tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:/blogs/blogedy-blog-blog-blog?p=3
Blogedy, blog, blog, blog
2023-12-14T11:14:06-05:00
bobcomtois.com
false
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/7319183
2023-12-14T11:14:06-05:00
2023-12-14T11:23:57-05:00
Dave Stewert
<p>I performed for years on Boston's streets. <br>In 1983 part of my band backed a woman singer, <br>just bass, drums, bkp vocals and my beautifully <br>electronic sounding electric mandolin, <br>Some big dramatic moves I did occasionally.<br>We played in front of Filene's, Downtown Crossing, Boston.<br>Months later I got a job across the street at Strawberries Records <br>and Tapes.<br>The assistant manager stood by the door looking out with me.<br>He said, "I used to see you out there. One time Dave Stewert <br>of the Eurythmics was watching and I approached him and said <br>I saw a recent Eurythmics'NYC show".<br>Dave said to Micheal,"That bloke's good", pointing to me.<br>Six or so months later I was watching the Grammies and The Eurythmicks <br>lip-synched Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.<br>Dave was playing a string-less little cubist sculpture about the size<br>of my electric mandolin. He moved around. <br>I marveled at his apparent imitation of me.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/7289526
2023-10-18T12:59:58-04:00
2023-10-18T12:59:58-04:00
Roar of the crowd
<p>We started our second of four sets on a beautiful Summer eve, <br>playing in front of Ann Taylor's Fasions.<br>I sang the first song and the crowd was already so big we had to back up.<br>We played that first song and the reaction from the crowd was unreal. <br>So loud that it sounded like a jet engine and my ears popped in and out <br>of total deafness. Long, LOUD applause. I was losing my balance.<br>So I sang the second song as well and the same reaction. We were <br>telling them stop, but it went on.<br>The third song was sung by another band member and the applause was normal.<br>I will neve forget that night.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/396556/020853edae555695d1c1039045527c8c0bd5f90d/original/public-domain.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/7288010
2023-10-15T08:53:37-04:00
2023-10-16T10:54:58-04:00
Huge Wave
<p><span>Our band, The Verbs, that often played on the street in Boston/Cambridge </span><br><span>got a gig opening for Richie Haven at Nightstage.</span><br><span>Two shows and when it came for our second set, we were introduced by a woman</span><br><span>dressed entirely in black.</span><br><span>She said in a lifeless monotone," You know them, you love them, you've </span><br><span>seen them on the street. Here they are..."</span><br><span>I was so embarrassed. I sang the first song blushing so much it was hard to see.</span><br><span>We got through that song and each song got respectable applause.</span><br><span>After several we went into Let's Stay Together by Al Green.</span><br><span>I alone sang it and took two electric mandolin solos.</span><br><span>At the end they applauded as usual, BUT a huge wave of applause came crashing down over it and it was real show biz applause. What a feeling.</span></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6823987
2021-11-29T06:06:52-05:00
2022-09-22T07:32:13-04:00
Andy Kaufman and me
<p> "Me and Andy Kaufman" </p>
<p>I attended the now defunct Graham Junior College and studied radio and TV broadcasting. </p>
<p>Muffler, a kid from my hometown, attended Graham as well. I ran into him after the holidays and he told me that I had to meet his new dorm roomie. I said I would visit.. Both our dorms were in Kenmore Sq. </p>
<p>The next week I paid him a visit. Soon after I arrived, someone walked into the room. </p>
<p>"Bob, this is Andy. Andy, this is Bob from Northbridge". </p>
<p>Suddenly this guy was right up in my face (he was a bit taller) and talked excitedly of his college station TV show. I told him about mine. </p>
<p>His big blues were staring at me a few inches from my face. </p>
<p>His name was Andy Kaufman. </p>
<p>Oh, there's more.... </p>
<p>Me and Andy Kaufman II </p>
<p>So, Andy Kaufman enlisted a fellow student, Al Paranello, to manage him. Al was in the same dorm as me and had heard me sing my originals. He approached me and asked if I would open for Andy every Friday night in our student union. </p>
