The Basement Tapes: They Were Me

Between the years 1974 and 1997 I wrote over four hundred songs, ranging in quality from "hmm ... not bad" to "totally craptastic."  I recorded several demo tapes, but lacked the strength of character to actually submit them to record companies, choosing instead to protect my fragile self-esteem by simply not trying.  Through the course of the intervening years, between changing households and stuff just getting lost or thrown out, the number of recordings that still remain has apparently been reduced to twenty-one songs.

These are really Basement Tapes; some of them were actually recorded in the basements of different family members and friends.  Because they are quite old, some of the sound fidelity has been lost; there are mysterious drop-outs and crinkles and fuzziness.  But they represent the best I could do at the time.  Don't expect too much and you might not be disappointed!

This first song, They Were Me, is one of my all-time favorites.  I had written a brief post about it back in 2009 when I first rediscovered the tape, but I didn't have any way to convert the song to digital format back then.  A couple of months ago, though, my friend and ex-brother-in-law Dave was kind enough to do that job for me.  This week I put together a rudimentary music video for the song, just so you'd have something to look at while the music plays.  Click here to view the result.

This song was composed and recorded in the mid-to-late 1980s, to the best of my recollection.  I remember being surprised at my own lyrics; they kind of burst forth from me unexpected, revealing a truth about myself that I had not previously entertained.  I am pretty sure I played all of the instruments in this recording.

From time to time I'll add other songs to YouTube and link to them here at Preaching to the Choir, unless you beg me to stop.