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Maria Blue (video)
All images from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

Maria Blue (audio only)

A song about Hurricane Maria written by me, Janice and our frequent collaborator and friend floyd jane. Janice sings lead and plays percussion, floyd sings harmony (above that girl he does!) and I handled the audio/video stuff.

Months after Hurricane Maria 675,000 Puerto Ricans are still without power and many thousands without permanent housing. Kudos to the first responders, military men and women and charitable organizations for their service in Puerto Rico that often required them putting themselves in harm’s way. However, for many still suffering so long after the storm this write attempts to address their continuing plight and is presented from the perspective of a lady during the immediate aftermath of the storm.

We most welcome and appreciate your time to both listen and comment! (FWIW...the proverbial fork has been stuck in the video and audio production so it is what it is

Janice: lead vocal, melody, arrangement and percussion (cajon)
floyd: harmony vocal, lyrics, arrangement and mix counsel
bud: lyrics, lead vocal recording, arrangement, mix, mastering and video stuff

If you are interested in the production thing:

Tracks in addition to vocals:
Upright Bass: bowed with held chords
Bouzouki: open and held chord tracks
Acoustic Guitar: open and held chord tracks
Electric Rhythm Guitar: open and held chord tracks
Electric Guitar Lead (thanks to Peter F. for the three replacement notes )
Cajon: three tracks - mic on sound hole and another ambient mic / “kick” sound isolated for separate processing
Handclaps: four tracks (Janice and Bud)

Track effects: Waves Bass Rider / Nectar 2 / Neutron 2 / Logic Pro Guitar Amp Sim / Ozone 8 modules / delay and reverb from Nectar 2 modules
Mastering: Ozone 8 Adv

Thanks to PG Music.

Maria Blue
© 2018 j. merritt / f. jane / b. merritt

Intro singing:

mama used to sing maria
about a girl so lovely
but now mama’s gone
and maria has turned ugly

V1

the wind howled all through the night
morning came i knew my life was gone
water was rising and trees were falling
better off had i never seen that dawn

Ch

oh Mother Nature won’t you tell me
why did you send that storm
was it only to make me wish
wish that i’d never been born?

V2

we wade through streets... turned to rivers
hungry babies, ever crying
medicine gone, a thirst none should know
old man prays "Lord, I'm dyin'"

Ch

V3

we live in tents and cardboard huts
children drink from dirty puddles
seems the big folks forgot about us
all wrapped up in their own troubles

Ch

Outro

Very Pretty and heartfelt....Nature is sure difficult to understand. But she does what she does for some science reason and some just get slammed like Houston. Very nice effort. The chorus could have been catchier but I enjoyed it a lot.

Powerful stuff, you talented three:

If your intention is to "tug at heartstrings"... Mission Accomplished! Thanks for taking time to write it and record it for the world to hear. Kudos, Bud, Janice and Floyd. Impressive work.

----Dave

Thanks Barry. Glad you enjoyed most of it!

J&B

Hey Janice and Bud and Floyd,

Very awesome you three!!!

As I have mentioned before, this song both defines the blues and also has you begging for more.

So, please send some more. We are begging now officially.

Nicely written song and well produced. Loved the "Production Details" you included in the notes. Would have liked to hear the song take off a bit more after the really good guitar lead.

Great sound_ all around

Another outstanding collaboration folks.
A solid write enhanced by the soulful vocal performance.
Liked the tasty guitar leads and vocal harmonies throughout.
Handclaps and the kick sound great.

A touching piece, indeed.

I too appreciate the production break down in the credits.

Bravo

Thank you Dave. It's a sad and continuing story. Everything seems to be so transient in today's world...news today and buried tomorrow. If I can also speak for floyd I think we simply wanted to toss a reminder out there.

We appreciate your kind remarks.

J&B

A poignant theme but a really good and powerful song.
Again a first class production.
Well done folks. hope it's a winner for you.
Travis

Hello ,


Wow, such a great job by everyone, thanks for sharing what you do.


Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

"better off had i never seen that dawn"

Pretty song folks

Hey Janice, Bud and Floyd,

That's just one great song all round. Like the blues, the sorrow is poignant and at the same time uplifting.

We've just had Cyclone Gita go through Tonga last week, where I have a residence, and it just flattened the place. Funny though, through all that heartbreak, there is strength in the human spirit and the human soul. And life goes on.

Your song just captures all of that, and I very much "enjoyed" ( for want of a better word ) your take on it.

cheers, niteshift

Nice smokey, bluesy vocals!