<p>So I agreed and the weeks saw me singing in front of a good crowd while Andy did his Transcendental meditation on a floor above before his set. </p>
<p>His comedy knocked us for a loop, and had us literally on the floor laughing. </p>
<p>I would run into him in Kenmore Sq. My girlfriend, Stephanie, would crack up as Andy got right in my face and talked about special one man shows he came up with and performed aside from our weekly performances. </p>
<p>Mind you, he never heard my music. "Al Paranello says you're really good", he would often say. </p>
<p>Each week Andy and I would tape our school station TV shows having played the previous night. We would wait out in the hallway and watch Andy in his "Uncle Andy's Fun House" show. They always ran late and we would just have to wait. </p>
<p>So, some years later, I started seeing him on NBC. Saturday Night Live was where he did the same skits as he did in college. </p>
<p>One night when I was off from playing in my band, Strings Attached, I ran into Andy in front of the Harvard Coop. </p>
<p>I mentioned seeing him on TV. </p>
<p>"Did you see me on SNL when I cried on Candice Bergen's shoulder", he asked. </p>
<p>"No, Andy", I replied. </p>
<p>He proceeded to do the entire skit in my face, crying on my shoulder at the end. </p>
<p>Parting, he said, "Al Paranello said you're really good". <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/b5a57aa442c3f0c4485fedcbf6bfd114f266ce7a/original/andy-k.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028695
2021-10-29T11:52:26-04:00
2021-10-30T07:16:55-04:00
My story and sound, Part 2
<p>My sound<br><br>So, I was laid off from a bookstore chain. I decided to get a Boston Street singing permit. Somehow I don't remember getting one, but at Park Street Station I saw this fellow singing "Please come to Boston". I invited my self to play along.<br>That summer a slew of people played behind me and Maurice, including now famous Nashville songwriter, Pat McLaughlin.<br>Eventually out there at Park Street Station some bluegrass musicians performed . I joined them in what was to become Foxfire.<br>My style was not bluegrass, so eventually I got the heave ho.<br>I told the EX GF that I would form a better band, but she said I should beg to get back with them or quit music (her ex-husband was musical genius). My one year of switching to mandolin did not impress her.<br>One day a woman with a violin case (turned out it was a 5 string viola) and I met on the street and I commenced talking and ended up scat singing a bebop tune as we walked. We decided to get together. I had met a guitarist.<br>So that was the birth of Strings Attached, the top band in the Boston acoustic scene.<br>During our early days I was visiting Bela Fleck, the now renowned banjoist. We would play Charlie Parker tunes.<br>Eventually, Bela was an occasional guest of Strings Attached. One of the three songs rehearsed with him was my chamber/jazz/folk instrumental, "Aurora".</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/00a8f4eeb6cf823559b4af877ad65f7e4a49fa6e/original/stringsattachedphoto.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6549154
2021-02-14T19:00:00-05:00
2021-11-06T10:02:17-04:00
Tears for Fearsssssssssss
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/38478b2bf76301bca72efaf8f26ce2e476db0782/original/tears.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Back in the '80's, girls would come into the record store I worked at and would say, </p>
<p>"Excuse me, Tearsssssssssss for Fearsssssssss." </p>
<p>"Right here", I might say. </p>
<p>"Oh, like... cassettesssssssssss..." </p>
<p>"They're uptairssssssssssssss", I was known to say. </p>
<p>Like </p>
<p>Comment </p>
<p>Share</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6498431
2020-12-13T10:31:12-05:00
2021-10-29T06:21:03-04:00
Quiet songwriting method
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/610512b92932d5a2927c3afa2539ed93f8aa29c5/original/songwriting.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></strong></p>
<p>Tell yourself that you will write a song in the morning (when you are not busy. </p>
<p>Wake up and make your coffee. Having that, grab your notebook, a pencil with eraser. </p>
<p>Drink your coffee. </p>
<p>No TV or computer on. </p>
<p>Sit in silence. </p>
<p>I find that after 10 minutes or so some words come to me. </p>
