counterclockwise

counterclockwise was released on May 27, 2012.

My late mother and father both wrote stories and histories of our family. counterclockwise is a subset of those stories set to music. The running order and links to download are below. The mp3s are all the current release mastered versions.

counterclockwise_cover

This is the information that you would see in the CD booklet, had I produced one.

Edward Martin
Shoes
Villa Girl
Many Trains
Lincoln
Policies
Polio
Firecracker
New Germany
Perfect Game

Bonus track:
Beyond the Seas

Edward Martin (1927)

There was the time
I got to the mail before mother did
And a package addressed to me
From an Uncle George I didn’t know I had
I don’t remember what he sent
Because she took it away

The past is mine
The past is mine alone
The past is mine
Alone

The folks never talked
About what had happened before I was born
My mother had been married before
To a husband who died, with a son who had died
And I didn’t know much more than that
And I’ve wondered to this day

The past is mine
The past is mine alone
The past is mine
Alone

Nicole Sangsuree – backing vocals
Anthony Dyer – violin

Shoes (1927)

Nothing else mattered – she had to have those shoes
Black patent leather – she had to have those shoes
Over and over, incessantly asking
What could her parents do?
They held off just as long as they could but
She had to have those shoes

She always wore them – she had to have those shoes
She never ignored them – she had to have those shoes
Her head down while running, she watched her reflection
It was the thing to do
They were more than they could afford but
she had to have those shoes

Out north of town with her brothers
Father behind the wheel
Took the corner of County Q too fast
Laid the Hupmobile down on its side

It seemed upside down – she had to have those shoes
Her dad reached in and pulled her out – she had to have those shoes
She realized her shoes were still in the backseat
Just as it blew sky high
Her collarbone broken and now
She remembered those shoes

Nicole Sangsuree – lead vocal
Mike Short – guitars

Villa Girl (1939)

[My mother attended the University of Wisconsin and lived at Villa Maria, where she was, indeed, one of the switchboard operators, along with her good friend Floyce. Some wag paid for an advertisement in the student newspaper certifying Villa Girls as THE ones to date, if you wanted a good time. Very inspirational.]

Do you want a date?
Yes, I’m sure you do
You can get someone who is simply perfect for you
We work the switchboard
We know who’s free
Just call Fairchild 1-1-3-3

If you think you’ll do better
How dare you, we dare you!
Don’t let others fool you
Choose a Villa Girl

If she keeps you waiting
Or she’s in distress
We’re there with a shoulder
or the loan of a dress
Luscious lovelies
counting eighty-nine
For all occasions and the best of times

If you think you’ll do better
How dare you, we dare you!
Don’t let others fool you
Choose a Villa Girl

Nicole Sangsuree – backing vocal

Many Trains (1943)

It could never have been a large wedding
And they would not have wanted it to be
She had cousins by the dozens
And a large family

She waited at the station for the last Friday train
She was waiting on the platform alone

He was an only child
And her brother kept on at her
That he’d gotten cold feet

Then the phone finally rang
He was thirty miles away
He’d gotten to Chicago
and was lucky to have made
the last train of the day

He began by riding many trains
but he could not make the last little bit
And the license that they needed
was not signed yet

The city clerk took the paperwork home
And her father found the gas coupons
The wedding day was gorgeous
And the ring sort of fit on
And his father got the daughter that he always wanted
And his father got the daughter that he always wanted

They began by riding many trains
to Chicago for the honeymoon
But the Palmer House did not have
the room he had reserved
And Jehovah had taken all the rest

They began by riding many trains
to Madison, Wisconsin by the lake
So that is where it started
and where it’s never ending
We began by riding many trains

Nicole Sangsuree – vocals

Lincoln (1943)

3 days after the honeymoon
We moved onto E Street
This was the town of Lincoln

The whole apartment would fit twice
into our current living room
This was the town of Lincoln

So I waited all day while he worked on the base
I could keep the one room clean
I could mop the kitchen floor in a minute
I sat with the wives at the morning coffees
And the war went on while we didn’t do much
And the war went on while we didn’t do much
This was the town of Lincoln

We made a lot of new friends
And we bought a good used car
This was the town of Lincoln

I drove it onto the base
and got stopped by the guards
This was the town of Lincoln

They said, “You’re in a restricted area.
There are things that we can’t let you see.”
Go back to your one room apartment
Go back to your coffee
The B-29 will be quite a surprise
The B-29 will be quite a surprise
This is the town of Lincoln

Donna Yarborough – lead vocal
Anthony Dyer – lead and drone violins

Policies (1948)

Christened John Hubert, called himself Hub
And he founded the whole agency
Built it from nothing all the way to ’55
By delivering the policies

He made a lot of money in the ’20s
As the family grew larger each year
Built a nice nest egg and a very bright future
And talked off everyone’s ears

The depression hit hard in Sheboygan
As it did everywhere else
He covered a lot of his customers’ premiums
At no small risk to himself

The ’40s got the money back flowing
But sent most of his sons off to war
To his great relief, they all returned to safety
Which was not true for thousands more

As a son-in-law, I had the privilege
First hand, it was something to see
As he made me go with him as the twilight began
To deliver the policies

The address was his favorite tavern
First round was my responsibility
And the second round, too, if not more, it is true
We were delivering the policies

