The Old Blue Blog

MYSTIFIED

2012-01-18T06:59:00.000-08:00

I was early for my appointment, so while I was waiting in his 93rd floor Manhattan office, I stared out at the magnificent view. The sun was streaming down and I was lost in the beauty of the moment when suddenly I heard a voice behind me say, “Can I help you?” As I turned around I was stunned. There before me stood an angel. As the light poured in and washed over her, her beauty literally took my breath away. THAT WAS A MAGIC MOMENT.

Years later, I was waiting for a young lady for our lunch date. As she poked her head around the corner to greet me, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of her. I was blinded by her beauty and captured by her spell. We were soon married.

With guitar in hand, when I reflect upon these magic moments, the song Mystified emerges.

Listen to:

MYSTIFIED

Song Title: MYSTIFIED
Track Number: 5
Album Title: OUT OF THE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 466836
Released 01 June 2008
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

JODY SWEET JODY and LIVE TODAY

2011-11-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

In this post, I'm going to talk about two songs. Even though they were written a couple of years apart, they both share many things in common. For example, they both exemplify my writing style at the time, they both appear on my album TRUE BLUE, and most importantly, they both deal with the subjects of life and death - but not in the way that you may think.

The first song was written while I was a young Marine serving in Viet Nam. Even though death was all around me, this song was written about life. You see, one of my best friends in the platoon had just learned that his wife was pregnant with their first child.

Personally, I couldn't imagine being a father at our young age and how terrible it was that he had to be away from her at a time like this. I wrote the song as I imagined how I would feel to be in his shoes (or boots as it may be). And now, many decades later, JODY SWEET JODY still lives on in song.

Listen to:
JODY SWEET JODY

The next song I wrote while attending university just a year or so later. I had befriended a girl who was perhaps the most beautiful person I had ever met. We were very close but when it came time for our springs breaks, we took off in separate directions. I went south to chase the sun while she went west to seek adventure. When I returned, I was eager to share our stories and experiences with one another but I soon learned - that she would never return. The bus that she had been traveling in had lost control while in the Rocky Mountains and went off the side of the road.

I was devastated. I thought I was done with death and destruction. She was so young … so pure … why? I wandered around campus aimlessly daze and confessed and in disbelief until I found myself sitting in front of a piano in the Student Union. As my tears soaked the piano keys, I wrote LIVE TODAY.

Listen to:
LIVE TODAY

Song Title: JODY SWEET JODY
Track Number: 5

Song Title: LIVE TODAY
Track Number: 7

Album Title: TRUE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 473612
Released 01 June 2009
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

RAINDROPS

2011-09-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I called New York City my home. As with many other New Yorkers, I would spend a good portion of my Sundays relaxing and reflecting in Central Park. It’s a wonderful sanctuary.

On this one particular Sunday, my usual routine was interrupted by the weather as it became dark, cold and rainy. I found myself confined to my apartment where I attempted to befriend a good book. But even this was not to be because while the rain kept hitting my window, I found myself growing more restless, uneasy and alone.

So as often the case, I picked up my guitar to deal with the problem - and those pesky RAINDROPS.

Song Title: RAINDROPS
Track Number: 7
Album Title: SEE ME THROUGH
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 436365
Released 01 June 2007
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

IT'S ABOUT TIME

2011-07-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

When I think about the origins of songs, sometimes they come to me from the simplest of things. In this case, it was a little guitar lick I liked to play. Whenever I would sit down to fiddle on my guitar, this lick would inevitably show up and over the years it developed into a song. Sometimes a song develops quickly and sometime it takes years for it to expose itself to me. Because this song came from the latter, I knew what it was about:

IT’S ABOUT TIME

Song Title: IT'S ABOUT TIME

Track Number: 4
Album Title: OUT OF THE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 466836
Released 01 June 2008
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

THE FINALE - GATES OF HEAVEN

2011-06-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday May 10, 2011 I posted here on The Old Blue Blog, “GATES OF HEAVEN – Part of a much larger body of work” and hinted that maybe someday I would post some of the “unheard” songs from those sessions. Well I dug deep into the vaults and came up with THE FINALE to the complete works of GATES OF HEAVEN.

