A Beautiful Song: A Musical Soul Story

by Michael Cantwell

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  Chapter 10

  Dylan James and The Overture went back at the Lady Land Studios to record the second album in earnest with a real budget this time. Mountain allowed me to hire Linda’s producer, who I was now very comfortable working with, and he knew what I wanted. He was originally from New York and had family still around town, so had been looking for an excuse to venture back to the New York area. Phil came back for the first session since returning from the band’s Midwest tour. He started to whine about wanting more to do on the record. Larry our new producer sent him packing and warned him “Get your act together”. Phil returned the next day with a better attitude, but it was becoming a major headache for me. I was close to firing him.

  Elise had a friend of hers come in for a few days who played flute. We used her on two of the songs. The album was sounding more polished than the first one. I think the songs we all had written were a bit more philosophical than my previous ones. I collaborated with Elise on two new ones and with Duke and Elise on two others. I penned the others alone. The first song was written for Linda called “Windy Days”, though I never really told anyone it was for her. It took us three months to finish it. I contacted Mr. Altos who approved ten songs for the second release. He was in town for a few days, so we met up, and picked the ten from the thirteen we had recorded. We used nine originals with one cover song. I always liked to include a song from someone else, to try and give it a new style. I think some musicians find it a compliment when you cover their songs. Some don’t, but they like the royalty checks. Since we had a unique sound I liked giving older songs a fresh sound.

  We had some tour dates set up around the New York to Baltimore area since that was the largest pocket of a fan base. We were the headliners in a few smaller halls on college campuses and later were the opening acts for some larger acts in larger arenas. As my last ditch effort to please Phil, I allowed his new blues band with Matt to open up for The Overture when we were in the New York area. I was hoping that would mend some fences with those two, but it seemed no matter what I did they would never be happy with me again. We played about ten shows to put some money in our pockets.

  Linda was now ready for a European tour. I had made a promise to go out on her tour. We delayed the release of the Overture album until just before I got back from Europe, so that we could go right out on the road to support the release. I flew out to California for rehearsals, but to me, she was still not herself. She looked healthy but her smile was missing. She was distant with me and everyone else, but she was clean from drugs and sober. We had someone from the record company going on the road with us. Her job was to keep an eye on Linda when not on stage.

  The tour opened in London at the Royal Albert Hall. I was afraid to move so that I didn’t hurt anything. The building was an incredible place to perform. I think the trip was complete for me after the first night of the tour. Thankfully the tour was only fifteen stops throughout Europe, ending in Rome, because Linda was clearly not herself. She was going through the motions, but the life in her was missing. She didn’t want to write any longer and would sleep until it was time to leave for the show. It seemed to me she was clearly depressed. Possibly, stardom was never for her. But make no mistake she was a star now. Most places were sold out in Europe, and her album was selling well around the world. Personally I thought the second album was better but the third one went platinum. The record company wanted another album and soon, but when it was obvious Linda was not herself, they opted for a “Greatest Hits and Live with Linda Sweet” package. It would be released for the holidays.

  It was going to be very hard to get another album from Linda any time soon. She had little desire to sing. As much as I wished her success, I wished for her health. Something was clearly wrong with Linda Sweet.

  Before leaving for Europe, Elise suggested what museums to see if I had the time. I went to one in Paris and later one in Rome. I was fascinated with all the ruins in Rome. It was a welcome break to have two days off in Rome before the concerts.

  While touring the ruins of the coliseum, a long legged stark black haired beauty walked up to me, stared at me, then started to speak in broken English.

  “You with the Linda Candy band, si?

  “You mean Linda Sweet?”

  “Si, sorry, me English eeze not so good, no?”

  “Well it’s much better than my Italian, yes?” She let out a cute giggle. I thought finally, someone who appreciates my humor. She continued.

  “You are the Dylan man who play music with the Linda lady, si?”

  I was in a bit of shock but let her know I was, “Yes, I am Dylan.”

  “So you are Mr. Dylan from Overture too?” Now I was completely stunned. I didn’t know what to say. I think I stood there with my mouth open for what seemed like an hour.

  “So you are he, si”?

  “Si”, I said with a very wide and humble smile. “How do you know me?”

  “Ah, si, my brother, uhm he go to school in New York. He see you many times there. He says you play good music. So, he sends me music. I see signs for Linda Candy Band, so I know you play here now. I ask my friend in hotel, he say you stay there with band. I follow you here. Ok, si”?

  I was still a bit unsure of it all. I am barely recognized in New York City, but Rome? I needed time to get over all this. Again in her broken English she asks “So I show you the good places in Rome to see and not ones for the tourists?”

