Recording - December 2016 - 59

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very often the second verse should be your first
verse. Was that you, or another one of my
songwriting...?
Ralph: You will probably write the second
verse first, because it's writer's assumption.
You'll get this wonderful idea for a song, but by
the time you get your laptop open or your
crayons-whatever you use-and you write that
out, you'll start at that point in the action on
down the road. You have to invite the listener in.
You have to explain all the things that are going
on in that second verse, so it's really important.
Writing the second verse first is great, because
then you get to... "Well, who's he? He was the
captain of the football team. Who was she?
Well, she was the cheerleader in that car that
they had that were driving to Oklahoma. What
happened in Oklahoma?" Unexplained details.
That's called normal. Most writers write the second verse first.

said to me, "Allan, you know, I think you gave it a
great shot, but I think you're getting to an age
where I think you better find some security, and
I think you better find something else to do."
And it about killed me. I could not believe my
father was saying that. And I loved my dad; he's
no longer on the planet. But it about killed me.
But it was the next year that I had my first hit
record, and if I would have listened to him...
And every time I had a gold and platinum
record, I made a copy for my mother and father
to have in their house.
This is what I wanted to leave you with. I came
home one time, and I saw the records all in the
hallway, all the gold records across the hallway,
and my dad said to me, "I put them there
because even when I sleep I get to see them."

That made me feel so great that my father felt so
proud of me that even when he was lying in bed
he wanted to see those gold records against the
wall.
So what I'm trying to say to you is, if someone
talks you out of it, if this is your passion in life,
unless you really realize that this is not for you,
you cannot be dissuaded if it's what you're
meant to do in life. When you feel a little down
and you feel discouraged, just remember it may
be one day away, one month away, or one year
away, or one song away. [Applause]
Jason Blum, Richard Harris, Allan Rich, Ralph Murphy, and Marlin "Hookman" Bonds, you guys just
dispensed one boatload of great information and
inspiration. Thank you all very, very much!

Audience Member: First of all, thank you all
for being here. We all really appreciate it. My
question is, what's the best piece of advice you
all have received?
Richard: Never stop learning. My dad said that
to me. He said, "Just keep learning every single
day."
Marlin: I have recently signed with this huge
management company, and the guys who looks
after me is Jeff Aldrich. And he called me and
goes, "Hookman, one song at a time, buddy.
One song at a time." And that somehow really
stuck to me even at this stage.
Jason: What do you think he meant by that?
I'm not quite getting why that was so powerful.
Marlin: How I took it was, I do a lot of songs,
but at the end of the day if I'm looking at each
song individually, caring after every single song,
treating it like one song at a time. I don't want
anybody to hear it until I've sat with it for two
weeks and looked at it and re-looked at it and I
love it. And now I'm like, OK, one song at a time.
Allan: I'd like to tell you a quick story, so that
maybe it'll inspire you a little, because it's a true
story that happened to me. My dad loved music,
and in fact he was a very big influence in my life.
Every Sunday morning, my dad would put on
the Sarah Vaughn records and the Cab Calloway
and the Lionel Hampton records. The first song
I ever heard was Billie Holliday's "Hush Now,
Don't Explain." Every Sunday, my dad put them
all on. I think my dad was proud that I was in
the business, but my dad saw me struggle for a
long time, so one day he took me aside and he
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