Just One More Time album

In 2010 Chas and I began work on new songs which would become the Just One More Time album © Dalton Bentley & Chas Thomas (released 2011 March), having wrapped up the Out of Time album. In the first picture in the carousel below you see a January 2010 artist shot of Dalton with a 1955 Les Paul and Chas with a 1959 Gretch standing on the eastern slope of the Franklin Mountains in El Paso, Texas, a few minutes drive from the Broken Arrow indie studio at Chas' home. The next shot shows Chas in the studio on the electronic drums (he did all the drum work on the Just One More Time album, and most of it on the previous album also, surprising since I had never known him to play drums before). The following pic shows me playing Chas' 1955 Les Paul guitar, which I used on several of the new songs (and frequently on the previous album), but occasionally playing lead on a JT300 Turser strat (shown in the Out of Time album carousel pics). One shot shows the Broken Arrow indie studio analog processing equipment stack, a Behringer 1222FX mixer through an Alesis 3630 compressor, along with Behringer A500 reference amp and headphones distribution amp, with the Tascam US-122 USB analog-digital PC interface on desk to right, sending digital stream to Cubase LE 24 track digital recording software running on the PC just visible below right. In the final pic I am shown playing an electronic keyboard, used for string sound on one of the new tracks (minor organ and piano parts on previous album).

Just One More Time album tracks

You can see notes about the some of the tracks and download free mp3's of them here (check back regularly as we are in the process of putting them up, so won't have all of the tracks initially).

The initial lyrics for Always Headed Out were largely based on Dalton’s thoughts about his experiences with Cheri, whom he had first met in 1972 when first introduced to Chas (drummer Mike Fones thought Dalton would work well with Chas for new group they were putting together, so had him over to their apartment). Chas added most of the second verse. Melody and chording emerged during work in the studio in July 2010 (Dalton bringing in a demo either before or after that, which Chas used to learn the vocal). Chas sings the lead vocal, plays drums, and adds a second lead guitar part (with echo delay) on a Turser JT-134 guitar (very similar to the Gibson ES-135) in the instrumental break. Chas and Dalton play the two harmonic electric guitar parts which introduce the song. Dalton plays electric rhythm guitar on a 1959 Gretch (Chas is holding the Gretch in the pics above) through a Fender Twin amplifier and lead guitar on a 1955 Les Paul throughout with echo delay, as well as bass guitar. The instrumental break in the song features a lead by Dalton, then Chas, then Dalton and Chas trading measures with echo delay off for a raw one-take improvised musical conversation, coming out of the improvisation with simultaneous harmonic leads by both into a final chorus.

Right-click and download the 14 MB 5 min. 50 sec stereo mp3 file, or just left-click on the link and play in your browser (but use good speakers or headphones as these are a high-quality recordings!): mp3 track "Always Headed Out"

The lyrics for Always Headed Out:

Verse I:
Your head is always on my shoulder
Even when we're miles apart
A travelling man is always headed out
I see you on the balcony (with your friends)
I stand and beckon with my hand
Your eyes light up a travelling girl is always-- moving on
Chorus:
Yes we savor the peaks
Made all the higher in the climb from the valley is it deja vu
--this thing me and you?
(and) If the world is illusion
Still we're living-- in a real tale
Ragged Ann and Andy-- in the tornado
Verse II:
Your scent remains upon my skin
Your honey kisses on my lips
Your taste it always makes me--catch my breath
I think of beauty and your perfect form
We come as one-- a single heart
Our passion always guides us--like our Northern Star

The first portion of this double song track (cross fades Reflections into Beginnings) features Chas' superb vocal range in melody and harmony, Chas’ great work on drums, acoustic guitar and Gretch electric guitar---and his heartfelt lyrics. Dalton contributed musical composition (with Chas), lead guitar (JT300 Turser Strat into Cubase VST chorus effects to give a simulated Leslie organ speaker guitar sound), string synthesizer and bass guitar parts. The second portion was based on an instrumental prototype, Beginnings, Dalton had composed some years prior. In a recording session in February of 2009, Chas and Dalton produced a version of this instrumental, with ideas that they had been talking about recently in their minds, i.e., the mystic idea that there is a music of humanity, one of the body, another of the soul, another in the connection between them (paraphrasing Underhill). Later Chas suggested the fade, which now seems to evoke feelings of the sea, arriving safely at shore. On the Beginnings portion, Chas plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals, bass, bongos, and maracas. Dalton plays electric slide guitar, acoustic guitar, and djenga drum.

Right-click and download the 11.9 MB 4 min 57 sec stereo mp3 file, or just left-click on the link and play in your browser: mp3 track "Reflections"

The lyrics for Reflections:

Pieces of my life come back to me
Like an interwoven tapestry
Sometimes happy, sometimes so sad
All things considered, the good outweighs the bad
The answer to it all is knocking at the door
My ship sails on--
The storm is over.
So many memories are now so clear,
I thought I lost them, but now they're near
It's a wonder how I've made it this far--
So hard to figure the meaning of it all...
The answer to it all is knocking at the door...
Our ship sails on--
The storm is over.