Avant Bop

Avant Bop

Fever in my Blood

I recently saw a documentary about the great Wanda
Jackson. Being inspired, I came up with a little
rockabilly ditty. (thanks to Mick Fleetwood
for his Loop. Me on all else)

Fever in my Blood

Acoustic Thyme

So Many Times
On the Other Side
I Think I Know

Leaving on the Light

the sky so bright with summer's end, autumn's on its way
and what's been lost is found again, forever it will stay
frozen in a memory inside a special place
and oh how i do clearly see your eyes so full of grace

i miss you most in the morning
i miss you most in the night
i miss you all of the time now
i'm leaving on the light

in between what might have been and all that's come to pass
questions of a million things but me to scared to ask
for ignorance is bliss they say for truth can hurt so much
just like the day you went away left me longing for your touch

i miss you most in the morning
i miss you most in the night
i miss you all of the time now
i'm leaving on the light

i remember you
i remember you
i remember you
remember....you

now the winter calls to me with the promise of the spring
and you ascend so peacefully into that land of dreams
surely there's a place for us on that sweet deep river side
and i know i'll find you there, your arms open so wide....

i miss you most in the morning
i miss you most in the night
i miss you all of the time now
i'm leaving on the light

Leaving on the Light
words and music by w. bates
t21 music 2008

Leavin' on the Light

New Days I Knew Songs

The Heart is Still Willing
I Wanna Be in a Rock and Roll Band
Watching the Cars Go By
No Agenda
In Her Garden
When You Were Alive

into the forest...

into the forest




..think i'll take a walk in the wistful woods tonight
pay homage to the spirits, find the ghostly light....
deep into the forest: where the black cat howls
there i find my master: she suffers and she scowls

her eyes are cinnamon, her frame is so well built
and with a flick of her lashes she removes all my guilt...
don’t follow me sister, ' cuz i walk a wayward path
my soul might betray you, my words might be your epitaph...

in the thicket by the clearing by the old canal
all i got to say boys is feets don’t fail me now.
cuz there’s something about the quiet like a deafening roar
if i was what i once was i could not take this anymore...

i'll penetrate the darkness, throw caution to the wind
ill mail all these love letters i keep forgettin' to send
ill rage like a phantom, fleeing the life he once led
ill take back what i remember replace it with things you said...

words and music by w. bates
t21music2008

acoustic melancholia

'til i remember
words and music by wm.bates
t21music 2008

Superstock Dodge

the clouds are threatening, there's evil in the air
the blacktop glistens, upon my headlight glare
7 years of bad luck, on a suicide squeeze
there's only one thing that will bring me to my knees

my superstock dodge....

it's the ides of march, the hush before the storm
i see you on your front porch, all cuddled up and warm
in one hand you've a locket, in the other hand a key
you smile at me so sweetly and thrown them down to me

my superstock dodge...
my red flamin' carb rockin' shift boppin' heart stoppin'
superstock dodge

words and music by william bates
t21music 2008

Superstock Dodge (instrumental mix)

studio thyme

..work is going well well
well on the new Days I Knew
album...creative groovy
mind expansion is taking
place..here are 4 pieces
3 are instrumental mixes
the other: well its "out there"

The Heart is Still Willing
Something Good
No Agenda
Avant Guard

inthestudiow/daysiknew.

days i knew are:

william bates guitarandvocals.
stallion: bass.
drew pearce: drums
skull: violin/sax



daysiknewpromo (quick time)
daysiknewpromo (windows media)

New Songs From Days I Knew

...have a new band called Days I Knew and we are in the process of making an album...here are 3 songs from the project (not fully realized mixes yet: but getting there)

...thanks to stallion, drew, and skull...look for more songs and more info on the band to come soon...



Smoke and Mirrors
The Devil is Beating His Wife
I Love You Too Much

Omaha Beach is in Reach

Omaha Beach is in Reach

For the Love of Harry

Here are two songs recently recorded by me at my T21 Studio. Featuring yours truly on vocals and Zack Williams on piano...we both love Harry Nilsson so these go out to him...

Living Without You
Good Old Desk

We All Get What We Deserve

Here's a new song....I composed it; played all the instruments on it; sang it; a real one man band as it were....

