#skip kline

FRIDAY FLASHBACK + HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SKIP KLINE…In 1993 I started to work with Davy Jones (Monkees) to make recordings. That unfolded into hours of song-crafting, planning, and commuting to studios around central Pennsylvania (where we both lived at the time). Sometime in 1999 he rang me up to say, “There’s a chap with a recording studio just down the road from my house. He seems to have it going on with gear and a room. Come over and check him out.” That chap was Skip Kline, an engineer-producer-musician who is as saintly as he is talented. He was/is also a local star: The voice of the iconic “Beaver Motors” radio ads that permeate the local airwaves.

Skip ran a well-kept and well-appointed room called Songcrafters Studios, equipped with a grand piano, the right gear, and the know-how to do what we needed (the studio also had a couch that cast sleeping-spells on anyone who sat on it). Over time Skip and I found a rapport, discovering what we had in common and didn’t have in common (no coffee-maker in the studio?), and we had great brainstorming sessions. He is a straight-arrow, a true Pennsylvania friend, and a “go to guy” that Davy and I could count on—we notched up 100s of hours at Skip’s studio (still a running operation). Here’s a track we did at Skip’s—“It’s Just a Matter of Time” is an original song by Davy Jones, featuring Tim Breon on lead guitar. Meanwhile, HB Skip!

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/its-just-a-matter-of-time-2

MONDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO “Written in my Heart” by Davy Jones & Chris Andrews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9IlfvBw9E …This is a 10thAnniversary remastered edition—the final recording made by Davy Jones of The Monkees before he passed away on February 29th, 2012. The song was composed, performed, and produced by Chris Andrews (whose credits include Roger Daltrey, David Essex and other notables). Chris and Davy were close friends since they first met in 1962—both of them were actors in the award-winning theatre version of “Oliver!” As the years rolled by they worked on many projects together. This track was recorded in the UK and USA. Sessions started in 2011 at Songcrafters Studio (in Beavertown PA) with Skip Kline at the board. The lyrics for this song now feel prescient—the perfect “swan song” for Davy. He truly took ownership of this sublime song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9IlfvBw9E