  Lorenza Gabrieli and I spent the entire day together touring Rome. We went to St. Peter’s Cathedral in Vatican City along with the Piazza Navona. It was an area filled with cafes and restaurants with artists wandering all around. We walked along all the famous streets for hours till my feet were too tired for another step. When we couldn’t walk any longer, we allowed one of the artists to do a sketch of the two of us. Lorenza was so kind to me, and very funny. Lorenza wanted to know if we could do it again the next day. She would take me to see other places away from the city. I was still unsure of it all, but she seemed very sincere. We ended up spending the entire next day together too. She met me at the hotel with her tiny little car before day break and drove us to the Tuscany region. We ended up in Florence with beauty I had never imagined seeing in my life time. The towns were built with architecture that I had never witnessed and people though incredibly nice to me, seemed like they were still living in a world that was only within their own line of sight. They did not seem to have a care about anything or anyone outside of this paradise. I am not sure I could blame them. We visited museums that I am sure Elise would have loved to see. The county side was nothing like I had ever seen in the Unites States. I had this incredible woman sharing all this with me.

  At day’s end, she took me home to meet her family to enjoy a real Italian home cooked meal. I could barely walk from the table from being so full from her mamma’s cooking. There was chemistry between her and I that I was not sure I ever had with Elise. I was still a nerdy kid at heart and really didn’t meet many women over the years. Some would try to attract my attention before and after shows, but I really was not very interested. I mean I was with Elise since early in college and I barely dated in high school. So this was a rare time that someone was interested in me and didn’t want free tickets or try to get me to introduce them to Linda. I don’t think she ever asked me about the band or my music. She wanted to know what I enjoyed away from music. She didn’t ask what comes first, the melody or the lyrics. She only wanted to know what made me smile. She seemed sincerely interested in only making me happy, as if it was some odd way of repayment for making her smile with my music.

  As nice as it all seemed, I was still very cynical about her. I was waiting to find out her real motives. I hated feeling that way. All I could think about were my dying grandmother’s words “to be true” and Gordy’s constant reminder “don’t allow music to steal your soul.” Had this business jaded me this much this fast? Lorenza never once asked, but I left her four front row seats f
or her and her family. They were all so kind to me. I also invited them back stage for a few moments so they could meet the band. We exchanged telephone numbers and addresses, and promised to keep in touch. But I had to leave that night. We were heading back to the States. The tour was over.

  On the way to the airport there were rumors that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City. I could not believe something like that could happen in the town where I resided. I had never met John, but I knew he lived close to Elise and me in the Dakota building. I would sometimes walk outside the street in front of his building hoping to meet him, but it never came to pass. It was not until we all got back to the States that I found out the rumors were true. It had been reported as we were boarding the plane. I even saw it on the television news at the airport. but I still refused to believe this could happen. The man wrote songs about peace and love, why should he be gunned down in cold blood? Had our society really come to this? I went from being at my peak of happiness, to one of my saddest days in an instant. It is interesting to me that your life and emotions could change so quickly.

  After the tour, Linda asked me to come to California to write for the next album. I was bit ticked off at her since we had a month to start it on the tour and she wanted no part of it. I told her that I had to get back home to promote The Overture album and go on tour with them. She pretended like she had no idea I even had another band. There was really something very wrong with her. I called Mr. Altos and asked him to have her checked when she got back to California. I had developed a very trusting relationship with him in a short time. Everyone else in the band was commenting on how she was not herself too. I went back to New Jersey to see my family and Gordy for a few days, before heading back to New York.

  Dylan James and The Overture, “Our Second Shot At It” was released in early 1981 and this time we had a full cross country tour scheduled for six months. Phil went back to the blues band on weekends. It saved me from having to tell Phil he was not coming on the road with us.

  The tour started in Vermont, then Massachusetts, before getting back to the New York area. We needed a few shows to get our sound back in stride. I got a note from the security guard in New York that Lorenza’s brother was at the show and wanted to meet me. I agreed. I didn’t have much time since I had to get on the tour bus, but it was very nice to meet him. I sent his family my regards and wished him well. Elise wanted to know how I knew him, and I just said he was the brother of an old friend.

  A few weeks into the tour I got a call from Mr. Altos. “Linda was been diagnosed with a brain disorder.” He told me the name but I couldn’t remember it. The news was very depressing. I inquired about her prognosis. Mr. Altos relied, “The doctors hope they can control it with medication, but it’s too early to tell. She was in stable condition and resting at home.” I was deeply saddened, but I knew she was not herself on the entire trip through Europe.

  Linda’s album made it to number one, but she was now too ill to enjoy her success. I started to question my God why things like this could happen. Linda started out as beautiful nineteen year old girl with huge dreams and when she achieved them, she could not enjoy the success. She was still in her early twenties with so many years ahead of her. Linda was lost in her own mind. I could barely perform the show that night. I dedicated the entire night to her and when “Windy Days” played, I cried on stage. I performed the song like it was my last.

  The tour hit a snag in Chicago. Billy our drummer got into a bar fight with some “old friends”, the night before we were to play in front of his home town crowd. He broke his hand. He would miss six weeks. We had to cancel two shows. I called Linda’s drummer to fill in till Billy could heal up. I did meet Billy’s dad, he seemed nothing like Billy. He was very professional and actually thanked me for “Taking Billy off my hands.” I told him “Thanks but I hired a two handed drummer, not this now one handed son of yours.” We got a bit of a chuckle over it all but I don’t think Billy really understood what it took to be a professional yet. We left him behind in Chicago with his father to maybe knock some sense into him. We still had more than half of the tour left. It took about three or four shows with our new drummer to really feel comfortable again.

