Jim Colyer

I am a Nashville songwriter. I am pitching Hard Earned Love to Gretchen Wilson. Listen: http://jimcolyer.com/music/?page=2 HARD EARNED LOVE I've come across the desert in the burning sun I've been the lonely one My heart's beating rhythm My soul's on fire tonight I got 'em standing in line I can have my choice But you're the one I'm thinking of I'm really, really ready I'm ready for some Hard Earned Love Been working all week just to earn my pay Living for Saturday Another Friday night Stepping out with a man like you I'll wear my shortest skirt My high heel shoes Pick me up at 8 I'm really, really ready I'm ready for some Hard Earned Love Drinking, dancing, making the rounds Every honky tonk in town I can't wait til you take me home And we're all alone I've been too long on that assembly line I just wanna let go My heart's beating rhythm My soul's on fire tonight I got 'em standing in line I can have my choice But you're the one I'm thinking of I'm really, really ready I'm ready for some Hard Earned Love I'm really, really ready I'm ready for some Hard Earned Love Bring it on, big boy c2005 Jim Colyer ASCAP http://jimcolyer.com/music/?page=2

The disco records of the late 1970s are some of the greatest recordings ever made. Their energy is unmatched. The disco beat was a heartbeat - thump thump thump. It called a whole generation of baby boomers to rise above the chaos of Vietnam and Watergate. Disco music was about sex. It was about fun and freedom. It was all out. That may be why it made enemies. How long can you keep a smile on your face? ABBA and The Bee Gees were the kings and queens of disco. Dancing Queen, Take A Chance On Me, Staying Alive, Night Fever. But there were so many. Donna Summer with Hot Stuff, K.C. and The Sunshine Band doing Get Down Tonight, YMCA from The Village People, Le Freak from Chic. That was a class act. Gloria Gaynor's anthem, I Will Survive. Rod Stewart & Do You Think I'm Sexy. Alicia Bridges & I Love The Nightlife. There will never be another era like it. Jimmy Carter was president. America had no enemies. No Bin Laden. No AIDS. Just peace and love and disco!

I agree, Green River should be MUCH higher on the Rolling Stone album chart than #95. To me, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the only band from the 60s and certainly the only American band to remotely challenge The Beatles. John Fogerty wrote 20 songs that are American classics: Proud Mary, Green River, Up Around The Bend. The list goes on. It is a pity about the mess between Fogerty and Saul Zaentz. I do not know much about it. Fogerty probably has been a pompous ass. I am sure he made big bucks from his creations. He is a songwriting legend, and people know it. I was home on leave from the Army for Christmas, 1969. I was obsessed with Creedence. I played their albums over and over. It drove my girl friend crazy. Creedence.bmp

I was eating breakfast at a Waffle House in Nashville this morning. Someone played Indian Outlaw on the jukebox. That record is intense. Tim McGraw gets good songs.

DudeAsInCool....You are right, that is a big statement to make. A lot of people will disagree. A lot disagree about ABBA. My vision of the last 50 years in music is Elvis-Beatles-ABBA-Shania. Each one created the one after it, and each evolved from the one before it. Elvis sprang from nothing. Blame John Lennon for that statement, but I agree. Music, politics, everything started fresh in the mid-fifties. Shania Twain has taken it full cycle. She is the female Elvis. I think this will be acknowledged even if it takes years. This theory permeates my music writing.

On my computer tonight, can't believe no one has replied to your Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry virtually invented rock & roll guitar. Johnny B. Goode licks are right beneath the surface of every guitar solo there is. My favorite Berry song is Sweet Little Sixteen. I did it last week in a karaoke bar. People went wild. It may have been the first time they heard it. I am in Nashville and live on the campus of Vanderbilt University. I am working on a book of song lyrics and a book of essays. Another song I like by Chuck is Nadine. You never hear it much. It came out in 1964 after The Beatles named him as a major influence.

Shania Twain is the best artist of the last decade on the strength of 3 albums: The Woman In Me, Come On Over & Up!. Shania and her husband, Mutt Lange, co-wrote the best crop of girl songs ever. Women sing their songs nightly in karaoke bars around the country: Any Man Of Mine, You Win My Love, From This Moment, (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!, Honey I'm Home & Man! I Feel Like A Woman! Shania's Up! album showed a progression in the tradition of The Beatles. 19 songs like Forever And For Always, Ka-Ching & When You Kiss Me elevate Shania's feminist themes to true art. She is still the cutting edge. Her new video, Don't, is being shown by Country Music Television. Shania has rocked Nashville and country music in a way it never was before. I saw her in concert in Nashville in 1998. It was the best show I ever saw, 2 hours of solid hits. Read my piece about Shania: http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=46

I voted for John Kerry. I agree with Democrats on certain things and Republicans on certain things. Sometimes, I disagree with both. But my general philosophy is to live and let live.

