The Linear Canvas

I wrote this song about all wars, whether they are perceived as righteous or not. There is always an element of war profiteering regardless of whoever or whatever started the conflict. There was some push back in World War Two against war profiteering. I admire their effort, but knowing that some of the same people may have known about the Pearl Harbor attack ahead of time, tempers my admiration a bit.

I also remember being motivated by a sign in the front of a VFW in Delphos, Ohio and also the aftermath of the the first middle-east conflict. I love it when our soldiers win, but I am dismayed when what they won was a victory for big oil corporations and a handful of Saudi businessmen.

“Ghost of War”

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I am getting really efficient at my re-mixing of material I previously recorded. This only took me a week to complete. I think I recorded this somewhere around the middle 1990’s.

The analog tracks were originally recorded on a Yamaha MT-100 II 4 track cassette recorder using high speed (3.75 IPS) and dbx noise reduction.

I think the acoustic guitar I played was a Takamine. I played electric guitar on a Fender Stratocaster and maybe an Ibanez Les Paul (?). The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001. I played keyboards on a Casio CZ-101 FM synthesizer. The drums and cymbals, plus some analog editing, are from the original recording using my Boss Dr. Rhythm drum machine sounds. I was using a Yamaha MIDI drum pad.

I don’t hate the Dr. Rhythm samples. It was just the compromises I had to make to get a full drum set recorded. The Yamaha has only four pads and no trigger inputs, so I had to record cymbals and drums separately. I have a Roland Octapad here now with a trigger, but I thought I really couldn’t make this performance any better without playing my Ludwig’s (ankle injury). So I just did some editing, and here it is.

One day I was being nostalgic and started thinking about being in elementary school. I wrote this song about being on that playground, but also about coming back from summer vacation and being with all the other kids, most that I hadn’t seen for a few months. It was always the old gang plus whoever moved into town minus those that had moved out. You never really knew who you had seen for the last time or the first time until the bell rang for recess on that first day.

“Playground Days”

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I have posted this song before, but this is a new mix with some new sounds.

I can’t remember when I wrote this. I can’t tell you if any of the tracks were originally analog or not. If there were any, the analog tracks were originally recorded on a Yamaha MT-100 II 4 track cassette recorder using high speed (3.75 IPS) and dbx noise reduction. I know some were recorded on my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track. I’d suspect they are all digital.

I think the acoustic guitar I played was a Takamine. I played electric guitar on a Fender Stratocaster and maybe an Ibanez Les Paul (?). The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001. The cymbals, plus some analog editing are from the original recording using my Dr. Rhythm drum machine sounds using a Yamaha MIDI drum pad. I recorded some more cymbals recently using my Zildjian ride cymbal. Because of my ankle injury, I had to add the drum parts on a Yamaha MIDI drum pad, and a Roland Octapad using Session Drummer 3 software.

I wrote Hard Change about the influence of corporatist power over government in America. In our case the corporatists have seized the power of religion and the media to keep the fear of fear in the weakest among us. Always keeping us fearful of all the Emmanuel Goldstein’s out there. Real or imagined.

The truth is it will never change. There’s something about being mega-rich and powerful that makes men want more riches and more power. Some would say communism would be the answer, but the truth is men are men and behave the same no matter the style of government. The common citizen is always left holding the check at the end.

“Hard Change”

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“When fascism (corporatism) comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” 
–Sinclair Lewis, in 1935

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military (and congressional) industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
-President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) in 1961

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
-President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) in 1932

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The analog tracks were originally recorded in about 1994 (?) on a Yamaha MT-100 II 4 track cassette recorder using high speed (3.75 IPS) and dbx noise reduction.

I think the acoustic guitar I played was a Takamine. I played electric guitar on a Fender Stratocaster and maybe an Ibanez Les Paul (?). The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001. I recorded the percussion more recently using my Paiste and Zildjian cymbals and because of my ankle injury, I had to add the drum parts using a Yamaha MIDI drum pad and Session Drummer 3.  I also added some cow bell.

I wrote Whoya Lovin’  around the mid 1990’s sometime. I was in London,Ohio when a relative told me that she was gay. I must say, I was stunned and didn’t know how to react. I think outwardly I seemed mostly unfazed, but internally I had many thoughts and emotions that were very difficult to resolve so quickly.

I had a long drive home to think about it and wrote this song when I arrived at my house. It is more than anything, me processing the information and moving from one emotion to the next. It was a turbulent few hours, for sure.

“Whoya Lovin’”

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I am not sure when I recorded these tracks. I assume it was around 2000. I used my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track and I didn’t get it until about then. I have worked on this re-mix for weeks now, and I am glad I have finally let go of it. I had a couple more ideas, but I have got to move on, finally.

Syncing the track to the computer time caused me more headaches that it should have. Other than allowing the measures to fall on the beat markers, I’m not sure why I even bothered. Had I recorded the tracks with some time code data originally, I might have had an easier time syncing it. Back then, I usually played  a digital drum track into the Fostex as an analog signal. I presumed the digital drum machine could maintain a solid beat. What I found was that it was off by a few tenths of a beat from what I set it at. Not too much, except for over several measures the beat would drift off on it’s own. So much for digital precision.

