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Thanks to Avalon for their 737 series tube compressor limiters. Fender, Ovation, Takamine and Guild guitars, Korg and Roland keyboards, Lexicon outboard gear, Yamaha drums, Pro-mark sticks, and GHS strings. All final tracks and overdubs were recorded digitally on VS Products. Critical listening was done by numerous professionals, hired hands and anyone willing to remain seated for long periods of time. Engineered with Mackie mixing and reference equipment. Neumann, Groove Tubes, Beyer, Shure and CAD mic's were used in the recording and mix down of Beach Music.

All mix down, mastering and overdubs were performed at Selected Cuts & Abrasions using TC's Finalizer products.

Thanks and appreciation to old friends and fellow players from '75 to Y2K.

Best Wishes, J.D.

Lyrics & Liner Notes

Thanks to the following for their support: Gail and the Griswald's (every trip reminds you of Chevy Chase's "Vacation" movies).

Musicians: Steve McNamara-Guitar (Sign of the Times) Chris Pederson-Drums (Hurricane Season) Rolanda Formante-Background

Vocals, and The Hurricane Horns-Brass

Lyrics

Beach Music

She smiles and the lights dance in the streets

You know this girl knows just what to do

And there's something so special about these times

For me and you

And I can still hear the music they played uptown

I can still smell the perfume

And the laughter of all those friends we made

In every room

Maybe I'm older, and maybe it's colder

It's hard to believe it's true

But there's something so special about

This time with you

And it's Beach Music, you know that it's Beach Music

It's the life and the sand and sound of the bands we love

Some folks like to rock, some folks like to roll

Some know how to shag, in South Carolina they stroll

And you know how to dance

And you know how to go all night

Running out of time, and running half blind

Hoping that your dreams will come true

When you need a place to go

It's here for you

Chorus

Maybe I'm crazy but let's pull up stakes

Move to the sun and away from these heartaches

Chorus

Wishing on the Moon

It's a lonely lonely night

And the Santa Ana winds blew my love away

I've been wishing on a falling star to bring you back to me someday

This time I won't surrender

I'll find some strength from deep inside

This time we'll look for answers

Not gonna live with alibis

And someday, maybe someday soon

I'll stop talking to that lonely lonely moon

Cause I want stop, stop wishing on a falling star

Stop wishing on the moon

This time I'm gonna speak from my heart

Though my heart may be hard to find

I'm going to learn to listen to reason

Gonna learn to compromise

Chorus

This time, this time it will be forever

My love is so faithful darling, my love is so true, it's true to you

Chorus

We wrestle with words

'Till we're lonely and we're not satisfied

All the answers we ever needed

Are found in each others eyes

Chorus

Send Me Somebody

Last night she took a long walk

You know, the one's she used to take

Thought about all the old times

All the love they used to make

It was on a walk like this

So many years ago

He took a wrong turn home

Left her standing there all alone

I heard from a friend of ours

She said you were feeling blue

Said, times hadn't changed a thing

And love just hadn't found you

It's so hard to be alone

To face the world that way

She heard you say...

Send me somebody to love

Time won't help this pain

It won't bring my love to you

Send me somebody to love

I know you'd give your soul for this dream to come true

But when you ask for someone to love

Why not ask for someone to love you

Chorus

Sign of the Times

When you can't get what you want you get what you can

On the street where you live, that's the law of the land

Who makes these rules that seem so unfair?

