In an alternate universe, I became a music legend.
But not in this one.
All I wanted from the time I started playing guitar and
piano at 16 years old (waaay back in 1985) was to "make it in music". I wrote as many
songs as I could. Eventually, I crafted what I thought were pretty great songs,
and sent them to record companies. After the rejection letters poured in, and
college and job offers trickled in, this reality led me to where I am now...
...but I always wondered what happened to Gregory Richards
(that was going to be my stage name...to keep some anonymity between my real
life and my Rock Star life).
Then three months ago I found my old 4-track cassette
masters, restored them with Logic on my Mac, and decided to release the songs
as a glimpse into what could have been...the first songs recorded by music
legend Gregory Richards that launched his legendary career.
Here are the first batch of songs...
The Journey
The text above is what I put on the album liner notes...
...and it's all true.
I had full confidence I would have a career in music...I thought for sure composing, but maybe if I got lucky, performing my own songs. I would spend a little time practicing for my piano lessons, but then spend hours just playing. In fact I still can't read music as well as I'd like because at the time it "slowed me down". Once I took up guitar 6 months later (from an amazing guitarist Reynold Philipsek), couldn't stop playing and composing. In high school I took 2 years of "Electronic Music" class (kind of an honors-independent study class) and that got me hooked on recording.
I bought my gear (4-track, drum machines, keyboards...all of which are collectors items now!) and started off (even having my then-girlfriend, now wife sing some tracks). After a while I joined a christian rock band but at the same time send "demo tapes" off to record companies. I still have some of the rejection letters, and some photos of me gigging (solo with a bunch of that original MIDI gear backing me up as the band) at a few locations in the Minneapolis area.
Turns out I was pretty naive. The topic of most of my songs were about faith and Jesus (not wildly popular) and as a result never even considered entering the mainstream music scene...which would have been essential to connect with those that could possibly make a career possible.
Eventually I accepted my technology path...but even now at 48 not a week goes by where I don't think "What if". In fact, when I was asked by a senior in high school what he should do after he graduated (computers or music), I flat out told him I may not be the best to ask...because I chose computers...the safe, monetarily stable, predictable route...and some days I am filled with so much loss and regret I can barely walk into work.
That said, I have found outlets to play, including our church (yep, still songs about faith and Jesus), and even have composed some songs used in the services. I've found occasions to play around town, and even last week my wife suggested I just start showing up to Open Mic nights...to share what songs I have now.
I do have 2 albums on iTunes/Amazon/Spotify, and I've made a whopping $45 from the 5 years of streaming...and recently added more on Band Camp (including soundtracks to live theatre that was super fun to compose). You'll find the whole collection here:
Re-Mastering
Anyway, it's been quite a journey to uncover what I recorded. I recovered about 30 songs that, while I've always had copies on cassettes, I never shared them since they sounded bad sonically. The versions I had were 3rd and 4th generation cassette copies that warbled, and really were not pleasing to listen to.
Now that I re-mastered them using, at least to me, the latest technology, I can hear parts I forgot about, I can make the tracks pop out, and I can make the songs sound like they're in stereo! I only had 4 tracks, but I would "ping-pong" the tracks and ended up with a mono music track with 5-15 instruments, then 3 tracks for vocals (or a lead guitar).
What you're hearing is the original mixes (since all music tracks were mono), and a remixed vocal, and then "mastering tools" applied.
I plan to publish more, but these first 10 are the ones I really thought were going to make it big. I have no illusions now, but I still love these songs so now I'll be sharing them every so often...
...if anything to give you a glimpse into an alternate universe where Gregory Richards was a music legend.
Flooding back…lost in the years…lost in the business of
life…blurred out by conservative views.
It’s been a while since the news hit, so by now it’s nearly
irrelevant, but even if it’s just for my own benefit...
...here’s my journey with Prince...
First Listen
It was 1984. I was a rocker. I loved AC/DC, Van Halen, and
all related guitar-luvin music. The first rock concert movie I saw was AC/DC’s
“Let There Be Rock” at the Skyway theaters. Huge stack of speakers on each side
of the screen…it as awesome! My parents would have cringed if they knew
Angus “mooned” the audience during a guitar solo. Oh, and we hated any music
with “keyboards” (I know, later I learned piano and have been playing and
composing since I was 16…life’s funny that way). We even contemplated
boycotting Van Halen when “Jump” came out with…keyboards! Anyway, me and my
brother were returning from a great weekend at our Grandpa’s lake home in
Deerwood, MN. We were driving south past Lake Millacs, (past the big bass
statue), and he said, “Take a listen to this”.
