One Of The Family by Ray Brookes

[Ray Brookes]

A few minutes of madness from me but to hell with it ... I enjoyed writing/recording the song.

This actually came to me in the bath-tub and when I'd finished splashing about I managed to get out before the missus threw in the electric heater.

I started working on the song still wringing wet. Nah - not really.

Anyhow, instruments used:

    • My 1970's Strat
    • One of my cheap bass guitars
    • Piano and organ via East West Quantum Leap Sounds
    • Drum programming via one of Logic's maniac drummers
    • Vocals through my Rode NT1000 mic
    • And all arranged through Logic Pro

We got a cousin; name is Dale
But everyone calls him Sunny
One day he mugged an old man
Took his watch, his phone and his money
He laughed about it at a family barbeque
But nobody found it funny
But we didn't turn him in to the cops
We didn't throw him under the bus
We didn't rat him out or grass him up
Just because he was one of us
One of the family.

We got a cousin lives on the North shore
Pretty girl name of Christine
Worked some scam and robbed several people
Some crazy Ponzi scheme
A pretty girl with an honest face
But all is not what it seems
But we didn't turn her in to the cops
We didn't throw her under the bus
We didn't rat her out or grass her up
Just because she was one of us
One of the family.

My cousin's cousin; won't say his name
Radical political thoughts
About how to put a lot of things right
Put the world back on course
His family smile in tolerance
And whisper that it takes all sorts
But they won't try an argue
They know he's just a rough gem
They won't try and change his views
Because he's one of them
One of the family.

[Zoltan]

Boy that was a story and a half!

The storytelling is once again par excellence, you play some mean guitar and the vocals are tender when they need to be. The arrangement has several standout moments and keeps things interesting.

You've got some wild family!

Bonus points for going all outback Santana at the end.

[Farrell Jackson]

One heck of a family story Ray! I'm sure there all degrees of black sheep in a lot of families...but lets not talk about that, lol. You have some great dynamic changes in this song. From slow to fast and they all work. Cool vocals and guitar solos. The outro speed-up and super guitar solo is an excellent way to take this song out. Nicely done!

[Johnbee]

Amazing, Ray!  Another song from you where everything just seems to fall into a delightful place.

  John B

[Bluesberry]

Damn...not at all what I was expecting when I hit play.........this is incredible dude........love that stutter riff between sections.......that's how to rock it out .......great guitar solo........you have hit this one out of the park....then it all goes quiet, great dynamics.....and then it speeds up and goes all Fleetwood Mac (the Peter Green version)...stellar track........I wish that outro was longer....just getting into a groove when it ends......you da man

[StephenM]

This actually came to me in the bath-tub and when I'd finished splashing about I managed to get out before the missus threw in the electric heater.

I found this particularly funny! 

The song is smokin.... I listen to alot of the Eagles and the band known as Kansas... this kind of reminds me of the rhythm guitar from Kansas hooked up with the Eagles lead guitars.... or maybe Don Felder (who used to be in the Eagles)....  either way this thing rocks to the moon and back...

the piano calms it down a touch in the bridge... and the vocals flow into it like a raging river calmed down by a wide area and no rocks.... then it goes back into that killer deep guitar and then that incredible lead!  Hell yeah Ray!

smokin

wondering what "grass her up" means...   btw... this sounds like an interesting family...   

[hardlock]

This is just too over the top! Rock-feast to the max! Don't think anyone mentioned the hot organ in the mix. It compliments the rock guitar well.

[chapperz66]

This is so cool, Ray.  Great story and a rocking backing.  Blackmore-esque in parts.  Really cool.

Paul

[karl1171]

That's a really good song and well produced. A great mix of influences; I'd say primarily ZZ Top and Spirit but with other things thrown into the mix

[Mike_S]

Very good, a great quirky tune, you threw a lot of stuff into the melting pot but it hangs together really well. I really didn't expect that almost nu-metal intro section. Especially like the vocalisation in the "Christine" verse... cool stuff 

Mike