<p>I write them down, but often suddenly I think of another theme and put brackets around those and write 3 or four lines for verse or chorus. </p>
<p>Do not touch your instrument. Start tapping out a rhythm on your notebook with the pencil. And try whispering the words, spoken and find a cadence in them. </p>
<p>Write (in parenthesis) the number of syllables next to each line of lyric and establish the general length of a line. </p>
<p>When 3 or four lines get their cadence, then pick up your guitar. </p>
<p>Your spouse, kids or house mates might be sleeping. </p>
<p>By keeping it all inside and down to a whisper, there is an excitement created and the rest of the song can be finished. </p>
<p>But be quiet.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6483725
2020-11-23T06:42:56-05:00
2021-10-30T07:25:14-04:00
Folk Expert
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/64e629eb9fcd6782605b32a452999518ff7a3226/original/32332314-10215043506313197-1949604424385036288-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></strong>. </p>
<p>For years I sold and reordered folk music records then CDs at Harvard Sq.’s Briggs and Briggs music. They referred to me as “Folk Expert”. We no doubt did our word play on that (Tom Lehrer would listen in from the sheet music department. He came over and asked my name and what it was that I did. I said I wrote songs and had played some of his songs). </p>
<p>I also played on the streets of Boston and Cambridge in my bands. Over 10 years we played for two million on the streets alone and the crowds we drew led us to bookings. </p>
<p>And decades living at the legendary Old Joe Clark’s, where many an after folk concert party was held (right underneath my bed). </p>
<p>Sometimes I’d be up in the morning and I’d share coffee I made with whoever had the concert. The guest room was tiny, but accommodating. We’d chat and later around lunch, they’d pop their heads in Briggs and Briggs and I would show them their albums and knew many catalog numbers by heart. </p>
<p>All the while recording (at home since 1980). Many musicians visited and I would record them or with them. Sometimes I cooked dinner for them too. </p>
<p>Those 23 years in that Cambridge house were amazing. Sandy Sheehan of Sandy’s Music and WUMB lived there! </p>
<p>Every Thursday was a day off and I would write and record my originals. </p>
<p>I lived music.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6408518
2020-08-13T09:02:58-04:00
2021-10-30T07:28:20-04:00
After my glory days
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/2db4f43575e48fd7de5f93ff620f811f7a63a713/original/mon-ami.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />After my glory days of playing on the streets of Boston and Cambridge for 2 million people in ten years, not to mention the gigs we got when people saw the crowd around us, I would hang on my lunch hour with a street performer. </p>
<p>I guess I was pushy, but he would not let me play along.I would say I could big out the mandolin, I would not need an amp for the voice and mando. Plenty loud enough, and this is when I still was in my prime, but between bands and working a fancy market doing everything: deliveries, catering, personal shopping, operations, banking, training….. </p>
<p>All the while my mando wanted to get in there and play against his solid guitar playing. We saw each other a lot and it was heartbreaking that it did not lead to the magical way my bands sprung up from meetings on the sidewalks.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6405188
2020-08-08T08:50:38-04:00
2021-10-30T07:20:55-04:00
You know I love you
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/1bd46fa719fd88826cbbf7eb87b2d1c5da591f69/original/profile-corrected.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />2014 <br>"Today at work, my third customer was buying 14 oranges. I asked for her store card but as she searched for it I rang them in and they showed as full price until the card scanned.
This led to some very silly dialogue and she started kidding me about something.</p>
<p>I can't remember how I called her on it, but she replied, "Come on, you know I love you".
</p>
<p>I stared at her smiling at me, beautiful, thirty something and well healed (tasteful).
</p>
<p>I said, "Yeah, right. Run along now with your oranges. I have been handed quite a different platter".</p>
<p>Off she went with a glow.
