A reindeer walks into a bar …
How many great works of art have started with that simple premise? None, you say? Well, maybe this’ll be the first. Or not.
A month or so ago I decided to record another Christmas/holiday tune, carrying on a long tradition that previously had exactly one other instance, my 2020 cover of “Blue Christmas.” Struggling to find another song to cover, I decided to write my own.
I present to you all the first original song I’ve posted, “So Sorry Santa (Rudy’s Blues).”
This is a solo effort, written and recorded by yours truly while the CPR Trio continues work on their next project (also an original).
The concept for this started with the idea that maybe there is yet another reindeer — call her Trixie — that never gets the call on Christmas Eve, and always ends up spending the night in despair at the local watering hole, hoping that maybe next year will be her year. That idea morphed into what you hear: The story of Rudolph, from his point of view, one year after his big night. Things have not gone well.
Once I committed to the premise, I worked out the chords and melody, then wrote (and revised — several times) the lyrics.
The instrumentation here is pretty basic: I created a few drum tracks using native GarageBand drum samples, layered on a bass track playing my Squier Classic Vibe ’60s Jazz bass, added a (doubled) rhythm guitar track courtesy of my Gretsch 2420T 6-string, then piled on a few organ tracks using my Roland RD-88‘s “Rock Organ” preset. I think this may be the first (completed) project on which I used the Gretsch. It won’t be the last. The sleigh bells you hear are real live sleigh bells which I picked up this summer at a neighbor’s yard sale.
I replaced the first subtitle I had, “Rudolph’s Lament”, with a less-dour suggestion that came from my good friend and neighbor (and CPR Trio guitarist), Peter. He also suggested a few lyric changes which I incorporated. And as always, my buddy Brian provided essential constructive feedback on my first mastering attempt.
Merry Christmas!
Well, it’s a fine effort , but hey, it’s no “Dominic The Donkey”! 😉 Seriously, great stuff, Rich. Happy Christmas and a very Merry New Year…..
I like the composition, especially the walking blues feel. Nice choice of keyboard lead, rather than the typical guitar heard in most blues. Hope Rudy’s hangover is short—we’ll need him next year.