Chapter 42: Music and Movie Prep

After breakfast, Dan took off to go back to his office in Nashville; at our request, he committed to be back with us around the dinner hour. Terry, Crystal, Ellen, Claire, and I worked on picking songs from the ‘Fake Books’ Terry had brought the day before. We spent two hours; marking various songs in one book with various color markers and stick-on tabs so we could quickly come back to our favorites. When we finished, we’d narrowed the list from about two-thousand songs in the book down to fifty; including those on the list Claire had produced.

As we turned page after page, Crystal would enthusiastically say things like, “Oh, I love this song; we’ve got to include it.” I didn’t feel as strong as she did about the songs, so I later suggested the album title be ‘Crystal Lee’s Favorites’ or something similar. Moreover, we had something from everybody – Irving Berlin, Gershwin, Beatles, Chicago, Fitzgerald, Broadway, and Sinatra to name a few.

After our selections, Claire played the keyboard, and Crystal and I sang each of the songs once through. I found myself surprised at how good we sounded when we weren’t doing country, although with Crystal’s dusty voice every song she’d ever sing would sound like pop country.

Ellen sat at the large mixing board, and recorded each of our songs. The recordings wouldn’t be used except by a small group at Sony Music who would listen to our session and see whether the initial concept of an ‘old standards’ album seemed like a good idea. Ellen also documented our comments about our selections on her laptop. When I questioned her, she said, “For the album insert; of course.”

Nadia brought us mid-afternoon snacks, and around seven o’clock, a bottle of wine, glasses, and some cheese and crackers. She sat and listened, even softly singing background harmony on a few songs she knew. Terry had sat quietly making his own notes until Nadia joined us; after that, he sidled up behind her and nuzzled her neck affectionately as the pair just listened to us and made approving statements.

Dan snuck into the back of the studio. Much to our surprise, he picked up one of the acoustic guitars and played along with Claire’s accompaniment. Until that instant, none of us knew that Dan played a musical instrument. Our ensemble sounded so good to us, that Crystal and I had everyone join in when we went back to some songs we’d already done and sang them with the group.

A week later, Terry heard back from Sony. They loved the music, as crude and unrehearsed as our demos had been. Further, they had picked twenty of our fifty songs they preferred for the album; they’d narrow down further at a final cut. Terry got Billy and the band rehearsing the music so that when we got with them for the full recording sessions, everyone would be on the same page.

While we’d waited for Sony to decide on the demos, Ellen – under Terry’s direction – had led us in the selection of songs for the Christmas album. We spent more time with these songs, since Sony had been the one suggesting this album, and we knew all we had to do was get the right mix of songs.

Thus, as we went to work on the standards album, Ellen sent the demos of the Christmas songs to Sony. We heard back the next day on those songs; Sony had picked fifteen of them for a single CD album.

We worked with Billy, a songwriter and arranger Jake Randall, the rest of the band, Ellen, and Claire over long days for the next three weeks doing the two albums. As usual, we laid down some songs after two or three tries, but a couple of songs each took over a day to get right.

We no sooner got finished than Terry started to beat the drum about the new movie again. Apparently, the production window was getting closer.

One day, Crystal and I were coming back from a run we’d done together. She stopped with me at the meditation spot way back on her property, and we each sat in silence and meditated for a half-hour.

As we walked back home, Crystal asked, “Are you all right with all this rushing and deadlines and stuff? When you were on your road trip, you were a pretty laid-back guy who seemed to want a lot of free time.”

I responded, “Good question.” We walked along in silence, as we were prone to do while I did a little self-analysis. “A couple of things come to mind. First, I enjoy the work we do – even when we’re rushed and have deadlines. I’ve always loved music, and now I have a job where someone pays me to do what I love. Many people would call that their idea of heaven.”

I continued, “Second, I have you in my life. Some days, I pinch myself to be sure I’m not in some dream.”

“Third, and related to the other two, I thought the bubble might burst at any moment. That someone would suddenly announce my career was a sham, you’d vanish on me, and I’d be sitting in the sand in the middle of the country wondering what happened – and before you say anything, I know that’s just me being insecure.”

Crystal put her finger on my lips, “Before you go on, I just want you to know that I’m not going to vanish on you. I really do love you with all my heart and soul. You’re the most interesting and complex person I’ve ever met, and it’ll take me at least a couple of lifetimes to even start to figure out how you work, so have no fear about my sticking around. Oh, as for your singing, do you think the millions of people who bought your album or concert tickets thought you were a fake; hardly – they all love your music – our music. It’s fabulous. You even got a Grammy or two for it.”