I played the electric guitars on a Fender Stratocaster. The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001. I recorded the percussion more recently using my Paiste and Zildjian cymbals and because of my ankle injury, I had to add the drum parts using a Yamaha MIDI drum pad and Session Drummer 3. My wife Jill provided some of the handclaps. I added some cow bells and handclaps too.

I recorded the original tracks into my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track, then transferred the tracks to my computer. I added and processed the audio with Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 Producer and Sony Sound Forge v9.

I could write a book or make a movie about my childhood friend Billy Thompson. But I doubt anyone would believe some of it. His parents and mine were very close as all had come from eastern Kentucky to Ohio in the 1950’s and I believe we were distantly related to one, or both of Billy’s parents, Estill and Ann Thompson. I always called Ann “mom” as she always treated me like one of her own. Estill played with a bluegrass band at my father’s funeral. I was close to the whole family and spent many evenings having supper with them and hanging around the cemetery next door smoking cigarettes with Billy.

“Billy”

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Billy and I had been friends since elementary school and he had made it very clear to me about his bi-sexuality in fifth grade. It caused a little problem at first for me, but after awhile our other common interests, hillbilly parents, partying and music, would draw us together again. I’m not completely sure that he was gay, at least at first. He had a couple of girlfriends during that time. I also remember talking to him about girls while we sat in a tree at the cemetery. I would suggest girls for him but he always said no girl would ever like anyone like him. I think he was just bashful. Billy wasn’t an unattractive person, but he was also not very tall. I was just as scared of girls rejecting me as he was. Billy’s insecurity and height did not help him, no doubt.

By the the time we graduated, Billy and I had gone our separate ways mostly. We had attended the same vocational school and that allowed us to interact on a daily basis until then. After high school though, Billy and I didn’t see each other too much. I had a steady girlfriend and I wasn’t too interested in his new circle of friends. Some time later, Billy and his associates all moved to the west coast. After he lived there for awhile, I found out that he had been killed. I am not sure I know the whole story, but I was told it was no accident.

Billy always lived on the edge and I am surprised this hadn’t happened sooner. A few times I had to come between him and a certain beating by someone who wasn’t very happy with something he had done. Other times I just shook my head and told people, “You know Billy, You should have known better than to trust him.” I thought when I had heard of his death, that being so far from home, there was no one there to protect him. No one knew him like we did. Not a single person would just roll their their eyes and say, “…well you know Billy”.

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The analog tracks were originally recorded on a Yamaha MT-100 II 4 track cassette recorder using high speed (3.75 IPS) and dbx noise reduction.

The acoustic guitar I played was a Takamine (maybe a Yamaha). I played electric guitar on a Fender Stratocaster (maybe an Ibanez Les Paul). The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001 (for sure). I recorded the drums more recently using my Ludwig’s. I also added some drum parts using a Yamaha MIDI drum pad and Session Drummer 3.

As on other analog to digital re-mixes I’ve done lately, I had to piece this together from audio tracks that were not in sync. This project was made more difficult because during the original recording, I did not use any rhythm device or metronome, just my own sense of timing. I think I did pretty good, but that made no real consistent timing reference to work with.

I played the original analog tracks into my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track, then transferred the tracks to my computer. I processed and added audio with Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 Producer and Sony Sound Forge v9.

I was watching a National Geographic Channel special called “Surviving the Super Twisters” about the Super Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974. I remember the day well. Although nothing of mine or my family’s was hurt or destroyed. I was definitely in the middle of the action that afternoon when it hit my town.

I had just recently gotten a job after-school at the local Otis Elevator foundry in London, Ohio as a janitor. My friend Dennis Brickey had gotten a job and then got me hired as well. Previously, I would hang around at the Gift’s Galore variety store and play pinball until about five PM and then go home, by parental order. The owner had just cleared a back storage room and installed five new machines. He had two of them out by the sales counter previously, but I bet the sight of several teenagers playing pinball didn’t do a lot for his other business. This had the advantage of adding more machines (more money) and getting us out of sight at the same time (more money) for him. I loved pinball and all of the regulars were above average players. As I would walk home at around five o’clock, I would walk right past the courthouse on my way from Gift’s Galore.

That day, Dennis and I went straight to his house after school to watch the cartoon Speed Racer and the game show Match Game ‘74. As usual we arrived at the foundry gates around four o’clock. The skies were becoming cloudy, but no storms were within sight. We were on the second floor cleaning the locker rooms and offices, when at about five o’clock, the power in the foundry began to go on and off. All of us headed for the foundry floor downstairs after the lights finally went out. There was enough light to see down there because of the open doors and windows. After a few minutes one of the foremen in the foundry came and told us there were tornado’s in the area and the safest place for us was back upstairs in the cafeteria in the front of the building. I wasn’t so sure that was the safest place, but if something happened in the foundry and molten iron was being blown around by a tornado, the cafeteria was fine for me.

