I had this idea years ago after a wonderful night out at the Jupiter in Berkeley. They had (and hopefully will again!) an ongoing series of outdoor concerts in their large patio near UCB, and I saw a lot of great musical sets there. It being home, I knew many of the bands and folks who worked there over the years. One fine evening with some beers and dancing and carrying on, I watched in awe as servers carried trays of beers and pizzas and pints and pitchers, heroically negotiating their way through the jubilant crowd and making it look easy. I said to myself, if that was me, this would be a quick disaster. While lo and behold, babies, very young tots, joined in the fun, dancing in front of the bandstand, the Jupiter Girls skillfully maneuvered through the crowd and delivered their precious cargo to happy patrons. I thought "that's a song," and wrote the verses down on my way home on the 51 bus, slightly pickled and very cheerful. Years, years later, here I am socially distanced, and the memory of that sweet place and that simple, nice moment, gave me the inspiration to finish the song. I recorded the guitars and vocals, added bass and handclaps (I loved recording the handclaps!) and then, mysteriously, I was drawn to the tambura. Took me a while to tune the instrument and when I did, it was a eureka moment - ah, that's the other-worldly sound, that's the thing from Planet Jupiter, to my ear, and the way it meshed with the other stringed instruments was magic. I sent a mix of that that to Jay Lane, and asked him to play drums on it, which he did and he sent his tracks over. More magic! I love what Jay did, and there I had multi-track drums and everything else done, but one key thing missing. I had this melody, that I always envisioned to be on trumpet. I tried poking at my little digital sample trigger keyboard thingy and it was OK, but I wanted brass, man! I reached out to Steven Bernstein in New York and sent him the track with my melody idea, and to my amazement and delight, Steve sent me not just the trumpet line, but a whole horn section, arranged and performed as only he could do. So I took these fabulous pieces and mixed it all together and here it is. A homemade band record, featuring three dudes hundreds of miles apart, with our home recording setups and internet connections. One last thought in this lengthy liner note - I am glad that this is a joyous song. Some friends of mine have also recently observed - we don't seem to need a lot of extra gloom right now. I don't, anyway. The simple memory of a fun night out galavanting with friends and dancing to a hot band, is really special to me right now. I've been in the band, I've been in the audience, I don't know what comes next. But I'm so grateful I can still create and have some long distance fun with some great people, and hopefully make some things folks will enjoy. Oh! The cover art - I sent my thoughts to Shannon Wheeler when the track was in its first stages - just guitar and vocals, and told him the story. He interpreted it as you see here, and as always, Shannon brought a humor and absurdity that is uniquely his own, and as you can see, there aren't just a few babies, everyone is a baby! Which, you know, is true on some level. The one grown-up in the picture, apparently, is the heroic and unflappable Jupiter Girl. I found his drawing perfect and strangely hilarious, and there ya have it, weeks plus years in the making, the last single before I compile my first solo album, I give you,
Jupiter Girls.
lyrics
Jupiter Girls
So fine,
Always on my mind,
Until five,
I do my work online,
And then I must get outside,
Take the 51 line,
Stop in front of the BART stop,
With my nickles and dimes,
And say
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
You are my world
Jupiter girls,
We all go crazy,
I don’t mind,
We like to watch you pass by
At the Trumpetvine
Jupiter girls,
They got that walk right down,
Carryin’ all that precious cargo,
And it never falls down, no,
Not on the dancing babies,
Not on me and my friends,
That jazz band keeps on wailing,
They take it up a peg
And say
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
You are my world
We all go crazy,
It’s just fine,
Me like to watch you pass by
At the Trumpetvine,
And say
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
You are my world
And say
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
Hello, Jupiter Girls
You are my world
I'm a guitarist and singer-songwriter with The Uptones. These are my solo recordings, starting from 2015. I started Berkeley
Cat Records in 2019. BandCamp is the first place I publish these puppies, before I send them into the streaming wilds. Wait, you ask, Berkeley Cat Records has puppies? Why yes, Matilda. Thanks for popping in, hope you enjoy the tunes!...more
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