Inclusion of these liner notes regarding my development as a person, musician and vocalist for more than 50 years is very personal. My background, my selection of the songs, the production and recording of "I Need a Holiday" was accomplished with a lot of love for music, the combined efforts of friends and new friends and our persistence to create a unique sound which comes from the heart and is very personal to me for many reasons. I hope you enjoy listening to "I need a Holiday."
The two most important people in my life are Ma and Pa Hodge. I dedicate "I Need a Holiday" in memory of my Mother and the continued love and support of my Father. They have always been and continue to be my guiding light. I miss you, and you are both with me always.
My project started with a trip to the studio. My idea was to sit down, record and document some of my music. I was convinced by the wonderful people who were involved with my recording that I should not just document my music, but to develop and produce a record. It was at this moment that everything took a little turn from documenting my music to our creation of this record.
From then on and continuing through the final completion, everyone became personally involved and joined together as one group with one accord. I believe we created a better record and captured a certain magic.
My Mother only heard the first set of sessions before she passed on to another life. She was unable to tell me and share her opinions of how the record meant to her. The breathing tube interfered with her ability to speak. However, her thumbs up and a difficult smile said everything. She passed away May 23, 2005 after a long battle with congestive heart failure.
It is because of her and my father that I went on to revise and mold it into what it is now. I am very proud to say that my first ever full recording is a compilation of what and who I am.
My Father is still with us and he too is very proud of this record. I have truly been blessed to have the parents who have given me their love and support through out all of my journeys.
This record was started in 2004 when I was still with Canned Heat and due to touring and scheduling availabilities with myself and musicians, plus the revising of songs and writing some new songs; well it just took this long. I hope that everyone who hears it enjoys the music.
To all my supporters and fans around the world thank you. In addition, to all of the wonderful people involved directly and indirectly a huge thank you. Moreover, to my parents, the biggest THANK YOU of all for everything as I said earlier, without you this would not have been possible.
Special thanks to the following: My family for putting up with me all these years (Peg, Cory, Traviss). All of the musicians who are on the record, my brother Catfish Hodge, my band in Europe The Modern Essentials, Fender USA (Alex), my Detroit band, Leo Creek, Canned Heat for the opportunity to see the world and meet some great people for six years, Joe Merkens, photographer, Susan Wadlow (Disc Photo), Paul Shortino, all my friends in Detroit for their support over the years, and all of my Euro friends, and I know I will forget some people…so thanks to those whom I forgot to mention.
Guitars and lead vocals on all tracks: Dallas Hodge
Bass guitar on all tracks: Terry Wilson
Bottleneck, Dobro, pedal steel guitars and mandolin: Tom Maclear
Acoustic guitars on "In the Wind" Greg Beck
Piano on all tracks: Rick Solem
Hammond organ on "In the Wind": Skip VanWinkl
Drums on tracks (1, 2, 3, 5, 8) Tony Braunagle
Drums on tracks (4, 6, 7, 9, 10) Larry Zack
Horns: David Woodford on all Saxophones
Lee Thornburg all Trumpets
Garrett Adkins all trombones
Backing vocals: Teresa James and Kelly Clanton aka Kace
Photos by Joe Merkens, Ass't Mark Yani;
Model Susan Wadlow;
Websites for individuals as follows:
www.bigbluemac.com Tom Maclear
www.kacee.info Kacee
www.teresajames.com Teresa James and Terry Wilson
www.lafinearts.com Joe Merkens Photographer
All songs except: Holiday, Love Me Do, High Roller, Up the Country and Rock me Babe, Written by Dallas Hodge, BMI, Dallas Hodge Music, copyright 2006.
"In the Wind" is dedicated to the memory of my good friend Joe Velasquez who was a magnificent human being and definitely touched not only my life, but the lives of many who were lucky to know him. Thank you Pops, till we meet again in that next life.I would like to acknowledge and thank Paul Shortino for starting this project with me and co-production on "In the Wind" and his encouragement to make it a good record and to do the best recording that I could do.
This CD was produced by Tom Maclear and me, at Meg Recorders, Los Angeles, Ca.I want to especially thank you Tom, not only for your excellent work as co-producer and musician, but, also for being a great new friend in my life and for taking what I would say is a special and personal interest in the recording of this record. I know that you did this recording as not only a professional but, also that you put your heart and soul into help making it what it is. That is capturing the essence of my soul, the magic of the moment and the birth of this recording. A very big and special thank you to you…my friend.
I feel that I have been truly blessed to have everyone who took part in making this recording and will never be able to repay them their worth for not only their musical contribution but also what they brought spiritually. I can only acknowledge them in every way possible and thank them from my heart. They all knew that the main reason that this record came together was for my mother and father and to pay homage to them and my way of thanking them for everything that they have ever done for me to support my career as a musician. So here, I will say thank you again to the wonderful people who made it happen. Ma and Pa Hodge, Tom Maclear, Greg Beck, Rick Solem, Larry Zack, Terry Wilson, Tony Braunagle, David Woodford, Lee Thornburg, Garret Adkins, Kacee, Teresa James, Skip VanWinkl, Joe Merkens, Susan Wadlow and Paul Shortino.
And while you're waiting, here are 3 samples from the CD
Holiday 2:27, 2.4M
A Classic Dallas Hodge song, going back to the Hodge Bros days
Divin Duck 2:00, 1.9M
Another Classic Dallas Hodge rocker, going back to the Hodge Bros days
In the Wind 2:39, 2.5M
A really nice ballad from Dallas
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