Ode To A Goner

Sad song. In a country 3 / 4 time signature. It was born when I heard myself say, “well, Big Boy’s a goner” and I didn’t know what that was about but I knew it was a good opening line for a song. I co-wrote this with one of my favorite novelists, John Dufresne, because I read a line in one of his books and I just had to have it. Emailed him, he said cool, and he wrote some beautiful lines for this song, just trading emails with me. Ode To A Goner was written specifically for Milton Patton, a great young singer who I was working with a few years ago. But I’m very pleased that I’m the one who recorded it. It was recorded all at once -- basic tracks recorded live, then immediately afterward I added the vocals and John Sprott – terrific player! – added the soaring slide guitar solo. (You must see the video I took with my phone of John playing that solo.) The late Tim Alexander (Asleep At the Wheel) played keys on this and a few other songs on this record. Recording the song took about an hour, complete.