Quote from Academy Award winning songwriter
Paul Williams about the music: Powerful stuff ... haunting,
tortured, unique ... uplifting in a 'friend pulling you up and over
a concrete wall' kind of way .. (not sure that came out right ..
but it's about the masculinity, that frames the feminine of
your performance) .. Reunion is I think the best song ... the
best performance .. It's like a birthing and a struggle to be
born .. both at the same time. Vic's harmonica and
harmonies are portraits .. movies .... Somebody's gonna
grab 'Billy' or one of the other songs or maybe the whole album
and put it on the big screen. It deserves a long life.
RootsTime Magazine in Belgium says:
" The lyrics have a healing quality and Victoria's harp playing
adds a "soundtrack" feeling to the songs" "Reunion" (my
favorite) en "Beauty Way" both gems, are nice examples
of these two elements combined to form those wonderful songs"
"Another thing is the perfect sound quality of this record, which
almost literally took blood sweat and tears and a lot of time in
the making. This turned it even more into a small masterpiece
which grows on you every time you play it...over and over again...
And Chris K- aka Goat from MileHighMusic and The Colorado
Sound on KFRC 88.9 FM writes: There's something raw and
natural about "folk" music. It cannot be made up; either it's
present or it isn't. There's a reason why so many great players
are on this record. All I can say is, "Welcome to Colorado Wes
and Victoria, and thank you for sharing your music with us."
This album is as real as it gets ...
Here is the great cast of players:
The Ballad of Billy Saigon" CD features the following artists:
Albert Lee- Guitar. Albert has spent the last few years
touring with the Everly Brothers in addition to his own solo
projects. One of the world's preeminent guitarists, Albert
has toured and recorded with Eric Clapton and Emmylou
Harris and a long list of others.
Stephen Bruton- Guitar. Bruton is well known as a
producer for artists such as Hal Michael Ketchum and
for his own solo work. He was Kris Kristofferson's guitarist
before becoming Bonnie Raitt's musical director and
guitarist during her late 80's Grammy spree.
Gary Bolen- Guitars, Bass. Gary is another one of those
rockin' Texas guitar players, even if he is from Mississippi.
David Palmer- Drummer. David currently tours with Rod
Stewart, having spent time in ABC.
Tony Sales- Bass. Tony was a founding member of David
Bowie's Tin Machine, and was also bassist for Iggy Pop.
Paul Landsittel- Mandolin. A longtime Colorado bluegrass
and folk performer.
Marc Goodman- Organ. Marc has toured with Taj Mahal
and Sister Sledge among others.
Dana Walden- Organ, Piano. Dana is a hit songwriter and
founding member of the group Champaign, which scored a
million seller with the Dana penned tune "How Bout Us".
Lee Ann Harris- Percussion. Lee Ann is a versatile jazz
musician whose touring credits include Toni Childs.
Justin Walden- Drums, Percussion. A recording artist
whose drumming and programming work has been a part
of multiplatinum records by Korn, Orgy and Seven Dust.
Chris Lawrence- Pedal Steel. Chris is a veteran of the
road, and founder of the seminal LA country rock outfit
the Neon Angels.
Nathalie Archangel- Vocals. Former MCA recording artist
and songwriter whose work includes covers by Bette Midler.
Victoria Beaufort Hamil- Harmonica, Vocals. Victoria is a
top rate session player, and her work has been featured in
scores for CBS Movies, television specials and commercials
worldwide. Her recordings include tracks with Johnny Cash,
Roy Rogers, Robert Altman, Hans Zimmer and others.
Wes Hamil- Veteran Songwriter who has written with Oscar
winner Paul Williams, among others. On this recording he
played Acoustic Guitars, bass, percussion, "lesliecaster"
and vocals.
About the Cover:
My wife and I have a great little burrito joint not far from
where we live. They serve a New Mexico burrito, which is
to say that they use alot of those great green chiles in their
sauce on an otherwise pretty much "just like any other state
in the union" burrito. Anyway, these are some tasty burritos.
So one Sunday morning we found ourselves there quite early
as I had just picked Victoria up from a midnight flight back
from Texas. We got a little table at this burrito place- it seats
about 25 people at best- and were having breakfast when
Victoria started nudging my arm. "Take a look at that guy's
arm", she kept saying. It was hard to get me to divert my
attention from the burrito, but once I did I was just as amazed
as she was.
On this gentleman's arm was the tattoo that is on the cover
of this CD, and on the disc itself. The tattoo is of the Vietnam
Service ribbon. As you can see from the artwork, the years
tattooed underneath are 68-69. Now if you go to the lyrics page
of this website (babamuse.com) you will see that the opening
lyric of "The Ballad Of Billy Saigon" refers to the year 1968. We
were both saying to ourselves, "that guy could be Billy Saigon!"
That "guy" turned out to be Ray Hoskinson. Ray is and was
obviously a Vietnam Vet, but he does much more. He is part of
two groups, the Patriot Guard Riders, and the Veterans of
Vietnam Motorcyle Club. Their websites are listed on the back
of the CD. The day we met him he was doing what it is he does
in conjunction with these two organizations, which was to ride
out and meet some returning veterans when they got off the
airplane. I was especially moved by this as I recalled the
original welcome the Vietnam Veterans received upon their
return home from combat.
We told Ray about the recording we were making and that
we wanted to photograph his arm. He agreed, and Victoria
took a photo of his arm right there in front of the burrito joint.
Some weeks later, when I had mixed the song I sent him an
email of the tune and told him that unless he felt the story in
the song demonstrated honor and respect to the Veteran
portrayed in its lyrics, that I would not use his arm as artwork.
His generous response regarding the song and the impact it
made on him enabled us to include his arm as the main focal
point of the image for the cover. We support Ray and his efforts
to welcome home the young men and women who have served
our country. It s important, whether someone condones the
current war efforts or not, to recognize the sacrifices of so many
who have served.
The dogtag on the cover was Victoria's idea, and we found a
place to make up one. It was way too shiny and new, so she
creatively managed to "age" it a bit so we could put it on the
cover for the title of the CD.
Just to set the record straight, the character Billy Saigon in
the title song is a composite of a number of people I have met
over the years. So while Ray's tattoo fit the timeline of the song
perfectly, we in no way want to imply that he is actually the same
character described in the song. His story, like the stories of so
many other Vets I have known over the years, belongs to him,and
the telling of it is entirely his business. We respect his journey as
well as his privacy regarding his experiences.
The "Ballad of Billy Saigon" is intended as a song of healing and
respect, as are most all of the songs on this CD. Without comparing,
nor diminishing the sacrifices and efforts of our combat veterans it is
safe to say that we are all carrying wounds of some sort as we get
along through this process of living, and the songs on this project do
their best to address those wounds in a way that hopefully the human
spirit can relate to.
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