The vocal sound is very nice, and the harmonies are a nice touch. The backing music is pretty good, too.

I loved the guitar work, and the overall production except the sound of the percussion track. It works okay but I am just not a fan of the kick drum sound and the claps on a bluesy song like this. The guitar solo fits in there very nicely, and you know I love me a soulful guitar solo. The overall sound is nice and smooth with a nice warm EQ which is perfect for the song.

Good song with excellent vocals and some tasty guitar work.

Peace,
TC

Thanks David. Begging for more? Who would’ve ever thunk!

J&B

Ahhh. I love a meaningful lyric.
Just one small thing I noticed was a guitar chord that seems out of sync in the intro.
Between "mama used to sing maria" and "about a girl so lovely".
It just needs nudging a little.

Fine job you all.

Vic

Thanks to all who have a listen.

Janice & Bud and I have been working together for a long time now. Hopefully that will continue for many years to come...

They are a true joy to work with.

fj

Thanks for listening! Glad you liked that guitar lead. The first new notes were played by a friend and I comped up the rest of it from several generations of a BiaB track.

J&B

Heyl Bud/Janice/Floyd,

Always good to see you all collabing. Nice work one and all--beautiful song. Hey Floyd you were getting up there on those harmonies--I like that, keep doing it and you won't lose it! Bud, you look a little like George Harrison in that avatar.........

steady-eddie

We appreciate the nice review. Thanks for mentioning the production info. I enjoy seeing that type of info on posts and thought perhaps others also would. Glad the kick worked for you. A cajon doesn’t produce a big kick particularly with a light handed touch from Janice but I found a Neutron kick preset that seemed to work. Thanks for everything.

J&B

Hi Janice and Bud,
Fancy to see you here :-)

I really do care about production and this one is excellent.
The tune has a Neil Young "Down by the River " vibe mixed with some hints of CCR.
This is indeed a compliment.
Kudos.
Best to you
Joe

Hi Janice, Bud & Floyd,

This song is very moving. That intro referencing mama singing and how Maria has turned ugly is a poignant way to begin the story. The vocal contains a sorrowfulness that makes an impact, along with the lovely harmonies in certain places. The music has a gentle feel that gives the story space but also a lift.

I also think the video captures the devastation along with hope thru a reliance on each other.

Well done, all around!

Kristi

Thank youTravis. Win, lose or draw....just doing it for fun! Appreciate you mentioning the production.

J&B

Wow...all ya'll...this is an outstanding combination of artistry and message. Well done all around.

Ricki

Thanks y’all!

J&B

Thanks for the encouraging words.

"Funny though, through all that heartbreak, there is strength in the human spirit and the human soul. And life goes on."

The resilience of many people in times like this is indeed inspirational.

We appreciate you listening and commenting.

J&B

Glad you liked it. Regarding the percussion we are definitely not of the "beats" generation but thought it would be fun for Janice to experiment around on the the tune with on the cajon. The operative word there is "experiment!"

Thanks for listening and commenting. And special thanks for mentioning the guitar. I comped it up from several generations of a BiaB RealTrack and our Australian guitar playing collaborator through in a few transitional notes. He did a great job of matching the tone/feel of the RT.

J&B

Nice work here. The vocal harmonies are really nice and the writing is solid. You get a lot out of biab, that's for sure!

..ant

Vic, thanks for listening and commenting - nice to hear from you. It may be that Janice's typical syncopated phrasing is contributing to what you hear. I checked the tracks in the DAW and see no alignment issues - visually or hearing wise.

Glad you like the lyric.

J&B



Thanks Eddie. Yeah mr jane nailed that 3rd above. Great to hear from you!

J&B

Thanks for for listening, commenting and especially for mentioning the production. We are Neil Young fans!

J&B



Thank you Kristi for taking the time to offer such nice and thoughtful comments. We most appreciate it.

J&B

This has the feel of a live recording - which is just the way a song like this should be delivered.

Whenever I despair that good, meaningful, music is gone, I always hear something that makes me realize that's not true.

Was your turn this time. Thanks

Scott

Thanks for listening and taking your time to offer such positive feedback.

J&B

Scott, we strive on all our productions to make them sound like a live recording and try to use relatively few tracks to help get that feel. Thank you very much for noting that. And describing the song as both good and meaningful makes me feel like we hit that sweet spot of delivering a sad story w/o getting overwrought or angst ridden. Thank you VERY much.

J&B