</p>
<p>It was a good hair day, I dunno."</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6359181
2020-06-19T12:52:05-04:00
2021-11-13T05:47:10-05:00
New Squirrel
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/3649bafe67a34df99e30bfbe82e07f0b698e8182/original/bob-the-squirrelsquirrel-b.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />When I worked at Briggs and Briggs Music in Harvard Sq. we would sometimes look out and observe the world. </p>
<p>Directly across was Harvard Yard and specifically, The Widener Library. They allowed deliveries through the gate and there was a guard station. </p>
<p>I believe, if my memory serves me right, two old men from Scotland worked the guard booth. I am sure of one. We would watch as he would get the Harvard Yard squirrels to climb up his pant leg and go into his pocket for peanuts. </p>
<p>One day a squirrel climbed up and went in the pocket. Suddenly the old man jumped and let out a loud, pained shout. We were beside ourselves, laughing. </p>
<p>A few weeks later the old guard was at our display window, obviously looking at a short wave radio. </p>
<p>He came in and came to my counter right by the doors. </p>
<p>"Looking for a new squirrel", I asked. </p>
<p>"New squirrel", the old guard questioned loudly in his brogue.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6301388
2020-05-01T13:03:14-04:00
2021-10-09T05:43:48-04:00
Elvis Costello Fans
<p>I over the years have bought a number of CDs by Elvis Costello. </p>
<p>Working at the famous Harvard Sq. Music store, Briggs and Briggs I got the employee discount. </p>
<p>Two of my co-workers in the record department were opera guys. My other co-worker and I liked Elvis C. and we got laughed at. </p>
<p>They were the types who got the freebie passes to operas, oratorios and the like and I remember them talking about the night before when they heard and met the great Swedish soprano, Anne Sophie Von Otter. She could do no wrong. </p>
<p>Well, we would get booklets from the record companies of the new releases and what do you know? Anne Sophie Von Otter had a new one, a song cycle written by guess who? That’s right, Elvis Costello. </p>
<p>Revenge is sweet.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/82766ff3317efeb9e1b2ed4720a6038755116379/original/elvis-costello.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6236894
2020-03-04T07:37:19-05:00
2022-03-04T09:14:58-05:00
Some Reality Original tracks story
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/f79b9a63057bec5d541236a27bdf01e45aebc470/original/albumart-bobcomtois11-800x800.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />My song, "Some reality was written in 1975 and recorded ten years later. </p>
<p>For years the cassette mix was my only source. I would wonder where the original 4 track reel of tape was. </p>
<p>I guessed it was on the same tape as another tune from the era, both songs featuring Anne Marie Hodges on harmony vocals, I did not have a reel to reel 4 track machine, so decades went by. </p>
<p> I happened to befriend my buddy Guy and he had a 4 track machine. Trouble was it took 7.5 " reels and my tape was on a 15" reel, PLUS it ran at 7.5 inches per second and my tape was recorded at 15 ips. </p>
<p>I talked to Guy about the issues. We had taken small reels of tape of mine (2 tracks) and transferred to digital a number of times. </p>
<p>Guy came up with a plan. He devised a kind of Lazy Susan to spool the tape from the big reel onto the one half its size and so we had two small reels with all the tape. We did this and that counted as a session. We planned getting together at my place with his tape deck. </p>
<p>So we met soon and we listened (in the background) 3 1/2 hours of SLOW Bob Comtois, an octave lower than pitch as it was being fed through my interface onto Protools. </p>
<p>I think I made a batch of really good pulled pork so we had repeat servings as the tape dragged on. </p>
<p>We called it a session when all was transferred onto Protools software. I knew there was a way to bring it up to speed with an alga rhythm called Vari-Speed. I just needed to do it the next day with a clear mind. </p>
<p>I pondered a while the next morning and with a few clicks, Eureka! It played at pitch and correct tempo. </p>
<p>I released it as a single. It's a beautiful song.</p>
<p><a contents="https://bobcomtois.com/album/1296637/some-reality" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bobcomtois.com/album/1296637/some-reality">https://bobcomtois.com/album/1296637/some-reality</a></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028708
2019-07-07T20:00:00-04:00
2022-04-19T20:44:24-04:00
Fireworks
<p class="p1"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/89d3a4cd308e9822da0d1b7d85e57ab1430d0f25/original/0c86c615-fafc-4470-beeb-ac5c0211e29e-gettyimages-1156280801.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I was so tired last night. Got to bed early and the fireworks in town woke me.</p>
<p class="p1">So, I opened the blinds and there they were, obscured somewhat by the leaves in the trees. I pointed them out to Max and he saw two and wanted out, but I lay down sideways on the bed and had a reassuring hand on my feline co-pilot as I watched them go above the treeline.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028707
2019-07-07T20:00:00-04:00
2021-10-30T08:29:23-04:00
store sing along