The song started.
Keyboards...
I was skeptical.
We were supposed to hate keyboards.
“…you can always see the sun…” The tension started to
build…maybe not a complete waste of time...
“so when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills…you know
the one”...
….the drum beat kicked in...
My ears perked up… “…this life, you’re on your
own!"
Then the guitar.
That crunchy, slamming’, aggressive guitar...
This wasn’t some woosy little pop song. This was something
different...
…and by “Punch a higher floor!”… when the wall o’ guitars
slammed into synth stabs...
I was hooked!
By “Take me away!” I was, well, taken away 😃
I’m not sure my brother knew what he started.
Of course 2 seconds after the song ended, a sweet drum fill
…a full measure of drum fill…started the next song.
That was it. I found my favorite music.
Soon enough I discovered 1999, Controversy, Dirty Mind,
Prince, For You…in that order. I wore those cassettes out and knew every song
by heart.
On the plane back from Madrid, the memories continued to
flood back...
... mowing my parents lawn screaming out Delirious … and my
dad educating me that the lawn mower sound doesn’t drown out full-out singing.
… sneaking into the Wayzata movie theater (my friend worked
there). While most would sneak in to eat the stale popcorn, we snuck in to ‘air
jam’ and mimic the choreography to our favorite songs…of course I chose “I
would die for You” and “Baby I’m a Star”.
…choosing a guitar teacher partly because he was cool
looking and an amazing player, but also because he auditioned for Prince’s
band. (Reynold Philipsek…still releasing amazing records)
…trying to convince my mom that Prince was a shy, wholesome
performer who sang about God…while turning down “Erotic City"
...Learning to play guitar and the first song I learned was,
yep, a Prince song.
…writing my first song (on a woefully out of tune guitar)
which was the first a-ha moment that I could not only compose music of my own,
but could explore all kinds of recording techniques (like high-speed guitar),
layering vocals, and playing all instruments myself.
Take a listen to "U Drive Me Insane" below...
Interestingly, as I listen to that first attempt at the whole "produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Greg Hintermeister", I can't believe how fearless I was. I knew I wasn't the most talented, but Prince's music taught me how to strive for interesting music...I wasn't a good vocalist, but still didn't stop me from layering vocals with multiple parts.
...also all on a little 4 track cassette recorder. Crazy. And, I have to say, a few I still love listening to (take a peek at "The Rock", and "In Jesus Name")
Here's a collection from 1985-1987 I now call, "Was Gonna Be A Star":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…and then I remember the day the local KDWB radio station had a “Purple Rain Tour”
contest.
I called in and amazingly won 2 tickets to see Prince! I was
so excited…literally flopping on the ground. I asked a friend of mine if he
wanted to go because my parents would NOT approve of me going…we were a very
conservative family. But that wouldn’t stop me. The day of the concert came,
and I was PUMPED...
…and then my friend called. my Mom answered. “Hey, can you
tell Greg we’ll pick him up at 7 for the Prince concert!"
…They were not happy. Although at this point, I’m not sure
if they were mad about the concert or the fact I lied that I was just going to
a friends house for the night.
I was grounded. I was so mad at my friend for leaving the
message that I sold the tickets to a friend of my brothers. Then he was mad at
me, and I don’t think we talked again.
Maybe because of that disappointment, I was driven to
immerse myself in the Prince experience.
…and it filled my life...
~~~~~~~
At some point it became an obsession. At the time I was an
active member of a youth group, so just as Prince’s songs swung between God and
sexuality, my inner Greg went along for the ride. This part is difficult to
think through but it was a part of my Prince journey…not difficult as in
embarrassing or regretful, but difficult because I’m not sure what I
think about the path I took.
I bought everything I could…including a mecca trip to
Electric Fetus to get some rare 12” singles. I also frequented “Knut Koupee”, a
music store frequented by Prince. One time I walked into the store only to hear
a killer Prince-esque drum loop rolling. Flanger, phaser, the whole thing.
