notemason
notemason's JournalStory of the $2.50 song
1980 would find me struggling in Nashville as a singer/songwriter and to keep a roof I had a day gig at a garden center. One day I spotted a regular customer wearing tennis shorts and since I was on the tennis team in college I struck up a conversation that began a series of very friendly but highly competitive matches. Not so friendly were the trips to his house where he and his wife would get into horrible arguments almost every time. Put a pin in that for now.
Anyway it turns out he was the drummer in the band of a country superstar and he was friends with O.B,.McClinton who was heading to the studios to cut a new album. The drummer and the rest of the band started their own publishing company and hoped to put a song on the album. He knew I was a songwriter and asked me for help. It was a rush job but I co-wrote a song with a fellow songwriter who also worked at the garden center and the song made the album.
I left Nashville for awhile but remained in touch and looked for that first royalty check. After some time passed I contacted my friend again and asked about the song. He said sales were poor and sent me a check for $2.50 which I still have. That was the last I heard from him. I later discovered that the reason I couldn’t reach him anymore was because he had one too many arguments with the wife and took her life. He was in prison,
Years later I found the song on You Tube and researched a bit to discover it had been pulled from the album and was being marketed internationally as a single. I reached out to a member of the original band and inquired about sales but all I ever received was an accounting that showed my royalties due were in the neighborhood of a nickel.
And so goes the tale of the $2.50 song, Didn’t even get the nickel. 
My Lightfoot Story
It was the 70's and I had a letter of introduction to Gordon Lightfoot and I loaded my van with music equipment in South Carolina and headed for Toronto. Really excited for this man was my music idol; his amazing lyrics coupled with really tasteful chord progressions made him so. When I reached the Canadian border the guards there looked in my van at all my equipment and refused to allow entry. In their words I didn't look like a tourist, I looked like someone who would be staying in Canada and there were too many Canadians out of work for them to allow that. And so we never met, but I followed his career closely and still sing many of his songs . Today I shed a tear of love for this man and his music. Thanks for listening.
Penned this song thirty years ago; still works
Israel, Lead Us to the Promised Land
Fiery chariots, speed of light, burn west of the moon thru eternal night
Man is trying with all his might but he just can’t find it alone
Not the Kingdom or the Golden Throne
Nature’s mysteries freed from the cage
Science has opened the Great Space Age
Knowledge exploding yet the people rage
We just can’t find it alone
Not the Kingdom or the Golden Throne
Come on Israel lead us to the Promised Land
The Holy Covenant lies in your hand
The world is burning for Jerusalem to set out spirits free
To unlock the Holy Seed
Come on Israel lead us to the Promised Land
Turn swords of hate into love of man
The answers are buried in your burning sand
Set our spirits free, fulfill your destiny
Doctors healing trying to yield more years
One scourge falls yet another appears
As the cycle of anger and hatred and fears
Continues its spiritual toll, untouched by the Dead Sea Scrolls
We can’t seem to learn from the Son of Man
Who healed with a touch of love in his hand
Who cleansed the spirit to cure the man
The answer lies in the soul, heal the heart and man becomes whole
Come on Israel lead us to the Promised Land
How long must we live in the shadow of man
Who walks in darkness when the master plan
Says turn to the light of the lamb
You must turn to the light of the lamb
Come on Israel, we’re tired and we’re hungry and poor
We’re tired of living with the gospels of war
We’re hungry for the Shepherd make us wait no more
Seal the Master Plan, lead us on to the Promised Land
Come on Israel lead us to the Promised Land
The Holy Covenant lies in your hand
The world is burning for Jerusalem to set out spirits free
To unlock the Holy Seed
Oh yes,
remember well how “unions bad” was driven into our souls in the South. I'm in the reddest section of one of the reddest states in the country and those critical thinking skills are the only thing that keep me from falling victim to all this right wing nonsense I'm exposed to consistently. My “Obama” bumper sticker was totally defaced at the church at my mother's funeral. I'm surrounded by it. Thankfully I can find comfort here.
Just a maybe
I would imagine if our President makes any moves towards softening the country's stance on illegal drugs it will be used as a hammer on every African-American candidate forwards. If those pressures do indeed corral him, Congress will have to step up for legalization as his latest statements would be about the extent of his support. Just my read, may be way off.
And thanks for sharing. Was great to see Willie still going strong!
Unfortunately
Because helping others is not found in the Ten Commandments. Neither is tax evasion as long as you don't count it as stealing and they don't. It's in their instruction manual, “Republicans for Dummies”.
Hope springs eternal
Friend in college once suggested we give a newly elected President keys to Ft. Knox and let him take his fill. Then he can go about governing for the people with no worry of his economic future. The Clinton's have money. I suggest she will be more inclined to establish a progressive legacy and set an example for the daughter and lay a path for future female candidates. She was born two days after I made it here and although I'm very healthy I couldn't imagine tackling what she will face at this age without better reasons than money.
Another POV
Then let the 85 install solar panels on every home so those “breaking points” disappear. Let them rebuild the infrastructure. Let them clean up the streams and oceans and get the mercury out of our fish. Let them feed the hungry. Let their legacy be that their success was used for the benefit of the entire tribe, not just their selfish interests. These are the by products of their attainment of wealth, let them clean up their own mess.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: SC
Home country: USA
Current location: Mountains
Member since: Tue Oct 16, 2012, 10:04 PM
Number of posts: 572