We All Get What We Deserve





I took a chance, a stab at romance
The things that dreamers often do
But knowing me, I just couldn’t see
Between the white lies and the true..

laughed at myself, put it all on a shelf
walked away from the tainted memory
But triggers and such it all was so much
I was in a place I didn’t wanna be…

And who’s to say, this isn’t a play
Or simply what one makes it to be
For after all, if the writings on the wall
You can’t read what you never see…

I read in a book, I took a second look
I studied the lines on my face
Gravity bends, I would do it all again
It sure beats running in place…

Do I know you, were you at my school?
Were you the girl with the dancing eyes?
You probably didn’t know me you couldn’t see
For I was wearing a disguise..

But I took off the mask, it was a task
Yet I had to find the reason behind
These thoughts I feel, no longer concealed
I was so visibly tired of being blind…

The river it flows and where it goes
Is a matter of geography
But no matter how it bends and it slides
It seems to always find the sea

That river is me, that current is you
We all are but leaves in the stream
Some hug the shore, others want more
Those are those who live the dream…

We all get what we deserve, come what may
What we send out surely returns
So excuse me, I’ve got some places to be
Got some lessons I need to learn….

We All Get What We Deserve
Words and Music by William Bates
T21 Music 2008

The Allure of Nature

We have some very scenic places near Greenville, SC. Here is a slide show of some of my photos from Paris Mountain State Park, Cedar Falls, and Lake Conestee with some background music by yours truly....

In the Stillness of the June Night

Lately I have been thinking of how we all just move through time. How tangible time truly is. And how precious our time truly is. And how things happen for reasons and how time teaches us in time what those reasons are. With those thoughts in mind, I took out my trusty old guitar and composed this song....

For Your Listening Pleasure:

In the Stillness of the June Night

in the stillness of the june night
i took a walk on memory's shore
toward a strange beckoning light
whose shadows did implore
me to move through time
just as i move thru an open door

i'm a gypsy i'm clairvoyant
tho’ i cant even read between my lines
and im late for my appointment
on the other side

and i saw all my lovers
all my friends and enemies
gathered in a circle as they hover
on the calm bedeviled sea
that rocks me like my mother
that lifts me up like my daddy

i'm a gypsy i'm clairvoyant
tho’ i cant even read between my lines
and im late for my appointment
on the other side

and the measure of a man, son
is in how he gets up
from the struggle and the fatigue, son
and the storms that do erupt
and how he clings to happiness, son
and gives it back to the ones he loves....

i'm a gypsy i'm clairvoyant
tho’ i cant even read between my lines
and im late for my appointment
on the other side

in the stillness of the june night
words and music by william bates
t21music 2008

New Songs

I am getting a new band together with Mark Payne on Bass and Drew Pierce on Drums. We are going to do the style of music that I did in my first band way back in the early 90's...upbeat Power Pop with a ballad here and there...I am most excited about the way this project is going. We will be recording an album's worth of original songs this summer. Here are several of the songs in acoustic form, me singing and playing the guitar live as it were. A glimpse at the process of putting an album together as it were...

I Just Wanna Live
There's A Way
I Just Wanna Be in a Rock and Roll Band
When You Were Alive

Everybody Falls (Before They Rise)

i threw my heart into the river deep
with miles to go before i sleep
its cast iron blue and numb surprise
nobody here gets out alive

everybody falls
everybody falls
everybody falls
before they rise

if you see her don't say hello
she's somebody i don't wanna know
she left me with such a price to pay
i don't believe in yesterday

everybody falls
everybody falls
everybody falls
before they rise

it's alright
things get better with time
it's alright
i don't mind....

i looked into the faded photographs
and i couldn't help it i had to laugh
one would think after all this time
i would forget what i left behind

everybody falls
everybody falls
everybody falls
before they rise

everybody falls (before they rise)
words and music by w.bates.

Listen to Everybody Falls (Before They Rise)

Sounds

I have written tons of songs and have been fortunate to have my own studio to record them in. Sometimes, I weave through this abundance of unreleased work and get a bit creative in my listening. I hear bits of songs and music blending into other parts of tunes and thus I made this little crossfade mix. Play it Loud!

William Bates Crossfade Mix

Whatever Happened to You?

Here are the lyrics to a song I wrote for a project that somehow got put on hold. Life's interruptions seem to have reared their ugly heads again. I think its a good example of my efforts to put myself inside another character. Perhaps you know people and think to yourselves what the hell ever happened to them?

