Randy Brook - "ONE MORE HIGHWAY " - Takoma Records

Back in post-Woodstock hippy days, when there was a popular weekly photo-journalism magazine called "LIFE", I had a chance meeting with Vernon Meritt - one of its photographers. I was hitchiking, he wanted to do a story. The rest, as they say (who is "they" anyway, and why are they saying things like that?), is history. We traveled from L.A. to New York. I kept a journal and they used excerpts from it as the text for the article. When I got back to L.A. I was able to produce a record album (vynil) on the strength of the upcoming article, and eventually sold it to John Fahey's record label - Takoma Records (although they were dubious about the assosciation, and so created a second label just for this record - "Devi Records" - which always sounded a little too close to "Devil Records" for my taste). It was a low-budget record, done in a hole in the wall studio in Hollywood, but we had a lot of creative freedom, some good (out-of-work) musicians and the contribution of several fine songs from a young writer named "Stan Young" (is there an echo in here?). I liked the album. It played once on the local hip FM radio station (KPFK) and dropped into immediate and permanent obscurity (although somebody did tell me they bought a copy from a discount record bin at a Wall-Mart). Anyway, this is the title-song from the album - set to a backdrop of photos from the Life archives. Maybe later I will post a couple more songs from the album. :-)

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[shosit]

Please post "Make-believe light"... I used to hear it on WREK radio in Atlanta back in my springtime years. Never have forgotten it, nor been able to hear it since.

[randybrook77]

RESPONSE TO SHOSIT - #1 - Are you kidding me? Amazing. An album made almost 40 years ago, for an off the wall record label...an album which went straight from release to the discount record bin at K-mart...and here is a guy in Italy who not only heard it in Georgia (???), but remembers one of the songs and liked it so much that he wants to hear it again. My mind is officially boggled! You got it shosit...I will dig it out and post it...heck, maybe I'll post the album...why not?

[randybrook77]

RESPONSE TO SHOSIT - #2 - The song was written by Stan Young, a songwriter from Ohio who I met in Santa Monica. He had a real touch with a song, a really nice guy. I wish I knew where he was now. Got married and went back to Ohio. About half the album is his songs. I always really liked "Make Believe Light" too. Thanks, shosit, for coming out of nowhere to make me feel that maybe the album wasn't a total waste of time. :-)

[msdonttreadonme]

Unbelievable. I've finally found Make Believe Light after over 20 years! I too heard it on WREK and have tried in vain until now to find it. Could you tell me how to obtain a copy? I only heard it once and it has haunted me since.....

[randybrook77]

@msdonttreadonme I took it down because no one was listening to it . I'll put it back up as soon as I get my computer back out of the shop

[orestory]

wow!

[shosit]

not only do I remember it, I go around singing it. Hmmm. Currently wondering if I didn't set it up in my subconscious for the soundtrack to future breakups... (incidentally, it's GIRL in Italy...)