A Beautiful Song: A Musical Soul Story

by Michael Cantwell

  I went back home to see the family and Gordy. I played a private party with Debby for an old friend of hers who was turning thirty. It was hard to turn down favors for Debby. I had put her through a lot in the beginning running back and forth trying to record and rehearse, while she was still working as a nurse. Her dad was not happy to see me since he too was certain she was chasing an empty promise with me. He still considered nursing a more secure future. I told him she could do as she pleased but she made more in six months on the road and royalties from the albums, then she would have with years of nursing. Plus she traveled the country. I had the same thing from my own dad, even though it was now obvious I was having a lot of success as a musician.

  It was all starting to get very old to me with people who didn’t seem to understand my passion for music. I was told long ago as a young school child, “Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” I loved being a musician. I felt God had laid out a plan for my life, and had given me the talent to live that life. I was at peace with who I was, and what I was doing with my life. It really bothered me when others told me that one day it would not be enough for me to survive. I got a very large stare one day from my dad when I told him that “I have played places in the world that your hero Frank Sinatra has never seen”. I had no idea if that was true or not, but it sounded like a good come back when he asked me when I was going to “Get a real job”.

  My brother was an accountant with some big company, and my sister was finishing up law school. To my dad that was normal, I was still wasting my life. I think that’s why I would go see Gordy because even though I still didn’t know all about his life, I knew he could relate somehow. He was starting to look worn to me. He told me that the shop was open less hours now. Business was down, so he was taking advantage of it all by not working so often. However, he also to me “This is my destiny, so here I will stay.”

  I headed off for Italy to see Lorenza. I had called her to let her know I was going to be in Italy. She told me that she could not take too much time off from work, but she wanted to see me again. She was my one salvation who seemed to understand who I was with no pressure to change anything about me. I convinced her to come with me to Venice and then to the Swiss Alps for a few days. Her dad was not pleased. He was very old school. Young ladies did not do such a thing with almost strangers. I had to respect that and showed him reservations for two rooms on the trip. It was only for four nights away, but he was still not happy with me.

  Lorenza was now a twenty five year old woman. I left it up to her to decide. We still had the same chemistry. She rarely asked me about touring or my music. She was only trying to show me her country and make me laugh. On the drive back to her home, she wanted to know if I had a lover. I told her about Elise and what had happened in Hawaii. I wanted to be honest with her, because I had grown close with her in a very short time frame. I knew I wanted to see Lorenza again, despite my relationship with Elise. I could only imagine what was going on in Lorenza’s mind at that moment. I don’t think either of us said a word for hours. After all we had canceled the room reservations for only one room after the first night on the trip. I was now very much falling for her, and didn’t know what to do about it.

  I stayed in Rome for another week to spend more time with Lorenza until her dad wanted to know my “intentions” with his daughter. I don’t remember the exact response I offered to him. Even though I did my best to give him an honest and sincere answer, I only remember that same stare I got from my own father many times. I knew I could not get off track with my music, but I also felt I was missing something in my life. Quite possibly someone like Lorenza was what I was missing. I had plenty of chances to be with others, but I had no interest in sleeping around with groupies. Lorenza was someone who I thought maybe I could really care for, and I could have someone I could communicate with, without the pressures of music. I only knew I didn’t want to leave Italy and leave her behind, but I did. I was torn and confused.

  I wrote the next Overture album in two weeks. I wrote ten songs almost instantly. Most were about loss and confusion over a lover. It got to the point where I had to call Duke and ask him to write an upbeat song or two for the album. I did however think about when I had met Pete Townsend and he spoke about conceptual writing like he did for “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia”. Maybe that’s what the next album should be all about, loss in life, even though I had not lost anything or anyone. However it was the first time in my musical life that my personal life, was seeping into my writing. As odd as that was to me, most of my songs were about other people and their loss or happiness, rarely mine. Duke passed along two songs that were really better suited for a Sly and The Family Stone recording, but since we at times had that same sound, it was maybe a good idea to break up the album with one or two of those. Elise too had written a song about her home while she was away. We had enough material to record now.

  Before heading into the studio to record the Overture album, I headed out to California to work with Linda. Her health though improving was still not allowing her to work more than about two hours at a time. The process was tedious. We did manage to write one or two songs. While Linda was resting one day, I wrote another on my own. It seemed more and more obvious to me that she might never be in the studio again. She seemed to want to record, so I was praying she could recover enough to at least sing and record. Any future touring seemed very unlikely. She did talk about missing working in a studio.

  It was not common knowledge that Linda had brain surgery. The record company and doctors kept it from the media. A press release stated that she had suffered from exhaustion and was taking a hiatus from recording and touring. Rumors were everywhere that Linda had brain cancer and was near death.

