Fix It Again Tony

It hadn’t occurred to me until yesterday that Bill’s landlord is Fix It Again Tony, the infamous mechanic you’d take your Fiat to when it broke down. F for fix, I for it, again Tony.

Tony’s just a little guy. He’s Italian and he always has a smile on his face. He’s a nice man with a good sense of humor.

I was aware of Tony’s history. I knew he was a Fiat mechanic at one time, and when Fiat stopped shipping cars to the states, Tony was the mechanic that took care of the cars still under warranty in the Los Angeles area. He has since changed occupations. He sells real estate now.

I saw Tony the other day. He showed up to Bill’s wearing a pair of old fashioned blue sweat pants and a sweatshirt. He was smiling and talking with his usual thick Italian accent. I like Tony, but there was something about him that was pulling at me.

             I found myself staring blankly at the ground yesterday for no apparent reason. I was in a trance. I knew I was in a trance, but I couldn’t pull myself out of it. I was looking at the sunlit dirt and shadows from the trees, when it hit me. Tony, was Fix It Again Tony. He was famous.   

God Bless the Bass Player

 I’m not sure where time goes, but it goes fast. I looked at my blog and I noticed it‘s been five days since my last post. I’ve been working on bass lines for three songs that I’m recording in the studio.

The bass lines were all over the place at first. They still are, but I’m getting a better feel for what works and what doesn’t. The object is to play something interesting without it being too busy. For some people, that’s like talking without cussing. Cussing is flashy, busy talk. It’s the quick hit, the jolt that emphasizes. Well, I can’t have that with these bass lines. I need something smooth that isn’t necessarily repetitive. Not an easy task considering the songs are kind of repetitive. I wish the songwriter (me) would have thought about that when he wrote the songs.

            The bass player will have to save the day again. God bless the freakin’ bass player.