From Chris Huston: I was Associate Producer and Recording Engineer on this album and have some very fond memories of the sessions. For one, Thom Mooney, the drummer, had his jaw wired shut, after he was mugged in New York. I had a barbecue for them at my home, in Coldwater Canyon, and while we all ate barbecued steaks, poor Thom had to make do with a milk shake. The group was fabulous to work with, this being way before Todd had gained any recognition for his unique songwriting talents. I always got a laugh out of the, "Look Harvey - a crab" aside, in "Wildwood Blues". My understanding, at the time, was that this song was a tongue-in-cheek dig at the mundane and pedestrian way of life out in the hinterlands of New Jersey.
"Hello It's Me", is, perhaps, my favorite track. This being because it came out so well, and, there is so much rock'n'roll pathos in it. "Open My Eyes" was one of the first uses of phasing. For this I used 2 tape machines, not as it is being done today, with a piece of outboard gear especially designed to simulate phase shift. If you look at the original album credits, you will see me listed as engineer. The album was recorded at ID Sound, on North La Brea, in Hollywood. The ID stood for Ivan and Dawn, the owner and his wife. The recordings were done on an Ampex 8 track recorder, using the studio's custom built console.
Underneath your gaze I was found in The haze I'm wandering around in I am lost in the dark of my own room And I can't see a thing but the fire in your eyes Clear my eyes, make me wise Or is all I believe in lies I really don't know when or where to go And I can't see a thing 'til you open my eyes I've been told by some you'll forget me The thought doesn't upset me I am blind to whatever they're saying And all I can see is the fire in your eyes Can't believe that it's on your mind To leave me behind
You know you don't have to tell me What it is makes a man angry But what you do have to tell me What it is that you think there is to laugh about Standing here waiting for an explanation Seems like a waste of time Try to see how much you can get away with You might get away with anything you'd say I don't know your mind You can take what's mine, you can share my bed You can go where I go, you can cry when I'm dead But you don't get nothing 'til you tell me what's in The back of your mind You're somebody special Or I won't let you be with me And I don't like to get angry But it's my habit of taking things seriously I know what you do when I'm not around you To see you're doing right I got evil in mind but I wouldn't put it past you Your silence shows that you won't disclose Just what's in your mind
Let's talk about the things you wonder
Things that you're trying to hide
When words slip up, you drag them under,
making me stand outside
But from all I can see,
you've become somewhat frightened of me
But my thoughts run high of what we could be
If we didn't stop to think
of what could go wrong on our way there
I want you to see what you can be
See what we can be if we try
Here is a thing we can't skip over
I think you should be around
What one can do, can two do better,
don't try to drag the thing down
If I thought I could be
something more than I thought I could be
I would take off and fly if it were me
I don't need to be reminded
of the things I don't believe in
Hello, it's me I've thought about us for a long, long time Maybe I think too much but something's wrong There's something here that doesn't last too long Maybe I shouldn't think of you as mine Seeing you Or seeing anything as much as I do I take for granted that you're always there I take for granted that you just don't care Sometimes I can't help seeing all the way through It's important to me that you know you are free 'Cause I never want to make you change for me Think of me You know that I'd be with you if I could I'll come around to see you once in a while Or if I ever need a reason to smile And spend the night if you think I should Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad
Got them old, Wildwood blues Got them old, Wildwood blues Wildwood town, some bad news Got them old, Wildwood blues Drinking beer by the sea Giant baseball park by the sea Looking like 1953 Vegetable soup by the sea Look, Harvey, a crab! Got into town on the 445 I could hardly wait to arrive Local yokel hippies start performing their tricks I try to make it out on the 446 Luxurious accommodations, room and board But I take no anger until I fall on the floor Baskets, sea shells, anything became my bed The local yokels and Jeanie jumped in just the same now
If that's the way you feel, don't change your mind
Be sure this time, I don't really mind
If that's the way you feel, let this be gone
Decide it on what you really want
I'm not going to plead so that no one is stopping you
Write when you get to where ever you're going to
I might have gone but I'm too much involved
To forget all my problems and think of them solved
I'm not in the habit of running my fears up a flagpole
And I'm less concerned of your secrets
than about why you carry on so
If you want a little bit of attention
Why not make a spectacle of your self in public
Or maybe you could credit me with having
Enough understanding to merit a wire
Besides this is the end
And goodbye, it was real
But then
One of my friends went flying by He at first didn't see me there He said that flying got him high I at first said I didn't care I can wait 'til my time comes around With my feet on the ground When I get my plane Porsches and Jaguars are a bore I don't think trains are here to stay I don't like taxis anymore I don't think buses are the way And as Wilbur and Orville have said, "I think cycling's dead. When I get my plane
I was thinking 'bout my troubles this morning Trying to decide if I should live or die I forgot to leave a note on the mailbox so Said I hope that you forget to come by I'd wasted time to tell myself It's wrong to leave you by yourself The love I have does not exceed The fear I have of you when you need someone to plead With you to try again And beg you not to cry in vain and be your friend Why is it me? Why is it me? Why is it me now? I was never meant to carry the burden Keeping track of someone else's life as my own How can I enjoy the time when I'm with you when I'm afraid to ever leave you alone I wish you'd stop this game or else Begin to lean on someone else I'd like to leave you far behind Before I'm found in your state of mind Because I need to lead a life of my own I wish you'd find somebody else and leave me alone Why bother me? Why bother me? Why bother me now?
Crowded, my life's so crowded Not enough time to do the things I want to do Faces, so many faces Not enough time to search through all of them for you See you know what I mean When I say that nothing should come between For you, I'd do anything for you As long as I know that you are where you want to be Happy, we'll stay happy As long as I know that's your way of loving me
About time you took a stand But please don't misunderstand I know she won't be back again I think she's taken all she can She's goin' down She's comin' 'round It's all over, she's goin' down She's goin' down for the last time Don't bother waiting for the next time around The first time, it doesn't show And her kind, just come and go She's like a ship, a drifting free And now she's sinking in the sea
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