This CD, a guaranteed tangible object, comes in a handsomely designed, artsy-to-the-max, eco-friendly "Digi-Pak" folding case that includes a 16 page booklet with 10 (count 'em) awesome photos of the band in action. We're confident that you'll want to display it proudly on your mantle or coffee table.
But wait, there's MORE! Extensive liner notes let you in on TOP SECRET band info that even Wiki-Leaks can't get their hands on! For instance, what true music geek wouldn't DIE to know the brand, model, and year-of-manufacture of a particular rare vintage guitar used on a particular track, huh? And an exhaustive "Thanks" section where you just might find YOUR name mentioned! Yep, it's all in there. C'mon, you KNOW you want it!
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about
In 2005, my friend Larry Drake died in a motorcycle crash. I always called him the Big Man, not just because he was 6 feet and 3 inches tall, but also because he was a solid mountain of a friend. He effortlessly and unapologetically carried his own contradictions. He could be a moody motherfucker in the mornings (a description he wore proudly), but he was warm, funny, and loyal beyond compare. He always needed his independence, but he was also the center of our little group, and his memorial service brought 150 people together in a state of collective intimacy and openness that I haven't experienced before or since. For me, the Big Man’s big laugh will never be matched. That's how I usually remember him.
I lived with Larry in Berkeley and Oakland for about five years. After I left California in 1993, the Big Man remained a centering force for me, and his apartment became one of my homes. I flew back to stay with him a couple times each year, and he always welcomed me with Zachery’s pizza for dinner and oatmeal for breakfast (the slow-cooked, steel cut kind that required extra time for scrubbing the pot).
The Big Man loved to drive, and I never felt safer or more like myself than when I was in his passenger seat. This song is packed with memories from our trips together. You’ll hear details from Slovenia, Point Reyes, Spain, Portugal, Guatemala, Belize, California's Highway 1, and of course Amsterdam. In the year after Larry died, I had a series of vivid dreams re-living these trips, and a lot of these memories are now preserved in the chorus of this song. The beginning of the song describes our last telephone conversation, three days before he died. He agreed to join me on a work trip to Scotland. I ended up going on the trip alone, and the second verse is about the Richard Thompson concert I saw in Edinburgh. Larry loved Richard Thompson. The show was sold out, but strangely, there was one empty seat next to me. I don't consider myself a religious or spiritual guy, but I'm pretty sure the Big Man was sitting in that empty seat when Richard sang “52 Vincent Black Lightning.” A year later, Larry’s mother asked me to choose the place where we should scatter his ashes.
The version captured here is a duo recording. At the beginning of our first recording session, Andrew spent some time eating lunch. To check sound, Aura and I played this song without Andrew and Lex. Even though this performance has a couple of minor blemishes and it lacks a rhythm section, I think it captures something real that might be hard to duplicate in a more polished version. For the next Brûlée album, maybe we’ll record Amsterdam with the full band. Lex has a real affinity for the song, and he says he’s been hearing some nice horn parts in it.
— Louis... Thanks for listening!
credits
from To a Crisp,
released December 1, 2012
Words and music by Louis Matza.
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