Ghosts and Angels: Liner Notes

A Girl Could Get Used to This Sandy Andina: Vocal, acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Ben Lewis: Piano John Knudzen: Violin, mandolin Andy Jones: Percussion The story of being abducted by my husband and forced to spend a long pre-Christmas weekend in a Phoenix, Arizona luxury resort—a noble sacrifice on my part. The greatest art springs from adversity. A Little Loyalty Sandy Andina: Vocal, acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Ralph Covert: Electric 12-string guitar, guitar synthesizer Ben Lewis: Piano Andy Jones: Percussion No story behind this one—it just evolved while I was having fun writing a guitar riff. The notes practically dictated the lyrics, which proved themselves true over time. Devil Wind Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar Kathy Routliffe: Backing vocal Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Tom Kimball: Spanish guitar Matt Lewis: Trumpet, flugelhorn Andy Jones: Percussion, live sound effects We in the Midwest have tornadoes, which wreak their destruction on their own. In southern California, however, the Santa Ana winds subversively induce people to do their dirty work. Inspired by a Joan Didion column in Look magazine nearly 30 years ago. Little Tomorrow Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar, soprano mountain dulcimer Kathy Routliffe: Backing vocal Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Ben Lewis: Piano Steve Wozny: Organ John Knudzen: Dobro Andy Jones: Percussion, vibraphone This song took me fifteen years to write—from the time my son Gordy was a baby, when the first line of the chorus came to me, to his early teens when time and tide spelled out the rest of the lyrics. Children are our windows into the future—windows we get to install in the houses of the present. Fais Do Do Sandy Andina: Lead and backing vocal, acoustic guitar, mountain dulcimer Kathy Routliffe: Backing vocal Ralph Covert: Backing vocal Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Mojo: Accordion, frottoir, spoken vocals, Cajun cultural advisor Rich Halajian: Fiddle Andy Jones: Percussion At Mulate's, just outside Baton Rouge, LA I saw a poster on the wall advertising a weekly Friday night "fais do do." A "fais-do-do" (Cajun slang for "go to sleep") is a family affair: parents, kids, and even babies go to the roadhouse or church hall to dance. Just as urban parents find that the cure for a cranky baby's sleeplessness is often a quick nocturnal jaunt around the block in the family car, Cajun parents cradle their little ones in their arms as they dance—the rocking rhythm of the two-step does the trick nearly every time! Yet another proof that music is the best pacifier. Pass The Bottle Sandy Andina: Vocal, acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Dave Specter: Electric guitar Corky Siegel: Harmonica Andy Jones: Percussion A torch song for married folks, it came to me in a feverish dream during a bout of pneumonia. On the whole, the pneumonia was worth it. (Consumer warning: I am a professional songwrite—don¹t try this at home). If Pigs Could Fly Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Michael Miles: Banjo John Knudzen: Mandolin Andy Jones: Percussion, live sound effects A kids' song for grownups, this song was written in self-defense. Otherwise, had I been forced to sing "Swinging on a Star" or "Sesame Street" one more time, I might have been carted off to day care myself. This song is dedicated to the late great Pets.com sock puppet, who inspired it; and to my niece Marissa, who necessitated it. Fog Sandy Andina: Lead vocal Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Congitas Matt Lewis: Trumpet, cornet Andy Jones: Percussion, vibraphone One mid-August day, I was riding downtown on the "L" train through an eerily beautiful fog that swirled and danced and teasingly revealed the everyday miracles of the city, even as it covered them up again. We stopped for a signal, and I looked out the window to see two kids playing alley baseball: one tossing the ball and hitting it while the other ran to catch and throw it back to his friend, as a crow heckled them from its bleacher seat in a nearby tree. The rest of the song wrote itself before I got home that evening. Ink and Pen Sandy Andina: Lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Michael Miles: Banjo Corky Siegel: Harmonica Andy Jones: Percussion Next to music, fountain pen collecting is my favorite pastime. It lets me hold history in my hand, encounter things that inspired writers who came before me, and discover firsthand that same delight in these days of bits, bytes,and virtual everything. Vote Early Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar, soprano and baritone mountain dulcimers Ralph Covert: Acoustic guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Michael Miles: Banjo Andy Jones: Percussion In Chicago, politics outranks sixteen-inch-softball as our favorite participant sport. I used to be a reform Democratic precinct captain; that and five bucks'll get you a ride on the C.T.A.. Without politics, we'd be just another New York or Los Angeles with lousy weather and no hills. The narrator of this song is, I admit,an exaggeration—but only a slight one. A Man Could Hurt Himself Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar Kathy Routliffe: Backing vocal Ralph Covert: Electric guitar Tom Piekarski: Bass Guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Ben Lewis: Piano Andy Jones: Percussion Steve Wozny: Organ Rich Parenti: Tenor Saxophone Some people don't know the power—good and insidious—of their own beauty; the protagonist of this song almost certainly does. Ghosts and Angels Sandy Andina: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar, soprano mountain dulcimer Kathy Routliffe: Backing vocal Ralph Covert: Backing vocal, acoustic guitar, guitar synthesizer Tom Piekarski: Bass guitar Frank Donaldson: Drums Ben Lewis: Piano Steve Wozny: Organ Corky Siegel: Harmonica Andy Jones: Percussion, live sound effects The legendary Chicago coffeehouses and folk bars of the 1960s through the early 1980s, such as the Gate of Horn, are today no more; many folk music pioneers and passionate fans alike have passed on as well. When I was starting out, the center of my musical universe was the Barbarossa on Chicago's "Gold Coast." In its time it was the best listening room in the city, and the genesis of 95% of my friendships today. Another special place that now exists only in memory was His'n'Hers—a warm and colorful place that welcomed gay men, lesbians, straight people and musicians and music lovers of every (and no) persuasion. I should know—Marge, the owner, gave me my very first paid gig in Chicago. Nancy, Marge, and especially Ed: this one's for you. Produced by Ralph Covert; arranged by Ralph Covert and Sandy Andina; recorded at Uberstudio and Waterdog Music, Chicago: engineered and mixed by Mark Schwarz. Mastered by Mark Richardson at Prairie Cats Mastering, Belvidere, IL; manufactured by DigItAll, Chicago. Photography by Michael Allen Howard. Graphic design and art direction by Joan Bledig, of JDA Typesetting Corporation, assisted by Bob Berlien. Dedicated to the wit, wisdom, spirit, and memory of Ed Sunden—who never lacked for lawyers, guns, or money; and never abused any of them. Lyrics available online at www.sandyandina.com; J.W. Olsen, webmaster All About the CD • Main Page • Contact Sandy Copyright © 2000, 2001, Sandy Andina, All Rights Reserved