<p class="p1"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/3b97d354b939d59104e7dc7937d70319151fab34/original/cae203487a0675c79a080aa7a9d521b5.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I had a line at the register.</p>
<p class="p1">I said, "Here's something new. It's a store sing along. I'll start. Row , row , row your boat..."</p>
<p class="p1">A customer sang, "Gently down the stream".</p>
<p class="p1">"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily", sang a third person and then someone walking from the back, "Life is but a dream".</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028706
2019-07-07T20:00:00-04:00
2021-11-12T06:55:34-05:00
Solar glare
<p class="p1"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/9506f71cf3da986446c67180be5269b3775e40e7/original/sun-glare.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />One morning I woke and knew I was out of coffee. Okay, off to the 1369 Coffee Shop in Inman Sq., Cambridge. I got mine to go and headed back to my digs.</p>
<p class="p1">Heading up Cambridge St was difficult. The solar glare made me blind, save for the bright yellow that blasted my eyes. I had to cross the street, guessing where the crosswalk was.</p>
<p class="p1">Suddenly I realized my right foot was moving quickly out in front of me there on the street. Before I could think, I was on the ground. </p>
<p class="p1">I saw better from that perspective. </p>
<p class="p1">I had stepped into an upside down hub cap which sent my right foot skating.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028705
2018-07-12T20:00:00-04:00
2022-05-11T12:40:23-04:00
Valerie Allain and I
<div class="_1dwg _1w_m _q7o"><div>
<div class="_5pbx userContent _3ds9 _3576" data-ft="{" id="js_h2p" tn=""><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/028bfb3090fe609f4a1f07ed6a2b47034d6f7772/original/valerie-a-2.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I was working a Saturday at Harvard Sq.'s Briggs and Briggs Music.<br>It was busy. CD's were relatively new.My manager asked me to get the tribal CDs by me (Pygmies of the Ituri Forest), I reached for them on a low shelf and turned around to have a woman's face inches away from mine. Her blue eyes were all I saw. Suddenly, I said, "You're Valerie Allain" (an actress who was on a PBS TV show that taught French as the main characters went on a fun vacation). I had a wicked crush on her and my housemates and GF would kid me.<br>She was pretty impressed I recognized her and imagine recognizing her from such close range!</p></div>
<div class="_3x-2" data-ft="{" tn=""><div data-ft="{" tn=""> </div></div>
<div> </div>
</div></div>
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bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028704
2016-01-12T19:00:00-05:00
2021-11-13T05:20:42-05:00
Fortune Cookie
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/208c51de3c0a1f889a863811399559f5bf445656/original/0712201751-00.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Fortune Cookie</p>
<p>I certainly saw a lot of her, even though she had left me several months before. She soon discovered that the visiting professor she had left me for was a " major disappointment ".<br>As the most hellacious, brutal winter pushed hard against the force of flowers, I was constantly barraged with her needy visits on my lunch hour.<br>" I don’t know what I’m doing", she would say, soaking the front of my shirt with tears. Worse than our sleepless bouts of the past- keeping each other awake, finally falling into nightmarish slumber- were my futile attempts to get this evil, controlling man out of her life.<br>She all the while would go out to dinner and a movie with me weekly (my treat), although sometimes the evenings would be marred by a sudden appearance of a woman from one of her many support groups (ALANON, Narcotics Anonymous, Incest Survivors, Rape Survivors, etc.) or by a jealous fit of mine. But everyone was jealous for her time- all of the desperate victims she would be obliged to talk out of suicide each day, for hours on the phone. Dinners would be accompanied by her blow by blow accounts of the reactions of her fellow survivors to the things that I, and my unworthy opponent, had said the week before.<br>Urgent phone calls were regularly made while I was at work, beckoning me to her nearby apartment. She thought she was going to break up with him for sure this time. She was afraid her epilepsy would reoccur.<br>Spring rounded the bend and yet once again I was at her place talking about her imminent return to me.<br>"Come on", I said defensively- and humorously, "What about my winsome smile; you know you love my winsome smile" (this is back when I still had a smile). My point was made, exhaustion tickling the funny bone.<br>Later that week we were having dinner at our regular Chinese restaurant. The check came with fortune cookies. We ceremoniously opened them. She read hers- I don’t recall what it said.<br>My fortune cookie read, " Your winsome smile will gain you favor".</p>
<p> © 2001 bob comtois</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028703
2015-11-03T19:00:00-05:00
2021-05-19T01:45:50-04:00
An endearing nap
