In the never ending attempt to relive my youth, I give you Traces. Since I've "found" my lounge groove, I thought this Dennis Yost and the Classics IV song would be just the ticket. It encompasses everything a broken hearted lizard pining for the past could possibly need: It has a weepy cat with lots of romantic flotsam and jetsam floating about, a sweet melody, a great sax solo, and an excellent vocal by Dennis Yost. Can't you visualize a leisure suited, side burned, bloke nursing his fifth rum and coke, sniffing away tears just as the horn intro of Traces gives way to Dennis Yost?
Faded photograph
Covered now with lines and creases
Tickets torn in half
Memories in bits and pieces
DY and the C-IV began as a Jacksonville club band. They headed to Atlanta to take advantage of the larger talent pool and ultimately released several chart worthy songs including Spooky, Stormy, and Traces. Original guitarist of the C-IV, J.R. Cobb, said this about the band in a Mix Magazine article:
“We were just a bar band that got lucky and got a record deal! We'd play rock 'n' roll in clubs, and the owners would tell us that we had to learn ‘Misty’ or ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’ Those standards worked their way into our playing and writing, and became part of the Classics IV sound.”
Moreover, Traces was recorded just as the industry was moving from 4 to 8 track recording and was released during a period that featured the soaring guitar work of rock luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend. That this somber tune would find an audience surprised the writer/producer of the song, Buddy Buie and Cobb as well:
“Me and Buddy would sit around and try to write a standard,” says Cobb, “We were overtly trying to write a ‘legitimate’ song. We had no idea it was going to be a Number 2 hit record — we were astounded! It was a cocktail kind of music; we knew that.”
Meanwhile, now that every seat within ten feet of him is empty, Mr lonely heart is boring the bartender; and the crying jag intensifies as Dennis Yost continues his inventory of misery.
Ribbons from her hair,
souvenirs of days together,
the ring she used to wear,
pages from an old love letter.
J.R. Cobb would leave the C-IV shortly after Traces only to reappear a few years later with his new band-and totally different sound- The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Dennis Yost continued to tour the clubs and lounges until being seriously injured in a 2006 car accident. According to the Classics IV website, Yost has recovered from the injuries, and throat surgery as well, and has returned to crooning in his unmistakable baritone.
I close my eyes
and say a prayer
that in her heart she'll find
a trace of love still there... somewhere.
Traces of hope in the night
that she'll come back and dry
these traces of tears from my eyes.
The little joint will be closing down any minute now and the bartender pats the weepy fellow on the shoulder, places a cup of coffee in front of him and collects the empty glass from his last rum and coke. "Hey bud, can I call you a cab"? It was the first words the lizard had heard since somebody played Traces on the Jukebox 5 hours ago.
Its that kind of song.
Source Material:
Mix Magazine
Classics IV
Faded photograph
Covered now with lines and creases
Tickets torn in half
Memories in bits and pieces
DY and the C-IV began as a Jacksonville club band. They headed to Atlanta to take advantage of the larger talent pool and ultimately released several chart worthy songs including Spooky, Stormy, and Traces. Original guitarist of the C-IV, J.R. Cobb, said this about the band in a Mix Magazine article:
“We were just a bar band that got lucky and got a record deal! We'd play rock 'n' roll in clubs, and the owners would tell us that we had to learn ‘Misty’ or ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’ Those standards worked their way into our playing and writing, and became part of the Classics IV sound.”
Moreover, Traces was recorded just as the industry was moving from 4 to 8 track recording and was released during a period that featured the soaring guitar work of rock luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend. That this somber tune would find an audience surprised the writer/producer of the song, Buddy Buie and Cobb as well:
“Me and Buddy would sit around and try to write a standard,” says Cobb, “We were overtly trying to write a ‘legitimate’ song. We had no idea it was going to be a Number 2 hit record — we were astounded! It was a cocktail kind of music; we knew that.”
Meanwhile, now that every seat within ten feet of him is empty, Mr lonely heart is boring the bartender; and the crying jag intensifies as Dennis Yost continues his inventory of misery.
Ribbons from her hair,
souvenirs of days together,
the ring she used to wear,
pages from an old love letter.
J.R. Cobb would leave the C-IV shortly after Traces only to reappear a few years later with his new band-and totally different sound- The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Dennis Yost continued to tour the clubs and lounges until being seriously injured in a 2006 car accident. According to the Classics IV website, Yost has recovered from the injuries, and throat surgery as well, and has returned to crooning in his unmistakable baritone.
I close my eyes
and say a prayer
that in her heart she'll find
a trace of love still there... somewhere.
Traces of hope in the night
that she'll come back and dry
these traces of tears from my eyes.
The little joint will be closing down any minute now and the bartender pats the weepy fellow on the shoulder, places a cup of coffee in front of him and collects the empty glass from his last rum and coke. "Hey bud, can I call you a cab"? It was the first words the lizard had heard since somebody played Traces on the Jukebox 5 hours ago.
Its that kind of song.
Source Material:
Mix Magazine
Classics IV
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