Tag: Ric Albano on Acoustic Guitars

Rabbit Food

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Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:23
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/20-RabbitFood.mp3]		 1989
Lyrics
I, I might have known by the smell
That you were back again
You probably dug up your well to be able to lend
I should’ve know by your smile that you had something planned
Another scheme in your pile for more spare change in your can

Hip, chick lady making me sad
Hip, slick lady making me mad
Slick and sly beneathe your friendly smile
Hip, chick lady taking all my marbles for a while

Yes, I know you tricked me before but I’m much older now
I’ll promptly show you the door, you’ll probably show me your plow
It’s just a game that we played but no longer will do
You’re just out to get laid, I’m just out to get through

Hip, chick lady making me sad
Hip, slick lady making me mad
Slick and sly beneathe your friendly smile
Hip, chick lady taking all my marbles for a while

I might have known by the smell that you were back again

Moldy Jody cramming it hard
Boldly folding until her every inch is badly scarred
Slick baby, holding me back
Hip, chick lady putting fingerprints upon my stack

I should have know by your smile that you had something planned

Composition © 1989 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on July 17, 1989
Recorded July 1989
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
12-string Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A moody song, rich with effects over a calmly strummed 12-string acoustic, the song suffers slightly from sound and tape issues as well as the ending guitar lead, which starts out strong but seems to run flat in the middle. Still, a good example of some of the experimental sounds of the summer of ’89.

Please offer your own analysis of Rabbit Food by leaving a comment in the box below.

Sweet Judy Brown

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Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 2:15
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/Xtra/SweetJudyBrown.mp3]		 1989
Lyrics
Now it was hot and it was stormy up on Katenberg Hill
When sweet Judy came with her new barnyard skill
Now on Saturday nights the men are comin’ around
Just to try her for themselves, just to lay sweet Judy Brown

All the town, they’re coming back for more
All around, they all lay down the whore

Now all of Judy’s bad habits have gone way out of line
Her mama went and caught her with five locals in the pines
Now that Judy’s out of business she can stick to one man
But if he works late on Saturday, she’ll surely bare her parts untanned

Singing, hey young Judy get off of your knees
You’re an open invitation to some new kind of disease
Hey Mrs. Brown, don’t you teach your daughter right
Now she’s in the barnyard almost every night

Composition © 1989 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on August 5, 1989
Recorded August 1989
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic & Electric Guitars, All Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This was originally going to be the lead song of a “concept album” about a prostitute called The Rise and Fall of Sweet Judy Brown. Along with an unpublished second part of this song, there is Mrs. McCleary’s Farm which advances the story line.

Please offer your own analysis of Sweet Judy Brown by leaving a comment in the box below.

Take It As It Comes

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Track 39  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:57
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/72-TakeItAsItComes.mp3]		 1995
Lyrics
I live for you, so many hours I’d wait for you
And I cried for you, there’s nothing more that I can do
Sooner or later it passes bye, you could only hope you gave a good try
But I need to know which direction that I should go
In all those instances when it seems
As though reality fits the dream

And oh, the best that can be done is take it as it comes

I’ll wait for you, though many times I will play the fool
What can I do, hold on for another day or two?
Sooner or later it wears you down, with not a single bit of hope around
It’s hard to believe that you’re above someone who can deceive
Sooner or I’ll have to make the tough decision to give or take

But, oh it is so cold
When you are all alone and you are growing old
And you ain’t got nothin’ but your naked soul
And oh, stick to your guns and take it as it comes

Take it as it comes, don’t you worry things will even ut over time
The world could seem so scary but you’ve got to keep alert for the signs
Take it as it comes, don’t be frightened, I promise it will be alright
Life isn’t always a bowl of cherries
But if you make the most of it, everything will be alright

Sooner or later dreams come true, I tell you that it’s really up to you

But, oh it is so cold
When you are all alone and you are growing old
And you ain’t got nothin’ but your naked soul
And oh, stick to your guns and take it as it comes

Composition © 1995 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on July 7, 1995
Recorded July 1995
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, All Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: The final song in the collection brings back a little warmth with the acoustic guitar, but otherwise is all electronic and sequenced like most of the 1995 songs. It was original written as a lead-off song, but works just as well as a closer.

