Stones. I’m partial to the U.K. release. Classic tracks like “Under My Thumb.” “Mother’s Little Helper” (U.K.), “Paint It Black” (U.S.), and the 11-minute opus “Going Home.” That’s right, The Stones put out an 11-minute track in the pop world of 1966. I could always count on The Stones to show me where rock and roll was at when the music world was following whatever The Beatles released.

Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold as Love (1967)

I know his first album Are You Experienced made him a star and has his greatest hits on it, but it’s his second album Axis: Bold as Lovethat was a strong influence on me. I also believe that it was Jimi’s serious effort to showcase his songwriting. It’s a masterclass in subtlety featuring some of his best guitar work. His playing on this record taught me that there was more to guitar than just shredding. Songs like “Castles Made of Sand,” “Little Wing” and “If 6 was 9” are brilliant. Another example of hip sounding rock that influenced my taste and sensibility about what rock could be.

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969 Debut)

This record probably had as much impact on me as any record I’ve ever heard. Hearing it for the first time was unbelievable! The vocals and Stephen Stills guitars changed my life and my music. My songwriting was heavily influenced, as was my acoustic guitar and harmonies. I’m growing up and here’s this grown up, mature music. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is a masterpiece in writing, arranging and performing. There’s never been anything like it, before or since. I had been a fan of Stills work in Buffalo Springfield and this record is his and the payoff of the potential he showed in the Springfield.

The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)

The final album. This is The Beatles at their best, considered to be the height of their professionalism, in regard to recording. It’s a perfect record that lets the band leave on a very high note. Side 2 pushes the album as an art form to new heights. It’s progressive in sound and scope and laid the groundwork for what was to come like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon.

Leon Russell – Leon Russell (1970)

This is the album that got me into playing piano. Leon was “The master of time and Space”, especially in 1970. He was the “sideman’s sideman”, having been a fixture in L.A.’s Wrecking Crew that had the top studio session players in the 1960s. This album was his coming out party to the rock and roll world. He was the hottest in-demand player on the planet and this record helped to cement his reputation. Honorable Mention: Elton John – Tumbleweed Connection (1970)

Dave Mason – Alone Together (1970)

This was a huge record at the time of its release, and I can’t underestimate its impact on me. Dave Mason had left the original Traffic and put this out, his first solo record with its multi-color vinyl. The songwriting is stellar and features a band with Leon Russell playing piano. I was always interested in rock and roll records that made new statements on the genre and this was one of them.

Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

This was Rod the Mod’s big breakthrough record. It features the stellar guitar work of Ronnie Lane and like Dave Mason’s record, it was a big rock and roll statement. I was into acoustic guitar and this record used the acoustic guitar as integral part of rock and roll in new ways. “Maggie May“ was the hit that broke the record but it’s the title track that is an epic rock and roll track for the ages.

Joe Walsh – Barnstorm (1972)

This album was a mindblower. I knew of Walsh from his James Gang records and heard he had a new band called Barnstorm. I searched down the record and couldn’t believe what I heard when I put it on. This record was next level, and I wasn’t expecting it from Joe Walsh. It’s progressive in its overall style and takes rock in another direction. It would come out a few months before another progressive classic—Dark Side of The Moon. In fact, there’s this weird acoustic piece that I swear Pink Floyd used on their album. Barnstorm had a real impact on me production-wise and I know I became more and more interested in producing after hearing this record

As you might imagine, there were so many great albums that had an impact on me and choosing only 10 was nearly impossible. But when I think of my influences and how they were shaped, I think these 10 albums come as close as anything. Can you name 10 albums that had the same impact on you and your tastes? Think about all that music you’ve listened to. Try it sometime. It ain’t easy!! 😊

DownTown Blog – Superstar (To Sir Elton With Love Mix)

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The song Superstar was originally titled Ode To A Superstar. My cousin Gordon (GT Sullivan) had written the lyrics and gave them to me on a visit to his home. We grew up writing songs together in our teenage years and he would write lyrics from time to time and give me a batch when we got together. It’s kind of ironic that we wrote Superstar the way Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote songs, with Bernie writing lyrics and then having Elton putting them to music. I say ironic because Superstar was in no way written with Elton in mind.

Elton John & Bernie Taupin

I think the song was written back in 1974 and would become part of my band’s set list, usually as an opener. I remember the drummer would play it on his toms to help drive it. It fit right in when we played it at CBGB back in 1975. The drums changed when I went out to LA in 1981 and recorded a new version of the song with drummer Greg Thomas, who had worked with Neil Young and Leon Russell. He played it with a more straight forward groove, which I really liked. The song had always been a guitar rocker. Greg had Mike Finnigan (CSNY & Bonnie Raitt) put an organ part on it but it didn’t really do much for the track.

