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Posted by Martin Rolls
on July 10, 2008, 4:05 pm
80.189.166.188
..Shepherd Of Love.....
It came through my letterbox today. I couldn't wait to hear it and I wasn't disappointed. In fact it was everything it was promised to be, and more. The quality of reproduction was up there with the very best and I loved the arrangements.
He'll Have To Go was simply stunning. If this was the only version it would still be a surefire hit, even today I'm sure.
I was fascinated to hear how Jim played around with the words on some of the other recordings. I wonder if he was experimenting at times? The final inclusion of He Will is one of my very favourites of all Jim's offerings and I love to sing it to myself (I'm no singer!). For my own satisfaction I've reworked a line towards the end to preserve the rhyme and give a possibly more rounded finish. He Will is a lovely piece of work and I love to see it written down. It serves as a piece of real inspiration.
I was interested to see that the liner notes say He Will was actually penned by Al Courtney rather than Jim who got the credit on the RCA issue. Can Larry give any more details on this please? Personally I never previously doubted that Jim had written it because stylisically it has something in common with some of the other songs Jim is credited with. In any event it shows that Jim had a long association with Al. As far as I can gather He Will was one of Jim's later demos toward the end of his career, whilst at the same time Al shares the credits with Jim on his very first Macy's recordings.
Well here's to the next VM issue! - I certainly hope there are more in the offing.
Best regards and many many thanks to all concerned.
Martin.
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