To my Old Blue friends, this will really be different because I never released any of these songs (except the title song) on any Old Blue album. But I always wanted to score and record a classical record and this was my shot at it.

I hope you enjoy the FINALE.

Song Title: FINALE

Track Number: 7

Album Title: GATES OF HEAVEN

Artist: RB Smith
Record Label: Namesake Music
Released 15 January 2007
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/

All rights reserved

SANTA BARBARA

2011-05-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

I had just arrived after driving cross country to attend a friend’s wedding. It was my first time in Santa Barbara and I was taken by its sheer beauty. Yet there was this underlining tension in the air (perhaps the result of 3 days of driving). As I unwound with my guitar on the beach overlooking the Pacific, the sunset gifted me this song. Many years later I recorded SANTA BARBARA.

Listen to:
SANTA BARBARA

Song Title: SANTA BARBARA
Track Number: 9
Album Title: TRUE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 473612
Released 01 June 2009
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

SEE ME THROUGH

2011-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

I almost never “write" a song. I usually just let it happen to me. My songs are almost always deeply personal and are triggered by some sort of event, or a person, or place which somehow had the ability to move me. The music always comes first and then I try to write down what I think the song is about. Buried within those words - are the lyrics.

There has been one exception to the above. When I was performing as a solo artist, I woke up one morning and said, "Today I'm going to "write" a new opening number." So I sat down, picked up my guitar and within a couple of hours, I wrote SEE ME THROUGH.

It seems fitting that I should perform it for you now in The Old Blue Theater.

Song Title: SEE ME THROUGH
Track Number: 1
Album Title: SEE ME THROUGH
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 436365
Released 01 June 2007
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

TODAY I LAUNCH MY NEW WEB SITE!

2011-05-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the day I launched my new web site at http://OldBlue.info/. I'm very excited about this because it gives me a place where I can share my music, videos and a great deal more AND in much more detail than I can here on The Old Blue Blog. So if you enjoy my postings here, then come on over for a visit. I think you'll like it.

http://NamesakeMusic.info/

http://OldBlue.info/

SUMMER IN THE CITY

2011-05-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on a park bench in the early evening after a very long day - just me and my guitar. I was lamenting the fact that summer had almost expired and I never got a chance to get away.

And then this song came to me and took me where my body couldn’t go.

Song Title: SUMMER IN THE CITY
Track Number: 7
Album Title: THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 574098
Released 01 June 2010
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

GATES OF HEAVEN – Part of a much larger body of work.

2011-05-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

Most people that know me are familiar with my song Gates of Heaven. What most people don’t know is that the song is part of a much larger body of work. Several years ago I wanted to do a “classical” style record with full orchestration. I wrote the songs and when it came time to record them instead of using my usual guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, I scored the songs for a full 32 piece orchestra with an Overture and a Finale and everything in between. I never release the recordings as an Old Blue album but I did release the title song Gates Of Heaven on my album SEE ME THROUGH.

So maybe someday I’ll post some of the “unheard” songs from those sessions here on The Old Blue Blog. In the meantime, here’s the video of Gates Of Heaven.

Song Title: GATES OF HEAVEN

Track Number: 3

Album Title: SEE ME THROUGH

Artist: Old Blue

Record Label: Namesake Music

UPC/EAN Code: 884502 436365

Released 01 June 2007

Composed and Produced by: RB Smith

http://NamesakeMusic.info/

http://OldBlue.info/

SEASONS

2011-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, my best friend at the time was a fellow musician. It just so happened that his girl friend was my next-door neighbor who I also knew very well. It was inevitable that whenever their relationship ran into trouble, I found myself in the position of being “Mr. In-Between”.

Their rocky relationship was the genesis of my song SEASONS.

