EVENTS & NEWS
Welcome to the music & manuscripts of John E. Harper.
Browse around and check out a few photos, a bit of JEH history & listen to some JEH tunes.
A History of Writing
From 1993
through 1998, JEH was a free
lance writer for the Centralia Sentinel, writing hundreds of
business profiles and covering many local government meetings. From 2005
thru present, JEH has covered many stories for the Belleville News
Democrat.
JEH St. Louis Business Journal Article
Also....
Down Load John E. Harper's Novella "Damage From A Recent Storm" e-Book for free right here!!
Click on cover to download.
Also...Down load the music inspired by the book:
Click on song titles below to listen.
Damage From A Recent Storm (Music Score)
Both compositions recorded at JEH Production Studio, all music composed & performed by the author JEH.
12/20/09
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
11/30/09
JEH recalls the "Warm Tonight" Recording Session - 3/20/1991
Click on photo below to watch JEH YouTube videos.
(Read details below photo and then listen to "Warm Tonight" - see instructions below story on how to hear the song).
The "Warm Tonight" recording session took place at 3:00 a.m. on 3/20/1991 at Sound City Recording Studio in Van Nuys California, near Los Angeles. Sound City was the same studio where such classic albums as: Tom Petty's-Damn The Torpedoes; Fleetwood Mac's-Rumors; and Nirvana's-Nevermind, were recorded. Personally, I wanted to record there because I was always a fan of Richard and Karen Carpenter and they had recorded there for A&M Records, from time to time, over the years.
I had made contact with Richard Carpenter's manager, Joe Gottfried, with Carmen Productions, before I moved to California, a few years earlier from Southern Illinois. Joe, an older man, in his early sixties, had heard a few of my demos that I had sent to him off and on, and offered to listen to anything new anytime. You hear that a lot from guys like Joe in the music business. I guess they figure you never know where the next hit record will come from.
So when I took a job there as an engineering supervisor for an electrical manufacturer, near Los Angeles, a year later, I rang Joe up and he invited me to come to Sound City Studio, for a personal one on one audition. I'd never done anything like that before. It was rather uncomfortable, I must admit. I was very nervous. He sat on a stool across from me in this small rehearsal room, and just said, "Go, I'm listening." He listened to me play a whole set of tunes, but showed little reaction, that I could tell. I thought that it went well and so as I was leaving Joe simply offered to get me a better studio rate there at Sound City to lay down a few new tracks, and said he would listen to the session results, and play them for Richard too. But other than that, there were no promises.
A few days later I returned for the session to record a new song I had recently written, called "Warm Tonight.". Joe put me in Studio B with a young engineer, Bret Newman. Joe left for the night and Bret and I went to work. I brought my guitars, keyboard, bass and cello with me. I was in my second year of private cello lessons with L.A. Philharmonic cellist, Rick Moody, and was anxious to try my hand at recording it. It was very exciting to be in a building that such legendary musicians played in.
While setting up my gear, I noticed this tall guy with longer hair than mine and a very long beard walking into the control room. He began chatting with Bret. I recognized him immediately. It was studio great, Leland Sklar, bass player to everyone from James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and nearly every West Coast musician I've ever heard. He took the time to talk with me too and take a few photos. (JEH & Leland Sklar: above photo-top right) He then took the photo of Bret and I, (JEH and Bret Newman: above photo-top left). Very cool guy! That started the evening out really good.
Originally, I didn't plan to record drums, since certainly, I'm not a drummer, but Bret said he had a cool drum machine and thought the song needed a rhythm track. He quickly ran out and returned with it. He set it up and told me to play with it for awhile to get comfortable with all the buttons, while he set up the tape and the console. After recording the acoustic guitar parts, the bass, and the electric fills, to a click track, I played the percussion track in one take, using my fingers to pound out the different drum parts. It wasn't great, but we were pleased. Bret and I looked at each other and he shrugged, "Sounds okay to me."
Since it was so late in the evening (actually 3:00 a.m.),...my voice was not at its best and I struggled to record a vocal track we could keep. I was getting a dry sore throat and it was getting pretty ragged. With the clock ticking by too fast, I was very aware of the money it was costing me, even at the lower rate I was paying, so I eventually settled on the take you hear. I added some harmonies and then put a rough cello track over it. I wish I would have had more time, but I just didn't have the money to rent more time.
Though I'm not too proud of the vocals, the music was exactly what I heard when I wrote it. I hoped Joe would like it, and then he would pass it on to Richard for final approval. Unfortunately, Joe suddenly died a month later and Richard went into semi-retirement. His lawyer said he was no longer listening to demos. I wish they could have heard it. It's not my best recording or vocal performance, but I think the song is strong and the music is exactly where I wanted it to be.
