Back over twenty years ago, Tom Russell pointed me in the direction of Carl Brouse. Carl and Tom had co-written many songs together and Carl had a lp out called American Hotel. While vinyl was pretty much a dying medium (that has subsequently come back into vogue), American Hotel caused me to put the old turntable back into rotation.
Carl flew into Detroit in 1990 and performed a celebrated set that blew everyone away. This brash New Englander really could turn a phrase lyrically and was a very good guitar player as well. We did a radio show as well as the concert that weekend, and Carl and I hit it off on a personal level. What sealed the deal was a toy that had been (as it turned out) both of our favorite back in the late 50's and early 60's: a metal building of the Alamo from the play set (ironic name) of the same topic. Carl always told me he was gonna pack it up and I would never see it again. Now that was just teasing and bluster, but Alamo buffs stand together, so....
The next year we made a pact to do a live recording together. We flew in an old friend of Carl's named John X. Reed to play lead guitar, and before you knew it the session was starting to gain momentum. We recorded digitally (our first attempt) and came up with a wonderful recording. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons, the project lost out to other activities in both of our lives.
During this time period I would drive to New Hampshire with my son, Nels, and visit Carl before dropping Nels off for camp. The visit was fun for all involved, and one night we ended up at the horse racing track, where yours truly had a big win ($700). Any time you hung with Carl you needed to be ready to go and at your best!
As fate would have it, Carl passed away after a long illness in 2003. The recording sat quietly on the shelf all these years. Now, after all these years, at the urging of Nels (our executive producer) we have knocked off the cobwebs and begun the process of getting this live recording released formally.
With the help and approval from the Brouse family, and Carl's brother Jack Brouse, this process has begun. Just listening to the recording after all these years makes the hair on my arms stand up. It is just as good as we always dreamed, and Carl is back singing, playing and making us all laugh and enjoy life.
Slow we be. It should be our motto.
Get ready for the great lost Carl Brouse recording....