She cast her lot with fate and she was let down

Hard to believe such luck for the class clown

But life is all promise when you’re young

Promises now broken in the gray November sun.

She went to college but it wasn’t her thing

She wanted to see the world, the glory it would bring

The great works of literature fell on her deaf eyes

Her heart was broken before she tried.

Fade away…fade away…fade away to blue…

He worked in shipping, she slept in the secretarial pool

He caught her fancy with the silly thing’s he’d do

They had a brief sad torrid love affair

And in the end she didn’t repent, she didn’t even care

She believed in angels, they kept her safe at night

She worked hard to achieve what she knew wasn’t right

Her friends all had babies and husbands by the score

Seems she was cursed with always wanting more

Fade away…fade away…fade away to blue…

Whatever happened,whatever happened,whatever happened to you?

Time he is a hustler, he tricks us with his grace

He leaves us on the sidewalk, watching the race

In still procession we see what we want to see

Isn’t that the way it always is, the way it’s meant to be.

Her time is docked by the inertia of her lies

She never found the space to cut them down to size

And now in her hands sands run down like rain

But still she finds pleasure in the mists of her pain

Fade away…fade away…fade away to blue…

Whatever happened,whatever happened,whatever happened to you?

Whatever Happened to You?

Words and music by William Bates

Dreamland Music Review

William Bates,"Dreamland-A Song Cycle" (t21 Music)

Song cycles tend to be unavoidable, full-on explorations and commitments, somewhat daunting. The term is a softened form of an ‘epic’ but nonetheless, it is what it is. I was prepared to gird my loins when presented with the -- not one, but two disc song cycle “Dreamland” by William Bates. And yet, I felt instantly at home from the opening strains of “Spirits Catching Time/Dreamland” for I had been down similarly-rewarding paths before with Van Dyke Parks (the quintessential song-cycler). Bates’ voice will remind the listener of Parks, but I also hear Jim O’Rourke, and the accompanying acoustic pluckings reinforce that comparison.

But this work is just the sort of epic that one is delightfully surprised by, because you have the conventional aspects of folk/pop melded together with avant-garde boldness. Like Van Dyke Parks, William Bates exploration is undeniably American -- with the rockabilly foray of “Everybody’s Happy” and the driving “Blues Won’t Let Me Be”. But to Bates’ credit, this isn’t strictly a one-man journey, as he is augmented by female vocal accompaniment (“A Woman’s Work is Never Done”) and female artistry most pronounced in the composition, “Willow Weep for Me”.

The jazz and blues elements come more to the fore on disc 2, particularly with “Feel Like A Stranger”. I defy anyone to pin down this particular track, as it’s a blend of so many genres that at first you’re disoriented until you realize this is William Bates’ own style. “Days I Knew”, for example, sits on the cusp of being Sade-esque lounge-styled crooning but the emphatic persistent snare-and-high-hat shuffle moves this song into another terrain altogether.

While I’m still trying to tackle the depth of “Dreamland” (and it is a definable song cycle particularly given the recurring themes/wordplay in various songs), I can safely say that William Bates has presented the listener with a masterwork deserving of the title ‘song cycle’. It’s a true thing of beauty that never fails to stay fresh over the span of 2 discs; and there is quite literally something in here for anyone who appreciates jazz, pop, folk, and blues. Not only does William Bates excel, he surpasses those striving to tie together simply two genres. Quite simply, Bates is a musical alchemist, able to spin commonly-known genres into a golden one of his own.

To go to this artist's web site click here

Review by John Lane

Ear Candy Magazine

June 2004

Accept and Move Forward

Life is often a series of disappointments broken by brief spells of happiness. That is why one should cling to those periods of joy like the gifts they surely are. The counting of one's blessings is an intricate part of the development of a good life. Storms do come and one must weather them. One's strength is measured by how well they handle such adversity. As I write this, I must confess that these words have the luster of cliches to my eyes. Yet cliches are but the truth told again and again and again. Being a writer, I often turn to words as a form of self guidance. And as a musician, I often turn to the writing of songs as a means of revealing to myself and to others some of the truths I have discovered in life, be it by melody or lyrics or ideally the combination of both.One thing that I have learned is that one must accept whatever life brings to us and move forward. Often we become trapped in the moment or revert to the past. The key is to always keep moving to a better day. So accept and move forward....and find your peace in this world.....