Please offer your own analysis of Take It As It Comes by leaving a comment in the box below.

Used To Be

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Track 37  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:11
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/68-UsedToBe.mp3]		 1995
Lyrics
Train shakin’ down my door, even louder than it was before
The pain is an imagined thing
But things don’t seem the way they used to be

Was it cruel? Yes, they choose to let it go
Injustice reigns, it’s still the same

Flying spaceships in the Autumn skies
Stray, glass whistles in the moon denied
I’ve seen the shadows walk across the stream
They fall just short of the golden dream

Fiction, fact, white and black, the difference minor
And so it goes, but I should know

Hard plays, loose pays
Figuring, what the hell, you only live once
He waits in the shadows, she continues to make up more lies
His hair is thining, his eyes gray
While here self-destruction goes on and on
He offers her the comfort she needs, but what she needs she denies

The train makes its schedule on time
And life continues on its normal bind
It’s written off as a passing thing
But things don’t seem the way they used to be

Was it cruel? Yes, they choose to let it go
Injustice reigns, end result the same
Within the rain there is only pain

Composition © 1991, 1995 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on May 6, 1995
Recorded August 1991 / May 1995
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboards, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A rare song in the collection, in that it was built from an older recording of a defunct song called “Imaginary Flying Lizard Wings”, written and recorded in 1991. In the Spring of ’95, new lyrics (except for the bridge), vocals, bass, and keys were added to the base recording of acoustic guitar and drums to form “Used To Be”, a more advanced version of the original concept.

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Wild Child

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Track 30  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 5:11
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/52-WildChild.mp3]		 1991
Lyrics
I want to tell you a little story about a Hampshire man
His name was Johnny Joe
He lived in a run-down White Mountain shack
And he kept a pet black crow
He used to hunt bear in the cool Maine woods
With his friend ole’ Bob McGee
But Johnny was wildest of all the Hampshire men
When it came to shootin’ bear he was cool, yes indeed

Wild, wild child

Now, Johnny had a girl named a-Nanci Lynn
She was cute in her own way
But she was about as faithful as an ole’ rattlesnake
When she didn’t get her own way
Johnny came home from work early one day
And found sweet Nanci and ole’ Bob rolling in bed
The sight of his girl and his best friend there
Made Johnny Joe lose his head

Wild child, wild child

Johnny pulled his gun down off the rack
And he gave ole’ Bob three seconds to run
Bob stood there and tried to reason with his friend
But Johnny didn’t want to hear it and he shot the gun
Bob fell to the floor like an ole’ Grizzly Bear
Nanci went to the phone and she called Sheriff Sam
And Johnny ran, he ran

Sheriff Sam charged Johnny with “murder one”
And immediately out out an A.P.B.

Johnny took off to the woods of Maine
Where he used to hunt the bear, so he knew the terrain
Sheriff Sam took with him fifty men
To capture Johnny Joe and be elected again
Now the hunter was the hunted in the cold Maine woods
He wished he’d made amends with those bears he used to shoot
If Johnny could, he would

Sheriff Sam found Johnny dead in the woods on a cold December day
It seemed a grizzly bear was trying to hibernate
And Johnny invaded his terrain
So, as it turns out, Sheriff Sam has got his re-election
And the bears have their revenge
And everybody’s happy but an-ole’ Johnny Joe
Because he’ll never go a-huntin’ again

Wild child, wild child

Composition © 1991 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on October 5, 1991
Recorded October 1991
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic Guitars, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This was originally intended to be a mocking song about a man named “Johhny Rowe” who was trying to pick up my one day girl by bragging how he hunted bear up in Maine. However, it turned into a bit of a memorial song after my cousin, Johnny Joe, died of a heart attack on October 3rd, 1991. The music is simple and the lyrics are story-telling with some effects added to the vocals during the 2003 mixdown.

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