what can i do
when rock & roll's callin’?
rock & roll
but let it ring on through
let it ring on through
to the machine
let it ring on through
i'm too tired for you
caller i.d.
says rock & roll's callin' for me
why does it always gotta be me?
why don't she ever let me be?
oh, rock & roll's callin' for me
who could it be?
but rock & roll callin' for me
so let it ring on through
let it ring on through
to the machine
let it ring on through
to the machine
let it ring on through
i'm too tired for you
let it ring on through
to the machine
possibilities possibilities
possibilities abilities
oh why can’t i see it
oh why can’t i see it
whatever will be whatever will be whatever will be whatever will be will be
subterranean terranean resistance
subterranean terranean emotions
buried under ground
where the gold is found
so let’s not dig it let’s just leave it there
no need to see it just believe it’s there
holdin' it down
no predictions yet
predictions if i’ll be saved
no predictions yet predictions if i’ll be saved
from the spinning wheels
stickin' out for standin' still in their way
no nostalgia nostalgia can stop me
no nostalgia nostalgia can stop me
oh from lookin’ forward sorry jimi hendrix
i’m lettin’ you go i’m doin’ it now right now
possibilities possibilities
possibilities abilities
no nostalgia nostalgia can stop me
possibilities possibilities
about
Happy New Year, kiddos!
Here are two tracks from my archives that few have heard before.
Some of you know my album "Ancient Baby", which came out in 2019. Getting there was a long and winding road. Some of the songs on "Ancient Baby" were produceded four times in four different studios. Today, just about ten years after they were recorded, I am releasing the first versions of "Rock & Roll's Callin'" and "Possibilities" recorded in 2014 by the late, great Alex Laipenieks.
Alex was a brilliant analog purist, whose studio (Owl Sight Recorders, in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood) was a veritable time machine. Between oil paintings of Elvis and his collection of ancient furniture, there was a trove of analog recording equipment. A neglected old computer sat in the corner, only used when necessary to produce a digital "drop" of one of his mixes.
I worked with Alex for 12 sessions total, making my first renderings of the 13 songs that would become Ancient Baby. Alas, Alex and I fought like cats and dogs. Our visions were strong, and our personalities divergent. At one point, we fell out of touch, with Alex refusing to hand over the 2" reels containing my tracks, so that I could bring them to another studio for completion.
After a year or so, Alex reached out and said, "Come by and have a glass of wine. You can do whatever you want to do with these reels brother." We mended our friendship, and I carried the reels from Alex's Owl Site Studio in Oakland out to my friend and mentor Ethan Turner's Owl Mountain Studio, in Inverness, Ca.
Ethan and I found a deep simpatico, and co-produced our own versions of every song on the album. We did, however, decide to work with two of the tracks that Alex recorded at Owl Site, adding things where we saw fit and creating new mixes of "Wild Horses" and "Back to the Start". Ethan also mixed the version of "Possibilities" that you hear here, in the spring of 2018.
In early 2021, Alex passed away, after a 3 year-long battle with neuroendocrine cancer. He was a loving father, a totally unique recording engineer, and he made a mark on the Bay Area's music scene. In addition to his work as a recording engineer, Alex was the original drummer of a great band called the Mr.T. Experience, and he interfaced with a great many musicians here in the Bay Area through his work as a live sound engineer at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill nightclub.
Lastly, I'd like to mention the album art, drawn in 2014 by Cameron Forsley. As a Google search will reveal, Cameron's illustrations have proliferated the San Francisco literary, music, comic book and tattoo scenes. He's a hard-working, original, humane and sometimes controversial artist who I admire greatly. This art was originally intended to be the front cover of the Ancient Baby album, and up to this point, has never been released to the public.
Thanks so much for reading, y'all. Happy New Year, once more. May we look back with gratitude and forward with purpose.
Chris
credits
released January 1, 2024
Written & Performed by Chris Peck
Recorded to 2" analog tape by Alex Laipenieks at Owl Site Recorders in Oakland CA., April 2014
"Rock & Roll's Callin'" mixed by Alex Laipenieks in April, 2014
"Possibilities" mixed by Ethan Turner at Owl Mountain in spring, 2018
The Los Angeles-based indie rock artist's first full-length album is inspired by songwriters like Glen Campbell and George Harrison. Bandcamp New & Notable May 8, 2020