Lincoln's Melancholy

I just read a book called Lincoln’s Melancholy and it is a fascinating read.  As a long time Lincoln lover, I have often pondered exactly what was the fuel behind his greatness.  Author, Joshua Wolf Shenk has put forth an interesting new take on what ran “the little engine that could”, as long time Lincoln friend and law partner, William Herndon famously called Lincoln’s ambition.   To put it simply, Shenk identifies Lincoln’ lifelong struggle with depression as the motivating factor behind his greatness.   This was of extreme fascination to me for I too have battled the dark forces of depression and have used my own wars against it to stoke my own creative fires.   Please note that I certainly do not have the hubris to suggest that I am on the level of Mr. Lincoln but only state that I can relate to the battle he waged within. 

Mr. Shenk also points to Lincoln’s use of humor as both a major tool in not only his political arsenal but also as a forceful weapon against his own depression.   I also could relate to this tactic for my own sense of humor has put me in good stead against those 4am feelings of the soul.   He also writes in great detail of what has been called “depressive realism”.   As he states, “depression often springs from fundamentally accurate perceptions, that in some situations, can be an advantage.”    Research has suggested that when people are not depressed, they are highly vulnerable to illusions, including unrealistic optimism, overestimation of themselves, and an exaggerated sense of their capacity to control events.   The author places these observations within the framework of Lincoln’s entire life and especially in how he handled the overwhelming stresses of guiding the nation through the horrors of civil war.

 This is but a brief overview of this fascinating book.   I would recommend it highly to anyone but especially to those who have dealt with the darkness of depression.   For in your darkest hours you can see you are not alone.   The ghost of Lincoln is indeed there with you…..

The Reedy Beat

Years ago a friend of mine and I started a magazine to promote local music in my area.  We called it The Reedy Beat, a take off on The Mersey Beat, which was the main magazine for the local Liverpool, England scene in the early 1960's.  They were instrumental in drawing attention to a group called The Beatles.   Seeing Liverpool had its Mersey River and we had our Reedy River it somehow seemed an appropriate name.   So now after a many many many years hiatus, I am bringing back The Reedy Beat in the form of a blog site and a Podcast.  I invite you to visit www.thereedybeat.blogspot.com   Songs, Reviews, and Interviews of the music of upstate South Carolina and beyond will be featured.  

Dreamland

The Process

Here is a song that is in its working stages... Just thought I would share a bit of the process that goes into song construction. For example I Love You Too Much is the backing track, the vocals have not yet been done. I tried to go for a Tom Petty feel with some Beatlesque overtones. I used the following instruments: Vox Pathfinder Amplifier; Charvel 625c Acoustic;Epiphone Casino; Epiphone Viola Bass; Rickenbacker 360 Electric 12 String; And an excellent guitarist and personal friend of mine, Mark McAfee added his talents to the song by playing: a Gibson ES335 through a Fender Vibrolux Amplifier. Check the lead out played by Mark, very melodic and played over a guitar army of licks....Looking forward to some possible recording with my old band, The Revolvers. Will keep ya posted...

I Go to the the Movies

when i'm feeling blue and low
and i've got no place to go
and all my fire has gone from below
i go to the movies...i go to the movies
there's john wayne and montgomery clift
red river: watch the currents drift
hurry up boys, gotta give him the slip
and go to the movies...and go to the movies
time can wound it's over too soon
let's go jump the moon make the women swoon
make them swoon...make them swoon
saturday night at the picture show
i'm all dressed up i got nowhere to go
guess i'll just sit back and let it flow
and go to the movies...and go to the movies
liz taylor in a place in the sun
violet eyes and all the damage done
pardon me for i best run
and go to the movies...and go to the movies

i go to the movies
wordsandmusicbywilliambates t21music 2007

Songs and Expressions

I am a songwriter. I have written hundreds of songs and have recorded nearly all of them in my studio and at other various places from Nashville to Winston-Salem, NC. In my latest podcast I share 3 of them and give brief introductions as to their meaning. I invite you to give them, and by effect I, a listen:

Episode Two of the Days I Knew Podcast: Songs and Expressions

An Imaginary Inaugural Address

My Fellow Americans,

Today we meet to sanctify a process that has not only led me to this hour but has led us all to an appointment with certainty. The certain and lingering knowledge that we as Americans can accomplish things that cynics label impossible. Throughout our history each generation has heard the call of responsibility and it has been up to its leaders to endow in their people the will and the strength to meet the rigors of this responsibility. At this moment, in this uncertain time, I call upon Americans of all political persuasions to answer this call. To say this will be easy; To say that this will be devoid of risk; To say that this will be without sacrifice would betray the very call we all feel. There are some who say in strident tones that our country's best days lay behind us. To them I say, the dream of America that has guided us through the storms of war; depression and civil strife is very much alive. It is beating still in the heart of our history and in the soul of our present and in the everlasting promise of our future. Like a seed waiting for the coming of a righteous spring it awaits our tending of the garden. Let us nurture the seed. Let us pour upon it from the mighty stream of freedom the nourishment of a hope forged in the cold crossing of the Delaware; of the blood soaked fields of Gettysburg; of the storming of the Normandy Beaches; of the overcoming of the ramparts at the Selma bridge; of the love we all have, we must have for this precious country. And let it draw strength for the trials we all must endure as we walk this uncertain road of life.

Once a crippled man led a crippled nation and asked us not to fear. His words linger in the air we breathe in today within this capitol hill. We have seen the worst the world can bring into us. We watched towers fall. Yet as those noble buildings sank with a speed unbelievable into the bedrock of our greatest city we also knew that the souls within them were ascending into a giving and prideful God. Let us ascend like our brethren. The time for doubt is over. The darkness, though still outside our gates, is not our enemy unless we welcome it into our hearts. Government of the people endures.

Let the world note that America is a friend. Our power will be used wisely. But to those who wish us harm be warned that our resolve is omnipotent and that we shall never shrink from the defense of our institutions; our people; and our sacred honor. In this time of rapid change and in our deep desire for change let us never forget that change must be earned. It must be based on what has gone before. These things we know in our collective memory. These things we will always know. It is just that in times of trouble the memory becomes clouded by the darkness we all must put asunder.

The words said today may or may not linger in the telling of our story. That is of little importance. What is important is that the calling we feel be acted upon. That our country, filled as it is with the burdens of the living, will never walk among the ghosts of the vanquished.

The bible teaches us that those who trouble their own house shall inherit the wind. Let us rather inherit the house our ancestors gave their all to build for us. And let us all give, into those who come after us from that house, many mansions. The sense of purpose in that endeavor will be the font of our strength. And from that national will will arise yet another chapter written by a strong and compassionate hand that will reveal to all who seek its guidance a path that might be on the edge of but shall always lead away from the wilderness.

Listen to the Days I Knew Podcast Episode One

The Allure of the New

Change is in the air.   The country's  so weary of being idle.  The contestants are there for the country to judge: The woman; the black; the old warrior.   Can the old be new and the new be old?   Who knows, we cannot predict what is going to happen over the course of the next few minutes.   History has a way of working it all out.   I mean, everything does work out if you let it... And one other thing, I think we should do "the opposite" of what we usually       do...just like a personal icon of mine "George Cantstandya...

Magnetism and Insanity

Have you ever had the feeling that you are a living magnet for insane events?   By that I mean the little things that happen during the course of a normal day that really have no basis in reason.   Like computer foul ups; car trouble; financial screw ups...I believe that the human world operates on the principles of Newtonian physics:  for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...Thus, the concept of Karma is alive in all we do...Therefore to cleanse the magnetic effect of those little insignificant things that don't really amount to anything in the grand scheme of life we should strive to do good.   The good comes back in time and the bad comes back in massive droves.   Or maybe they come back in little drips of irritants.   

The Cumulative Effect

I guess I just wasn't made for these times as Brian Wilson said way back in 1966.   

Teenage angst seems to follow some of us through life.  I think I got something going good for myself and what goes wrong....

Hell, we all whine at times, some people do it externally to the detriment of others and some keep it all inside.   I prefer the later.   Thus, in a sense, the ability to overcome disappointment is a hallmark of a healthy life.   Hopefully we learn that time does heal such wounds.   That is true, it really is.   The bounce back time element is crucial.  Those who can't bounce it back are doomed not only to live their lives in quiet desperation but are burdened by the added feature of what I like to call the cumulative effect.  In other words, those wounds seem to add and add to each other so that they consume the present and grant a hopeless tenor to the future.   So try to not let that happen to you.  Live in the now and stab disappointment in its cold and dreary heart.

Think About It

When one takes the easy way out things are easy at first and then they get hard.  When one takes the hard and right way things are hard at first and then they get easy.