  I was cornered one day by a local newspaper writer while leaving Linda’s home, who wanted to know about Linda and her recovery. I spoke with him briefly. I told him a few things, but that she was doing well. It was written in the paper the next day that she was writing again, and that the new album was almost complete. I didn’t come close to saying that, but I was still scolded by Mr. Altos for saying anything at all.

  Dylan James and The Overture were back in the studio to record “Love Songs and Other Stuff” with Billy back on the skins. He was given a stern warning about being a professional, but he never listens to anyone. Duke would try as would our producer Tim Dowdy to keep the kid in check. Billy would show up with his girlfriend of the day for the recordings, and then be out all night on the town.

  Elise was starting to ask questions why I went to Europe alone, and why I was getting letters from Italy. She was putting more pressure on me to commit about marriage. I was being selfish and only wanted to be married to my music. Debby was getting close to marriage. She wanted to spend more time back home when she was not needed for vocals. She could drive home in less than three hours, and was not with us as much as she had been on the previous two recordings. I was not real thrilled. There were times we needed her in the studio. She wanted to be a mother, but had to start with being a wife. I told her that we would likely be on the road again for at least six months. I warned about the timing of possibly a wedding. She rarely ever did listen to me. I think that’s why Elise was pushing so hard on me. Everyone knew I could not be with both of them emotionally, and in the same band. Once Debby had her own personal life, they stopped fighting. Plus, I think there was a bit of competition to see who could have a family first, and still be in the band.

  Tim our producer suggested more strings and wind instruments on this album. Despite that idea pushing our budget, he was right. We added saxophone and some strings on a few songs. We still had the raw sound of Elise on the violin, but with more instruments, it added a real richness to our sound. Junior assured me he could duplicate some of the sounds, but we were going to add another person in the band who could play several wind instruments for the tour. We wanted to make it sound as close to the album as possible.

  Tim Dowdy had
produced several very successful albums. I had worked with him on Linda’s albums, as well as The Overture. He was originally from New York, but kicked around with some bands in the south for a few years, before finally settling in the Southern California area. He took a job working odd jobs in a recording studio until he eventually worked his way into producing albums. He had a very rough voice from chain smoking for several years. The doctors finally made him quit before he died of throat cancer. He didn’t like anyone telling him how to do his job and certainly didn’t like anyone not working hard in his studio. He was fortunate enough to have worked with George Martin who had produced the Beatles and Alan Parsons for one year when the record company offered a job in England. You could tell where his influences had come from, when adding classical sounds to a recording. But he also was influenced with the raw country sound from the Deep South, here in the States. So he knew exactly what sound the band wanted to create in the studio. I think he had nailed it. I was very excited about it all. I think the band was too as was Mr. Altos. For the first time he was going to give our album a large promotion campaign. It meant all of us had to do some radio interviews and even travel into the radio stations, but I didn’t care. I was very proud of this album and I wanted air play on major radio stations all across the country.

  We had planned on being on the road for most of 1983, depending on the success of the album. We kicked off the tour at a club in New York City called “The Bottom Line”. It was a by invitation only performance and was being recorded for a possible later release. That is to say that most of the executive big wigs brought their mistresses and girlfriends for a night out. Debby eloped just before the tour started. Her husband would come and go as much as he could yet still keep his job as an IRS agent. Just what we needed, someone counting every t-shirt we sold on tour. Debby would get upset at me when I told her husband that, but he was boring and slightly obnoxious. I had to dig at him somehow. The guy really upset me hanging around and being negative all the time.

  Elise started to comment about how this would be her last tour with the band. She wanted to go back to playing with an orchestra. Life on the road was not a life for her. I told her she still had many more museums to visit and could not quit till then. Again she did not appreciate my fine attempt at humor. But I was starting to grow weary of listening to her complain about the road and how she wanted a family. I knew this would be her last tour. My only other option was to marry her and to get her to stay with me as my wife. I don’t think that’s really why she said it though. I do think she did miss playing with an orchestra. But for now we had a very long tour in front of us. I had to keep the band focused.

  The album flew up the charts. The first single went to number one within three weeks of being released. The second one did the same. The tour was selling out all over the country. The band was now a huge success. Dates were being added as second shows in several cities. I was now being recognized on the streets as was Elise. Debby was easy to spot with her red hair so she had to wear ball caps when outside of our hotels. We could no longer sneak in and out of museums without being stopped by autograph seekers or the local media. It was something none of us had ever experienced. It only encouraged Elise to want to quit the road. She was a very private and shy country girl and didn’t like all the attention we were getting. We were the band on top of the bill now, no more playing deserts in the hot sun.