I listened to the Edgar Winter clip. I remember him from the Frankenstein days. Man, that seems like a long while ago. Edgar's is more Gospel. Mine is more scientific. I wrote mine in 1990 for Frida of ABBA when she went through her environmental phase. She ended up doing Saltwater by Julian Lennon. I wrote 400 songs and feel Save The Planet is my best so I am finally going to record it. It is not country. It is pop. I want a production kind of like ELO in Xanadu, keyboard based, maybe like a big synthesizer ABBA production, not exactly disco but in that direction. I don't think the political climate at the moment favors an environmental song, but things change. It pays to be prepared. Thanks...Jim

I will name "Magic" by Olivia Newton-John from Xanadu. Critics hated Xanadu. I think it is one of the most fun movies ever. Jeff Lynne & ELO composed their best music for it. When the 9 Muses come alive at the beginning of the movie, wow! 100 Movies: http://www.jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=28

Someone told me Avril was discovered when Shania Twain brought her up on stage at one of her concerts. Is this true?

I saw a pic of Elton John and his male lover. They plan to have a civil union in Great Britain. Elton is talented and has made great records, but I do not condone his sex life. Maybe he can't help what he is. Still, I do not think it is something to flaunt. Nature says male & female. God says male & female. George Bush wants an amendment to define marriage in these terms. It is wierd that it has come to this.

Shania Twain's Greatest Hits is #9 on the Billboard Country Album Charts. It has sold 3 million and contains 3 new songs: Party For Two, Don't & I Ain't No Quitter. CMT is showing the Don't video. Shania is still a beautiful woman.

slum goddess.....Where is your neigborhood? The Beatles were unchallenged in the 1960s. Every group wanted to look and sound like The Beatles. Other musicians even combed their hair and tried to stand and hold their guitars like John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Read my piece about The Beatles: http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=61

John Lennon said, "Before Elvis, there was nothing." He was right. At least, there was no good music. Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry & Jerry Lee Lewis are at the heart of every record produced in the last 50 years. But it was Elvis who made it possible. He had the looks, movements and charismatic appeal that drove girls wild. He scored 18 #1s in the 1950s and 60s. Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Too Much, Jailhouse Rock, Treat Me Nice & One Night were electric. Never before and not since has this kind of sexuality been captured by pop music. The Army slowed Elvis down but after his discharge, he turned out great love songs like It's Now Or Never & Can't Help Falling In Love. I write about Elvis at my site: http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=58

I agree about The Bee Gees. It took me years to appreciate them. Now, I consider them one of the greatest groups. They hung in there.

DudeAsInCool....You know your music. Little Richard is at the core of the music of the last 50 years. I bought all those records in the late 1950s and played them on my little turntable. I was 12. I remember the Specialty Record Label: yellow, black and white. My favorite Richard songs are Good Golly Miss Molly, Lucille & She's Got It. Richard inspired Paul McCartney as Chuck Berry inspired John Lennon.

I am 59. I bought Meet The Beatles when it came out in the winter of 1964. In a way, it was the first album ever. Albums up to that point consisted of one good song heard on radio and 11 duds behind it. On Meet The Beatles, every song was a good one. I do a lot of Beatles karaoke. A song from this album I do is George Harrison's Don't Bother Me. I also like John Lennon's Not A Second Time, a little known song. http://www.jimcolyer.com/music/

The Beatles totally dominated the 1960s. They stood alone.

ABBA was by far the best group of the 1970s. The 2 couples from Sweden wrote great songs and made great records: SOS, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me Knowing You, Fernando, Take A Chance On Me, The Winner Takes It All, When All Is Said And Done. The ladies were beautiful, especially blonde Agnetha. After the ABBA revival in the 1990s, it is estimated that ABBA has sold 300 million records.

I found a singer for Save The Planet. Melissa Duvall is her name. We will record the song in Nashville and pitch it to Hard Rock Cafe. HRC uses Save The Planet as its logo. See a photo of Melissa at my site: http://www.jimcolyer.com

Shania is still the queen. I love the 3 new ones on her Greatest Hits.

Yeah, I record in Nashville at Direct Image Studio. Kenny Royster has a regular group that he brings in. For $300, you get a good demo, maybe the best in town for the price. Kenny gets the job done.

I am a Nashville songwriter. I wrote Save The Planet. Melissa DuVall will record it. Listen: http://www.jimcolyer.com/music/ SAVE THE PLANET We're floating on a grain of sand in the vastness of space If future generations are going to inherit this place We've got to Save The Planet Do something while there's still time Save The Planet This earth is yours and mine The tropical rainforest is deisappearing more everyday We'll never replace it, we'd better not burn it away Save The Planet The wonders of nature are free Save The Planet Have you ever planted a tree? If the skies are blue And the oceans too Isn't this a better home for me and you? If the air is clean And the land is green Wouldn't you like to be part of this lovely scene? I'm thinking of the animals that once roamed the African plain Their numbers have dwindled, and pretty soon none will remain Save The Planet Do something while there's still time Save The Planet This earth is yours and mine Save The Planet The wonders of nature are free Save The Planet Have You ever planted a tree? Save The Planet Save The Planet Save The Planet Save The Planet c2005 Jim Colyer ASCAP http://www.jimcolyer.com/music/

Veda's songs are at http://www.jimcolyer.com/music/ Jim Colyer