Song Title: SEASONS
Track Number: 8
Album Title: THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 574098
Released 01 June 2010
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

PLACES OF DREAMS

2010-08-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

My father was already in the hospital when I received the call. I lived 1,500 miles away but I had to get back to him. Back to the city I grew up in. He was dying.

Shortly after I arrived, we realize how fortunate we were to have this time together. We told stories, shared memories and gave thanks for this opportunity.

Each evening I would leave his bedside and drive to his house where I would spend the night. And each time I made this trip, I would take a different route to visit my old neighborhoods and experience places that were once important to me.

One morning when I arrived at the hospital, I was told my father had been moved to a different room. After we greeted each other, I notice he had this terrific view out his window of Gesu Church down the street. I asked him if he was able to see the church and he told me he was and then proceeded to tell me this story.

When my father was a small boy, his father owned a roofing business and his dad had won the contract to re-roof Gesu Church. He would stand on the street below, holding his mother’s hand, while gazing up at his father high above swinging from steeple to steeple making his repairs.

What makes this story so remarkable is that my father only lived in this city a very short time while as a young boy. He grew up in a different state entirely. He only came back many years later and married my mother. And now, after all these years, he was once again in the exact same spot where he once stood with his mother gazing at this church.

My father passed away.

When I arrived back to my home, I picked up my guitar and this song was waiting for me. It’s about places we remember. It’s about PLACES OF DREAMS.

Listen to:
PLACES OF DREAMS

Song Title: PLACES OF DREAMS
Track Number: 2
Album Title: OUT OF THE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 466836
Released 01 June 2008
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved

LONELY ONE

2010-08-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you’re just in a funk and you don’t know why?

I think everyone has had a few of those days. For me when this happens, I usually just pick up my guitar or sit at the piano to put myself in another place – a better place.

There was this one time in particular when I was feeling a bit low and while playing my guitar, this song started to expose itself to me. I worked on it and worked on it until it was done. And before I knew it, instead of me feeling down, I felt uplifted with a great sense of accomplishment.

I called my friend so that I could play the song for her. And after I played it, there was this uncomfortable silence - and then she started to cry.

You see, she thought the song was about her. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I was working out my own problems.

(Which brings me to another point. Different people will interpret a song or any other piece of creation differently. That’s the power and beauty of art. But I’ll save that discussion for another time.)

It’s enough to say, that at that moment, both my friend and myself felt like we were the LONELY ONE.

Listen to:

LONELY ONE

Song Title: LONELY ONE

Track Number: 5

Album Title: SEE ME THROUGH

Artist: Old Blue

Record Label: Namesake Music

UPC/EAN Code: 884502 436365

Released 01 June 2007

Composed and Produced by: RB Smith

http://NamesakeMusic.info/

http://OldBlue.info/

THE STORY OF BLACKIE AND LITTLE ONE

2010-07-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

When I was a young child, one of our family members was a beautiful cat we called Blackie. (You’ll never guess what color she was.)

Blackie was instrumental in me learning about the birds and the bees because while still at a very young age we discovered that Blackie was about to deliver kittens. My mother found herself in the untenable position of having to answer all my never-ending questions on the subject.

Soon we had a house full of playful kittens and we needed to find good homes for them. But there was this one kitten – the little one – that I had grown particularly found of. So I started my successful campaign to convince my parents that he needed to stay.

This is the origin of the names Blackie and Little One. I always liked those names and I thought one day they might make a good song title.

And then it happened. The music fell out of the sky and the words fell out of my head and many decades later I experienced the second birth of THE STORY OF BLACKIE AND LITTLE ONE.

Listen to:
THE STORY OF BLACKIE AND LITTLE ONE

Song Title: THE STORY OF BLACKIE AND LITTLE ONE
Track Number: 10
Album Title: OUT OF THE BLUE
Artist: Old Blue
Record Label: Namesake Music
UPC/EAN Code: 884502 466836
Released 01 June 2008
Composed and Produced by: RB Smith
Copyright (c) Namesake Music, BMI

http://NamesakeMusic.info/
http://OldBlue.info/

All rights reserved