  When the tour made its way through California, I stopped in to see Linda. She seemed as though she was improving. There was hope she would be able to record again. She asked if I had more songs ready, but at that point, it was the last thing on my mind. I told her there was no way I could go back in the studio until this tour was finished. It had several months before its conclusion. She had written a few songs on her own, but she was never the best unless she had someone to collaborate with on songs. She wrote beautiful melodies but her lyrics were her stumbling block. I told her that if she wrote out the music for what she had written, I would help with the lyrics while on the road. I still had a great allegiance to her and didn’t want to let her down. I called and spoke with Mr. Altos. He told me that Linda had in fact improved a great deal and there was a possibility of her getting into the studio again. As relieved as I was too hear that news, I was also sad because I didn’t think I would be able to continue on as her lead guitarist and primary song writer. I had too many responsibilities with my own band now. I told Mr. Altos my feelings and he agreed. I had three songs that we had done previously and with the two or three she had given me, we could get about half an album complete. Mr. Altos hired a song writer to go and sit with her three days a week and finish writing the album. I was relieved.

  The tour felt endless. We played over sixty five shows in over fifty towns with only one break in the middle of the tour. It was grueling. By the time the tour in the states ended, Dylan James and The Overture had a number one album with six songs making it to the Top 40. Between Linda and The Overture I had now written four number one singles. Eight had made it into the Top 40. At the end of the tour I went on my knees and thanked God for giving me the talents I had. I could never have imagined that I would have gone from some nerdy shy high school kid to a nerdy shy guitar player and song writer with this much success.

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  Chapter 12

  After touring the States, the band took a very well deserved month off from the road. We were heading to Europe after the break for our first visit as a band. Linda was back in the studio working on a fourth album. I flew to California at the request of Linda and our producer Tim to lay down some guitar tracks on a few of the songs. I really wanted to stay in New York and recharge my batteries, but I went for about ten days. They ended up with three of the songs I had written and one co-written with Linda. There was no tour being planned. This was merely so she could get some fresh music out and attempt to stay in the public eye. It was nice to see her again. It was also a way of thanking Tim for all he did to shape The Overture’s album into the monster platinum selling album it had become. Without many of his suggestions, there was no way that album could have been that successful and I knew it.

  I was looking forward to the European trip. I had planned to see Lorenza. I had tried calling her a couple of times but she was not responding. I was not sure how I was going to spend time with her with Elise around, but I would worry about that later. We started in Madrid then made our way into France and Germany before heading into the Scandinavian area playing Sweden. Then it was off to The Netherlands and Denmark. We were going to play in London, then head over to Italy and end the tour playing in Greece. It was a twelve stop tour in about a month’s time. It was easy to get Elise to come along since there were so many historic places for her to visit. She too was excited about playing Royal Albert Hall. I told her that “You never did make it here with your over rated orchestra. Don’t worry I’ll bring you to all the finer places to play around the globe.” She never did learn to appreciate my humor.

  While in Stockholm we had a bit of trouble with Billy yet again. We almost had to cancel our show there. The night before the show he was arrested and jailed for sexual battery on a woman. I had to call Carl and wake him up back in the States to get him to handle it. It was a giant mess and this time Billy was visibly shaken. We were in a foreign land with little anyone could do to help him. After hours of interrogating Billy, and his accuser, all charges were dropped. It seemed he was in fact out with a young lady in a bar and he was making advances. He loved to do that. But there were no signs of abuse or any signs that any sexual activity had actually taken place. It’s true she did go back to his hotel room with him, but he swore she left soon after arriving. He had made no advances once she asked to leave. The hotel cameras had the two of them entering the hotel and her leaving less than ten minutes later, looking exactly the same as when she arrived. She later did confess that she really only wanted to meet Debby. She thought she would be in the same room with Billy, or close enough to meet her. Sh
e wanted Billy to introduce her to the band and get her back stage passes for the show. Because he was too drunk to figure out it was a set up, she threatened to go to the police and claim he tried to rape her. He didn’t think she would and tossed her out. She was foolish enough to attempt her ruse and it took about fifteen hours to find out she was making it all up about Billy as revenge. However Billy was finally scared enough to be more careful, at least while we were in Europe. He sat quietly in his hotel room the rest of the tour except when on stage. It was another reason why I tried so hard not to be in public alone with fans. You never know what could happen on the road.

  When the tour landed in Rome, I snuck out to see Lorenza. She was not there. Her brother met me at the door of her family’s home. It was the brother I met in New York, so I recognized him as he did me. He knew I had been calling but was afraid to tell me. Their father told Lorenza that he would never approve of her being with me. That meant so much to her. It was not that he didn’t like me or my work. It was that he didn’t like the idea that I would come and go from her life, and leave her behind. He saw the pain that I had caused and I guess I was too selfish and driven to notice what I had done to her.