I Saw Three Ships: Steve Dimond, Dave Lock, Frank Mullen

I was in the basement and tripped on a box of stuff I've been meaning to sort through. Out fell a  cassette tape in its plastic case.

I thought I lost this recording of I Saw Three Ships years ago. In the early 1990s. I was living in Fredericksburg, VA and arranged the old carol for my old shipmate Dave Lock, who had also left the Navy and owned an audio/visual production company in Wilmington, DE. He was making a holiday promotion for clients, and I was glad to help out.

To sing the lead, we got another old shipmate, Steve Dimond, who was working in Las Vegas. I put together the MIDI tracks in Virginia, Steve recorded the lead vocal to digital tape in Las Vegas, and Dave mixed the whole thing together in Wilmington.

Dave and I haven't seen each other in years. Steve is gone now.

But here we are, together again.

 

Santa Visits Northeast Navy Band

If you've ever seen the classic Christmas movie "Miracle on 34th Street," you know that Santa Claus can talk to children all over the world, whatever their language or dialect may be.

So it's no surprise that when Santa visits Newport, RI, he speaks with the accent of a southern New Englander. In fact, when you hear Santa talk to Northeast Navy Band's director, LCDR Carl Gerhardt, you'd swear you're listening to NMA member and Rhode Islander Jack Rodway.

Santa's clarinet style is a lot like Jack's, too. It's a shame Jack couldn't make it to this concert; he and St. Nick have a lot in common.

Now that I think about it, you never see Santa Claus and Jack Rodway at the same time. Hmm...