<p>In 1984 I met a young artist from the Southwest working at a local restaurant. We began see each other on dates and I was falling deeply in love.<br>She invited me over and played Claire de Lune on her piano. I was floating in a enamored state.Spring came and flowers were in bloom. She invited me to go to the Boston MFA to see the works of Millet. All week I saw in my head the image of the two peasants taking a mid day nap by a pile of hay . I so wished she would lie next to me in this manner.<br>We enjoyed the exhibit and afterwards she suggested walking back through Boston and taking the T at Park Street. <br>We reached the Public Gardens and you couldn't ask for a more idyllic day. Everything was in full blossom.<br>She asked if I wanted to sit on the lawn. We sat there briefly when she said she was a bit sleepy and would i be okay to take a nap. She lay on her side with her head on my shoulder.<br>She quickly fell asleep as I stared at her in disbelief, remembering the painting of the workers as my heart raced.<br>Much later I wrote one of several songs for her. Rushing home from the grocery store with this electric mandolin part in my head and a theme. Pretty much captured it on my little 4 track tape recorder.<br><a href="https://soundcloud.com/bobcomtois/shes-the-one" data-imported="1">https://soundcloud.com/bobcomtois/shes-the-one</a><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/81431aa7c6c73ccb8e5e38a9fb727419da9a9fc1/original/millet.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NTUzeDU0OCJd.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="548" width="553" /><br><br><br></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028702
2015-05-22T20:00:00-04:00
2022-09-22T07:32:13-04:00
Robert Plant and me
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/69d743dfa0094d2fb84a9a42bfb4b155e36ea075/original/robert-plant.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjM1eDIxNCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="214" width="235" /> had met Robert Plant on the sidewalk, a block away from my store, Briggs and Briggs Music in Harvard SQ. I pointed out our store and he said he'd be by. I got back to work and my coworkers were like, "Oh, sure, Bob. You met Robert Plant and he's coming in. Uh huh". I was coming up from our downstairs and as I ascended , I saw the street floor. I looked out and saw Plant open the door, get down on his haunches, point at me, and eye to eye, say, "There he is".<br>I replied, "Hi, Mate".<br>We had a good time. He bought lots of CDs that I had bought for the store. People ran in like idiots (Harvard students) to get his autograph. We had a good talk and found out we knew someone in common, Scott Billington from Rounder Records.<br>So, a few years go by and somebody comes into the store to tell us that Robert Plant was in the bookstore next to us. We looked out our side windows and there he was, purchasing books at the their counter.<br>So, he came in and I was at the record counter immediately to his right.<br>"I remember you", I said.<br>"And I remember well the distant bells and the rain that fell out of the blue", he replied.<br>This time I told him he could take CDs downstairs to listen to on one of the boom boxes we sold. I got out of his hair (his pretty glorious hair). He was looking good. He didn't buy as much this time. But did buy the ones he opened.<br>He said, "I'll be back tomorrow to listen to more music and I get a tape of your music". I fumbled in my shirt pocket, nervously stuttering as I tried to get a cassette out.<br>"Here's one that only has half of the songs written on the package so far, but there's one song that is more your style called "Run". Don't feel obliged", I said, heart pounding.<br>"I never do", and he was out of the door.<br>I then realized that the tape was cued up to Episode 1 of "Bob the Squirrel", my audio cartoon series about a love lorn squirrel pining for his ex-squirrelfriend.<br>I took my afternoon break right there and then, racing out of the store trying to track Mr. Plant down and get my tape back. I checked every record and book store. Could not find him.<br>Two weeks later I stopped by the store on my day off. "Your buddy…………Plant is contesting his bill with American Express".<br>"What, I asked.<br>"He's saying he didn't buy things here. We have to send his accountant a copy of the the sales slip"<br>He looked me in the eye. "It's that "Bob the Squirrel"".</p>
<p><a contents="Run" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bobcomtois.com/track/1973693/run">Run</a></p>
<p><br><script src="https://bandzoogle.com/tracks/396556/1415620543/1973693.js"></script></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028701
2014-10-08T20:00:00-04:00
2022-05-11T04:12:17-04:00
I am where I need to be
<p>I am happy to say that retirement, no matter how impoverished, has led to doors opening for me in music.<br>The worst thing I ever did to my career was listening to my mother (RIP) and making a day job a priority. Suddenly, I was not able to play phone tag with club managers. My energies went to keeping the stays quo.<br>I realize, though, that I have somehow managed to learn audio production.<br>Here I am decades later, having just gone through 4 accidents in 4 years, and I realize that the last time someone crashed into me allowed me to upgrade to a full version of my Pro Tools recording software, with a refurb iMac, which is a perfect machine for me.<br>Hello, World, I am going to entertain you and advocate decency.</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028700
2014-07-06T20:00:00-04:00
2022-01-29T07:52:45-05:00
What is "What It Is"?
