REMIXED and REMASTERED
NEW TRACES of the OLD ROAD
Available Now
I wanted to commemorate our last day of innocence, 9/10/01 both with the song, Last Day of Summer, and with this release date of New Traces of the Old Road.
Response to the new version has been fantastic. I can't wait for you all to hear this baby.
By the way, the New Traces of the Old Road will not be available as a download, only the older version, for now. You can only get New Traces of the Old Road as a CD.
Details regarding the changes in the CD can be found in the "a word from James" section.
MP3 and IPOD Alerts!
September is here and i want to, just as a reminder, let you know that not only can you get my CD's as MP3 files, but now you can get any one song from any of my 21 CD's, so you can turn any of your friends on to what i do for the modest sum of $.99. Perfect IPOD gifts.
Go to ITunes or any of the other reputable download sites, they all have all my music. The CD's or the indiviual songs are all available. Gee, what a guy!
A Word from James:
It's mid October and I've been working on the musical for weeks. I am in the fourth draft of the libretto and am remixing all the songs and have been presenting to a few close friends in the biz to get their reactions and to see what needs work. So far the reaction has been amazing. I might be the new Lionel Bart (The Music Man)
As for the latest CD, I spoke about it last month, but I'm leaving the post up as it has lots of info that you might be interested in. Here's the skinny:
New Traces of the Old Road is now available as of September 11, 2008. This is the only version of this CD available, so there is no confusion here at Beachwood. When you order Traces or New Traces, what you get is New Traces. Just click on the cover--the one with the old cement bridge, just to the left and down from right here.
Regarding what has happened to the CD, I have fixed everything that was really bothering me about it in its original form; literally re recording parts of and remixing eight of the eleven tracks. I am happy with it, tho I know that I could remix forever, and i've discovered that there were a few things I let slide. It started out with me wanting to change the order a little. I decided that the album worked better if the whole thing started with the rain and thunder, then went into Last Day of Summer, followed by Dylan's Just Like Thom Thumb's Blues coming out of the sounds of the storm ("...when you're lost in the rain in juarez..."). Then I realized that there were things I didn't really like about the mix of Last Day, so I rerecorded some vocal things that were bothering me and then replaced the electric bass with an acoustic bass and then remixed the song. At that point, I thought, well, I've come this far, I think I will just fix anything else that is bothering me. So I then rerecorded vocals, and guitars and percussion for One Heart Falling, Most Likely You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine, Stolen Season, Long Way From Home, Stop This Rain, and Anywhere Love Goes. I remixed everything accept Just Let It Go, Too Many People and Thom Thumb's Blues and I remastered the entire CD. It may sound crazy, but I had to do it and now I love the CD. I am resending it to radio and the press, and I am very anxious to get your feedback on the changes.
I am working on the musical. Just rerecording parts of the opening number and I have written the libretto, the second draft of which is now finished. The whole piece is coming along and sounds great. I can't wait for you all to hear it.
The Datamusicata Blog is going crazy, and we've crested 400,000 hits, that's hits, not robots. It's amazing. Please check it out.
For those of you who are unaware of it, it's a free artist resource site that I've created to give back to the community everything that I have learned in forty years on the road...and can still remember. Here's the url: www.datamusicata.com I also have guest columnists, so there is always something interesting and informative and there are always the fun fotos, either of some non sequitur or someone famous, or of me and my cronies.
All Wood and Stones has been getting a lot of airplay in Europe thanks to Peter Holmstedt and Hemisfran in Sweden. Great Britain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxemborg, Ireland, Italy and Spain are all broadcasting the music. Very Fun for John and I, who are now thinking about doing another CD together.
Hope to see you there or...at one of my concerts. ..and o before i forget...
Have a great fall,
James Lee Stanley
TO HEAR SONG CLIPS FROM THE ETERNAL CONTRADICTION, JUST CLICK ON THE BOLD TITLE BELOW:
"the eternal contradiction" (a tip of the hat to the inner turmoil that comes with living in these bodies). i've been getting some incredible reviews on this one, i hope that you will take some of your time to check it out. if you glance to your left, you'll see the cover.
