[pompeyjazz]

Hi all - Something a bit different from us this time. Usually when we collaborate I will send a backing track to Cécile for her to write lyrics to and to find a vocals melody line. Recently though Cécile has started to get some backing tracks together and last week she sent me a lovely soulful backing track as a starting point. I added some more instruments, wrote the lyrics and did a vocal on this one. It's a retro sounding soul based track so hope that it hits the spot.

Also we managed to pop it on to our new album release that has just gone live on Bandcamp - Feel free to grab a copy if you wnat, it's a freebie  The link is here.....

https://starcrossed20.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-stars

And the Soundcloud link to the song............



Far too many tears
Shed over the years
Living all alone
Can't make it on my own

Take me sailing on a silver sea
Show me again just what you mean to me
It's time to love before it gets too late
Tell me again, cos this heart ain't made to break

Oh I've been sailing,on this sea of love
I thank the stars in the sky above
I've leaned to love and how to live again
And on this sea of love we're going to remain

(Break with trumpet)

Oh I've been sailing,on this sea of love
I thank the stars in the sky above
I've leaned to love and how to live again
And on this sea of love we're going to remain
Going to remain

(Keyboard break)

Why did I have to wait all of this time
I know for sure right now, you're going to be mine
I searched everywhere high and low
I'm going to shout it out, I've got to let you know

Oh I've been sailing,on this sea of love
I thank the stars in the sky above
I've leaned to love and how to live again
And on this sea of love we're going to remain

(Sax Solo)

Sailing, sailing,on this sea of love
I thank the stars in the sky above
I've leaned to love and how to live again
And on this sea of love we're going to remain

(Keyboard end)

[Veance]

I was pleasantly surprised about the added copper instruments. They so fit this song. Nice job on that.
The lyrics are well written.
"Take me sailing on a silver sea" is a marvelous line.

I found a touch of rod steward in your voice.

[LostBoy]

Nice work guys! Lovely vocals there John!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 some lovely little flourishes of different instruments keep the music interesting, with some lovely instrumental breaks, although that being said I'm not sure if u needed them all, i did find it a bit too long. I also wanted some backing vocals John....you're getting lazy mate!!🤣 I'm just kidding buddy. It's a nice track guys and congrats on putting an album's worth of work together.🤩🎶👊🏻🎶👍🏻😁

[montydog]

Hi @pompeyjazz
I liked the brassy, jazzy vibe of this and best of all - wah wah guitar! Another full on vocal performance from you. I'd be interested to know how many takes you do before you blow your voice out! I am particularly impressed with your use of brass - I just cannot figure out how to do that. Superb bass playing as well. As with all your material, the quality of the recording, production and arrangement are pro level. I just do not know how you manage to produce such a volume of material at this level.
Great track.
M

[rightly]

lol
oh I love this
guitars are just great
but it's the horns that do for me

I don't know what genre you'd call this
but it's one of my favourites

reminds me, just a little, of Paul Weller (on one of his good days)

Well Done John!

[Unclenny]

This is great! Loving those horns and guitars. The whole backing track is just so smooth....a fantastic vehicle for your excellent vocals.

Classic sounding lyrics.....great piece all around.

[MichaelA]

Hi @pompeyjazz wasn’t this the best song in The Commitments movie? Well no, but it would be great in the follow up!

Really smooth soulful number with a great hook. The brass is delicious and that wah wah guitar very playful. This kind of song is just perfect for your vocal delivery, you really put the feeling across so well, both in the full on bits and the more tender sections too.

I’d recommend you do more of these soulful tunes, you’ve got it cracked! Brilliant! 👍

[PaulAds]

What a great song this is! Vocal is amazing...I loved that little Jackie Wilson bass flourish the moment I heard it...and I knew the song was going to be a real treat.

Little sliding guitar part is lovely too...brass is fab...how did you get that sounding so good? Only thing I could think of was maybe a tiny bit too much wah guitar? I think it's just because I was trying to enjoy listening to everything all at once and felt I was missing out on some other goodies by not being able to catch it all. I wish I had an extra ear...where's Van Gogh when I need him?

Breakdown is lovely!

Big congrats to C too...she's clearly much more than "just" an amazing singer!

This is really great!

[fischermans]

Like the melody very much. Very cool instrumentation. Wished my skills on production could be better.
Great collab go on love it.

[moraamarolaloba]

Hola @pompeyjazz

Good arrangement, good sound and good song !!!!
I'm sure you enjoyed singing it. I love the trumpet.

Stay safe

Mora

[tboswell]

Super effectively soulful stuff. Your arrangement skills are so well honed these days, when those brass stabs come in they are perfect.
If you has the wrecking crew available to you like Brian Wilson had, I love to hear what you would come up with!

Great soulful vocal, the whole package sort of come out Style Council-ish (I worry about making that comparison, I know Jam fans get upset when they are mentioned).

I love it, just got quality written all over it.   

[Jamie]

@pompeyjazz @Melusine2

Hi guys, a brilliantly authentic soul performance. Might be the best vocal performance I've heard from you John. Everything was just as it should have been, writing, arrangement, instrumentation, playing and of course singing.

Brilliant

Jamie

[pompeyjazz]

Thanks for all of the feedback on this latest number

@Veance Hey thanks man. Glad you enjoyed the brass. Rod Steward - Was he the guy who used to do the tribute act on the cruises ?

@LostBoy Hey cheers Leo - I do love a bit of soul - Ah bv's yes, maybe I should have done some  - Actually, it's our 4th collaboration album - Been busy this last year 

@montydog Hey, thanks so much Alan. I only normally do one or two vocal takes - Yeah - you can't beat a bit of wah wah guitar every now and again. Thank you so much for your compliments

@rightly I'm glad that you enjoyed the listen - It's nice to bot be pigeon holed into a genre I guess

@Unclenny Thank you so much what a fabulous compliment

@MichaelA Thanks Michael - I did try and make the vocals more soft at times in this number rather that going full throttle all the way through. Thanks so much for the listen and the feedback

@PaulAds Cheers Paul - Yep, I loved the brass as soon as Cecile sent me the backing tracks. I tweaked it with a little extra reverb. The vocal seemed to come pretty easily as I fell in love with the backing track as soon as I heard it

@fischermans Thanks so much Alexander - Really appreciate your review

@moraamarolaloba Thanks Mora - Yes, I really liked that trumpet break as well 

@tboswell Yep - It would be amazing to have the wrecking crew at hand for sure. Thanks for such a brill review

@Jamie Gee - What a compliment Jamie - Knocked out by your kind words

And thank you to everyone else who has listened to the track. It makes it so worthwhile to get some feedback and makes it all very much more worthwhile 

[Veance]

Cruises? I doubt he had the time. I don't know, maybe.

But :

[Wicked Deeds]

@pompeyjazz, this is a  super song John.  Lovely guitar work and such a heart-warming vibe to present this accomplished song.  Your vocals are sounding great too.  When the chorus kicks in, it sounds so familiar and that, I believe is the  real skill of presenting a great chorus. There are a feast of different musical sounds coming and going as the song progresses.  On elf your best for sure!

Brilliant!

Paul