A Dog or a Bicycle

by Rich Whiteley

A Dog or a Bicycle cover art
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about

Gently twisted Americana with a jam band ethic.

Rich's solo debut from 2000, still a favorite of many. Produced with Steve Connelly (Roger McGuinn, the Headlights) at Zen Recording in St. Pete, A Dog or a Bicycle fuses elements of improvisational groove-rock and Americana into a cohesive, well-written collection of songs that will earn a home in your CD player.

Review by Wade Tatangelo, Music Editor, OC Weekly:
Back in 2000, Uncle John’s Band co-frontman Rich Whiteley released this beautiful batch of Deadhead-friendly originals that rank with the songs he regularly covers every Thursday at Skipper’s Smokehouse. The record ranges from laidback funk and fun “Raise the Roof” to space jams “Stargazer” to moving confessionals “As I Lay Dying.” Whiteley’s lyrics are mature and memorable and he’s in fine voice throughout the album. Co-producer Steve Connelly is all over the disc, sweetening the tracks with electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin and bass.

credits

released 05 December 2000
Raise the Roof
Rich Whiteley: rhythm guitar, vocals
Steve Connelly: slide-wah guitar, wurlitzer
Anne Van Atta: bass
Mark Dupuy: drums
Ted Lukas: backing vocal

Going to Carolina
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals
Steve Connelly: elec. guitars, peddle steel, mandolin
Virgil: fiddle
Mike Edwards: bass
Ted Lukas: backing vocal

Nocturnal
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals
Steve Connelly: elec. guitar, bass
Virgil: fiddle
Lee Bryant: keyboard

Traveling Bone
Rich Whiteley: rhythm guitar, vocals, bass
Steve Connelly: lap steel
Mark Dupuy: drums

Stargazer
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals
Steve Connelly: peddle steel
Mike Edwards: bass
Mark Dupuy: drums

Someday Soon
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals, blues harp
Steve Connelly: elec. guitar, peddle steel
Anne Van Atta: bass
Mark Dupuy: drums

Fly On
Rich Whiteley: vocal
Steve Connelly: guitars
Mike Edwards: bass
Brian Thompson: drums
Ted Lukas: final flourish


Bells
Rich Whiteley: guitar, vocal, banjo
Steve Connelly: bass, mandolin
Virgil: violin
Mark Dupuy: drums

Cannibal
Rich Whiteley: rhythm guitar, vocals
Steve Connelly: guitar leads
Anne Van Atta: bass
Mark Dupuy: drums

As I Lay Dying
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals
Mike Edwards: bass
Lee Bryant: keyboard
Ralph Famiglietti: dobro
Steve Connelly: guitar solo
Mark Dupuy: drums

Broken Bird
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals, blues harp
Virgil: violin
Mike Edwards: bass
Lee Bryant: piano, organ
Mark Dupuy: drums

A Dog or a Bicycle
Rich Whiteley: ac. guitar & vocals, space harp
Steve Connelly: guitar leads, bass


Special thanks to:

My wife (& assistant mix editor) Elizabeth for making the phone call that got the ball rolling.
The talented friends & musicians whose contributions helped bring these tracks to life:
Steve Connelly, Mark Dupuy, Mike Edwards, Anne Van Atta, Virgil, Lee Bryant,
Ralph Famiglietti, Ted Lukas, Brian Thompson.
All the friends & family whose words of encouragement helped bring this project to fruition.

Produced and mixed by Steve Connelly & Rich Whiteley at the Zen Den, Seminole, FL. Remastered (2007) by Jose Santos.

tags

tags: americana folk rock jam Tampa

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Track Name: Raise the Roof
Gonna go home tonight, I'm gonna throw out all my clothes
Gonna run around naked all up & down the road
Then we'll throw a little party, tell everyone you know
You can bring your little brother, you can bring your uncle Joe

Chorus:
Gonna raise the roof
Gonna knock it clean off the house (etc.)

Ain't playin' no Scrabble or listenin' to the symphony
Gonna do the wa-too-sey and jump on your trampoline
Gonna break the windows knock open all the doors
Gonna dance on the ceiling and jump back to the floor

(Chorus)

Gonna fly a black flag with a neon skull & bones
Gonna smash the TVs and cut all the telephones
Gonna bring my guitar and you can bring your drums
Gonna be some pretty women there and I'm gonna find me one

(Chorus)
Track Name: Goin' to Carolina
I’m goin’ to Carolina, don’t care what I do
’Long as when I get there I’m far away from you
I’m packin’ up my pickup, and what’s left I’ll leave behind
I’m goin’ to Carolina, but not just in my mind