Greg Thomas

Fast forward 40 years…I had recently moved and was putting my computer together and listening to my iTunes library. One of the songs I came across was the 1981 recording of Superstar. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that great groove from Greg and I made it part of a playlist I put together of songs I was planning to record. The more I heard the song the more I seriously thought about recording it with drummer Steve Holley and bassist Paul Page. My wife commented to me what a cool song it was and I should record it. So I decided to include it as part of the demos I sent to Steve and Paul when I was planning to go into the studio.

Paul, Robert & Steve

So it’s January 2022 and I’m cutting tracks with Steve and Paul at Shorefire Studios for what will become the AmeriKarma album. When it comes time to track Superstar, Steve, as he always does, tells me the tempo of the demo. It’s really fast and I say I could do it a bit slower which Steve seems to be more comfortable with. So we try it at a few different speeds and settle on one that feels good to me. It’s a straight ahead punk rocker, the way it was written. I haven’t changed a thing to the song in over 40 years.

Elton John

It’s not until I’m listening to a playback and it comes to the breakdown part after the first chorus, for some reason, Elton John pops into my head. I can see him getting up from behind his piano and strutting across the stage to the groove like I’d seen him do on many occasions in concert. Elton John? Really?? Now I start thinking about Elton and his music. I’m a huge Elton John fan, having been there at the start when he hit in 1970 and seeing him at The Fillmore East in NYC opening for Leon Russell. Superstar is not an Elton John song but the more I hear the track, the more I’m thinking about how Elton would play it.

Jeff Levine

I had keyboard wiz Jeff Levine coming in for a session and told him to think of Elton’s song Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting as an approach for Superstar. Both songs are guitar based and I believe Elton didn’t even want to play piano on his track. He had to be talked into it! Jeff got into it right away and laid down a piano track very fitting of Elton. Jeff’s playing is as close to Elton’s style as you can get. It made me have to think about how I could make the track more like Elton. I hadn’t changed my guitar parts one iota, so I needed something else.

Elton John at Dodger Stadium

It happened when I was laying down my vocals. As I was listening to the playbacks I started to think about Elton’s vocals. It occurred to me that he always had harmonies and background parts that were like hooks in themselves. That was it! I needed to come up with a background part on the chorus. So I told my engineer Joe DeMaio I wanted to try a background vocal and went into the studio and basically came up with a part on the spot. I added a harmony to it and when it was mixed together with the lead vocal I had my Elton John track.

Elton

One of the weirdest things that ever happened to me in a recording studio happened to me as I was overdubbing a lead guitar part on my 1960s Gretsch Tennessean (the one that George Harrison used with The Beatles at Shea Stadium). I was almost finished with the part when the bridge of the guitar started to slip under the strings. I thought it was because of the Bigsby tailpiece but I wasn’t using it. Joe came rushing into the studio to try and help me get the bridge back under the strings and we came very close to doing it. I decided to put the guitar in its case and let guitar tech extraordinaire Billy Penn work his magic on it.

George Harrison at Shea Stadium

I figured it was my 1964 Strat that had sabotaged the Gretsch so that I would have to use it since I had it on hand that day. 🙂 It was very weird! After laying down some more tracks with the Strat, Superstar was finished. Listening back in the control room I could hear flashes of Mark Bolan (T-Rex) and even David Bowie. How odd I thought. Back in the early 70s, Bolan was the king of Glam Rock in the UK, playing with both Elton and Bowie. Nearly 50 years after writing the song I could hear all 3 influences in the track!

Elton John with T-Rex at at BBC Top of the Pops London 1971

I started doing 3 different mixes but it was obvious I had to focus on Elton as the main mix. Besides the piano I really focused on Steve’s snare. I always felt that the drum sound was a key element to the song like the guitars, so I made sure the drums were slamming. Besides writing the song like Elton and Bernie would, the other irony was that Steve Holley had recorded with Elton in the early 80s. So the stage was set. I would release Superstar as a single in October of 2022 with the To Sir Elton With Love Mix as the Radio single and for the release I added the Guitar Mix to show the way the song was played in 1975.

Steve Holley

The song received a great reaction from Radio with over 150 stations around the world playing it. Superstar (To Sir Elton With Love Mix) has also become the most streamed song in the DownTown Mystic catalog. I think part of the reason is that it has a vibe that hasn’t been around in a long time. So Elton, if you’re out there and read this, please know that the track was created out of love for a musical hero of mine. I tried to make it as close to one of your songs as possible and I think you’re the only one who could do it better. 🙂

DownTown Blog – DownTown Mystic: Used Records History 1979-1985 Part 2 “A Long Strange Trip”

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What a long strange trip it’s been…or words to that effect. Going back into my musical archives and listening to all the songs I recorded 35-40 years ago brought back memories…both good and bad…but mostly good. The main thing I took away from the experience was how much the music always mattered to me. I left a band that was my life for 10 years to go solo because I wanted to concentrate on writing better songs and getting more into the recording process…and that’s exactly what I did. I stayed true to myself and the music, and that’s not something many people can say.

