Song to Soul by Papa Carl TRACK 1—New York City 1969, (written by C. Anderson) This song is a very accurate telling of one night in my life—a very important night too. It was May 31, 1969, and I had gone to a party with a friend of mine. He knew some nurses that were graduating from nursing school and were having a party at a friends apartment on McDougal Alley, Greenwich Village, NYC. I walked into that party and the first thing I saw was a beautiful blonde girl standing in the corner. I was awe struck. I had actually met her once before about a year earlier so I walked over to her and reintroduced myself. I asked if she would like to go for a walk in the park, she said, “Yes,” and we did. About 8 weeks later we were married. My wife Jean and I have been married for over 40 years. What a night that turned out to be…the absolute best of my life. [Papa Carl, lead and rhythm electric guitars, vocals; Tom Reock, keys. bass; Johnny DiBianco, drums ] TRACK 2—Came to Be, (written by C. Anderson) This song came about when I was observing some people who to me, seemed very rigid in their political beliefs and tolerance of others. I felt that what their perception of our history was and how I saw it were in direct opposition. History, both National and personal are important issues to me. I think the song speaks for itself. [ Papa Carl, vocals, acoustic guitar; Anthony DeCarlo, lead acoustic guitar; Mike White, drums; Ernie White, bass, electric guitar] TRACK 3—Left to Wonder Why,(written by C. Anderson) Several members of my family worked for Hercules Powder Company in Kenvil, NJ. On September 12, 1940, perhaps the single most devastating explosion in the history of this country took place there. My grandfather, father and uncle were all there at the time. The suspicion always was that this was an act of sabotage, but it was never clearly proven. This well documented event seems however, to have been lost in history. A year later, the USA was at war and the events of that day would be forgotten. It still goes down as the largest explosion in our history. The blast was so strong that it broke windows in sky scrapers in NYC, almost 45 miles away. It took the lives of 51 workers and injured scores. The song is my attempt to tell the story. [Papa Carl, vocals and acoustic guitar] TRACK 4—Dark Night,(written by C. Anderson) This song is pretty simple. It is my interpretation of a lot of things I heard in my career as an alcohol and drug counselor as well as my own experiences and subsequent sobriety. My hope is that someone suffering from addiction will be prompted by this song to take a step toward recovery. [ Papa Carl, lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Charles Laurita, lead electric guitar; Ernie White, bass; Mike White, drums; Lisa Bouchelle, background vocals ] TRACK 5—Redemption in the Rising Sun,(Traditional) Several years ago I had heard Amazing Grace sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. I had an idea to merge the two songs. I thought of a young girl caught in the trap of prostitution and remembering the words to a song she heard as a child. Lisa Bouchelle and I worked this out together and asked Joe Zook to play lap steel on it with us. I think this may be all three of us at our best. [ Papa Carl, vocals and acoustic guitar; Lisa Bouchelle, vocals; Joe Zook, lap steel guitar ] TRACK 6—Play the Game, (written by C.Anderson) This song came about as I observed people who seemed to be looking for something and forgetting to live. I don’t think many people understand that we find things, even ourselves in the process of living and by living. I was also struck when people would come to visit me during my illness, and when I knew I had little time to live without a transplant, and all they seemed to be able to do is complain about things. I would have traded places in an instant ! We need to go live…play the game. [ Papa Carl, acoustic guitar and vocals; Ernie White, bass, electric guitar, background vocals, drum machine; Anthony DeCarlo, lead acoustic guitar; ] TRACK 7—My Sweet Dream, (written by C. Anderson, idea by Keith Adams) I had corresponded on the internet with a California song writer named Keith Adams. Keith sent me some words one time and suggested I work on it, develop it and finish it. I’m not sure that Keith expected my to create this from his idea, but he told me he liked it. To me, it represents all those wonderful girls I knew from 1967 through the summer of 1969. Many of them I had met in Greenwich Village and they all had a role in easing some pain in my life at that time. Shortly after I wrote this, Keith passed away. He never got to hear my song based on the idea he had given me about a hippie girl who stays with you through the night. This song is dedicated to the memory of my cyber friend Keith Adams. God Bless you Keith. [ Papa Carl, vocals and electric wah pedal guitar; Ernie White, lead electric guitar, bass, Mike White, drums ] TRACK 8—EACH DAY,(written by C.Anderson) This could be the most important song on the CD. I wrote this for my donor and his family shortly before my first transplant anniversary. I included a verse for my wife too…she stood by my side 100%. I stop several times a day and say a prayer for my donor and his family. “I just can’t explain, no words will ever be, enough to let you know what you have done for me.” [ Papa Carl, vocals; Tom Reock, keyboards; Ernie White, lead guitar, backup vocals ] TRACK 9—This Photograph,(written by C. Anderson) Photography has always been a major part of my life. My father was a photographer and I treasure the hours I spent working with him. I learned far more than his profession during those times. One day I was taking my good friend, Lisa Bouchelle’s photograph. Lisa saw a picture of my wife Jean on the wall and said she wanted to use it as a guide to pose by. We shot a reinterpretation of that photograph. That event cause me to look at the original even more deeply, and then to look at the one I had just shot of Lisa. It occurred to me that in the instant the photograph is captured something magical can happen between the photographer and the model. Lisa said she could see that Jean loved me deeply from the picture. The result of thinking about that was this song. One of the greatest gifts another human can give us is understanding. When I look at Jean’s eyes in that photograph I can hear her saying, “I understand.” I thank Lisa for guiding me to this…and I think she understands too. [ Papa Carl, vocals, acoustic guitar: Anthony DeCarlo, lead acoustic guitar ] TRACK 10—I.C.U. Blues, (written by C.Anderson, L.Bouchelle, J.Zook) This is a jam song. It’s a simple blues in the key of E. It began at the very first Jam for Life in my backyard when Lisa and Joe and I played together and was really just verses we made up. It’s based on something that happened to me while I was in the intensive care unit. This was recorded LIVE at Tom Reock’s studio and it is FUN ! [Papa Carl, vocals and electric guitar; Ernie White, lead electric guitar; Joe Zook, vocals and lead electric guitar; Tom Reock, keyboards; Hans Schneider, bass; Ernie Smith, drums; Brian Summers, mandolin; and Lisa Bouchelle, vocals ] BONUS TRACK 11—Done Vida, Donate Life, (written by L. Bouchelle and C. Anderson) Lisa Bouchelle and I wrote this shortly before the second Jam for Life. It has become our anthem so to speak. I sat with Lisa and flooded her with ideas and phrases all about the transplant experience. A few days later she came to me with these words and most of the music. When I heard what she had written it seemed that I automatically started playing the bridge. We agreed that it worked and we had a song. This song is dedicated to not only my donor, Eric, but to all donors and their families. This is the Gift of Life and it can’t be expressed any better than with music. [Lisa Bouchelle, vocals and acoustic guitar; Papa Carl, vocals and acoustic guitar; Ernie White, lead electric guitar and vocals; Reed Thomas, bass; Mike White, drums]