TONY VICE

 More information on other CDs from Tony Vice

Discography - Up in the Rafters

This is a re-issue of an album Don
Digirolamo and I put together about 1988.
At that time I had been playing the honky
tonks and skull orchards of LA. for several
years with various bands; The Lizards, the
Hollywood Cowboys, the Vice Squad and
CC Waterback. I worked with hundreds of
pickers, but the core of the band was Marty
Rifkin, Rocky Fanning, Jimmy Johnson,
Rick Bourne. They were a great buncha
guys; good musicians and heavy drinkers
for the most part. I miss ‘em. Some
combination of them were on all these cuts.
Most cuts were recorded in Don’s Rafters
Studio in LaCrescenta, and some were
recorded live and mixed in the studio.
Some of these songs are a little raunchy,
but nothing by today’s standards.

Shake and Bake. I always thought the
Beach Boys’ lyrics were so stupid, but they
sounded so good. Well, I ain’t no Brian
Wilson obviously, but this song was
actually featured on the sound track of a
surf video called Captain Surf and the Tube Dudes.

I hate Pantywaists. I knew the yuppies were taking over the world when I got thrown out of restaurant in Hollywood for smoking on the patio.

She Was Easy, Nora, Waitin’ for the Shit to Hit the Fan, and Tits and were all recorded live by CC Waterback at a trucker bar in Pico Rivera. We
worked there 7 nites a week for a year and are lucky to be alive. All the girls in the audience played kazoo on Nora and yelled "shit" and "fan’ at
the right places. Dr, Demento used to play Tits, but he called it "pulchritude".

Straighten Up. Don and I wrote this, and I did a simple guitar/vocal demo. A couple nites later Don called in the wee hours and said Mitch had dropped by and I had to hear our song. I drove up, and Mitch had laid down drums, bass, guitar piano and Moog synthesizer. It was a song. A few years later Kasey Jones came in and laid down the triple harmonies. I’m really proud of this song, even though I had very little to do with it. Thanks Don, Mitch and Kasey.

Breakin’. Believe it or not, this was one ofthe fIrst rap records on the radio. Dr. Demento gave it a few spins. At the time I thought rap was so stupid that no one would buy it. I still think it’s stupid, but they sure sell a lot of records.

1953. This was for the generation before mine. The ’50s. "I Like Ike" and Detroit iron.

I left My Heart in Nashville. Yes, there really was a redhead named Ethyl, but I got beat up in Sioux St. Marie. Try to fmd a rhyme for Sioux St. Marie.

I Wouldn’t Love You. It’s a paraphrase of an old line used on construction jobs. Think "I wouldn’t ___ you with someone else’s ____." Unless you’re very pure of heart, it’ll come to you.

Baby, WeJust Got Lucky. I wrote this for Johnny Lee as a follow up for Lookin ‘for Love. I pitched it to him at the Record Plant in LA one Sunday morning, but he recorded Hey, Bartender instead.

Baja Oklahoma. Written for the movie from the book, by Dan Jenkins, of the same name. It lost out to some lame piece of shit. Billy Vera got my role, and the movie went down the toilet. I always wanted to do the album credits on the closing track, like John Stewart did on California Bloodlines, but I forgot I had until years later, when Don sent me this cut.

Back in the days when I did these songs, us young turks thought we had to drink like Hank Williams to be a songwriter. I tried, but fame and fortune
passed me by. Maybe it had something to do with talent. I’m just thankful , I came out the other side still pickin’ and grinnin’.

Discography - Tehachapi Wind

Most of the songs on Tehachapi Wind were written and recorded in a little cabin I built, with the help of my wife and a neighbor, up the hill from our house. This is not a slick studio production. You may hear dogs barking, birds chirping or a screen door creaking. I love the "feel" of the country and hope you won’t mind too much. We call our place Redwing Ranch, and after years of living in cities and playing honky tonks, I feel like I’ve come home. I wrote, played and sang all of these tunes (unless otherwise noted).

Good Friends Met Along the Trail was written for all our riding buddies. It’s dedicated to the late Don McLaughlin. We shared a lot of campfires, whiskey and good times a horseback.

Rough string is for all the real cowboys who are out there in all weathers, tough, all too rare, breed
who deserve our respect.

The title song, Tehachapi Winds is for my beloved mountains. Land of Four Seasons is about some of the trials of living in those mountains. Feedin’ stock and fixing frozen pipes under highly variable weather conditions.

Wild Turkey and a Fiddle Tune is about a character in my neighborhood when I was growing up. He drank, stank and was a marvelous cusser. I . wanted to be like him. Some say I succeeded. My band, the vice Squad played on this one.

Most Sundays you will find me out on my horse having my worship service, and Cowboy Church was written there. I’m truly thankful for the blessings of this life.

I began playing music in my teens as a gospel singer/pianist. I had never written a gospel song and I love the old Albert E. Brumley tunes, so Jesus Turned the Water into Wine practically
wrote itself.

The Ballad of Oliver Loving. I always wanted to write a trilogy, and a story I read in a J. Frank Dobie book, called Up the Trail from Texas, provided the inspiration. If the story sounds a lot like a certain 6 hour mini-series, I guess me and McMurtry have been readin’ the same book. It’s a true story of two real-life western legends. Tough hombres.

Leonardo and The Animal Song. I love funny songs. I probably should have given Jack Daniels co-writing credit on these.

Pardners is for my wonderful wife, JoAnn. She’s tough, smart and beautiful. I’m I lucky guy. I wrote this for her birthday/our wedding anniversary one year. ( Cheap bastard, I’m improving though!!!). This year I got her a pair of work gloves.

Another pardner of mine was Monte. A big ole, calm cabano. I especially miss him when my little jiggy arab, DJ, is scramblin my huevos.

I love bluegrass and couldn’t resist putting Red Clay Hills of Georgia on this CD I always admired Smiley Burnett’s Ridin’ Down the Canyon to Watch the Sun go Down and wished I had written it. Let’s Ride Into the Sunset Together is the result. I get royalty checks for this one. Marty Rifkin played steel and Mickie McGlone sang with me. Thanks.

Cowboy music is my true love, and this is a handpicked collection of my life experiences over a a number of years. Thanks for letting me share them with you.

Happy Trails,

 Tony

Redwing Ranch, Tehachapi CA