I kissed her finger as she pulled it away. “Fourth, in my laid-back days around when we met and along my road trip, I had lost one dear love of my life. I still quake to think how fast Karen went from healthy one day to dead thirty days later. I guess some of the busyness in this part of my life, helps me forget about that time, the grief I felt, and the shattered plans we’d laid out. In bad moments, I worry that it’ll happen to you or someone else that I love.”

I thought for a minute, and God bless Crystal; she didn’t feel compelled to fill the silence. Despite the chilly morning, we sat on the stairs up to the pool deck. I eventually continued as we came up on the lawn. “You were there at the turning point in my life. Heck, meeting you was THE ‘Big’ turning point, but I was thinking of when you, my sister, and my sister-in-law – Karen’s sister stood naked on that beach in California and spread the last of Karen’s ashes into the Pacific Ocean. That day brought such closure to the first part of my life.”

Crystal asked, “What were you like as a computer geek? Laid back?”

I chortled, “No, I was sort of as I am now. I liked it when we had rush jobs and deadlines and crises. The same when I was in the military; I hated sitting around waiting for a mission. When we started on a mission there were always a crisis, deadlines, and situations of life and death. That’s when I started to fire on all eight cylinders and hum along in top performance mode.”

I went on, “So, do I miss being laid back? Oh, a few minutes here and there, but overall, you, Terry, Ellen, Claire, and everyone around us that keeps us busy, each propel me into my high-performance pattern.”

I felt Crystal shiver against me. I nudged her up, and we walked inside just as the autumn sun broke over the southeastern stand of trees. She said, “So, as we start this movie – Downslope – you won’t mind the chaos it’ll bring for the next six to nine months? Plus, Terry’s putting a concert tour together in the middle of that, too.”

“I’ll love it – so long as you’re along with me.” I squeezed Crystal’s body to me in a side hug.

Nadia came and kissed both of us. The little minx wore only an apron over her sexy frame; thus, when I pulled her to me, I could cup my hands around her bare tight buns that made up the greatest ass in the world. She squirmed in pleasure as I pulled her against me to kiss. Nadia’s breasts oozed out around the bib part of the apron, so as we parted, she made a production of tucking them back behind the white opaque material of the apron. She scolded me as she turned and pointed to our breakfast laid out on the kitchen table.

The Grumman Gulfstream V hummed along at 41,000 feet. I’d swapped seats with the copilot. The pilot, Ken Tew, gave me a thorough run through on every instrument, dial, switch, and knob in the cockpit. Increasingly, I found myself interested in flying. I’d had forty hours of pilot training in Special Ops, and even soloed and did some cross-country trips, but I’d never bothered then to get my license. I also learned the rudiments of operating a helicopter.

As Ken went from dial to knob to switch, more and more of what I’d learned twenty years earlier came back to me. I resolved to put in some time and get a pilot’s license.

The sleek corporate jet was our charter from Nashville to Los Angeles – or as a pilot might write in his logbook BNA to LAX, a distance of about 1,600 nautical miles. Besides, the copilot who sat behind me reading various approach plates for LAX on his iPad, Crystal, Ellen, Claire, Terry, and Dan sat is the plush leather seats in the back. Judging from the mountains beneath us, we had just started to cross the Rockies.

I thanked Ken, and reluctantly returned to my cabin mates. I sat down across the small aisle from Terry; he looked up from his iPad. I could see he’d been working on a large calendar.

I asked, “What’s our schedule for the coming weeks?”

He chuckled, “I’m trying to fit two weeks of your time into one week. Crystal too.”

Crystal’s ears perked up at the mention of her name. She looked up from the book that she was reading, and I gestured for her to join us. She came and sat in my lap. We shared a smooch.”

Terry went on, “First off, I had an email this morning from Sony Music. They like all the stuff we’ve sent them except they want us to rework four songs on the standards album. I figure a week for that work. “ Terry continued, “Second, Monday the main cast of Downslope is supposed to start their read through of the script with the screenwriters. They’re looking for places where the dialog needs to be reworked, plus they want you two, Claire, and Barry to really start to get into your characters.” A simple read through could take a day or two, but they want something more complex, so I’m guessing another week. After that, Sony wants the director to start shooting, at least some of the indoor shots.”