Future plans
Here's a few songs that might make it on to to my fourth album, tentatively titled "Don't Fret", which I hope to complete sometime in late 2025 or early 2026 - or, then again, maybe in 2027 or even . . . "New Orleans Music" written by Ian Tasker, is a trip down memory lane. I've spent a bit of time in New Orleans over the years, first working as an ice-cream salesman and in the accounts department of Godchaux's on Canal Street in 1977 and then as a bartender/host in the the Gumbo Shop, a famous French Quarter restaurant, during 1981-2. I have also been back a few times since to catch the city's famous Jazz Festival. Despite the complaints about the heat and humidity, this song is my love letter to the Big Easy. Some of the lyrics were written back in the day and I have added to them to create this brand new song. "If Wishes Had Wings" is a brand new song with lyrics by Neil Morton and music by Ian Tasker. A change of pace for me, it's a bittersweet tune featuring lyrics by my great friend Neil Morton - our fourth collaboration after “World That Cannot Touch”, “When Did The Dark Invade Your Heart” and “Middle Way” (that's almost half an album!) Neil describes the song as “A meditation on regret, mortality and the hope of youth. If only we could claw back time to say the things left unsaid; if only we’d shown more kindness. “The song was inspired by unconnected events: the passing of an elderly woman on the same day her carer’s child was born in the same hospital. Perhaps the child will do better and make amends for our failings. “Then on my late father’s birthday the realisation that he had been gone longer than his children knew him. Did we appreciate him enough? The perils of unspoken love.” "The Lee Shore" is a cover of a lovely song by David Crosby, written in 1969. I have probably played this a thousand times since I bought the sheet music from Potter's music shop in Richmond, Surrey in about 1971 soon after I heard it for the first time on CSNY's wonderful live album Four Way Street. Crosby's chords showed me there was a whole world of guitar to explore beyond C, F and G. WATCH THIS SPACE MORE MUSIC TO COME IN 2025 New Orleans Music By Ian Tasker © 2024 If Wishes Had Wings By Neil Morton & Ian Tasker © 2024 The Lee Shore By David Crosby © 1969
LYRICS
NEW ORLEANS MUSIC Down in New Orleans when the summer comes The sun burns so bright your mind can come undone The sound of air-conditioning fills the air Cajun, jazz, blues and zydeco everywhere And down in the Quarter people still sing One hundred per cent humidity don't mean a thing We're down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans when the summer comes Well you can't take a step without losing a pound Pray for a thunderstorm to come on down This Crescent City can drive you round the bend You'll be as twisted as the Mississippi in the end And down in the Quarter people still sing One hundred per cent humidity don't mean a thing We're down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans when the summer come New Orleans music - calling me back today New Orleans music - what else is there to say? New Orleans music - keeping the blues at by New Orleans music - I wanna come back one day The St Charles streetcar really felt on fire Hot-foot from Tchoupitoulas, took a bus named Desire From Robert Street all the way to Octavia The lovely Grady-Godchauxs always been my saviour And down in the Quarter people still sing One hundred per cent humidity don't mean a thing We're down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans Down in New Orleans when the summer comes Released 2nd December 2024 © Ian Tasker
IF WISHES HAD WINGS If wishes had wings We'd fly and we'd fly From a brand new hello To an old goodbye We'd give and we'd give And never think twice We'd tell you a thousand things If wishes had wings If wishes had wings We'd go back in time To the days when love was The unspoken kind You've been gone now for longer Than you were here We'd tell you a thousand things If wishes had wings Well if wishes had wings We'd let the tears flow Hold on to the good times And never let go Free all the feelings We were too proud to show We'd tell you a thousand things If wishes had wings If wishes had wings We'd whisper to the wind Where can we find the Why of everything Hope arrives like a child From an old hiding place We'd tell you a thousand things If wishes had wings Released December 21, 2024 Vocals and rhythm guitar by Ian Tasker Other instrumentation by Logic Pro 11 Words by Neil Morton Music by Ian Tasker ©2024
THE LEE SHORE Wheel gull spin and glide ... You've got no place to hide 'Cause you don't need one All along the lee shore Shells lie scattered in the sand Winking up like shining eyes at me From the sea Here is one like sunrise Older than you know It's still lying there Where some careless wave Forgot it long ago When I awoke this morning Dove beneath my floating home Down below her graceful side In the turning tide To watch the sea fish roam And there I heard a story From the sailors of the Sandra Marie There's another island A day's run away from here It's empty and free From here to Venezuela There's nothing more to see Than a hundred thousand islands Flung like jewels upon the sea For you and me Sunset smells of dinner Women are calling at me to end my tales But perhaps I'll see you the next quiet place I furl my sails By David Crosby ©1969