When putting the album together I decided to arrange the songs chronologically by the year they were recorded, starting with 3 tracks by The Tupelos (1979-80). The only exception was the 1st track Please Be There, which features Garry Tallent from The E Street Band on bass. This song had been on the 45 single with Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little 16 from 1979. We changed the arrangement with Garry. I thought it should be the lead track because it was recorded as part of a Production Deal that was the last highlight for the band.

The Tupelos 1980

Actually, it was that single that attracted Garry to the band at the end of 1979, when he was recording The River with Bruce and The E Street Band. Garry came over to my house in 1980 to jam with the band and agreed to play bass and record with us when we got a deal. We got the deal and Garry came down with us to record in Washington DC and then last played with us on stage at The Fast Lane in Asbury Park. Garry would be our bass player from April to August 1980. There’s no other band that can make that claim outside of Springsteen himself. LOL

https://soundcloud.com/shalaman/sweet-little-sixteen

I left The Tupelos in early 1981 and went to LA, driving cross country with the bass player George (who we met at that Fast Lane show). My publisher hooked us up with Gregg Thomas, a drummer who had worked with Neil Young and Leon Russell and we recorded some songs with him. This was really the 1st time that I got to play with a pro drummer and I learned a lot from it. There’s something that I can only describe as “solid” by the way guys like him, Max Weinberg and Steve Holley all play. It was this same quality that I saw in Tommy Mastro when I heard him play with The Discontent that made me want to get back into recording my songs again.

Robert at Alley Studios 1981 N. Hollywood

 When I got back from LA I knew what I wanted to do and went solo, recording my 1st project in 1982. I would play all the instruments with the exception of bass, enlisting the help of my good friend and fellow Aquarian Monte Farber. Monte has since gone on to become one of the leading New Age authors in the world. Along with his wife, artist Amy Zerner, they’ve created some of the best-selling divination systems ever created. You can hear Monte on the Welcome To Sha-La Land release and his own album, Good Karma.

I chose the 3 best tracks recorded with Monte for this album. Baby Believe Me, Night Time Girl and I Just Want To Love You all feature piano as the main instrument. This was something new for me and helped to add a new dimension to my songs. Night Time Girl was written right after I wrote Brian Jones in 1980 and both were in The Tupelos setlist. I Just Want To Love You was one of the 1st songs I wrote for The Tupelos and it was the last song I recorded with the band. I also recorded it with Gregg Thomas in LA. I clearly had a thing for this song because I couldn’t let it go of it until I had a definitive version that I felt was IT. You’ll notice that I have 1979 & 1982 listed for Sweet Lies. This song was recorded with the band as part of the 1979 Single session and then I went back to it, recording piano and re-mixing it during my solo session in 1982. 30 years later, I borrowed the intro and verse chords to write Read The Signs with Bruce Engler.

The next 2 songs, You Didn’t Know and Same Old Lover are from a 1983 8-tk demo session which would be a very important turning point for me. It’s not these songs alone, but the ones that were also recorded and are missing–the original versions of And You Know Why & Way To Know. These were much different from the versions I recorded with Garry Tallent & Max Weinberg. This was also the 1st time I ever played bass on a recording, thanks to swapping my pedal steel with Garry for one of his bass guitars. I wish I could find those original demos, especially Way To Know. Most likely I sent the reel to reel tape with them on it to Paul Schindler, my music attorney at the time. It was another era.

The remaining 4 songs (1985) were the last recordings I did until starting the DownTown Mystic Project 12 years later. I think you can hear a marked improvement in my writing and recording. I hooked up with Joe Norosavage, a keyboard player I met through Garry Tallent. The 80s and MTV were in full swing, as were synths, sequencers and drum machines. I decided to forego a band to make a state of the art recording. Turn Around and Go gets the full 80s treatment here. Who could have guessed that Fly Like The Wind would be discovered 30 years later and become one of my top sync-licensing tracks!

If you’re wondering why I called the project Used Records it’s because those songs from 1985 would be released in Europe on a cd called Used Records by a German label called Long Island Records in 1995. I was managing bands by this time and was out in LA when I met the label’s owner and all-around nice guy, Sondi. He wasn’t interested in a band I was shopping at the time but then we got to talking about this project I had done with the likes of Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg. This seemed to get Sondi’s attention and we made a deal. I wanted to get my songs on a cd since all my tapes were wearing thin, so this was a win-win! 🙂

Robert & 1976 Les Paul

It’s been strange to go back over songs I wrote and recorded in another century. I still think about getting Nik Cohn’s letter in the mail 3 years ago and just how strange it was to read his words. I look at it now like someone tapping me on the shoulder, trying to get my attention to look at this music. There’s certainly karma at work here. So in a very real sense, this album feels inevitable to me now. As I said at the start of this post, what a long strange trip it’s been. 🙂

Listen to DownTown Mystic: Used Records History 1979-1985