  The new album was getting some good air play across the country. The first single peaked at number thirty eight on the Billboard 100, with the second single about to be released. Elise and Debby were getting along much better. The tour was attracting a larger audience as we moved across the country. Part of my plan for the band members was that we would play in every home town or as close to them as we could where they grew up. So we ended up playing in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. I had never seen so many women with bare chests in my entire life on one street. I made a promise to Duke that night. I promised we would manage to make it back to New Orleans around Mardi Gras every time we could. I didn’t like all the beads being thrown on stage, but I managed to pick a few strands up and kept them as reminders of our wild night in New Orleans.

  We had a four day break while the bus drove from New Orleans to San Diego for the second stage of the tour. I flew ahead to California to see Linda. She looked frail, but the doctors claimed to be having success in getting her to be her old self again. I visited with her for two days and even worked out the beginnings of a new song. We called it “A Beautiful Song.” She was under doctor’s orders not to work too hard, so we mostly sat on the porch and relaxed. The good news was she seemed willing to write again. That was a great sign to me. Maybe she was truly healing now. She had given me my start and we were close friends until she became ill. I was not going to forget about her. I didn’t know until I arrived in California, but what I was told was a “brain disorder” had actually been a tumor that was removed with major surgery. Linda had lost some memory but she was healing nicely and the prognosis was better than it had been before the surgery. Her smile had returned and she seemed at peace. We opened our shows with “Windy Days” every night of the tour from that day forward.

  I was starting to look forward to the end of the tour. I had been on the road quite a bit over the past two years. I had written songs for four albums now and was getting worn down. While on the tour, I planned a nice trip to Hawaii with Elise. I tried to get the management company to let us end the tour in Hawaii but I was told “It would be too expensive, besides the band had no fan base there.” I told them to “Do a better job there for the next album then.” They didn’t like my humor either.

  While in Los Angeles, Linda came to see our show. I was thrilled to visit with her. She only stayed for about half of the show, but it was still nice to see her. We were on a bill with Journey and REO Speedwagon that night. Since they were very popular with a different sound than us, we maybe got the benefit of a new audience that had not heard much about us. We had one more show with them a week later at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. I only remember thinking why on earth would the promoters make us play outdoors in a desert? Since we were the first band to play, we had to come on stage before the sun had set. It was very hot and much of the crowd had not arrived yet. So unlike a week before in LA, we really didn’t get much of a bump in attention at that show. But it did give me an opportunity to jot down a new song about idiot promoters. I think I called it something like “The desert is a hot place.” It never made it to any albums but I did enjoy playing it at times as a second encore when the crowd was good. Till then that’s the only song I sang lead on stage for The Overture. I would tell the entire story and then sing the song. The crowd always enjoyed it but I stopped after Mr. Altos called me and told me “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, someone took notice of your antics.” I kept thinking about my grandmother telling me “To be true” and I wanted so much to keep playing it, but we were on a roll now and I didn’t want to ruin it over a song.

  The tour ended in Seattle Washington with the album peaking at number eighteen on the charts with one single making it inside the top ten for the year. We ended up having four singles relea
sed with three making it inside the top 40. That was good enough to get another contract to record for two new albums. We now had a following on both coasts, though we were still the most popular in the New York area. We also had a growing fan base in the Deep South. I was not sure if it was because of the fiddle or exactly why, but we were starting to sell records in Georgia through to Texas.

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  Chapter 11

  Elise and I headed off to Hawaii for a well deserved ten days of relaxation on Waikiki Beach. We did all the tourist things and really enjoyed our time in Hawaii. Towards the end of the trip, she made a comment about “How nice it would be to get married at sunset on the beach.” I told her to watch it or my next song would be “The beach is a hot place for a wedding.” She didn’t like my humor and let me know it. We had a fight right on the streets of Honolulu. Maybe it was a good thing we didn’t have a fan base there since neither of us was recognized. But I got her point. She was at a time in her life when she wanted more than tour buses and recording studios. I cared for her very much and we had been together for many years now. It was time to decide if we were really right for each other.

  Elise headed back to North Carolina for a few weeks with her family. I headed to Los Angeles to meet with the record label about the future of The Overture as well as the Linda Sweet Band. I worked with the producer on the live recordings for her Greatest Hits and Live Songs release. I stopped by to see Linda after our work was completed. She was making a nice comeback with her health and wanted to know when we could start on a new album. I told her I was heading back home; then off to Europe for a few months to write. I would be back in the studio with The Overture. I didn’t want to let her down so I told her I would start to write some songs for her, and mail it to her. I thought we could work that way for the time being. I made a promise that when I got back from Europe I would come back and sit with her for a few days and see what we could finish up. She was ok with all that since she knew it would be another year before she could get out on the road to promote any future new music. Also the Greatest Hits package would need time to run its cycle for a few months on the market. We had time to get it all together. Mr. Altos had already told me that even though she was doing well, the doctors were not sure she would ever have the strength for a long tour ever again.