Produced by Ritt Henn
with Leslie Chew
...who I met playin' in a band with Jonathan Sprout back in Pennsylvania in the early '80s. He did a bang-up job mixin' this puppy, too.
& Tom Manche
...who also co-produced "It's Me!" I first worked with Tom in Susan's Room, a band featuring the music of his wife, Susan Streitwieser. In fact, Susan & Tom's first date was coming to hear one of my gigs. Yup, my music does that to people.

The Musicians
(If they plucked it, plunked it, strummed it, hit it or blew it, they are a member of The American Federation of Musicians, Local 47.)

Me: bass, vox, whistling & fluke
You've heard enough about me already, dontcha think?

James Gadson: drums (on "Goin' Back" & "Born to Hold You in My Arms")
James has played on scads of gold records. That's him on "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." We work together regularly with Blind Pig recording artist Arthur Adams. It's always a pleasure & an education to play with him.

Neil Larsen: hammond b-3
Another fellow I met thru playin' with Arthur. He's been Al Jarreau's musical director, led his own project with Buzzy Fieten, & recently worked with B.B. King on his Louis Jordan tribute album. The man is just so dang musical. You play somethin', & he'll throw it right back at ya.

Lou Levy: piano
Lou sez I'm harder to work for than Sinatra. He should know; he's played with Frank, Peggy, Ella & more. Sez Leonard Feather in the Encyclopedia of Jazz: "Brilliant & exceptionally facile bop-derived pianist." Hooked up with him thru my buddy Jennifer Hardaway (singer with The Clear); Lou's her mom's boyfriend.

Joe Jewell: guitar
Joe played with a good buddy of mine, fellow philosophizing bassist Homefry Niles. He's gigged with Garth Brooks at the Hollywood Bowl & Andrea Marcovicci, to name a couple. We actually met when I first came to L.A., playin' on a big band record (vinyl!) for Rick Jones. (Rick's son, Tony, is the drummer with the Hodads, a band I've had the pleasure of subbing with. Any time I ever played "The Macarena," it was with this band.)

Jake Jacobs: drums
A buddy from way back. Was a fellow member of the Concerned Citizens Combo back in "the early 90s." Met him playing with a guy I knew from back in NY, Adam Roberts. He plays with & produces that keyboard-playing singer-songwriter phenom, Bob Malone. We call him "Mr. Warmth": "Mr. Warmth, Mr. Love/Fist of stone in a velvet glove."

Greg Smith: bari (solos) & tenor sax
Another Arthur connection. We played together in the house band up at B.B. King's Blues Club up at CityWalk at Universal Studios Hollywood. He's played with everyone from Stan Kenton to Buddy Rich to Glenn Frey to Joe Walsh. Met his lovely wife Bev when they were students at North Texas State. They've recently left L.A. & bought a pet shop in San Luis Obispo.

Beverly Dahlke-Smith: bari sax (section) & flute
Co-proprietor of Duncan's Pampered Pets. A multi-woodwind threat, including that double-reeded beast, the oboe. A first-call player in the pits of some of L.A.'s finest musicals & special events.

Lester Lovitt: trumpet
Also played with Arthur in the house band at B.B.'s. Has recorded with No Doubt. Has quite a collection of Native American artifacts. Don't get him started about partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Wanda L. Houston: vox
I just love this woman. And she sings her butt off. She & Neil are the only 2 hold-overs from the first CD. She's been on my tv show a bunch, & was supposed to sing the world premiere of our version of "Home on the Range" on the 100th episode, but she thought the session started at 4. It ended at 4. Oh well. (The original concept had been for just her to sing it, but hey, it's my album, I'll sing if i want to.) Has toured the globe with the musical "Sisterella." (I played on the original cast recording.) Currently soaking up all that is New York City.

D.C. Anderson: voc
A cabaret maven, puts together great shows featuring a bevy of talent. Has toured extensively with "Phantom of the Opera" & "Martin Guerre." We're recording his next album in early July 2000. But why take my word for it? See what he has to say about what's up with him.

plus Ma & Pa as themselves
They were out in L.A. visiting. I had invited them out to check out the Van Gogh exhibit at LACMA. (I had already seen the stuff over in Amsterdam, but hey, you don't have to twist my arm to see it again.) Tom Manche's studio, where we did all the vocal overdubs, was just a short hop from the museum. We swung by there on the way over to the exhibit, & I had them say a few things I had heard them say over the years, like "So are you going to give this music thing 5 years then get a real job?" & "If you put those pretzels in the freezer, they'd stay fresher longer."

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