A Beautiful Song: A Musical Soul Story

by Michael Cantwell

  Keeping my promise to Gordy, we played a show at Radio City Music Hall to start the tour with all the proceeds going to the Disabled Veterans Fund. Elise joined us as promised, even though we had hired a new violinist for the tour. We played many of our past songs and sprinkled in a few new ones. We ended with John Lennon’s “Imagine” just so that I could end telling the crowd “Imagine a band that no longer made music or a world where we didn’t fight wars, unfortunately I can’t, so thank you to our troops for keeping us safe, so that bands can continue to make music, good night.” I don’t think Debby’s idiot husband had a clue I was talking directly to him.

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  Chapter 14

  Our new violinist for the tour was a very attractive young lady who loved to call her violin her “fiddle” and played it like it was just that. Her name was Sasha Meronyanka, a Russian who defected to the USA after playing with a Russian orchestra in New York. She said it was always her dream to play her fiddle till her fingers bled from playing too fast and too much. Classical music bored her, she wanted to come to the USA and play rock and roll. Be still my beating heart, I had someone who wanted to play that instrument the way that Elise could, but never really would in concert. Sasha wanted to be front and center and perform solos. She also played alto sax and wanted to be a star. The record company had stumbled across her and didn’t know what to do with her, I did.

  We almost immediately picked up the tempo on a few of the older songs and let her and Billy play off each other a couple of times a night. The crowd always loved it and it created the energy we had been missing in the studio on this last album. I had to keep telling Elise that Sasha was only fair a musician but she knew better. Since it was a limited tour this time I didn’t want to add extra musicians on the road. The fact that she could play sax as well really helped us from not having to hire an extra musician. I would have instantly made her a full member of the band, but I wanted to allow some time to pass not to hurt Elise or the other members.

  We changed the song list some so that Debby didn’t have to sing lead on every song for the tour. Duke sang one or two a night and I sang two of my older songs as well. We also let Billy sing “Yellow Submarine” just before the intermission to see if the audience got the meaning of it all. Debby was still not back to peak form yet. She was usually worried about the baby who was back stage for the tour despite that we had hired a top nanny for the tour. We were trying to keep Debby engaged with the tour, yet not wear her out, since the baby was still only a few months old. We had hired someone to care for her son, but Debby was still never far away even during a performance.

  Elise was in North Carolina with her parents and our child while I was on tour. I would join them on tour breaks. On the first break, we looked for some land to build a house close to her parent’s farm. I wanted to be closer to civilization, but then again I could always go back to New York to visit when I needed to be surrounded by concrete and faceless people. I loved the people from this area, they reminded me of the people from Florence, Italy where they didn’t seem to have a care in the world, other than what was going on in their own town. I was used to a big city with city people and big city prices.

  One day we met with this white haired older lady, who had been a real estate agent in town for over forty years now, or so she gently reminded us every thirty seconds. And she knew “Where every stick in the county was and everything about everybody” or so she told us constantly. She showed us this gorgeous thirty acre plot of land that looked over the river below. It was filled with trees except for one clearing, for a house. Of course there was no electric or sewer on the land. There was only one dirt road. It became an instant mud hole after every hard rain. So it is not like I was expecting a hefty tax bill, but I had to ask about the taxes.

  Now keep in mind the land had not been sold in over fifty years. The current value of the land was hard to determine, with few lots ever selling in town. I asked what she thought the taxes would be should we purchase the land. “Well Sir since they are asking a large amount of $30,000 they are going to be very high now.” I am thinking how high can it be, the land in her estimation was expensive, but for me it was the income from a few nights on tour. She states “Well they might be as high as $24” in her best southern belle voice. I ask, “You do mean $24 a week, right”, knowing she likely meant it was for the year. The poor lady nearly died on the spot, “No Sir, that’s for the entire year, we can’t afford those kinds of taxes here.” I was really not used to how much less taxes were in the mountains compared to my Manhattan home, but then again the United States only paid about the same for all of Manhattan in years past.

  Elise and I bought the land. She hired an architect to design a home in the clearing, hopefully with running water and electricity. I did have my standards, but not my brother and dad. They were hunters and since the mountain was full of wild turkey and deer, they were welcome to come and stay on the land. I told my dad and brother that they could pay us rent while they were in town. After all, there was no way someone who plays music could ever afford a place to go hunting. You would think that after thirty some years my dad would come to appreciate my every improving humor, but alas he did not.

  The album was selling briskly, but not as well as the last one. It went gold. We had two Top 40 hits with the one about my daughter, “August Morn” reaching number two. I was happy the album was selling as well, since I still was not happy with the end result. It just never grew on me. We played a few songs from it on the tour, but we really relied on material from the past and a few cover songs.