You play by your own, you don't really care

No conscience, no crime

That's the sign of the times

It's the code of road, but which road are you on

You say this world is changing, and all your hope is gone

You see it in the little children cold and lifeless eyes

And you see it in your friends, you've watched them compromise

No conscience, no crime

It's the sign of the times

When you see them on a park bench, no where to go

And you say they've got nothing to prove nothing to show

When you can't get what you want you get what you can

On the street where you live, that's the law of the land

You see it in the little children cold and lifeless eyes

And I've seen it in you, I've watched you compromise

No conscience, no crime

That's the sign of the times

Hurricane Season

When the hot July sun gives way to hurricane season

And I'm lost and I can't find my way, and I can't find a reason

I come down and trace the shore for you

Praying someday I'll find a footprint or two, a trace of you

Very little changes, you're never found

Here in this Spanish Town

So every night I'll chase the ghost of you and reason

With hurricane season

And I come down for a day or two

Praying someday I'll find something new, a trace of you

Chorus

And the wind blows you away from me

And I'll fight your memory like I fight the sea

Someday you'll come back to me

I search the streets in vain, you're never found

Here in this Spanish Town

Every night I chase the ghost of you and reason

With hurricane season

Every night I chase the ghost of you and me

Babylon is Falling

One foot in heaven, one foot in hell

So much confusion you never can tell

And you know

There's nothing left to burn

City of angels, but I don't know why

Clipped wings on lost souls unable to fly

And you know

There's nothing they can learn

I hear them calling

Babylon is falling down

Nomads roam the boulevard, lost in space

With a lonely exterior that sticks like paste

And you know

There's no place they can turn

Chorus

I could hear a voice as plain as day begging me to stay

But it's a hard fall from grace, and glory's gone in Babylon

I stood up on the sand, so I could see

The beast breathing fire like a dragon on everything he sees

One foot in heaven, but this feels like hell

So drunk on free will, you never could tell

And you know

There's nothing left to burn

Chorus

World of Confusion

From the Empire State, to the Barbary Coast

From the sands of Mohammed, to the Holy Ghost

Got a world of confusion, got a world gone insane

Got a world of confusion, like a runaway train

Who shows the will to love, and who chooses the will to fight?

Who masquerades in gray, but talks black and white?

Got a world of confusion, got a world of pain

Got a world of confusion, like a runaway train

Got a world of confusion, got a world gone insane

Got a world of confusion, like a runaway train

Late last night I lie awake

And I could hear the screen door slam

And rusted out '77 Toyota pickup full of terrorists

Took away my band

It's world of confusion, it's a world gone insane

It's a world of confusion, its a runaway train

It's a world of confusion

Letting Go

So now it's time to walk alone

You stole all time that she'd allow

Then she looked you right in the eye

And said you'll have to learn to make it on your own somehow

Now never you mind about yesterday

'Cause makes no sense to wonder why

The hardest thing you'll ever do

The hardest things come down to goodbye

I know you're lonely, I know you're broken

I can see that too

There's three sides to the story, two hearts in trouble

And there's one bent on letting go

Welcome to the lonely hearts club band

It meets every night at closing time

All the lonely faces, all the sad and lonely places

Same song, same desperate lines

Chorus

I know you're lonely, I know you're tired

I know you can see this through

There's three sides to the story, two hearts in trouble

And there's one bent on letting go

Waiting on Love

The first time I knew love, it was anything but easy

There were so many things I did not know

Trying to be so cautious, tried to be so careful

Sometimes you just don't know what you don't know

If you hesitate, you might just lose her

You'll never really know

You'll slip, stumble, waiting on love to find you

It might just slip right through your hands

The next time I tried love, it was a little bit easier

But there were still some things a man must learn

She was oh so lovely, everything so special

But I had bridges I just had to burn

When you hesitate, you know that you will lose her

That's something you will learn as you go

If you slip, stumble, waiting on love to find you

It slips right through your hands

I know that road is long, and I know it may be rocky

You've got to read the signs along the way, and don't let her slip away

I might be older, but I don't pretend to be wiser

There were some things a man must still learn

I found a special woman, but I had to take some chances

There were some bridges I just had to burn

When you hesitate, you know you'll lose her

When you hesitate, you know she's gone

When you hesitate, so much can happen

Don't let it all go wrong, no no

Now don't you slip, stumble, waiting on love to find you

The Hours Lost

(Golden Anniversary)

As midnight grips this lonely night

I sit in the moonlights glow

Dreaming of forget-me-nots

And all times you'll never know

The years are not a gentle friend, and all my will is gone

In the hours lost before the dawn

It's summer now in this lonely town

And I'm wishing I could just learn to fly

I see your face in every cloud

That blows across the summer sky

The years are not a gentle friend, and all my love is gone

In the hours lost before the dawn

Ten years to fifty years

And you never see it fade away

And if you could change a single thing

What would you change anyway?