Then the card games got started in earnest
I could not be seen to refuse
The young guys were sharp and the older ones sharper
It was typical for me to lose

There’s more to insurance than selling
It’s keeping the customers pleased
Relationship building is everything
Delivering the policies
I’m just delivering the policies

Mike Short – bass and guitars
Donna Yarborough – backing vocals

Polio (1952)

4th of July, 1952
Neighbors gathered on the porch
Jack slammed the door
Jumped in his Thunderbird
Took off like a rocket from the curb

Trouble at the hospital
With his wife Sue
Later that night we heard the terrifying news
She was only 24 years old
Left Jack with a three year old

Betty and Gene, just down the block
Gene was already dead, what a shock
Betty struggling in an iron lung
I want to breathe
I want to breathe
I wanna

I want to live
I want to breathe
I want to live
My children need me

Whole place is like a ghost town
No summer swimming
The beaches are closed
Keep the kids close in the yard
We’re praying hard for an early frost

You can’t run from it
You can’t run from it
You can’t run from it
You can’t run from it
You can’t run

Nicole Sangsuree – vocals

Firecracker (1955)

My mother just got back from the grocery store
To find a policeman at her door
I’m feeling guilty and I’m feeling mighty weak
And I think I know what he’s here for
He said that he was Sgt Robert Graves
I could not take it any more
I led them to my firecracker stash
Hidden on the basement floor
He said, “Now, hand them over son
I’ll take them safely away”
I cried, “I will not do it again”
He said, “You are forgiven for your sins”

The sergeant laughed and said, “I got a two-for-one
I did not know about your scheme
It’s actually your sister that want to see
She’ll be reigning as bicycle safety queen
Her poster got selected by the Rotary
It said No Hands, No Feet, No Bike
I’m only here to congratulate Annie
And to see everything put right.”

Mike Short – guitars
Rene Berblinger – mandolin
Cowan Jenkins – violin
Donna Yarborough – vocals

New Germany (1978)

Memories at eighty stay
I’m still living day after day
But time marches on in America
I’ve never been back since

We sailed the boat
From Germany
We left the boat
For liberty
We left the boat
In the land of the free
Home of the brave
A New Germany

The young ones think I’ve lost my head
They don’t understand, they never did
I was not born here, though I like it fine
My heart goes back to any earlier time when

We sailed the boat
From Germany
We left the boat
For liberty
We left the boat
In the land of the free
Home of the brave
A New Germany

I’m getting old and nobody knows
That when I’m gone, there’ll be nothing left
A few ideas, a little blood
Germany was more than beer and bratwurst

Nicole Sangsuree – lead vocals
Mike Short – lead guitar, acoustic guitar and bass
Rene Berblinger – mandolins
Fiona Jenkins – violins
Donna Yarborough – backing vocals

Perfect Game (1959)

[This was an astounding baseball game, and it happened the night before I was born. My mother listened to it while she was in labor with me. No one has thrown 12 perfect innings in a game before or since. Here are some stories about the game:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/margie_boule/index.ssf/2009/05/portland_songwriter_pens_ode_t.html

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/452565

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/sports/baseball/24haddix.html?_r=1&ref=sports

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2009-05-26-haddix-perfect-anniversary_N.htm ]

May night Milwaukee, 1959
Harvey Haddix on the mound
Braves were stealing Pirate signs the whole game
Still Harvey mowed Milwaukee down

He threw a perfect game
Ball’s in the Hall of Fame
But Cooperstown don’t call it what it was
and that’s a shame
The only man to pitch and lose a perfect game

Through the later innings, throwing hard without a sweat
He ended regulation striking out old Lou Burdette
Twelve innings down, with no runners reaching base
Nobody else had ever done it so Harvey’s place in history is safe

He threw a perfect game
Ball’s in the Hall of Fame
But Cooperstown don’t call it what it was
and that’s a shame
The only man to pitch and lose a perfect game

An error in the thirteenth inning sealed Harvey’s fate
Then Joe Adcock homered but he never reached the plate

He threw a perfect game
Ball’s in the Hall of Fame
But Cooperstown don’t call it what it was
and that’s a shame
The only man to pitch and lose a perfect game

Patrick Short – vocals, keyboards and loops
Nicole Sangsuree – backing vocal
Mike Short – bass and first guitar solo
Steve Adams – closing guitar solo

The album was mastered in May, 2012 by Rick McMillan at Cloud City Sound. Justin Phelps of Cloud City Sound hosted a pre-mastering meeting and we sure appreciate his 25 suggestions for improving the mix. “Perfect Game” was originally mastered in May, 2009, but got remastered from a new mix for this CD.

counterclockwise was recorded from 2009 – 2012 in the top secret studio location, using Garageband, a newish Mac Mini, M-Audio 410 ADA Converter, a Rode NT-1 mic, dbx compression, Alesis Quadrasynth, Alesis Nanobass, Alesis QSR, Strumstage for the iPhone, guitars, violin and mandolin from the various players, Native Intruments Retro Machines, Kontakt Sampler and Autotune 7. Loops are from Zero-G, Drums on Demand, BandmateLoops and Producer Loops. Most folks got to visit the top secret studio location, but Mike Short’s guitar and bass parts were all recorded at his studio in Albany, NY, and sent in by e-mail.

Bonus Track (unmastered):
Beyond the Seas

Download the mp3

Winston Churchill – lead vocal