In the words of George Carlin, a place for my stuff. A collection of pics, vids, mp3s and stories (oh, the stories!) from throughout the career of One O Ball.
I have posted the medley before, but I believe this is the first time I have posted the entire show.
The March 1990 tour. Grula on bass, Butler on drums. Stemcell on recording equipment and all necessary off stage expertise.
I believe this was the penultimate show of the tour. Hundreds of hours locked in a tin can will make any sane person not sane. Many discussions in our sardine can revolved around the state of the music industry. March of 1990. Pre Nirvana, post 80s. Many discussions about the end of New Wave.
For all the talk, we did this one time only. The Death Of New Wave Medley. Returning to my home town, I wanted to do something special. We got the encore stomping. Clearly, this was the night that all the talking had to put up.
The medley did not have a set list. I can tell you that I don't think we had ever played an of these songs on stage or in rehearsal. Nor did we have a set list for the medley. What you hear is being created in real time. I can tell you that this version of The Chains was tight, professional and as fine a rhythm section as anyone could hope for.
In a different world, where awesome bands that pack venues are paid for what they're worth and record labels promote their bands, we might still be on the road. I love this band. Butler and Grula are as fine a rhythm section as any front man could hope for.
To commemorate the recent popeification, I offer a never before told tale.
In the late 90s, a couple of old friends of mine had moved to Hollywood, in the hopes of breaking into the television show stuff and happening and gimme a bouncy 'C'.
They wrote a pilot episode for a hilarious sitcom. It was a Buddy Hackett vehicle. Buddy would star as the first Jewish Pope. The pilot script was awesome. Seemed like a no-brainer to me. My pals asked me to write a spec theme song. I could not have been more thrilled! Buddy Hackett? TV theme song? I was gonna be rich!
But, unfortunately, Buddy got a firm offer for a part in the Fox show Action!, and That Darn Pope never happened.
But, in honor of the new pope search, I offer you my never before released theme song to That Darn Pope.
My folks have often told the story that when I was an infant, my first favorite TV show was Batman. They tell me that whenever I heard the theme song, I would dance around in my crate with total joy and abandon. While I have no memory of this, I have every reason to believe it is true. As well as photographic evidence.
My Pops had a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the 60s. (While I wouldn't call him an audiophile, he has always been an early adopter of all home audio/video capture equipment. Which he passed down to me in his DNA. But more on that in future installments.) He was so entertained by my unbridled joy that he went out and bought the Batman soundtrack LP and made a 30 minute reel-to-reel recording of nothing but the theme song. And I'm sure I was happy to play the dancing monkey.
Decades later, long after I stopped reading comic books, I still have a primal fondness for The Dark Knight. The only films I ever get excited about anymore are new Batman and James Bond films. (007 also being another discussion for another time.)
But while Digging Through The Crates today, I found the Batman album. The actual Batman album that my Pops bought to make that endless loop. I stole it from his collection years ago. And I will travel with it wherever the road may take me.
A recent post by a Facebook pal reminded me of one of my favorite songs, Dean Friedman's Ariel. While I don't remember ever performing this song live, I did have one of my bands run through it in rehearsals. So I dug out the tape and digitized it. Killer on bass! From an Elgin, IL practice in late '83 or early '84. Grab the mp3 now. Limited supply.
8 years ago, Spiro Ballas asked me to write and record a new Otis Ball song for a holiday album benefiting the Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center. I hadn't been in a studio or created new music since the unreleased Favorite Love Songs album in '91. But I'm always a sucker for a good cause. And honored to be asked for a song 15 years after my one and only album. Luckily, I was a year into the Super Karaoke Fun Time Band project and our bass player at the time, Arthur Rodriguez, had ProTools. And so, Last Present Under The Tree was written and recorded. Arthur on bass, Sam Park on guitar, Kevin Hyland on drums and everyone on vocals. I could not have been happier with the results.
A few years later, I made a video for the song using the amazing pictures of Conni Freestone to benefit the local animal shelter. So here is that.
By the time the album was released, Arthur had left the band, replaced by Kevin's brother, Dan Hyland, on bass. And Sammy split for warmer climes. Thankfully, Keith Hartel showed up to fill the enormous hole left by Mr. Park. So for the record release party, Kevin and I were the only band members that played on the actual recording.
But SKFTB was nothing, if not versatile. We put together a one time only Christmas medley of songs from The Beatles, The Monkees and SNL, as well as a rare live Last Present. And, being that we were in Boss Country, we tossed in one of our show stoppers with Dan taking the lead. Here is the entire performance from that show.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, if the faith allows. And a very happy new year from your pal, Otis Ball.
The first time I saw Jimmy Webb was at The Bottom Line in 1993 promoting his Suspended Disbelief album. The second time was in December of 2000 on the CBS Sunday Morning Show. He played two songs with Glen Campbell. I was very lucky to be one of about 25 people admitted to watch the live television performance.
Tonight I attended my third Jimmy Webb show. Let us back up. You may or may not recognize his name, but you know so many of the songs he has composed. Jimmy Webb wrote Up, Up and Away, Galveston, Wichita Lineman, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, The Worst That Could Happen, Where's The Playground Susie, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Didn't We, All I Know, The Highwayman and ,MACARTHUR'S PARK! You know even more, but I can't hum on a blog post.
Back in the day, I shoved my way to the front of the stage for some Maxwell's shows. And I have also been fortunate enough to have front row seats for a handful of amazing shows. But I have never had a better seat than I had for Jimmy Webb in Jersey City tonight. And I don't even know how that happened.
When I first heard that Jimmy Webb was playing the Brennan Court House Coffee House, I flipped my lid. The headline artists have always been local artists. I thought someone must have been screwing with me. I reserved my tickets the day it was announced. Jimmy Webb playing my hometown? Yes. I will be there.
When I showed up tonight, I was escorted to my seat. This was not a folding chairs in a gymnasium affair. Tables with four chairs around each table. Maybe an 80 person capacity. And I was taken to the table directly in front of the keyboard set up on the floor, 7 feet from my chair. I had THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE! The keyboard was aligned directly to my chair!
It was AWESOME! He played a number of his hits and told long stories for each and every song. I have been a Jimmy Webb longer than I even knew I was Jimmy Webb fan. Anyone reading this is a Jimmy Webb fan, whether they realize it or not. He is a legendary songwriter. Glen Campbell was the artist to his muse, but hardly his only outlet. Scroll through his Wikipedia page. You know his songs.
He played Up, Up and Away, Galveston, Wichita Lineman, All I Know, Adios, Oklahoma Nights, The Highwayman, If These Walls Could Speak, MACARTHUR PARK! I might have missed one or two, but it was a full show. His stories took more time than the songs. It was an evening I will never forget. After the show, he stuck around to sign autographs. I brought my collection of LPs and he signed all of them. When he saw my 'Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb' album, he told me that it was unauthorized and he hated it. But he happily signed it.
Side note, Laura Savini from WLIW was his handler at the signing table. She's been hosting so many of the NY public television music broadcasts I have been watching for well over two decades. An unexpected bonus!
A night I will never forget. In the presence of greatness. For any composers out there, I highly recommend his book on the art of songwriting, Tunesmith. There are none better.
Every year I make a point to do at least one live performance and/or a recording. This year I will do both. More on the recording later. (When it has been recorded.) But this is your fair warning for what will likely be my only public performance this year.
