The Best of Thom Ryerson is a celebration of the lyrics and voice of Thom Ryerson. This CD is a thirty-eight year journey featuring twelve of Thom’s best songs from 1986 to 2024 through many band names and member line-ups. Thom’s most consistent writing partner has been Stan Antone and the two still work together these days in the band ‘The Carving Knife.' Much of this material is part of ‘The Carving Knife’s’ current live set-list.
This CD was released on November 22nd 2024 by Mouton Music Canada, catalog number 968825-CD.
The 12 Tracks drawn from – Are We There Yet? 2019 01 04 06 08 09
Social Distancing 2020 The original version of 07
All Of This Or Nothing 2021 05
#4 2022 02 07 10
Christmas Memories 2023 11 12
Exclusive To This CD 2024 03
Track listing and liner notes:
01 (1986) Going Down (2:35) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Gerald Seaman. Recorded with the band H-Bloc in April 1986. This song is a tribute to Thom’s British New Wave roots but isn’t about anyone in particular. This was the 2nd song recorded with Gerald. The first song, "Never Never" didn't come off as good as Thom had hoped, and was erased, a method that Thom has tried to resist going forward.
02 (1989) Stand On It (2:00) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Rockin’ Bobby Harris. Recorded in February 1989 under the moniker of A.B.S. Absolute, Thom worked with Rockabilly artist Rockin’ Bobby Harris for a couple of months with plans to record a full-lengther, but it never came to be. This was recorded on a cassette deck in Thom's Ingersoll living room live.
03 (1993) A Certain Sacrifice (4:44) (Ryerson/Antone) This was one of the earliest songs that Thom Ryerson and Stan Antone wrote together, and it explains how people don’t have to be heroes in the media to make a difference. Every kind act has its own rewards, and the song encourages people to follow this line of thinking. The band name at this time was A Date With Judy and this version of the song is the original recorded in the studio in Woodstock during the Big Brothers Telethon.
04 (1993) Nuthin’ At All (2:20) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Stan V. Antone. Recorded with A Date With Judy, this was the first song Thom & Stan ever wrote together. A kid walking on the street was the inspiration for this number. Issued on their debut cassette in November 1993.
05 (1994) Friends at a Funeral (4:50) (Ryerson/Jeffery) Written from the point of a person caught up in the rumours of associates, and how no-one wants to say anything for fear of being wrong or offending, especially in this woke age. Recorded live at the Woodstock Fair in the summer of ‘94.
06 (1995) Slacker Anthem (4:13) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Jeremy Chambers. Recorded with the band Owen, and released as a single in May 1995, getting serious Canadian campus radio airplay and a favorable review in Billboard Magazine. An auspicious beginning! Inspired by Beck’s hit, “Loser.” This really was Thom's 15 minutes of fame. And he's still milking it!
07 (1995) Change (A Part of You) (4:54) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Jeremy Chambers. This was recorded live in the C.K.M.S. Waterloo studio in July of 1995. This tune got major airplay in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area as the B-Side of the cassette single, “Guilty.”
08 (1996) Surreal (3:38) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Doug Hainer. Recorded with the band Owen in 1996 and released on the compilation ‘Hard Rock ’96 Indie Comp in August of that year.’ A great little rocker inspired the better times.
09 (1996) Smalltown (3:55) Lyrics – Thom Ryerson, Music – Doug Hainer. Recorded with the band Owen, and also released on the compilation ‘Hard Rock ’96 Indie Comp in August of that year.’ A little ditty about every Small-town in Canada and the USA. This number really gets the crowd going in the live setting.
10 (2001) Tainted Love (2:21) Lyrics & Music - Edward C. Cobb. This is the song that made Thom want to sing in the first place, as recorded by Marc Almond and Soft Cell. Thon’s version was recorded live with his band Living In Fear in November 2001 and is obviously a little rockier than the Soft Cell version.
11 (2023) Christmas Memories (3:42) is an original composition by Thom Ryerson and his 1st cousin Michael Winegarden. The lyrics are based on the family tradition of three sisters, Deanna Winegarden, Louise Ryerson and Anne Dixon, who celebrated Christmas with each other’s family at their particular home on Boxing Day on a rotating basis. Every three years it would be held at a particular sister’s home. It’s thought the tradition began in 1975 at Louise’s house, with the last one also being held at Louise’s house in 1984. Thom wrote the first set of lyrics, and then Michael brilliantly tweaked them. Michael also composed the music for the song. Watch for the custom made video to soon be featured on YouTube. Recorded by Thom Ryerson & Michael Winegarden on September 17th 2023 in Preston, ON at Winegarden Music.
12 (2024) The Lord’s Prayer (2:38) is a pop rock setting of the Lord's Prayer with music by Arnold Strals recorded in 1973 by the Australian nun Sister Janet Mead. It became the only song to hit the Top 10 in which the entire lyrical content originated from the words of the Bible. Thom has always loved this song, and is the emphasis track from this collection. Recorded by Thom Ryerson & Michael Winegarden in Preston, ON at Winegarden Music.
No comments:
Post a Comment