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/ff2e84d79d8250e810ccbb95a27c8745b07e21f2/original/albumart-bobcomtois-1400x1400.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />What is "What It Is"?</strong><br>After playing together off and on for some years, I had the chance to jam with bassist, Mike Martone. He was between bands and I had been ever prolific, writing and recording.<br>We played that day and scheduled another session for the next week.<br>So that day comes and I get a phone call from Mike on the road. He said he had an idea and would tell me when he arrived.<br>Mike suggested we do an album together, it would be my album and compositions, only with his input on the arrangements and grooves.<br>Thus was the beginning of "What It Is".<br>All but four tunes were from that time frame, some being written in between sessions.<br> Mike said the album is 90% me, I sing all and play all except bass and some drum programming, but Mike surely set the tone for the album.<br>It was never released though, thanks to car repairs that came up.<br>Finally, through the launching of my website, I got to release "What It Is" and am so happy to hear it again.<br>Download it today! Good stuff cheap!</p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028699
2014-04-30T20:00:00-04:00
2021-12-28T00:36:25-05:00
Love's Mishaps, Part 2
<p><br><strong>"Love's Mishaps"</strong> spans 30 years with the bulk of the tunes from this century. 1984-2012.<br>"Be alright" (2003):<br>Acoustic guitars and mandolin back my vocals and lead guitar.<br>"What Memories" (1988):<br>A four track tape recording sporting electric mandolin and guitar<br>"Mixup in the orders" (1981, recorded 1999ish):<br>My only Freudian Reggae tune, recorded as my last big four track tape production turned digital. I am reminded of "A Mid-Summer's Night's Dream" with the donkey and cuckoo.<br>Mandolin and bass<br>"Love's mishaps" (2006):<br>James Herbst came up with the cover and the album title. I wrote this so that there would be a title track.<br>"After the storm" (2012):<br>Guitars, voices and eventually, mandocello tracks<br>"I still laugh" (2002):<br>Guitars, vocals and my acoustic mando<br>"Some of you" (2006):<br>Guitars, vocals, and mandolin<br>"Fontella Bass sang" (1990)<br>Guitars and mandolin<br>"Triumphant losses" (2005)<br>"In silence" (2005)<br>"Business doing pleasure" (1984)<br>An early home recording with me dabbling with a borrowed ARP synthesizer and a Matel drum machine<br>"Sweetness" (2011)<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/e2375068b2907ca3a0cfbdb4deeb8b9781c90980/original/loves-mishaps-blue.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzQweDMzOCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="338" width="340" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028698
2014-04-26T20:00:00-04:00
2021-11-04T07:07:55-04:00
Me and Alan Ginsberg
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/5cdd4a0ec077349520b7a5a801341ccd9ce3aa26/original/allen-ginsburg.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NzAweDcwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="700" width="700" /><br>When I worked at Briggs and Briggs music in Harvard Sq., Alan Ginsberg walked in one day. I didn't let on that I recognized him, but helped him look for a CD of an early British composer.<br>"He was a contemporary of Shakespeare, wasn't he", I asked.<br>He told me otherwise.<br>"You're the poet, so you should know it", I said.<br>What followed was the most intense staring contest of my life with me holding to my joke and he refusing to laugh!<br> </p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028697
2014-04-22T20:00:00-04:00
2021-10-30T09:02:16-04:00
Love's Mishaps, Part 1
<p>"<strong>Love's Mishaps</strong>" was conceived 1995 when a customer of mine from Briggs and Briggs Music ran into me in Harvard Sq.<br>I told James Herbst that I had gotten a CD player/recorder (this is before I had a computer) and was compiling songs for an album.<br>James said he'd interested as he was an artist who had experience with Photoshop.<br>After conferring about the song list, James went to work. He called announcing he had something done.<br>I had him over for dinner.<br>"What did you buy at Tower Records", I asked.<br>I reached into the bag and pulled out....<br>"<strong>Love's Mishaps</strong>" by Bob Comtois<br>My heart leapt up to my throat. The photo was one of the best photos I had ever seen.<br>Eventually I got a computer and released "<strong>With Relish</strong>" as my first CD.<br>"<strong>Love's Mishaps</strong>" was put on the shelf, due to my indecisiveness over the actual song content (and budgetary restrictions). It sat there till 2014 when I released it via my newly launched BOBCOMTOIS.COM.</p>