I’m goin’ to Carolina, ‘cause here I’m near the end
Seeing you out most everywhere, kissing on my friends
It hurt me when I broke it off, never thought you’d be so cruel
I’m goin’ to Carolina, where I won’t feel like such a fool

I’m goin’ to Carolina, I might send you a postcard
Yeah I’m goin’ to Carolina, gonna live in someone’s backyard
Yeah I’m goin’ to Carolina, where the air is crisp and cool

I’m goin’ to Carolina, guess I sure showed you
Please don’t try to stop me, it’s what I have to do
All I’ve come to live for is calling me up there
I’m goin’ to Carolina, as if you even care
I’m goin’ to Carolina….rpt.
Track Name: Nocturnal
Too tired to sleep, watching the fan spin slow
Stars up on the ceiling, I’m listening to you breathing
Wondering what it is you’re dreaming,
Maybe best I don’t know
Too tired to sleep, too hungry yet to eat,
as the fan spins lazy circles ‘round my room
this bed could drift away, float us off to Paraguay
So I look out my window, and wink at my brother the moon
There’s a highway in the distance,
Where solo travelers traverse the wind
And it feels like Autumn’s coming
Just a few cold dreams away
Too tired to sleep, too hungry yet to eat, too informed to watch TV or read
And the dusky smell of dawn steals upon me like a fawn
And like a fox I’m gone, asleep
As the dewdrops start to fall
There’s a highway in the distance,
Where solo travelers traverse the wind
And it feels like Autumn’s coming
Just a few cold dreams away
Track Name: Travelin' Bone
I can't shake Baby can't take
You can't break my travelin' bone
Stick around stuck in one place for too long
Start feelin' an ache in my travelin' bone

Cause the highway is long and the highway is bare
& wherever it goes I don't really care
Been gone so long I been gettin' off track
Don't know where I am but I'm glad to be back

Ain't it a shame It's always the same
I just can't tame my travelin' bone
Climb out the window, whistle a song
Thumb me a ride with my travelin' bone

Baby I love how you treat me so mean
I can take to the road when you're makin' a scene
I wait for my time like a cat in the weeds
Got nothin' to lose but it's more than I need

inst.

I can't lie I'd never deny
You might wanna try your travelin' bone
Free your self from the troubles you own
& run for the hills with your travelin' bone

The highway is long and the highway is cold
& when it's callin' your name you just got to go
Your drownin' your soul, let me throw you a line
You better grab it fast while you still got the time
Track Name: Stargazer
Stare out into the cosmos your eyes wide like a child
Catch a falling star in your hand and let it take you to the promised land
Hear the call of the loon haunting your soul to sleep
whisper with the wind through the trees if you could only see what it sees

Chorus:
Stargazer--
Do you know what you need to know?
Stargazer--
Do you know which way is your home?

Hear the call of the loon haunting your soul to sleep
whisper with the wind through the trees if you could only see what it sees
Milky way spills cross the sky as you stare back into time
no use crying over spilt milk, anyway, you just try to take it day by day

Chorus & substitute chorus:
Stargazer--
With a warm love by your side
Stargazer--
Have you ever felt so high?
Track Name: Someday Soon
Someday soon I’m gonna get my life
Together woah-ho what do you know
It’s gonna be frontpage news
I’m gonna roll out of bed, drink a cup of black coffee
Put on my working boots and forget that I ever saw you

Someday soon…
I’m gonna quit feeling sorry for myself
Stop thinking ‘bout you with somebody else
Gonna find another lover & forget about you
Gonna find a little lady take away these blues
Someday soon I’m gonna do something good
That’ll change the world, what do you know
Might even get me on TV
I’m gonna set my alarm, get up early in the morning,
Eat a big old bowl of cornflakes and forget that I ever saw you

Chorus

And I’m writing a song, be finished any day now
It’s a number one hit, woah, what do you know,
They might play it on the radio
I’m gonna shave my face, head up to New Orleans
Sing my song on Bourbon Street, and forget that I ever saw you

Chorus & Out
Track Name: Fly On
Fly on little mama gotta fly on...
Fly on little mama gotta fly on...

