"GREATEST HITS!" Vol. 1
I started playing guitar in 1971 and within the year I was writing songs. Not good songs... but lots of them. I also began to make recordings of these songs. Not good recordings, but lots of them.
Let's fast-forward to the year 2012. I'm still writing songs. Not as many, but better songs with better recordings. Over the years I've written hundreds of songs and played them in the seaside bars up and down the Jersey Shore.
Many of these songs were recorded and released, first on cassette tapes and later on CDs. It was a real pleasure to revisit these tunes and prepare them for their latest journey into whatever digital adventures await them!
Some of these songs will be very familiar to loyal Ed-Heads, but I've included some bonus tracks as well. A very early unplugged version of a local favorite, a live performance from a long gone club and some previously unreleased songs are just some of the treats I found.
Here it is, friends - Ed Austin's "GREATEST HITS!" Vol. 1
1.Too Much Fun! (2:56)
© 1998 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "Too Much Fun!" (1998)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All InstrumentsAll Instrumentsals, All
Nanci McMenimen - Background Vocals
Jim Leary - Background Vocals
The title says it all! The truth is, here at the Jersey shore it's possible to live on vacation. Like the song says - we can't find our shoes, but we can find our booze...
2.I Found Jesus (In the Ocean County Jail) (2:39)
© 1992 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "1,000 Gigs @ the BBG" (2011)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Tyler Sherman - Background Vocals
Nick Vala - Background Vocals
Shad Woolley - Background Vocals
John Hallenbeck - Background Vocals
Leigh Staunton - Handclaps
This is by far the most requested song that I've ever written. Even the pastor of my church asks for it. Go figure.
Special thanks to Bill Heisler!
3.Never Going Back (3:06)
© 1989 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "1,000 Gigs @ the BBG" (2011)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Jim Hill - Background Vocals
Seriously...Have you ever gone on vacation and dreamed of not going back? I have...
4.Battle of the Burgers (2:12)
© 1984 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on cassette single "Battle of the Burgers" (1984) featuring the "Big Buns Band" (really "Deuces 'R Wild")
Ed Austin - Bass, Vocals
Lou Lucas - Guitar, Vocals
Mickey Phillips - Drums, Vocals
Special guest Shad Woolley - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
At the height of the Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" frenzy we recorded this tune, and it was a huge hit at Charlie's in Oakhurst, where we were the house band. When the commercial went away, so did the song. Not long after so did the band, and so did Charlie's...but hey- the "Battle of the Burgers" is back!
5.If Dogs Could Talk (3:35)
© 1996 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "Too Much Fun!" (1998)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Featuring Nanci McMenimen as "Fifi, the Poodle"
After human beings, I find dogs to be the most interesting creatures ever made. Maybe even more interesting than some humans. If a genie in a bottle gave me three wishes, one of them would be to know what goes on in my dog Max's brain, if only for one day. Incidently, this song won an Honorable Mention award in the 1996 Peckinworth's Song Challenge.
6. Too Much Sun! (2:36)
© 2003 Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "Too Much Sun!"(2003)
Ed Austin - Guitars, Keyboards
Nick Vala - Keyboards
Joe Arminio - Saxophone
Many of my guitar heroes played surf music, and that style sure has found a way into my songs. The overly talented Nicky V. and Joe Arminio really kick this song up a notch!!
7.The Light (3:11)
© 2000 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A tribute to the Fishermen's Memorial
Originally released on the CD single "The Light" (2000) by "Ed Austin and Friends".
Ed Austin - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Nick Vala - Strings
John Clarizio - Accordian
Brian Hanlon - Harmonica
Vocalists -Mark Cardinale, Harry Filkin,Bill Gallagher, Jim Leary, Nanci McMenimen, Lori "Loripop" Ratta, Jack Redington, Dick "Sully" Sullivan, Joe Thomas, Shad Woolley
The Fishermen's Memorial Choir - Linda DeDreux, Kurt and Linda Fisher, Jim Lovgren, Mike Loughran, John Maloney, Allison Burke-Maloney, Bob Meany, Ann Steinberger
The Broadway Bar and Grill, where I've performed since 1993, is located right across from the the commercial fishing docks, and the fishermen and the BBG were deeply affected by the loss of two boats and eight men in the winter of 1999.