So,...that's the "Warm Tonight" story,........so far.
Click on the photo above to access the John E. Harper You Tube Channel
now featuring "Warm Tonight" written and performed by JEH.
11/22/09
JEH recalls the London Girl recording session.
Jeb Sloan (left) and JEH recording at The Studio
I found this great demo I recorded with my friend, guitarist Jeb Sloan, on 11/5/1992 in a make-shift studio in Jeb's basement. It's called "London Girl." This was a song we played for the first time on the spot that cold winter evening. It's a rough demo, but Jeb and I knew it was best left alone, as is. I brought the simple lyrics, that I had written, to the rehearsal that night. It's a song about a gal, who was a seamstress, visiting from London, who I had a casual date with the night before, but never saw again. She had to return to London the next day to get back to her fashion business. A friend told me that she loved the song when she heard it months later. After Jeb treated me to his famous South American raspberry-coffee-honey-vitamin pill concoction, I remember I started strumming the B-minor to G to A chords and Jeb nodded, and smiled, then just eased right in with his lead guitar accents. Then I began singing... "I want to touch you, but we're oceans apart....your sewing needle's got a hold of my heart......your sense of fashion is perfectly clear, ......but why can't you make your dresses right here." This is what was captured in just one take. I just love Jeb's amazing lead guitar "etchings". I just think he's brilliant. We just started laughing and rolling on the floor after we played it. There was always something magic in the air when Jeb & I played. I was very lucky to find and use Jeb's talent. I hope we can find a way to play together again some day. Check it out. Click on the photo of Jeb and JEH above to listen to "London Girl."
I'll be posting some more JEH demos in the coming weeks. You can view other photos of JEH and Jeb on the Gallery link above.
10/30/09
10/29/09
Double click all photos for full size.
Recorded at The Studio-Engineered by Douglas Rayburn Produced by Harper
John E. Harper - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Recorded at The Studio-Engineered by Douglas Rayburn
Produced by Harper
John E. Harper - Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Bass & Percussion
Recorded at various sessions at The Studio-Engineered by Douglas Rayburn
Various tracks re-mixed and re-recorded by Harper
Original session produced by David Surkamp
John E. Harper - Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
David Surkamp - Electric 12 String, Amazing Electric Lead Guitar Solo
Bass - Jim Huckelberry
Drums - Marty Monson
6/18/08
Here are a few JEH video links to You Tube.
(Click on photo below and then the Back arrow to return to this web site)
John E. Harper Performing "I Still Love You (Can't You tell)"
John E. Harper Performing "A Place To Settle Down"
John E. Harper's "Gutters of Hollywood" soundtrack to Tom Harper's video.
11/5/07
(Click on thumbnail photos below to view larger image).
JEH working on a few tunes in the home studio.
9/13/07
"Damage from a Recent Storm" now available on Barnes and Noble's online web site.
See link below.
8/1/07
Just Published...
Damage from a Recent Storm
John E. Harper
(Click this image below to order the Hardcover or Paperback versions from Amazon.com)
(or order from Barnes and Noble's online store by clicking this link below)
Dealing with powerful themes, Damage from a Recent Storm is an emotion-packed novella you won’t soon forget.
Gretchen is nineteen, single, pregnant, and living in her ancient Volvo on the dangerous city streets of Berlin, Germany, when she swallows her pride and moves in with her estranged sister, Marthe.
Four years later, Gretchen finds a job that allows her to save enough money to get a place for herself and her daughter, Helene. But Marthe’s husband, Dietre, learns a secret about Gretchen, one that could devastate her devout sister. He begins to sexually assault Gretchen nightly, using the secret to secure her silence, until finally emotions explode—like the raging storm outside—into a violent and deadly climax.
(Click this image below to order the Hardcover or Paperback versions from Amazon.com)
(or order from Barnes and Noble's online store by clicking this link below)
(Book cover art work by Marrion McCaskey of Centralia, IL)
(Edited by Linda Hines of Maynardville, TN)
(Photo credit - Kayla Siedle of Waterloo, IL)
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4/1/07
I am publishing my story "Damage From A Recent Storm" in paperback this month. Hopefully I'll have ordering info available in about 2 months.
Linda Hines of Maynardville, TN- JEH's book Editor
My editor, Linda Hines, is putting the final edits on the 114 page story of Gretchen. I'll have more info soon.
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"Another Year is here and lots of good things are happening in my world. A few new projects are in the works. Check in here from time to time to see what's in store." JEH
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1/2007
Nothing but good things for 2007. I look forward to the new year and all it brings.