  Sasha was showing signs of being a real crowd pleaser. I wanted to make sure she was happy in our band. I wanted her to stay long term since it appeared Elise wanted to be a mother and wife now, and not much more. She had even stopped auditioning for Broadway shows or any orchestra work at all. Motherhood had really changed her back to the shy country girl I had met in college.

  The marketing guys came up with an idea to make a logo for our band. They wanted to brand our name and look. It would be a black silhouette of a violinist that was also a curvaceous looking female. I was all ok with it until I was told that on the ball caps and T-shirts it would only have the logo and then “The Overture” and not my name attached to it. My ego needed time to soothe itself over it all. I spoke with Elise about it since she was the one person along with Debby who was with me from the beginning. She was not really happy that it was a violinist and seemed more concerned over that, than the dropping of my name. Then I realized it was not the fact that it was a violinist, it was the idea it was not her shape as the silhouette as the logo. Debby also grumbled at me. ”It seems odd that someone, that is not even an official member of the band, should be the face of the band for marketing efforts.” I guess we all had to swallow some ego and move on. It turned out to be a good idea, since the ball caps were an instant success at the concerts, as well as in selective stores.

  We had our second break from the tour. I think it was starting to affect Debby that she was no longer the female the guys all drooled over in the front rows. She went home and went on a diet to try to lose the little belly fat she still had from being a new mom. I never said a word to her about that kind of thing, I only cared that she did her part on vocals. But with Sasha now being on the microphone to her left, she started to care about her looks again. I was still on Debby’s right but with Sasha now on her left side and Duke moving over one spot and slightly behind Debby, she realized she was sharing the stage with someone who the boys all liked as well as her. She was not used to sharing the spotlight with another woman. We all had to adjust, but if Sasha could help us sell tickets, we all had to deal with it. Besides she was a good hearted person. She really wanted to fit, not only into the band, but also in a new country. She was walking on eggshells at times around Debby, to make sure Debby knew she was not trying to push her out of the spotlight, but maybe share in it.

  Right before I went on the break, I realized that Sas
ha really had no place to go since she had defected just weeks before joining the band. She had stayed with a friend of a friend before joining us on tour, but that was only supposed to be a temporary solution. She came to North Carolina with me to stay with Elise and her parents. Sasha had never seen goats or pigs or even real mountains up close. It was all a culture shock for her. The poor girl nearly lost her appetite when she realized for dinner, she was eating one of the pigs she had pet just earlier in the day.

  Sasha Meronyanka had been raised in Moscow. She was fast tracked through the music programs, and was labeled a prodigy. She told us that she had to leave her mother and father behind as well as an older sister. She would write them often and let them know all about new experiences she was having in the United States. I think it was good to have her stay with us for the three week break. It gave Elise time to get to know her better, and not make a fuss when I made her a full member of the band. After all she was going to be on the next recordings. We stayed in North Carolina for about half of the break till I took her to my parent’s home for a few days. My brother wanted to meet Sasha and then we went up to New York to get her a place of her own. I contacted Carl about getting her a contract to be a formal member of the band, as well as helping her start the process of becoming an American citizen. Sasha was already very anxious to be a United States citizen. It didn’t take her long at all to get acclimated to our culture. We had a tour date scheduled for Tampa with a few off days around it. I promised her we would stop at Disney World in Orlando, Florida on our way to Atlanta, Georgia. I figure once you have been to Disney World and have ridden “Space Mountain” it’s all downhill from there.

  We did the third leg of the tour on the west coast, for just over a month. As promised we ended in San Diego where we played a free concert on the navy base in San Diego for all the midshipmen and families. I don’t know how many they packed on the site, but the local authorities in San Diego wished we had played in the local stadium and saved them all the parking and traffic issues. I guess they didn’t think that many people would show up. We stayed after the show for a while and signed autographs and talked with the men and women who were about to ship out on a tour for six months. Knowing how hard that can be on people, we made sure they knew how much they were appreciated. Sasha and Debby were both a big hit with the men, and it made the end of the tour a memorable stop. It also was the perfect location for me to walk the beach to give thanks to my maker who had given me so much now.

  Gordy sent along a note to the band letting us know how appreciative he was for the shows we did supporting the veterans groups. I didn’t tell him, but we already had plans to do it again on the next tour as well. The entire band loved the idea of showing our support for the troops. In fact it made such an impression on me, I asked Carl to make contact with some of the army brass. It was arranged so that I could take my acoustic guitar over to the local Veterans hospital and sit and play for the wounded soldiers and staff. I really don’t know how many times I did it, but it seemed every time Elise had a “honey do list” that seemed too long; I knew it was time to go and play. While in New York, I would take Debby or sometimes Sasha along to really give them something to talk about around the hospital. I did the same when in Los Angeles. One time while out visiting with Linda, I had Sasha come along on the visit.