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Recently I have said several times that a certain album is one of my favorite of all time. I thought that maybe I should make a list so that I (and others) didn’t think I was just making it all up as I went along.

I thought my first attempt at a favorite album of all time list would be a top ten list. Then I went for top twenty, etc. I soon discovered that unless I went to a top fifty, I wasn’t happy with the contents. The only criteria I used was that the album couldn’t be a compilation of greatest hits. Live albums were OK.

I have said many times that Shawn Colvin’s “A Few Small Repairs” is my favorite album of all time. I still agree with that.

My Top Fifty Favorite Albums

(in alphabetical order)

It always has really bothered me when someone would say they hated history in school. The nicest thing I can say is, that’s dumb. The other is that because so many people feel that way, we are doomed to repeat the lessons America has already learned, but also lessons that other nations have learned and sometimes had to re-learn.

Yesterday my wife called me with a question about which U.S. president signed the Declaration of Independence first. Her company was having a contest featuring Independence Day trivia. The choices were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or John Adams. Only two future presidents signed the document, Jefferson and Adams. So that would eliminate George Washington from consideration entirely.

There were two procedures in place for the signing of the Declaration of Independence:

1. The colonies’ (states) delegates signed first in the order of north to south.
2. The signers signed the document from right to left.

The only exception was John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, who signed first.

The only reason I can think of for this procedure was a possible compromise to allow the northern states the honor of actually signing the document first, but it would appear to the British or any other interested party at the time, that the southern states had that honor. It probably was to keep everybody happy at the meeting. If you didn’t like history in the 21st century, It certainly would appear that the answer to the question, reading left to right, was Thomas Jefferson.

Knowing the procedure in place, at the time, would not allow you to come to that conclusion though. As John Adams was from Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, looking at a map would show Massachusetts north of Virginia and looking at the document will show John Adams’ signature on the upper right at the bottom of the page.

Therefore the answer is John Adams.

When my wife returned home, she told me that the “official” answer she was given was Thomas Jefferson. I suppose someone just looked at the document and figured that it was signed left to right and John Adams must have arrived late to the meeting.

The world will not end because of that error. But it saddens me that July 4th in America is more about contests and mattress sales than remembering our country’s independence from the distant rule of kings, queens, and the Church of England. Many love the fireworks just to see something get blown up more than the symbol of our Independence they are.

I only expect the situation to get worse in the future.

I have just released my first album on SAIGATI Records called The Galloway Sessions. It is currently available from Amazon.com as a CD or as individual MP3 tracks. 

The songs on The Galloway Sessions are:

1. Pray For The Sun
2. Why Do I Have To Leave This Place?
3. Wipe Away The Tears
4. Sorry It Came To This
5. This Place Is Not Your Home
6. The Old Prisoner
7. Hangin’ On To Yesterday
8. Days Go By

The album is $14.95 for a physical CD (plus any S&H). It can be purchased at the link below:

Alexander Fisher’s "The Galloway Sessions" order page

Each song is available as  MP3 downloads and are available for 99 cents each at the link below. The entire albums is also available as an MP3 download for $7.92.

Alexander Fisher MP3 download page

I hope you enjoy my music as much as I did creating it.

The Changeling is pretty much autobiographical. As a teenager I used to spend a lot of time in my room with my headphones on and some sort of thing in my hands, as my guitar, playing in front of packed imaginary auditoriums. I grew my hair down to the middle of my back and read Rolling Stone, Creem and Circus magazines dreaming about being a rock and roller when I grew up. I thought I was ready and destined for fame. I had the hair, I just needed a real guitar.

It is also about not having much support in my circle of friends for that dream. Once a “friend” told me I’d never learn to play guitar. I guess he thought that only he had the gift and that I should just give it up. It is also a reference to a song by the 1970’s progressive-rock band, Be-Bop Deluxe and their song Sister Seagull. A changeling normally refers to a child that has been switched at birth with another baby, on purpose or by mistake, sometimes by a fairy or a troll. I always felt my early performances of that song were of a changeling of sorts. Confident that I had what it took before hand, but too scared to perform without being so wasted, pitch went right out the window. I realize now that stage fright is not curable by any chemical courage, it only degrades your performance. It also would have helped to sing Sister Seagull and other songs in my key, not Bill Nelson’s. Not being a student of music at the time, I didn’t know any better.

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The acoustic guitar I played was a Takamine. I played the electric guitars on a Fender Stratocaster. The bass was a Rickenbacker 4001. The drums were Ludwig’s. I also played tambourine as well. I recorded this performance right after performing it live at my 25th high school reunion in about 2002. There’s a video tape of that out there somewhere. It originally had a creepy Hammond organ part in it that I left out. I recorded all tracks on my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track, then transferred them to my computer. I processed the audio with Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 Producer and Sony Sound Forge v9.