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9/22/06
Thanks to my gorgeous daughter Meg for setting up a My Space Music site for me. Thanks Meg!
http://www.myspace.com/harpersguitar
You can also view my videos on www.youtube.com
Not sure what to make of the whole My Space - Youtube thing, but it seems like a safe and fun avenue for expression and sharing.
Grandpa John with Grace and Rayn and Robin's Grandson Reign
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1/5/06
I've included a few new photos on the Gallery page from my recent get together with my friend Michael Lockwood and his partner LMP at their concert at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. JEH
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10/27/05
I recently moved into my new home in Waterloo Illinois that I had built, and now have my recording equipment set up, ready to begin work on my next music project. I have been sketching out a few new ideas. I'll post them soon. For your listening pleasure, I posted an .mp3 of one of my favorite tunes that I wrote a few years back, "Treasure" on my Songs/Videos page.
Part I of my manuscript, "One Hand On The Podium" - A Trilogy, is completed. My special thanks to Linda Hines, my editor, who helped me fine tune Part 1.
I have been writing a lot recently for the Belleville News Democrat.
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6/06/05
I am working diligently editing my book, One Hand On The Podium. I will be sending Part 1 off to my editor, Linda Hines, in Tennessee, next week. I look forward to working with her to get the book in shape for publishing over the next year.
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3/20/05
You can go to the SongVideos page to download "A Place To Settle Down" mp3 and other JEH tunes. And while you're there, watch the Quick Time video too.
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2/13/05
Spring is near and I am anxiously awaiting the ground breaking of my new home that I am building in Waterloo Illinois. Recently, I have been working on final edits of a book I wrote called "One Hand On The Podium." I am composing new music to accompany a future audio book of OHOTP.
I also have been recording some new demos to see where that leads.
Take care and check back again soon.
John
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1/12/05
Sadly, I just saw this morning that James Griffin died yesterday of cancer at the age of 61.
I'm not embarrassed to say that Bread's "Baby I'm A Want You" album made a huge impact on me and my music.
James' tunes on that album were my favorites, especially "Down On My Knees" and "Dream Lady." He told me that he wrote "Down On My Knees" in London while on tour and David Gates helped him finish it. (I love that background stuff).
Getting to have dinner alone with him last year in Nashville was a huge thrill for me, even though I came away from that meeting feeling very sad for James and his out look on his career. (See photo below of that meeting). He was a very bitter fellow about the music industry. He was still making a living in the Nashville scene, picking up cash, singing background vocals on all the new stars records. But seemed to also talk a lot about "the next big deal" that would hit big for him. He really wanted another hit record. He seemed bitter about lawsuits and royalties that were so hard fought from the Bread days. He talked about touring and recording.
Before meeting him, I had many emails saved that he and I traded about life and music. We exchanged a few demos too.
I feel lucky to have gotten to meet him and hear the inside stories of some of my favorite tunes he wrote. He even sent me a new demo of an unreleased song that was awesome, called "Break & Run."
Sitting across from him, eating Chinese food in Nashville, last year, and hearing him tell the details of writing "For All We Know", which he won an Oscar for,
of which the Carpenters went on to have a huge hit with, was pretty cool, I must say.
The guy had a gorgeous voice.
He didn't know me from Adam, and he still took the time to talk "shop" with me. He said he loved my music and said that the music I composed, "Damage From A Recent Storm," would make me rich one day. : ) He wrote, "I wish I could do that." That was nice to hear that from someone I truly admired. (Listen to "Damage From A Recent Storm" on the
Songs/Videos page).
At that dinner meeting last May, I took a book, as a gift to give him. It was a biography of jazz legend Chet Baker, who died at a young age from drugs and tough living. James said he didn't know who Chet Baker was, to my surprise. I taped a personal photo in it and signed it with a nice note, thanking him for his music. He just seemed thrilled with the gift.
I remember he kept trying to get me to eat some of his spicy Chinese food. "Come on, John, you'll love it. You gotta try it." His persistance made me laugh.
Very interesting person.
When I opened the Post this morning and saw his photo and obituary, I was taken aback and sighed.
I found this more detailed obit about James on the Tennessian's web site. A more personal story.
http://tennessean.com/obits/archives/05/01/64052547.shtml?Element_ID=64052547
This is such a short life we live.
John
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9/26/04
I recently moved to Columbia, Illinois and have set up my studio in my temporary new home. I hope to find a new home in the coming months and will be busy in the mean time working on the next JEH Sessions Episode (Formerly Valmeyer Sessions). Please check back from time to time.
