Lost in Love's Ocean

Wandering Souls 2 is titled “Wander”. It features singer/songwriter/friend Doug Pierce who passed away in the Spring of 2013. The album is a tribute to Doug, a dedication to his dear wife Tina, and a posthumous hello to his cornucopia of friends. Sing on Doug.

Comeback Kid is a tasty tune by Fred and Doug and the perfect track to open the CD. I helped with the lyrics, but ‘twas Fred and Doug who laid down the notes. During mixing, I stripped the track bare, and let it stand naked. Doug’s vocals and Fred’s “Motown” bass bring a twinkle to the eye. Play that funky music white-men.

Together with You was an FZ melody. I wrote lyrics around his score, and then sang it once and well. This is one of my better vocals, I think. Very Beatlesque. “I want to know what you feel, tell me this is right and real, I’m standing out there on that line; give me each breath you breathe, pour yourself all over me; we’re holding onto a moment in time, All-right.”

I’ve Been Waiting for You is a fine and mellow tune Doug wrote about his lady Tina. I added backing vocals and a bit of this and that. This was the first tune Doug and I sang together on, and I am honored to be a small part of something so special. “I’ve been waiting for you, you’ve been waiting for me, I’ve been waiting for you, forever and ever.”

Lost in Love’s Ocean is another of Doug’s tunes, and it is one tasty rocker. He was experimenting with alternate tunings, and played guitar, bass, and drums on the song, in addition to his fine vocal. I added some backing vocals, kicked up the drums, and reveled in the result. “We don’t like knowing were we’re going, it feels like were drifting, lost in lost in love’s ocean.”

Devil’s Daughter is a tune I wrote in a dark corner of a dark room in a dark city. The first few lines came to me the very moment the encounter occurred, and I wrote most of the lyrics on a cocktail napkin. “Walked into the parlor, saw the devil’s’ daughter, her body really blew me away. Hot blooded female, enchanted fairy-tale, a fantasy that takes me away.” ‘Twas a memorable erotic moment. The moment may have been spontaneous, but it took a few years to get the song right. It now doth rock.

A Helping Hand is a song I wrote and finished in two nights. FZ added a great, single take keyboard track. It was motivated by my desire to contribute to a worthy cause. No takers yet, but I ain’t ready to quit. I like this tune, and believe something very good will come of it.

The Ride is an intimate Doug composition. I again stripped it bare, and left it the way he recorded it---just two Dougs and his acoustic guitar. This is a nice story about a motorcycle ride that changed two lives. “Now let’s take that ride.

Dirty Blvd is a fun tune about a serious subject. Doug took the idea from a Cleveland newscast, and wrote and rapped his white way along. This is a hip as we hops can ever hope to be, and I do dig it much. “We were just on our way home, cause we live down here you know, right down the street, down the dirty blvd.” Tru dat, DP, true dat.

Low Down Dirty Shame is a true rocker---all Doug. I stripped it down until I found the essence of Doug in the music. I had worked with him on the lyrics, electing to kill off his protagonist in the end. (It’s what I do.) “You lost your soul, now you’re on the run, you’re blaming the world for the things you done; in your little mind you evened the score, and now you’re lying cold and dead on the floor.” Doug’s single chord guitar solo is . . . epic.

Who are the Angels? is another Doug solo performance; he nailed it in one night, and he knew it. He recorded it in the midnight hour, woke his Tina at dawn, cooked her breakfast, sat her down, and played it for her. “Just listen,” he said. He had never done that with any other song. I think this song is as good as any song, by anybody.

And so it goes.