Now morning finds your memory

Reflections in my mind

I'll try to piece together loneliness

And leave it all behind

Tomorrow's like a lonely friend, now that you are gone

In hours lost before the dawn

Bridge

As midnight grips this lonely night

I sit in the moonlights glow

Dreaming of forget-me-nots

And all the times you'll never know

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All songs written by J.D. Pederson

Liner Notes

Beach Music

The genesis of Beach Music came about over the course of ten years. JD wrote a song in 1983 that he played around the SF Bay Area called "She's The One," which featured some interesting guitar work (on the demo) by Randy Jones, who Pederson played with in a band called Pilot. There was a Caribbean vibe to another Pederson tune entitled "Trinidad" that stuck in the songwriters head, and eventually manifested itself into the music for "Beach Music." It was kind of a "Neville Brothers meets Jimmy Buffet meets Tower of Power feel," recalls JD.

"Beach Music" was really a rhythm and blues art form in the Southeast. The shagging and strolling done in out-of-the-way beach joints made the texture of that sound and the accompanying lyrics a lifestyle.

If you listen to music coming out of that period in the early sixties in the Carolina's you understand why someone like Jimmy Buffet is as popular as he is today. Oh, to live vicariously through that sound and those images.

What comes through in the lyric is a celebration of sorts, and a reminiscing of less conflicting and stressful times. Perhaps that's why the song evokes fond memories to anyone who remembers a place where "she smiles and the lights dance in the streets."

Wishing on the Moon

Paying homage to the early R&B artists of the fifties and sixties, this one's sprinkled with background vocals reminiscent of a Four Tops song and some pretty funky guitar work. Originally written in 1982, "Wishing on the Moon" was recorded in San Jose California as a simple ballad with acoustic guitar and minimal accompaniment until a few years ago when the original recording was augmented with a rhythm section and the Hurricane Horns.

Sign of the Times

The song is a dialogue between two people that points out that everybody including the listener has been compromising their integrity. Right or wrong it's most definitely the "Sign of the Times." The song has a dark blues feel that rolls along with the listener. Steve McNamara (guitar player out of Orange County, California) adds a Robert Cray feel to the opening four bars and spices the verses up with equally bluesy guitar work. Pederson throws just enough tension in the music to give this one a sinister undertone. "Sign of the Times" was recorded in Orange County in 1995.

Hurricane Season

Picture a beautiful Caribbean beach in the summer gone chaotic and dangerous as "Hurricane Season" arrives. It's all about chasing ghosts and love's lost. "Hopefully we achieved the necessary feeling as we built to a crescendo in the bridge of the song. I wanted to feel the wind blowing as the singer fights the sea, adds JD, and I think we accomplished it with additional percussion and drums from my eldest son Christopher. He added a much heavier-bigger sound to that passage than I tend to play."

Babylon is Falling

This was written in the middle of the night on the day after all hell broke loose in Los Angeles surrounding the Rodney King verdict. I remember thinking, we've got some stark and sinister contrasts here," comments JD. Living in Southern California during those riots, Pederson assembled a lyrical cast of characters that paint a very bleak and apocalyptic picture of greater Los Angeles. "Nomads roam the boulevard, lost in space. With a lonely exterior that sticks like paste." You know something bad is happening here, but you're taken along for the ride, "so drunk on free will you never could tell."

World of Confusion

This song was in response to Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi." "Not that the ideals or motives of the sixties are totally gone, but you've got to admit we're worrying about a lot more these days than paving paradise to put up a parking lot," quips JD. The global issues of terrorism and nagging regional conflicts have put things into perspective, and in "World of Confusion" Pederson wrestles with religious differences and political dogma. "You say one thing, you do another," adds Pederson. It truly is a world of confusion.

Written in 1997, the song speaks to issues that seem more real today than even five years ago. JD comments, "I saw footage of a ragtag group of rebel-terrorists traversing around the desert in a blue '77 Toyota truck. And how did I know it was a '77 Toyota? Well, I once owned one just like it! And, right at that moment ...the rest of the lyric just hit me as poignant and ridiculous at the same time."

Waiting on Love

As the saying goes, "you move - you lose." Well, like the Beatles pointed out if you wait too long, you're gonna lose that girl...

There's a tongue-in-cheek nature to "Waiting on Love" along with an upbeat rock'n soul sound. "I wrote the music and recorded the basic tracks a long time ago in the garage of a house we owned in the San Francisco Bay Area. This place was great for music (acoustically) so long as the mice and other long-tailed friends didn't munch on your cables," comments JD. "I look back at phrases like "I might be older, but I don't pretend to be wiser" and think, whoa...that was twenty years ago...talk about not knowing what you don't know."