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Two unreleased recordings ('Aria' and 'I am, I said')

by Billie Ray Martin

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4.
L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time And the feeling is "lay back" Palm trees grow and rents are low But you know I keep thinkin' about Making my way back Well I was Hamburg City born and raised But these days I'm lost between two shores L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home Hamburg's home, but it ain't mine no more "I am"... I said To no one there And no one heard at all Not even the chair "I am"... I cried "I am"... said I And I am lost and I can't Even say why Leavin' me lonely still Did you ever read about a frog Who dreamed of bein' a queen And then became one Well except for the names And a few other changes If you talk about me The story's the same one But I got an emptiness deep inside And I've tried But it won't let me go And I'm not a woman who likes to swear But I never cared For the sound of being alone "I am"... I said To no one there And no one heard at all Not even the chair "I am"... I cried "I am"... said I And I am lost and I can't Even say why "I am"... I said "I am"... I cried "I am"... I said
5.
L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time And the feeling is "lay back" Palm trees grow and rents are low But you know I keep thinkin' about Making my way back Well I was Hamburg City born and raised But these days I'm lost between two shores L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home Hamburg's home, but it ain't mine no more "I am"... I said To no one there And no one heard at all Not even the chair "I am"... I cried "I am"... said I And I am lost and I can't Even say why Leavin' me lonely still Did you ever read about a frog Who dreamed of bein' a queen And then became one Well except for the names And a few other changes If you talk about me The story's the same one But I got an emptiness deep inside And I've tried But it won't let me go And I'm not a woman who likes to swear But I never cared For the sound of being alone "I am"... I said To no one there And no one heard at all Not even the chair "I am"... I cried "I am"... said I And I am lost and I can't Even say why "I am"... I said "I am"... I cried "I am"... I said

about

These are two unreleased recordings of mine that i think fans will greatly appreciate, as i do too. I would call them more than demos, as they received proper mixes. Although there are flaws in the recording , mixing and compression, we ran the tracks through the best mastering possible, so hopefully they sound good.
'I am I said' was recorded approximately in 1992 at warner chappell's demo studio in the west end of london with engineer Andrew Fryer. I cannot remember who did the arrangements and drum production.
Another one of those songs that had been on my 'to do ' list, it seemed like a good idea to record it. Before you ask: The trucker Bill Version is the string/brass-arranger having a laugh in the vocal booth after I was done. We just needed to get crazy at the end of a long day.
The Atma Project was a project envisioned by Kieran Shiva Akal. It was supposed to be a big opera event, set in a large Amphitheater. Aria would have been one of the songs within this opera. Why he never released it, I do not know. So here it is. Rather hilarious the speed of 138 pbm, which was considered a normal speed at the time. This was recorded approx 1996 but i can't remember the exact date. Recorded in NYC, i remember that Fred Jorio and Kieran swore they felt wind blowing out of the speakers while i sang the intro over the choir. There was also some annoyance at the recording engineer recording some distorted vocal bits, when that really wasn't neccessary, given the fact that i gave him my loudest note to adjust his sound levels. Oh well. We were all excited with the resuilt at the time and i think in retrospct Fred did a marvellous job with the production, avoiding heavy handed tribalism in favour of subtle electronic drum production. Well there's a bit of boom tish but the track needed it.,
mastering by steve honest @ hackney rd. studios
Enjoy!

credits

released May 1, 2014

"Aria"
written by Kieran Shiva Akal, Billie Ray Martin
produced by Fred Jorio and Kieran Shiva Akal

"I Am... I Said"
written by Neil Diamond

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Billie Ray Martin Berlin, Germany

"Billie Ray Martin is one of the living legends in modern music history and one of the best voices on planet earth."
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"Billie Ray Martin is an absolute revelation."
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Billie Ray Martin: "I'm a kid from Hamburg’s red-light district, who wanted to be a soul singer, but ended up playing repetitive machine music, while still trying to be a soul singer"
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