A community effort raised money for the families of the victims and a statue now stands at the Manasquan Inlet in honor of all the local seamen who have been lost at sea. This song was written for the dedication of the Fishermen's Memorial in October,2000.
The recording features many of the performers from the BBG, as well as members of the fishing community, the sculptor of the statue and many locals who were touched by the effort. A decade later fishermen and their families still ask me for copies of this song, and it remains an honor to have done my part.
8.Burned out at Disneyworld (3:09)
© 1988 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased version (2012)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Jim Hill - Background Vocals
Based on a true story, this song had two distinctly different versions. The earlier version was a longer, wordy waltz and, frankly, it was kinda sucky. One day I changed the beat and edited the words and it was a new song, born again! This version was recorded during the sessions for "1,000 Gigs @ the BBG", but never used.
A special thanks to my buddy Jim Hill, the World's Best Harmony Singer for all his great work!
9.Goin' Fishin' (2:55)
© 1985 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased version (1997)
Ed Austin -Vocals, All Instruments
Originally found on the cassette release "Permanent Wave" in 1989, this version was recorded one freezing, blizzard night in 1997. It's been sitting around my studio since then. Welcome back to the sunshine, old friend.
10.Too Much Tiki Time! (3:13)
© 2004 Music by Ed Austin
Previously released on the CD "Too Much Tiki Time!" (2004)
Ed Austin - All Instruments
Too much tiki time - that's the life for me! Seriously.
11.Crazy Ones (2:50)
© 2011 Words and Music by Ed Austin
Originally released on the CD "1,000 Gigs @ the BBG" (2011)
Ed Austin - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Jim Hill - Background Vocals
Willie Fanelli - Saxophone
Another true story...for somebody. Playing for nineteen years at the Broadway Bar and Grill I have seen thousands of women pass in front of the bandstand. Here's a song about three of them.
12.Leigh In Love Look (2:40)
© 2010 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased track (2012)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
It's all about the dimples!
13.Fool's Blues (4:38)
© 1982 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased track (1989)
Ed Austin - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Harold Frazee - Piano and organ
This song was recorded live in the fall of 1989 at Lon's Good Time Tavern, a club that has long since vanished into the Jersey mist.
Sooner or later every musician sings the blues. Usually sooner. Like the song says, I'm a bluesman from the slums of Pt. Pleasant.
15.Beach Walk (2:43)
© 2003 Music by Ed Austin and Nick Vala
Originally released on the CD "Too Much Sun!" (2003)
Ed Austin - Guitars, Keyboards
Nick Vala - Keyboards
This interesting instrumental first showed up in 1993. Ten years later my buddy Nick Vala would write the charming bridge and the tune was complete. Thankfully, not every song takes 10 years to write.
16.Better Late Than Never (5:30)
© 1993 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased track (2012)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Although songwriting is a craft, occasionally a song will come out of the blue. Inspiration is like holding up a net and then a butterfly flies in.
This song came to me one Sunday afternoon while driving to a gig at a backstreet Asbury Park bar. I pulled off the road and the words came out as fast as I could write them down. The next day I recorded a rough demo of the song, and there it stayed for the next nineteen years. In 2012 I heard it calling me again, and, in this version it returned to life. As the song says, better late than never.
17.Christmas Is Over (Now I Want Spring!) (2:51)
© 1994 Words and Music by Ed Austin
A previously unreleased version (2012)
Ed Austin - Vocals, All Instruments
Nick Vala - Background Vocals
This song originally appeared in a much different version on the cassette release "Christmas with Nanci and Ed" in 1994. It remains one of my personal favorite songs, and it was a joy to re-arrange and re-record it.