<p>Here's the original back cover:</p>
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/94849eb06701b24d748b2a8c9134c3d50f3e58ee/original/loves-mishaps-old-back.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MTMyMngxMDQxIl0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1041" width="1322" /></strong></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028696
2014-04-22T20:00:00-04:00
2021-10-29T10:59:35-04:00
Bevy of instruments
<p>My recordings are played with: </p>
<p>*1968 Martin D28 *1949 Harmony acoustic jazz guitar *1940 Kalamazoo (Gibson) mandolin<br>*1908 Gibson mandocello<br>*el cheapo Kent solid body electric mandola<br>*nameless solid body electric mandolin<br>*Squire Precision bass<br>*Squire Stratocaster<br>*Chroma Polaris 1980's analog synthesizer<br>Plus percussion instruments and harmonicas<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/f0857e714ab7f84f6a68fdbe0a5ba9e9f9426f84/original/instruments2014.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
bobcomtois.com
tag:bobcomtois.com,2005:Post/6028693
2014-04-07T20:00:00-04:00
2021-10-30T09:06:38-04:00
My story and sound, Part 1
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/c26c74dfdd90993766a0e50ff2f494ff6c96e310/original/modbob.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MTAyNXgxMDEzIl0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1013" width="1025" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/96b45f20417812dec71f502e9eddc0fee75e7d06/original/bobcomtois1971.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MTkyM3gxMzQ0Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1344" width="1923" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/396556/beb97af2fb56cb87b544e742df5663e9cf0c5648/original/bob1976.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAxMHgyOTE3Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="2917" width="2010" />My story and sound<br><br>As a kid, I grew up learning tunes off the record. Beatles, Stones, Cream, Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel.<br>Previous to starting guitar at 12, I had a very close relationship with the radio. The Everly Brothers, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Ella Fitzgerald<br>I started writing songs when I was 12.<br>This from was early in the British invasion.<br>I played lead guitar in a garage band that got gigs in high school. I taught the band the tunes. I sang only one song in that band, an original.<br>Otherwise my original acoustic material flourished,and I began singing my songs where I could.<br><br>When I got to college I met a student who commuted. He played and sang too and within a couple of months we auditioned for a recording contract at a studio in Maynard, MA.. It once was a big movie theatre. We stood in front of one of those legendary Neumann microphones and performed LIVE. I have that recording!<br>There I met Skunk Baxter who eventually was in the original Steely Dan and then the Doobie Brothers.<br><br>Things didn't pan out with the contract we signed. I was fired, but they kept two of my songs and my guitar tracks.<br><br>Life in Boston was quite the scene. I played open mics with some gigs there and back home on weekends.<br>Eventually I tried playing on the street.<br>An old college buddy call and had gotten free studio time up at the University of Syracuse. I had a caravan of my musicians meet a caravan of musicians my friend assembled up in his neck of the woods.It was quite the rushed project, a long EP. It sounded rushed. I have the recordings.<br>Soon after I got a mandolin as a Christmas gift from my girlfriend.<br>Now when I went and played on the street in Boston, people wanted me to play with me. I quickly picked it up on my new instrument, ignoring the guitar for some years.<br> </p>
bobcomtois.com