Unfortunately it was just a worker, but Prince had been there, and I left with
custom “Love God” guitar pics and “Love God” tambourines left over from his
Purple Rain tour.
About that time I remember seeing a TV performance of Purple
Rain tour (in late 1984?) and feeling so…happy! It’s like when I heard his
music I would smile, jump around, feel invincible, and dream of the day that I
would return to a high school reunion (I was in 9th grade) all famous and play
my own cherished songs 😃 .
But, it wasn’t always good.
As a counselor at a church camp, I spent more time playing
purple rain on piano in mess hall than helping kids
I influenced friends and family and watched how they started
becoming obsessed as well as me. Funny how we can become so focused on someone
we’ve never met.
I went to Knollwood to see “Under the Cherry Moon” opening
night…and at the end of the show, at least as far as we could see, Prince
himself ran down the isle and disappeared through the emergency exit. Was it
really him? Who knows…no GPS nor Twitter at the time. But I think it was based
on the reaction of the girls on the isle seats. Me? I became light-headed (I
know…). My friend shook me out of it and we quickly followed, but when we
opened the emergency exit...
…nothing.
My favorite jam at the time? a b-side called “Irresistible
Bitch”.
Eventually the conflict I felt inside by being a
Jesus-follower and a Prince fan came to a head. I really didn’t know what to
do, and my youth pastor suggested…to burn all my Prince material. WHAT?!?
That’s crazy! burn everything. How extreme.
But, in the end, I did.
And you know what? It hurt! (so maybe it was a good
decision?) Was it ridiculous? Maybe. I don’t know. I did feel I was putting my love of
Prince before faith and obedience. Some day I’ll look back and study the
details…so…into the wood-burning furnace it went…the 12” singles, rare photos,
albums, I was OK until the inside LP cover of Purple Rain (the girl
drawing) was ripped and thrown in…
...I felt that pain deep inside.
That was probably 1986, and for a few years I focused on
music from the young Christian scene. (White Heart, Michael W. Smith, Stryper)
In 1989 the movie “Batman” came out…and of course the music
was amazing. It was a way to get reconnected to Prince’s music in a “PG13” kind
of way. While I loved “Batdance”, my favorite was “Trust”. I learned later that
Jack Nicolson used Prince Music to energize himself so the new music had to
have the same beat, and the same hits (sometime dissect Trust vs. Baby I’m A
Star”).
In early 1990, the radio station “Cities 97” promoted an
intimate concert at a now-defunct night club on highway 394 and 100 (just can’t
remember the name!). I called the venue and...
…I got tickets! The concert was for May 2nd, 1990.
…My 21st birthday was May 15, 1990.
It was an “over 21 only” show.
My heart sank. I even walked up to the venue, met the
manager, took a tour of the night club where Prince’s stage was all set up for
the show that night…and I had to sell them. 13 days too young. (I know…Prince
loved the number 13…irony or whatever)…I couldn’t believe I couldn’t see that
show.
Soon after, Prince announced the Nude tour. Since I worked
at Daytons I got tickets…waaay far away but I didn’t care. One day before the
concert I walked by the ticket window and the gal said, “we have extra Prince tickets”.
16th row. SWEET! I sold the nose-bleed tickets to my brother and bought the
good ones.
What a show. So great to hear all the great songs and see
Prince live on stage.
About that time, Up With People called, and I was asked if I
could travel a year early and play guitar around the world.
During the tour I met other Prince fans, and even met a gal
that had the most sought after bootleg “The Black Album”. Awesome. In fact,
most of the time in some foreign land, I was asked, “Where are you from?”.
I would say, “Minnesota”.
Blank stare.
“Minneapolis”.
Eye sparked…, “AH, PRINCE!"
Yep. I guess he’s always been a part of my identity.
Of course life happens, and I focused on college, job, wife,
kids.
I never did stop recording and composing. Here's a clip from a live theatre soundtrack...one of my favs from "Sleeping Beauty" I wrote in maybe 1997:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then, in 2006, Prince announced his Musicology tour. I got 2
tickets, great seats, and went with that same girl. He played 2 nights and the
night we went, we were surprised with a new opening band...
…The Time!