If you want to know all about the recording process, the instruments, etc and the lyrics to the songs and the inspiration for them, just click on the eternal contradiciton link below the album cover.
the songs on the eternal contradiction are:
this fleeting moment, let the tree fall; mary january; here we are; street where mercy died; world we left behind; on the bus?; change; the loner; nothing to keep you on my mind; and it's all in the game.
scott breadman did the percussion and ken lyon did most of the bass (colin cameron did bass on let the tree fall and i did bass on this fleeting moment, nothing, and here we are). batdorf and i did some background vocals on "here we are" and "the loner". the soloists include Mark Rodney, Corky Siegel, Peter Tork and Bradley Vines. Lisa Turner did some great background vocals on Let the Tree Fall. it's a beautiful recording.
on the equipment side, i highly recommend these incredible elixir strings. i love them. they sound great and they last and last and are also really easy to play...and no squeaking. very cool.
remember Tom Dundee and go to his page on myspace. he was my dearest friend. i still ache to think of his passing.
i'll be touring as much as i possibly can over the next year. hope that i get to see you up close and sing for you live.
all the best and happy new year,
james lee
TO HEAR ALL WOOD AND STONES, PLEASE LOG ON TO www.allwoodandstones.com
USA Today Wednesday, Nov 4 in the LIFE section reviewed All Wood and Stones. Here's what they had to say:
Singer/guitar/composers John Batdorf & James Lee Stanley stripped down Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby?, Under My Thumb and nine other Rolling Stones tunes into acoustic skeletons, confounding logic by rendering a subdued version of Let's Spend the Night Together with former Monkee Peter Tork on guitar into a stirring affair. Batdorf & Stanley have turned the rock grooves inside out, adopted stylish arrangements and made no attempt to ape the originials, unveiling the elegance of the melodies and allowing radically new interpretations of songs long tattooed in boomer DNA. Paint it fresh -Edna Gundersen
As for All Wood and Stones, you may also order it at the site with your favorite credit card or just send us a check payable to James Lee Stanley. i can't wait to hear what you think of the tunes. please do check the site out and talk to me. i think the songs are great and we've tried to do the stones proud.
thanks to mike marrone and xm radio and especially Deep Tracks, barnes newberry and wumb and now arden at kpig, and now wcsx in ann arbor, and wcoo in charleston, sc.
hope to play for you all in the coming year. dates are starting to come in and i'm going out there, both solo and with john, so check in as often as you can..
CHECK OUT: www.allwoodandstones.com
A Sad Word from James on Oct 3rd, 2005:
dear friends in the folk community,
hamliton camp passed away last night. evidently from a heart attack. for those of you who knew him, this is a profound loss. for those who didn't, hamilton was there as the great folk scare began. judy collins opened for hamilton and his partner bob camp at the gate of horn in chicago.
there is also a recording of one of their concerts there. it is called gibson and camp at the gate of horn. since that time in the early sixties, he wrote, performed and toured as well as evolving into a fine actor, whose work could be seen in beatty's heaven can wait amongst countless others. he was also a guest twice on the tv series mash.
we had been friends since we performed together at the earl of old town in chicago in the mid seventies, he with the skymonters and me solo.
last summer he called and asked me to produce a recording of him that was dedicated to his lovely wife rasjada who had passed away over two years ago. he came in, utterly prepared and performed the songs with so much heart, i suggested that we record him live, voice and guitar and then have the other musicians simply play afterwards and just serve his performances. both he and his son ray told me that no one had ever captured him so spot on. only this past friday, hamilton and i just finished the cover art and copy for the album beachwood recordings will be releasing the cd in november. it is called sweet joy. i think he was just staying here to finish this recording for rashada and then, when he knew it was all done, he slipped away.
he was a wonderfully funny, charming and talented man and one of my dearest friends. the world is a poorer place without him in it.
you can post me here if you want to send an email to his family. he is survived by a wonderful group of children and grandchildren. he was a blessed man.
For those who are interested in obtaining Hamilton's last CD, here is the info:
Hamilton Camp / Sweet Joy Songs:
Song of the Wandering Angus
Long Train
2:19
Nothin’ But the Blues
New Beginnings
Highway Man
Sittin on a Roof Top
Celts/Go No More A Rovin’
Pride of Man
Ring Them Bells
Sweet Joy
Windsong
Musicians: Hamilton Camp, Paul Barrere, Ken Lyon and James Lee Stanley
The CD is available from the Store page .
