and in the vein of the old Jimmy Smith Trio recordings done with Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate. I got the music done, no lyric and later that day Matt Slocum came over and he and David and I layed it down in 2 takes. I put lyrics to it after that and laid the vocal down. Much of this collection was done with that type spontaneity, I love it when it hap- pens.
I have said it before and I will say it again, there's not a bad song on the record. What inspired you to write "Real Sugar?" By the way, I really dig the horns! And tell me about "I Keep My Mind On You." “Real Sugar” is fun. Three or four years ago I was down in Daytona Beach for a gig and staying with Bill and Patti Thames - Bill also photographed the album cover. We were hav- ing coffee and Bill was using Sweet and Low or something and I asked if he had any real sugar. Boom, flash in my head, great song title and off I went. Wrote down the chorus on his note pad in the kitchen and it wasn't until I began work on this project that I picked it up and finished it. It became a statement on how our lives are slowly becoming artificial in way too many areas, we're being taken away from the true nature of life.
"I Keep My Mind On You" is a much different approach. I toiled over the lyric on this one and it ended up being a composite of many different notes and ideas I had written down in the course of several years. Never throw your notes out!
"Mr. Love" is my favorite track. Re- minds me of The Beatles. The lyrics are great too. Are their religious or spiri- tual undertones, or am I way off base? You hit a home run, I would say it has those
undertones for sure. Another one that I had music for, for quite a while, and only lately did I sit down and finish the idea. Most of these lyrics come straight from the daily news. Someone suggested that "Mr. Love" was like a super hero, coming to save the world from itself - not unlike Dylan's "Mighty Quinn.”
And for those of us who Believe, the Su- perhero could be God. The ultimate “Mr. Love.” But that’s just my take. You really spin a nice love song. Such is the case with "Distant Light," "She Was There," "I Keep My Mind On You" and "My Oh My," another song that re- minds me somewhat of a Paul McCart- ney style. And I do mean that as the utmost compliment. Tell us about these songs. My younger brother, Gary, wrote "She Was There." I did some editing on it and changed the key and capoed the guitar for a different sound but that one is Gary's. His first recorded song, officially he is now a song- writer! A fine one too. “Distant Light" was originally titled "Lay Your Troubles Down." I was thinking of it as a gospel feeling thing, it kind of took charge and told me what it wanted to be. This one also has spiritual tones, in my way of hearing it anyway. I like it when songs wake up and guide you to the end. I'll take that McCartney compliment, thank you! "My, O, My" started as an instrumental acoustic thing. When the few simple lyrics came they seemed to put a good feel on the music so I left them in.
What inspired you to write a song about the great Billy Joe Shaver? "The Man From Down Near Waco" is a per- fect description of Shaver. Billy Joe and I became friends many years
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