  During the last tour, we had changed up the set list more than usual, so that Sasha and Billy could offer some incredible solos. We had recorded a few of the shows for a future live album. I knew no one had a real appetite to get back in the studio other than maybe Sasha, so it gave us time to get our lives settled and really come back with a strong effort the next time out. I also wanted to give Debby time to be a mother, and be ready to return with a full commitment to the band. We all decided to take a year off as The Overture. Junior went back to Mississippi, Debby played mommy, and Billy wanted to start his own band. I could not sit that long, I just couldn’t. After only three months off in North Carolina, my mind was going crazy.

  I called Linda and told her I was heading out to California. I brought Sasha and Duke along for the trip. Between the three of us, Linda and a couple of studio guys to work with on drums and keyboards, we recorded an album of entirely old 1950’s hits. We never used our own names on the album. It was released as “Ignoto” hits from the 1950’s. Ignoto is a loose translation meaning unknown in Italian. The radio stations would run contests for listeners to see if they could figure out who all the band members were on the record. It was only eight songs and was sold at a discount price, but it ended up selling over 100,000 copies. It kept us all busy for a few weeks and put Linda Sweet’s name back in the public eye. It was eventually figured out who the main players were on the album. We had all come up with silly names. Me, I just used my real name, but only my first and middle name, Stewart Patrick. Since so few knew my real name, and even Elise and Debby called me Dylan for many years, it worked. I was happy to spend a month with Linda again. It gave Sasha some studio experience as well as a few dollars in her pocket while we were on break. We talked about playing one show at the Hollywood Bowl on the day the album was released, but we were afraid we would not sell any tickets since we didn’t use any real names. While there, Linda asked if we could write together again. I promised to make time in the near future.

  When I returned home, Elise told me that she was pregnant. Now it was important they finish our home in North Carolina soon, since I didn’t want her living with her parents any longer, or staying in New York alone with two young ones to care for alone. I knew by the time she gave birth, it would almost be time to go on tour again. My mother had retired. She would come and stay from time to time with Elise while I was away, but Elise was much more comfortable back in Carolina.

  The next few months I stayed in New York with my ever growing Elise and our toddler daughter. I made a real effort to write again. I was having a difficult time. I was starting to doubt my own abilities to write good music any longer. I would play it for Elise, and she would love it, but for some reason I really didn’t like most of it. It was missing something. We had Debby, Duke and Sasha over a few times to see what they all thought. We all concluded that the lyrics were strong on all the songs, but some of the melodies were up and down. I could always trust Duke to tell it to me straight. One night after dinner, he finally came clean and told me the melodies were good, not great. Then it occurred to me. Let’s have Linda come and write with me again in New York. Possibly that would help. Linda was well enough to travel and stay away from home for weeks at a time now, but would still tire easily. I was not a doctor but wondered if maybe she was using that as an excuse to stay at home now, and it was more a product of that, than her physical limitations.

  Linda Sweet came and stayed with us in New York for two months. It gave her a chance to go to the museums with Elise. It also broke her out of the same routines she had come accustomed to back home in California. I also think it inspired her to write different melodies. New York is a much faster paced high and energetic place than the Southern California beaches. I think that helped her creative juices work in different ways. She pushed me to write better and to be more creative as well. I had Duke join in on a few sessions. Over the course of the next two months, we had about fifteen songs that made us proud.

  I excitedly called our producer Tim, and the rest of the band. I told them it was time to get back to Lady Land Studios to work on the new album. When they all arrived for the first session, I dropped the news on them that Linda was going to participate in some on the recording. It gave me and Linda an excuse to record together again. It also would allow her to be a part of a project without the hassles of putting together her own band. Plus, we didn’t have to write another set of songs.

  I was focused on returning to our old sound and making a very upbeat, and fun sounding album. Tim had other ideas. He still wanted to use orchestral sounds again but this time I was more firm in letting Tim know that if Sasha or Junior on keyboards could not pro
duce the sound, it was out. This was going to be a high energy release, or I would find a producer who would deliver that sound. There was tension the first few days, but I think Tim knew this was my band and he could be fired.

  At first I was not sure Debby would be ok with the idea of having Linda sing some of the vocals even, if it was backup vocals. Not only was Debby happy, she encouraged Linda to not only record, but join us on tour later in the year. Much to my surprise, Linda was considering the idea. All of The Overture band members really encouraged her to stay on for the entire session. I had such a great group of people as musicians, and band mates, with great chemistry. Yes Billy had his issues at times, but after trying to put together his own band, and seeing what it was all about to lead a band, he had matured. Debby was happy to not sing every song as lead, since she too wanted to join the ranks of Elise, and have another child. I begged her to time it so that she was pregnant near the end of the tour. I think she had in the back of her mind, that if she was pregnant, possibly Linda could fill in for her. However there was no guarantee Linda could hold up for an entire tour, or that she was going to join us at all. I know life does not work the way you would like. So, I just prayed it would all work out.