Six Strings, Stages and CDs
It was 1964, my beatnik-wannabe parents were adrift in suburbia with me and my older sister, amidst a dizzyingly poignant throng of political activities. On top of all that, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, Lenny Bruce was sentenced to prison for "obsenity," Mary Poppins had its world premiere, and I started playing guitar.
I was thirteen and, as it happened, I idolized the daughter of a family friend, Joan, who knew the chords to Kilgary Mountain and patiently taught them to me. I began performing folk music in eighth grade with a wildly unconventional classmate. We sang covers and a couple original songs written by a pair of painfully cute, parochial school neighbor boys, one upon whom I had a major crush (to little avail).
I began writing and playing my own songs at eighteen. By then, I was married to my guitar and on the threshold of courting words with abandon.
Traveling from city to city, here in the US and abroad, my ambition, in the early, post-high school, years, was to simply stay afloat via rhythm and rhyme. Words and melodies came easy and provided an alternative universe filled with revelatory charm, constant companionship, guidance, stability and solace. I developed a secret code of communication, a mirror and a map by generating a library of songs. Here are three:
David's Lullabye (1:07)
Trapeze (2:01)
He Never Said Goodbye (4:15)
Through time, fortuitous collaborations, and a multi-year segue into script and book writing, I returned to writing songs with greater deliberation and ever-expanding intent.
Here are a few of my most readily available offspring. All listings, except Retro Pamela, mark the beginning of my most recent Single Song CD Series.
(pictured on banner from left to right)
The Ducks and Us:
A Musical Interlude with Wildlife, Feelings and Food
CD and Study Guide with lyrics
A children's sweet, informative and, intermittently, humorous musical story focused on wildlife safety and protection. The song narrative compassionately juxtaposes the science of wildlife protection with the social-emotional nature of human engagement with wildlife. The Ducks and Us features the angelic Northwest Boychoir in concert with an ensemble of multi-age range singers cast as emotionally expressive characters in the gentle story. I cast myself as the story's narrator.
To hear the song and discover more about this lauded social change project created and produced under the auspices of Emotion Literacy Advocates (ELA), with the wise counsel of scientists, journalists, spontaneous input from park-visiting "duck-feeders", plus key players in the environmental scene and the generous support of Seattle artists, editors and technicians, visit this page.
Retro Pamela Volume One:
A Musical Memoir from LA to Portland
A low-tech (voice and guitar) mini-compilation from my original song library...circa 1977-1982...fifteen songs recorded in a single take in Bo and Paul Parker's Portland home studio. This is a special order item with booklet of lyrics and vintage personal photos from my trek in and around LA, SF and Portland.
The Full Spectrum Birthday Song (or Why Just Happy?!)
"...for the all of you inside."
A ground-breaking (because it pushes the envelope on the "happy" imperative) birthday song for all ages with a buoyant, witty, wise (because its main organizing principle is self-acceptance, no matter what) flair using voice, guitar, wild and domestic animal harmonies, with surprising splashes of magical sounds. Think Mister Rogers' heart meets Dr. Seuss's brain. Lyric insert included.
You can find comprehensive documentation of The FSBday Birthday Song CD Gift Program's triple-state track record with details of this song's successful application in multiple social service settings for children, foster families, music education and parent training programs right here. Additional literature and sponsorship info about The FSBday Birthday Song CD Gift Program, under the auspices of Emotion Literacy Advocates (ELA), are available here.
You can find a page of narrative I composed to reflect my vision for this ELA learning tool program here.
Here's a two-minute song clip.
Pink:
"...for the knowing you inside."
According to Daniel S: "Pink is an emo-plus ballad, with the thought and power of spoken word clothed in haunting melody...an image-rich balm for those of us finding our perceptions ignored or cast aside by the mainstream." Lyric insert included.
(Click here for composer statement, credits & lyrics.)
Ovation:
"...for the audience of you inside."
A morale-boosting meditation presenting a humorously wise logic (because it denounces "winning" as a reliable source of self-esteem) and casts a vote for unconditional self-love amidst a crudely competitive world. Lyric insert included.
(Click here for composer statement, credits & lyrics.)
Order CDs here. Special orders here.
Coming soon:
~ MORE CDs ~
Including Word For Love, An Advocate's Cure, The Rodger Equation, One In All, Big, Pass Me, My Alphabet To Freedom, Invisible Lines By Degrees and more musical adventures from Saving The World Solo and Song; plus Retro Pamela: Volume Two.