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about

Years back, as my first band, ORCHESTRA LUNA, was getting off the ground, I recorded a bunch of songs into a reel-to-reel. I had an upright piano with tacks in the hammers and I banged these tunes out so I wouldn't forget them (a condition that has lasted with me to this day). They embarrass me. My voice sounds so operatic, and the playing is awkward. I show them to practically no one. But there's something vaguely endearing about them. They also have an innocence that belies my later, albeit intermittent obsession with hit songs and a 'career'.

This one, like many at that time is recorded at Ridgemont St in Allston - big yellow house at the end of the street which one night we closed off, dropped acid and had a square dance - and we could actually walk to Jeremiah's on Harvard Ave - the place where OL got signed onto EPIC from.

lyrics

JOEY

im too short
im 14
makes it hard t reach the pedals
of this car i stole
this afternoon
a faggot left it running
in a parking lot
in P-Town
where i was after escaping
from the nuthouse back in Amherst
where they put me
w this other kid
who has a man outside
someone who hardly noticed me
i could not hide
when they were sleeping
in the bed
so i got dressed an fled
i think about
the accident i could have
if i jerked
the steering wheel
real sudden
but the man beside me
touched my leg he said
he knew about some school
they make kids better
take this letter
ask for michael weaver
he has blue eyes
he’ll recognize yr face
because the place yr in
he knows about it
love is still
just waiting for ya joe
i took his hand off of my leg
i was not rude
i sorta liked this man
besides he gave me money
put gas in my car
i says goodbye
when he gets out
i says goodbye
he says
take care of yrself joey
don’t kill yrself
there’s too much going on
so long
i looked nice at him
i think
but i said nothin’

credits

from RIDGEMONT ST, released April 19, 1975

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Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND) image

Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND) Jamaica Plain

A giant on the Boston music scene. His colorful songwriting + strong stage presence have influenced countless other artists since the early 1970s. He continues to make music w/ intelligence + integrity, building an international reputation around his knotty, singular piano playing, straight-from-the-heart singing and a style of character-based songwriting that's drawn comparisons to Waits + Cohen ... more

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