Oh sweet little mama
won't you let me from your bed
Your papa's coming to wake you
and I fear he'll shoot me dead
I can hear my train a comin,
it's a rollin down the line
but if you ask me to I'll stay with you
And I'll love you one more time

Cause your twice as sweet as a Georgia peach
and I love your golden hair
But I hear your papa's footsteps
he's a comin up the stairs
I appreciate your lovin'
but I really should be gone
so please let me out your window,
so I can get where I belong

OK little mama
I can love you once again
You must not had no lovin
since I just don't know when
I can hear your papa rappin',
he's a rap rap rappin' on your door
so please let me out your window,
or I'm in the swamp for sure...
Track Name: Bells
I wish that my strings could ring true like bells
I wish I could make notes that went straight to your heart
I wish that my voice could carry my love
Through your ears, to your heart, and all through your soul
I wish I had a guitar that sang like a bird
I'd tell you a story without any words
And you'd understand, and you'd overflow
From your ears, through your heart, and all through your soul
And I'd like to make you twirl and whirl
& dance like a spirit from some other world
We could get lost till we finally found
That our hearts and our souls can never be bound
And I wish for alot of things, that you just can't give me
I wish you could understand, but I just can't seem to get through to you
So Lucy sweet Lucy come sing me a tune
Count all the stars in a midnight in June
Sing me an ocean, and cast in a stone
climb on my shoulders, and I'll fly you home
I wish that my strings could ring true like bells
I wish I could make notes that went straight to your heart
Track Name: Cannibal
In and out the circle, the dancing ladies go
Dancing round the fire, the bodies twirl and flow
And the pounding drumbeat quickens as they wheel me t'ward the crowd
Down the stony moonlit path that shakes the cart to which I'm bound

Cannibal!  Cannibal!

Horrified and fascinated I cannot close my eyes
this is not the way I would have chose to meet my sad demise
Painted faces lick their lips as I am wheeled through
Little children laugh and sing in anticipation of the stew

Cannibal!  Cannibal!
So if you're ever in the jungle, try not to lose your trail
Grave consequence awaits you should your navigation fail
This is all I have to offer as my final seconds wane
The natives lift the spit and carry me over to the flame

Cannibal!  Cannibal!
Track Name: As I Lay Dying
As I lay dying, a long time ago
Around my bed gathered the ghosts I had known
Outside was snowing, but inside so clear
As I lay alone with so many friends near,
so many friends near

There was my uncle Otto, passing ghost whiskey round
I reached for the jug but it fell to the ground
And everyone was laughing, and carrying on
Broke out the ghost guitar, singin’ ghost songs
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh....

I heard the churchbells outside ringing low
Don’t ask for whom if you don’t want to know
How many times have I wished you were here
Feelin’ so alone with so many friends near,
so many friends near

If I could take these two tired old wings and fly
Back through the dark years I wasted on wondering why

If I could dance a few steps would you join me?
A step-two-three ragtime of red eyes & memories
A waltz through the bottom, of your greatest fears
Layin all alone with so many friends near,
so many friends near
Track Name: Broken Bird
You say you feel, like a duck in the dessert
Like a fish in the road, like a sheep in a sweater
I don’t know, but I heard it gets better
If you stand up & fight, when they’re pluckin’ your feathers

Broken bird, you must keep flyin’
Don’t give it up, you gotta keep on tryin’
Spread your wings, & quit your cryin’
Don’t you know, you got a long way to go

I remember a time, Lord I had it too
I was lost & pathetic, I was just like you.
Till I pulled my head up, yelled cock-doodle-doo
Shook my tail feathers, & I felt brand new

Broken bird, you must keep flyin’
Don’t give it up, you gotta keep on tryin’
Spread your wings, & quit your cryin’
Don’t you know, you got a long way to go

Broken bird, quit your pinin,’
behind those clouds, the sun’s still shinin’
Spread your wings, & quit your cryin’
Don’t you know, you got a long way to go
Track Name: A Dog or a Bicycle
If I only had a dog or a bicycle I would fly
’cross the bay to the moon to the old man's eye
and I'd eat green cheese and I'd mess with the tides
find me a moon buggy go for a ride

And I'd bring my five-iron and tee off to mars
and inspire near misses in the back seats of cars
pick up the flag and parade it around
leap like a jester without a sound

If I only had a wristwatch like old James Bond
I'd blast all the bad guys with a green laser bomb
go through their pockets and get all their cash
and give it to a worthy charity like the President's defense fund

But I'd rather fly to the moon
than own a green laser bomb ray
and I'd like to make you swoon,
like ladies did in antebellum days
Like young Anastasia in a maze,
like Jimi Hendrix singin' purple haze
like my uncle Henry in a daze

If I had a skyscraper I'd take you there
and we could scrape the sky till we just didn't care
and then when all that's done and we're hungry as hell
I'd take you for a gourmet meal at Taco Bell

But I'd rather own a green laser bomb ray
than own a skyscraper in downtown LA
Cause it's not the thought that counts so much
as the thinker that's thinking the thought
Look at all these damn presents that I brought,
and I'm thinking that it's all just for nought
Like doing something bad & getting caught,
or seeking something we never should have sought
or thinking something we never should have thought

Inst., Repeat Vs. 1