Rewind: One Week In – From the Producer’s Chair

One week ago, we released REWIND, a 14-song collaboration with Ginger Eldridge that’s been two years in the making. I’m really proud of this one.

It started when I heard Ginger singing Foreigner’s “That Was Yesterday.” That’s not an easy vocal…. Lou Gramm is a beast…. but she nailed it to the floor. Naturally, I thought, “Maybe we should cut a track.” She was all in, so I got to work.… and somewhere along the way, one track became fourteen.

There was no major game plan at first. We just wanted to revisit songs we felt deserved another listen, many of them forgotten gems. Along the way, a few of our longtime musical friends from our past jumped in: Scotty Simpson (bass), Donnie Carr (lead & acoustic guitar), Greg Jennings (lead guitar), and Tom Hemby (lead guitar). It was great to play with them again and to have them throwing their ideas in as well. I handled keys, bass, and drums. Ginger sang all the leads and background vocals, and she also drove the whole ship when it came to admin and promotion.

We took our time…. no rushing…. no chasing a corporate quarter to get it released. Just making music we believe in. The album name, Rewind, says it all. These are songs that meant something to us…. most from that magical era of the ’70s through the ’90s, a golden age for creativity. And now, looking back, this record feels like a small tribute not just to great music, but also to great friends we’ve lost along the way: Joe Bonsall, Norah Lee Allen, Rusty Golden, Jimbeau Hinson, and sadly more. Some of them left us during the making of this record. It’s personal.

You can find Rewind on all streaming platforms and for download on iTunes. And like it or not (the music business sure isn’t the way it was when I was coming up!), clicks and listens matter these days…. so if you dig it, we would be thrilled if you would help spread the word.

Ginger’s got a full track breakdown over on her blog, and here’s my version…. a little “producer’s cut,” if you will….

Track-by-Track: From the Rig Room

Always Remember Us This Way

I wasn’t aware of this one until Ginger brought it to my attention. I immediately heard it in my head with the full-on David Foster treatment, and I think it worked masterfully. A big 80s sound with huge drums, big keys, and a cinematic feel. Tom Hemby channels Steve Lukather with the power chords on that bridge. Turn it up.

Emotion

One of a few nods to the Bee Gees…. but instead of the familiar Fever hits, we opted for some more obscure album cuts. We went for lush, layered vocals and a respectful update to a classic tune by the Mighty Brothers Gibb.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Another one of my favorite 80s era Bee Gees ballad. Barry and Robin traded off the lead vocals. We aimed to preserve their emotion of the original while bringing our own flavor.

I Want to Know What Love Is

Foreigner…. this is one of those classics that will live forever. You can’t outdo the original, so we didn’t try.… but Ginger really pulled it off. We went for the huge Gospel-style choir…. we HAD to with the Gospel background in both of our history…. layered textures, and a powerhouse vocal from Ginger…. her Lou Gramm-wail at the end blew my mind.

Waiting For a Girl Like You

It’s always struck me that so many of Foreigner’s biggest hits are heavy on keys and light on guitar. I leaned into that. (And I may or may not have dedicated this one to Lindsay Lohan. Don’t ask.)

Don’t Wanna Lose You

Gloria and Emilio Estefan.… wow.… so many great songs from the 80s from the Miami Sound Machine. This one was written by Gloria and was suggested by Scotty for Ginger’s voice…. he was correct in that assessment. I dusted off the old DX7 and CS-80 for this one…. a full-on 1980s keyboard throwback.

Dancin’ Round and Round

Olivia Newton-John. Quite the story with this one…. I have loved this song since it first came out in ’78 and pitched it to a dozen artists over the years since then and always got no takers. Ginger said yes and it came out exactly as I wanted it to be. Listen to those lyrics on the second verse.… goosebumps every time.

Never Enough

Olivia again.… and it’s a haunting lyric for our times. “All that we have is just never enough.…” Greg Jennings’ guitar solo is next-level. Go listen to his work on those great Restless Heart records…. yep, that’s him…. you’ll get it.

The Very Thought of You

I discovered this through Chris Botti and Paula Cole and HAD to do this one. We didn’t want to duplicate their version, so we gave it our own treatment with an emotional reading of an old classic song, Ginger made the vocal come alive, along with Scotty’s melodic bass, and a piano solo from yours truly on the outro.

Closer Than Close

A more obscure Bee Gees cut that Maurice Gibb took lead vocal on, which makes it extra special. Mo didn’t sing lead often, but when he did, it mattered. It’s some of their great work from the ’90s and just cried out for a “Rewind” treatment. This one’s for him.

Ordinary Lives

!!! Yes… more Bee Gees! This one from their ‘80s comeback stretch. I even have a vocal cameo on the spoken word sections, channeling my inner Barry.

Holdin’ On to Yesterday

Ambrosia! David Pack has always been a hero of mine, so this was a no-brainer. Donnie Carr absolutely takes that lead guitar solo into the stratosphere. I bet we did 50 tracks of background vocals…. so many layers it could feed a small army. We made it fatter than Totie Fields at the Golden Corral.

Goodness of God
This one’s for the Nelons. We lost them too soon. I had the pleasure of playing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with them in Pigeon Forge a few years back onstage at an Oak Ridge Boys show. I hope this honors their memory. We never know when our time is up. This song means so much…. never underestimate the Goodness of God.

Thanks for giving Rewind a listen. We hope it brings back a few memories — or maybe helps make some new ones.