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6/20/04
Last month, while on business in Tennessee, I was invited to meet and go to dinner with singer-songwriter, former member of the 70's rock band Bread, & Oscar winner, James Griffin. James and I had been emailing each other demos over the past year and we finally got to meet. I grew up listening to James' great tunes and it was very cool to spend a few hours talking with him about his career and both of our families, while enjoying some delicious Chinese food. Check out what James has been doing lately at: www.jamesgriffinmusic.com
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1/26/04
New Quicktime video clip of JEH Production Studio, with new JEH music score, added to the SONGS page. Check it out.
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12/15/03
Thanks to everyone who has offered their thoughts and support for the Bluffs of Valmeyer CD project. I really appreciate all of the nice words and input. I have handed out over 900 free CD's so far. I was pleased that the project also received a bit of coverage from a few of the local papers last week. Daniel Kelley at the Republic Times especially did a nice job. Thanks Dan!
Stay tuned for info on plans for a fund raiser concert for the museum in the coming months. Thanks to Marcia for her support. Tammy and Dennis have offered great ideas and have helped me pull this project off. Thanks to Barb for handling the funds coming in. I appreciate their kindness. The CD art work by Dennis is really fantastic. I loved doing this project. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to listen and consider making a donation to the museum project.
JEH
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10/17/03
The BLUFFS OF VALMEYER cd project is completed and ready for ordering. The CD is free to anyone who wants a copy. All I ask is that you consider making any size donation to the Valmeyer Community Heritage Society Museum fund in the coming weeks.
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9/24/2003
The BLUFFS OF VALMEYER cd project is on order. I approved all of the graphic and audio proofs today from the manufacturer and I will probably see the finished product by the 1st or 2nd week in October. (See details of project below). If you want a copy of the CD, please send me an e-mail at the MAILING LIST tab with your mailing address and I'll make sure you get one.
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8/26/03 (Updated 10/30/09)
My new friend, Michael Lockwood, who presently is Lisa Marie Presley's guitarist and band coordinator and record producer, (Michael recently married Lisa Marie and they had two beautiful twin daughters together), and is on tour with her throughout the country, took the time to write a nice quote for me to use in the CD's liner notes. I really respect Michael's talents and to have him do this for me, well,...I was thrilled, to say the least. I met Michael about a year ago while he was touring with Aimee Mann, who's album, "Lost In Space," he produced and performed on.
Michael wrote:
"John E.Harper has really struck a note with "Bluffs of Valmeyer". A classic song with a modern arrangement enhanced by a brooding dark string section, John has accomplished a successful interplay between the melody and instruments chosen to support this lofty ode to his community. Love and reflection, all for the safekeeping in this time capsule of a gem."
Very cool! Thanks for writing that, Michael.
Michael Lockwood-Los Angeles, CA www.michaellockwood.com
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8/17/2003
I am presently putting the finishing touches on two new songs for a CD
to raise funds for the Valmeyer Community Heritage Society (VCHS).
I met with the committee a few weeks ago and presented my proposal for
the project to them, and performed one of the songs that will appear
on the CD. They approved the proposal and instructed me to proceed.
I asked local artist, Dennis Knobloch, the former Valmeyer mayor, who's now Monroe County Clerk, and a member of the VCHS committee, to design the CD cover art work for this special project. I expect to see his design in the coming week and get the CD's on order. I'm looking forward to putting it all together. The plan is to hand out the free CD's with information about the fund rasing project in our community and surrounding area, in hopes of garnering enough contributions to continue work on the VCHS museum.
A little background: The new Valmeyer, Illinois, is built high on the bluffs over-looking the Mississippi River valley. This beautiful new town was rebuilt to replace the old Valmeyer, which used to set at the base of these bluffs, but was destroyed in the great flood of 1993.
This year is the 10th anniversary of that flood. The museum will house photos, articles and artifacts from the old Valmeyer and preserve the great past of this former small town farming community.
I wrote two songs especially for this project. One is called "Bluffs of Valmeyer" and the other is "Damage From a Recent Storm (The Valmeyer Flood Theme)."
If
you would like a copy of the CD, which I expect to release in late September,
please send me an e-mail with your address and request a copy. I'll
send you out a letter of introduction and information about the VCHS fund
raising project, along with the CD.
Take care,
John
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2/2002
The new JEH EP (Extended Play) 6 song CD is called "Songs from the Second Son of an East St. Louis First Baseman". The CD features 6 original tunes, written and performed by JEH, and also includes guest appearances by St. Louis guitarist Jeb Sloan, and former Pavlov's Dog lead singer/songwriter/guitarist, David Surkamp. Most of the tunes were recorded by Doug Rayburn at The Studio near Benton Park in St. Louis.
(You can purchase the CD and read the liner notes on the Store page).
JEH Productions johneharper@johneharper.com