Ballad of Dwight Fry Suite (Arr. for Nylon String Guitars)

Second Coming / Ballad of Dwight Fry / Sun Arise

Total Time: 13:29

A handful of the most impressionable pieces of music I enjoyed from my youth - from Alice Cooper's 'Love it to Death' album released in 1971. I always considered Side 2 of the album among the most expressive and wide ranging emotional rock songs at the time and ranked them in my all time favorites.

It was a real pleasure to immerse myself in this body of work over the past several months!

Project started: Nov 26, 2016 Final Mix: January 23, 2017

45 Separate Guitar Parts were recorded to compile this Suite. All Guitar parts and all percussive effects were recorded on my 1972 Hernandis Grade #1 Classical Guitar (which I love to say worked out to be the perfect 'period instrument' for the performance of this suite!)

Actually I must say things got a little creepy late at night trying to musically interpret a little girl's voicing of concern over her father's bout with insanity "Mommy, where's Daddy? He's been gone for so long..." and then again trying to make musical sense out of Alice himself going insane in the Ballad of Dwight Fry...repeatedly screaming "I gotta get out of here." So what started out as a fun idea turned into a lot of hard work just to musically interpret spoken word and screaming; not to mention the perfectly 'out of tune' guitar solo by Glen Buxton which is still, 46 years later, soooo fittingly uncomfortable; so wrong but soooo right, especially when the protagonist of the song (lead singer Alice Cooper), suffering from the nausea of insanity, was musically fitted for a straight jacket and dragged into the residency of an insane asylum.

Salute to Alice Cooper and a tip of the top hat to him and his band with this one. I hope you not only enjoy discovering this piece as an instrumental, but if you're not familiar with the original work, please do seek it out. The songs are iconic and rate as highly recommended on my list of favorites. Thanks for listening!!

• Tom, 1/26/2017

Let’s hear it for the underdog, for the second string, for the runner-up, and for all of the creative works in this world that wind up sliced, diced and edited out.

So therein lies the theme of this album...it’s a release of my edited cuts. The pieces featured in this collection were lovingly composed with the intent for inclusion in their respective CD releases, but, for one reason or another, just fell short of making the final cut. They went through the entire process - inspiration, development, rehearsal, recording and being loved as my own - but in the end they were set aside.

Consider this release a liberation of sorts; for the lost, lonely little pieces that are now being resurrected from their obscurity after being relegated to the Island of Misfit Toys.

I suppose I could have just left them in the attic awaiting the music scholars to discover years after my death, but in a recent rash of reminiscing, I found a soft spot in my heart for each one of these little orphans - a rediscovery of sorts for myself. I found something in each piece that I felt was interesting enough to want to share in the light of day. And yes, if you’re curious, to stay true to the process, there were still six pieces cut from this release that were sent back to the Island! They won’t see the light of day until I’m happier with the way I play them.

I hope you quietly enjoy adopting this collection – my work is and continues to be, after all, for your listening enjoyment.

-Tom Salvatori, Guitar Composer

Track Listing:

Overture II-Are You Watching-Western Sunset 4:05

Afraid to Jump 4:15

Overture III-Late At Night 1:31

Waiting in Anticipation 1:47

Dark Stairways 2:50

Major Change 2:40

Sara Bay 1:25

Church Round 2:50

Spanish Dance 2:50

At the Edge 2:46

Escalation 1:56

Apricot Scarf 1:57

Walking Through the Door 1:44

A Perfect Tool-Stepping Up 2:19

Questions and Answers 2:45

Bring Me Too 3:03

Pull Off Spin-Pinball Bounce 2:34

Yes That's Interesting 1:29

Of the Ancient 1:59

Musical Chairs 2:05

Track Listing details:

Pieces recorded during the “Invoking the Veiled Reference” Session:

Overture II-Are You Watching-Western Sunset, Afraid to Jump

Pieces recorded during the ”Whispering for Your Attention” Session:

Overture III-Late at Night, Waiting in Anticipation, Dark Stairways, Major Change, Sara Bay

Pieces recorded during the “Late Night Guitar” Session:

Church Round, Spanish Dance

Pieces recorded during the “When Evening Falls” Session:

At the Edge, Escalation*

*Features John Catchings on Cello

Pieces recorded during the “Ever Ever On” Session:

Apricot Scarf, Walking Through the Door, A Perfect Tool-Stepping Up, Questions and Answers

Pieces recorded during and since^ the “A Year in the Life” Session:

Bring Me Too, Pull Off Spin-Pinball Bounce, Yes That’s Interesting, Of the Ancient, Musical Chairs^

This track is featured on 'Tu Sei bella Aci Catena' - EP

Tu Sei bella Aci Catena - November, 2008

Tom Salvatori – guitar

Leroy Bocchieri – mandolin

Massimo Di Nocera – vocals

Tu sei bella Aci Catena

My parents rented a villa in Sicily for two months at the end of 2008, and my wife and I went to visit and celebrate our anniversary in Italy. It soon became evident that the only way to navigate in the little towns was to drive there and then ask the locals for directions. And for some reason, one Italian talking to a driver through a car window seemed irresistible to others...we always attracted a few to render their opinion. They'd point in different directions, shrug their shoulders, wave their arms and ultimately start an argument amongst themselves. We would still see the assembled group continuing the discussion in our rear view mirror even after we'd start on our way.

The smartest of all direction-givers was a woman in a small town we had a hard time finding - called Aci Catena. When we stopped, she came out her front door (which was about one yard away from the street) in a bright pink bathrobe, largely pregnant; with kids hanging on her from all sides. She smiled and said “go four streets straight ahead and when you get there...stop again and ask someone else!”

Anyway...having a composer riding shotgun alongside an Italian crooner at the wheel who fancies himself Mario Lanza, we eventually began to sing a little melody to the beautiful words of directions as we drove about. Our music and lyrics have now become the testament to this wonderful Sicilian experience.

Lyrics In Italian (English translation)

Tu sei bella Aci Catena (You are beautiful Aci Catena)

Aci Catena buon giorno (Aci Catena good day!)

Benvenuti ‘la nostra citta (Welcome to our city)

Dove il centro il mercato (Where is the central market?)

Noi stiam’ guidando in cerchio... (We are driving in circles…)

Prima ‘vanti, gira la sinistra (First go ahead, then turn left)

Quindi si va, ‘la chiesa (Then you go on from church)

Quindi destra, quindi la sinistra (Then right, then left)

Gira l’ang’lo, la chiesa (Turn the corner, at the church)

Aci Catena aiuto mi (Aci Catena…help me!)

Aci Catena aiuto mi (Aci Catena…help me!)

Dove il centro il mercato (Where is the central market?)

Noi stiam’ guidando in cerchio... (We are driving in circles…)

‘ndare l'ang’lo, gira la sinistra (Go to the corner, turn left)

Quindi destra, ‘la chiesa (Then right, at the church)

Gira destra, gira sinistra (Turn right, turn left)

Gira l'ang’lo, ‘la chiesa (Turn the corner, at the church)

Aci Caten’ arrivederci (Aci Catena goodbye!)

Non abbiamo mai trovat’ il centro (We never found the center)

Preferisco perso in Sicilia (I prefer to be lost in Sicily)

‘nvece trovat’ altrove (Instead of being found elsewhere)

Aci Catena tu sei bella (Aci Catena you are beautiful)