Show Notes
"White Boy Lost in the Blues" My career as a songwriter enjoyed a great leap forward when I was lucky enough to work on the “Sonny and Brownie” album. In addition to “White Boy Lost in the Blues,” I wrote two other songs for the project and played on several cuts. Needless to say, working in the studio with them was quite a thrill, especially for an absolute greenhorn like myself. The entire experience made me feel hopeful that I might be able to have a future in music. And to this day when I think about Sonny and Brownie and replay those memories, I still feel so grateful that they liked my tunes and recorded them. And I’d also like to express my thanks to Lyle Lovett who recorded the song more recently and whose terrific version breathed new life into it. These photos, taken by the great Norman Seef, are from the album artwork.
Brownie McGhee - photographer Norman Seeff
Sonny Terry - photographer Norman Seeff
More from The And of One
To conclude the story of Noa Noa, the musical I wrote about Paul Gauguin, Veronica and I discuss its journey to Playwright’s Horizons in N.Y.C., where it was performed in a workshop production. Being a recording artist and touring musician, everything about the theatre was unfamiliar to me. I was fortunate to connect with Don Scardino, who directed the show, and with all the singers and actors who gave so much of their talent and enthusiasm to the project. And writing a musical of this size and scale was for me, needless to say, a labor of love.
In this episode, Veronica and I discuss Noa Noa, a musical I wrote about Paul Gauguin and his life in French Polynesia. I wrote this music over several years, in between making albums and touring on the Road. I finished the 26-song project in early 1990. Eventually it was performed in an off-Broadway workshop production at Playwright’s Horizons in NYC, directed by Don Scardino. In our conversation, I describe how I was inspired by Gauguin’s art, the journey of reading and research I took, and how I originally recorded demos of the songs in solo guitar/vocal versions.
In 1974 I wrote the music for a film at Warner Bros. called Zandy’s Bride. The picture was directed by a famous Swedish film maker named Jan Troell and starred Gene Hackman and Liv Ullman. In this episode, Veronica and I discuss how I got involved in the project and what it was like writing music for a film at a major studio. For me, it was like diving headfirst into the deep end of a totally unfamiliar pool. But I really enjoyed working in this new environment and learned so much from the entire process.
Recorded and released in 1973, this record, my first, appeared on vinyl, titled eponymously Michael Franks. In this episode Veronica and I discuss how I got the recording contract, which players I worked with, and some of the compositions I wrote. The record enjoyed some airplay across the country and "bubbled under the charts" for awhile. But the label, Brut, didn't last long.
In this episode Veronica and I discuss the fourth record I made for Warner Brothers, “Tiger in the Rain,” which was recorded in the Fall of 1978 and released early the following year. I worked with Producer/Arranger John Simon on this record and John wrote the most beautiful charts for the project.