What a treat! We got to see Morris Day and all the
rest do their thing. What a fantastic warm-up to Prince, who for that tour did
a ton of hits, an acoustic set, and gave out free CDs to all ticket buyers.
Later I bought 2001's “The Rainbow Children”…my favorite of all
(except for the dumb low-tuned vocal that appears now and then). So funky
and raw. Plus, with that record I realized his music was much more
family-friendly. Mostly PG (or maybe PG-13). I loved listening to it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now it’s 2016. I kinda followed his music, but since I was
too cheap, I skipped buying more recent CDs (which required various online
memberships). Recently I was curious if he was still touring and by dumb luck
stumbled into Ticketmaster just as a concert in Chicago went on sale. I found 2
great seats, but having just returned from multiple work trips, I really didn’t
want to deal with the travel logistics (6 hour drive, hotel, blah blah blah…)
so I canceled the order.
I’m a little sick about that. I would click Order in a
heartbeat now.
Now that he’s gone, I’ve been listening to all kinds of
Prince playlists lately…from my own collection, the Current, and others. I’m so
in awe of how much great music he released and how much good stuff there is.
Most of all I’m in awe of how he changed…from “Dirty Mind”
to “The Last December” which is basically an alter call.
So what of all this?
I don’t know. I’m just grateful for his music…and have no
regrets…regardless of the paths his music steered me.
I think, in the end, his music helped me feel alive and connected.
...Alive.
...Connected.
...Fearless.
For that I’m thankful.
…and to be honest, I think I need a little more of that
“feel alive and connected” these days.
To celebrate his life...and mine, I think I'm gonna focus on two things:
1) Compose and record more often and be more fearless.
2) Embrace music...soak it in.
In fact, I think I’ll have to buy me a record
player, some old Klipsch speakers, sit right in front of them...
This concert was a "Full Circle" type of experience.
Here's my ticket stub to the 11-27-2011 George Winston concert:
And here's my program to the very first George Winston concert I attended:
For both of them, Karyn sat by my side.
It's just for the first one, it was the very first date Karyn and I went on.
Nearly 25 years ago to the day, I asked Karyn out for a date. We met earlier in May '86, and in what will have to be a deliciously fun future post, we had a VERY interesting summer of music, Valley Fair, relationship-drama, church, 4th of July poster-making, midnight excursions, and...the "other" boyfriend.
At her madrigals and choir Christmas concert in the Ridgedale center court, I asked Karyn to the George Winston show. My logic was that even if she was not sure, she'd probably say yes to an expensive concert so it would at minimum get me one date :-) (just enough to let her experience my HinterMOJO)
Luckily she said yes, and in Dec 23, 1986, we went to Orchestra Hall and listened to George. I sat on her right, and I remember holding her hand for the first time and putting my arm around her (which, I quickly learned, is NOT a comfortable position for your arm to be in on its own...but when it's surrounding a creature like Karyn, it becomes totally worth it)
From that first date, to now...25 years later, we have traveled on a crazy-lovely-dramatic-musical adventure, and I wouldn't trade a second with this lady.
The music that George played at this latest concert brought us back to our early dating. Funny how music can be such a potent memory and emotional amplifier. I probably hadn't heard some of that music by Karyn's side since the last George Winston concert.
His playing is so clear, crisp, and dynamic. Sometimes he play loud and it sounds like a guitar amp in over drive. His pianissimo is so quiet, but has complete clarity. When he needs it even softer, he reaches into the Steinway 9' grand, mutes the strings with his palm, and continues to play... evoking images of scampering autumn creatures. Sometimes he'll pluck the individual strings for a sitar effect.
Simply amazing. His playing seems to reflect the life Karyn and I have formed:
Sometimes we're snoopy-dancing...
Sometimes we're curled up in a cold December night listening to the wind...
Sometimes we're exploring the forest...sometimes lost and a little scared...sometimes in awe at the life that surrounds us...
...and sometimes we're emerging from winter into spring...and enjoying every essence of life.
But always she fills my life with beauty, wonder, and love.
I've said it many times before, but to sum up, she simply adds the sparkle to my life.
If you have never heard George Winston's music, take it for a spin. December is my favorite album (probably because it was our favorite) but he's got a lot of great work.
Thanks George, for a great concert, and great memories.
