Chet Baker’s Christmas Eve
new unreleased LJM song
Chet Baker’s Christmas Eve
original art by @twotma poster photographed on the street in Lisboa, Portugal
I watched an Apple TV documentary on the music from 1971. It made me think of my years in Los Angeles and New York and the “famous people” I’ve interacted with. It would be talking out of school to name names and tell stories. Fame is a curse, I think it’s fair to say, it’s a club. If you’re not a member, there is a wall, which keeps you out. Us and them as the Pink Floyd song says. That's a club I’m on the very far outskirts, a member of. There were a few shows in Italy where we had four bodyguards surrounding us at all times.
On Ricky Lee Jones’ Substack, she questions whether meeting your musical heroes is a good or bad thing. They are human after all, with the same foibles as all of us.
I met Chet Baker many years ago. His music was a big influence on me. It's not my job to rate his moral and ethical behavior on a 1 to 10 scale, but his lifestyle was rough and destructive and very likely caused pain for those who loved or were close to him. I wrote and recorded a series of songs about or influenced by him called “The Chet Baker Suite”.
The Chet Baker Suite - Larry John McNally | Album | AllMusic
Scrolling through my voice memos I found a song I’d completed 8 years ago called “Chet Baker’s Christmas Eve”. The Starbucks Xmas season is upon us. Here is my iPhone demo:
https://on.soundcloud.com/qCRm3yDbxtR3Lybe7
Chet Baker’s Christmas Eve
Chet Baker in Amsterdam on Christmas Eve
A light snow falling, nights like this might give you reason to believe
This time of year there’s a moment of grace
All is forgiven all is made right
The divine is close out over the canals
Look up into the starry night
And fall on your knees
Oh, hear the angel voices
Oh, night divine
Oh, night divine
I wish I’d never started what I started
Wish I’d stayed home, led a simple life
Not the drugs, the girls whose names I barely knew
Just my children and my wife
I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
I ask the magic 8-ball
Will I see another Christmas
It says “ask again later”
No wait, “Yes definitely”
That's good ‘coz there's not a lot of laters left for me
Yeah, life’s too short
Life’s too long
I think we’ve got time for one last song
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
If the fates allow
Have yourself a merry little Christmas now
Chet Baker in Amsterdam on Christmas Eve