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Al's Pals features an eclectic bunch of tunes that simply did not fit in anywhere else. It didn’t seem right that they should never see the light of day, so we decided to release them as a separate project.
Tracks 2 through 11 were recorded at my home studio during the early to mid-90s on a Tascam TSR-8. Track 1 was recorded around the same time in Nashville by Ross, and track 12 was recorded in Orlando during the late 80s by Dave.
Additional parts were added to most of the tunes over a period of years, including some that were performed after the digital transfer to Pro Tools. They were transferred, mixed, and mastered at Panda Productions by George unless otherwise noted. This album has the distinction of featuring all four of the Rice brothers, and certainly would not have been possible without the valuable contributions by each one of Al’s Pals.
Alan Craig – 2008
Liner Notes
Download Songs
1. Maggie Magee (3:37)
(Devin Rice)
2. Adirondack Bound (3:58)
(Devin Rice)
3. Nevada (3:44)
(Devin Rice)
4. Nothing Left to Say (3:38)
(Shane Rice & Alan Craig)
5. Queen of Scandinavia (4:09)
(Ross Rice)
6. Old House (3:47)
(Charlie Morris)
7. Robot's Dance (1:26)
(Charlie Morris)
8. Mos' Boss (2:56)
(Charlie Morris)
9. Haitian Vacation (3:19)
(Alan Craig & Michael Thornburgh)
10. When I Was a Boy (2:55
(Charlie Morris)
11. Hole in my Life (5:02)
(Alan Craig)
12. End of the Road (5:56)
(David Bawel)
Now Playing: Queen of Scandinavia
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Al's Pals:
Dave Bawel
Jim Beckwith
Lori Cherry
Dean Germain
George Harris
Jeff Martin
Charlie Morris
Tom Pleasants
Todd Ragsdale
Devin Rice
Ross Rice
Shane Rice
Timyn Rice
Chris Rogers
Brian Seachrist
Mike Thornburgh
Dave Whiteside
Alan Whitman
Liner Notes
Produced by Al
Mixed and Mastered by George at Panda Productions, Clearwater, Florida
Assistant Sound Engineer: Brian
Cover Art and Design by Devin
Printing and Replication by Chris
This project is dedicated to my mother, Mildred Daphene Craig (July 7, 1932 - April 22, 2005).
Maggie Magee
Ross performed, recorded, and mixed this version in Nashville (Devin played harp). An earlier rendition was recorded at my place that had sort of a “swampy” feel to it, but Ross really took it in a completely different direction. This song was written as a sound track to a video that Devin was producing at the time, but that’s another story.
Adirondack Bound
Devin initially laid down the piano track, and Jim added the vocals. I played the bass and guitar parts much later. By the time we got around to transferring the tune, the tape was so badly deteriorated that the source tracks could not be salvaged. This mix was one I created during the 90s on digital audio tape, but George ended up sprinkling some magical pixie dust on it.
Nevada
Devin played the acoustic guitar and I played bass on this one. Later on Jeff and I added the percussion tracks (he played the congas). Charlie and Devin went back at a later point and added the electric guitar and synthesizer tracks.
Nothing Left to Say
Shane performed all the guitar parts, I played bass, and Ross played the drums and congas. The original lyrics were lost along the way, so I wrote new ones and had Lori sing them (in the interest of finishing the song I thought it better to ask for Shane’s forgiveness instead of his permission). The original drum tracks were not recorded properly and had to be scratched, so Alan W. replayed the drums at Panda after the transfer.
Queen of Scandinavia
This tune was recorded in one evening by Ross (keys, percussion, vocals, and electric guitar), Devin (acoustic guitar), and myself (bass). The original lyrics were quite risqué (as I recall there was a lot of drinking going on that evening) so Ross provided new lyrics and vocals at a later point. This tune could not be re-mixed, also because of tape deterioration, so we used the mix that Ross created on digital audio tape in the 90s, with a little subsequent help from George.
Old House
This was one of a trilogy of tunes (including Robot’s Dance) that Charlie wrote in the early 90s, which he intended to be a separate project. Broken and outdated sequencing hardware prevented him from completing the songs the way he envisioned, so they ended up on Al’s Pals instead. He performed all the parts himself.
Robot’s Dance
Charlie created this tune with a sequencer and tone generators, and it was pretty much transferred as is.
Mos’ Boss
This is a political tune Charlie wrote in the early 90s. Tom also contributed to the lyrics, and they are just as applicable to the situation today as they were all those years ago, if not more so. Charlie provided the guitar and vocal tracks while I played matching guitar and bass lines to a curiously familiar melody. At the time we sequenced some other parts, including the drums, which ultimately had to be tossed out for the same reason mentioned previously (broken and outdated sequencing hardware). After the digital transfer, Dean added the B-3 part and Alan W. played the electronic drums.
Haitian Vacation
Mike wrote the lyrics to this back in the early 80s during the Haitian refugee crisis, and I wrote the music. Our intention was not to make fun of their plight, just to satirize it a little. This tune was a staple of the Lotus repertoire for many years. Years later we had a session at my place and decided to lay down some tracks (actually Ross performed all the parts, except that Charlie played guitar and provided some background vocals along with Devin, Timyn, Todd, and myself). After the transfer to Pro Tools, we used the original electronic drum parts to trigger some beefier drum samples.
When I Was a Boy
This song was written and performed by Charlie in the early 90s, and includes some interesting predictions about life in the 21st Century.
Hole in my Life
I originally wrote the music in the early 90s, but it was not until the passing of my brother, and then my mother, that I decided to write some lyrics about the tremendous loss I experienced. I handled all the vocals and guitar parts except for the guitar solo featured in the instrumental break, which was played by Charlie. Ross played the bass as well as the percussion parts.
End of the Road
We initially went to Dave’s studio in Orlando to record Shane’s tune (track 4), but since he was unable to attend, we ended up recording this song instead. The song was written and sung by Dave (he also added the electronic drums). Devin played the piano and synthesizer parts and also came up with the instrumental break, I performed the bass and acoustic guitar parts, Charlie added an electric guitar, and Dave W. played the lead guitar part at the end. Dave mixed and mastered the tune at American Recording Studios in Orlando.
