All the tracks from my folk & rock days
All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
Right-click on the links on the left, select "Save" and make a cuppa while you're waiting!
EXPLORING NEW DIRECTIONS AND NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MUSIC COMPOSITION.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND APPROACHES, EVERY PIECE A MUSICAL EXPLORATION. GIVE YOUR EARS A TREAT!
I CLAIM TO BE THE FIRST INTERNET COMPOSER - I HAVE BEEN GIVING MY MUSIC AWAY FREE SINCE 2000
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= Full MP3 (BIG file), 
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= MIDI file (Instant music!)IMPORTANT NOTE: Although a great deal of people download & listen to these pieces of mine, almost NOBODY ever gives me any feedback at all concerning them! PLEASE take a few seconds to drop me a note to say if you liked what you heard - that's all I ask for all my efforts! (elwoodherring©blueyonder.co.uk)
NOTE ON PLAYING MIDI FILES: All my MIDI works are meant to be played using the standard Microsoft GS Wavetable. Usage of any other wavetable will give unintended results. By all means experiment if you have the capability, but please be aware that what you end up with will not be what I intended!
Also, some MIDI files played on Winamp before version 5.3 will not play correctly. If you use Winamp, please upgrade to the latest version (5.3 or above.
| INTERFACE | Mp3 | Mins | |
 | My second attempt at creating a Rock band. More info here. | ||
| The Adoration of the Earth | |
1:23 | Extract from "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky, played by my humble self on multi-tracked synthesisers. I was originally going to attempt to do the whole 30 minute piece, but bottled out. |
| Aslan's Theme | |
3:10 | A lightweight instrumental piece. Aslan was suggested as a name for the band originally, and the name somehow got transferrred to this piece instead. (MIDI version made in 2004.) I haven't included the original mp3 as frankly it's a bit naff. |
| Who needs friends? | |
3:02 | Written about a former Herring member who did something unforgivable. |
| One More Lie | |
6:07 | A dark sinister-sounding piece, with guest vocals by Spooky the cat. Can you work out what it all means? If you can, please email me and explain it to me because I haven't a clue. |
| November | |
7:41 | The longest, most complex song I wrote before the current century - my "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "MacArthur Park" if you like. (MIDI version made in 2005 - and see also "Interface Reconnected" below for the new 27 minute version!) |
| Beeblebrox Rides Again | |
3:04 | With dubbed vocal by Mark Wing-Davey (voice of Zaphod Beeblebrox - but not in the MIDI version of course.) I hope he approves. |
| Vienna | |
8:47 | Midge Ure's famous Ultravox song, with a central instrumental added by me. I hope HE approves! |
| Pavanne | |
4:41 | Written as an elegy for a girlfriend who was tragically knocked down and killed on a zebra crossing in 1979. I wrote this tune in 1983 and recently used it as the main theme in my 4th symphony. It has also been arranged quite beautifully by Patrick Dent as a Sibelius music score. |
| Roadrunner | |
6:20 9:30 | Another instrumental, ending with a reprise of Aslan's theme. The MIDI version goes even further, adding a reprise of November, and clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, with some great synth solos that I couldn't ever have managed live. |
| The Marathon | |
6:23 | A superior version of the old Red Herring song. (MIDI version made in 2005) |
| untitled track | |
0:45 | Some clever backwards vocals to finish off the album. |
| Interface Reconnected November Odyssey The Ultimate Marathon |
|
27:35 24:50 |
A complete MIDI reworking of the majority of the album in two large musical suites. I was never happy with the finished mixes of the above songs, and there's no chance of ever "getting the band back together" so my only option was to recreate them in MIDI format, and while I was at it I took the liberty of reworking the tunes into these two suites in 2005. Well they're all my tunes, so why not? I had great fun making these pieces, and I hope you enjoy listening to them just as much. |
| RED HERRING | Mp3 | Mins | |
 | The band everyone isn't talking about... This isn't the whole CD, just the most excruciating bits. That's quite a lot of it really. Well, actually nearly all of it. OK, so what do you expect from a band named after a cliché meaning "to cause confusion"? If you really want to find out more, go here, but don't say I didn't warn you. | ||
| Made in Hong Kong | |
3:07 | Featuring John Q. Human Deceased on guitar. (He's not actually deceased, that's a anagram of his real name.) |
| The Answer | |
3:34 | Yes, but what was the question? Song written and sung by John, with me helping out. |
| Careful with that sax, Colin | |
12:45 | Loosely based on "Careful with that Axe, Eugene" by Pink Floyd. Although Colin did play saxophone, he's not actually on this track! (Originally two tracks "Rock Cakewalk" and "Cirrus") |
| Apatcheye | |
2:58 | The weirdest music ever committed to CD? ("Walkin' down de middle o' de road wi' me shoes on...") Never mind what it all means, just listen to the sound quality - turn it up loud and sod the neighbours; in fact why not invite them round and have a party? Just make sure you invite me! |
| Just Passing Through | |
4:41 | Yours Truly playing everything. Well, if you want it done properly you just have to do it yourself sometimes... |
| Curry House Special | |
2:19 | Pass the poppadoms... Background sound effects provided by Pete (not) the Herring and Ivanhoe W. Kody. (Have you figured out any of these anagrams yet?) |
| Me & Julio | |
2:28 | Paul Simon's song arranged & played by me. Pity the drums got a bit lost in the mix; I don't usually play drums, but I reckon I managed quite well on this one. |
| White Elephant (Indian Version) | |
2:09 | ... end of Side One, complete with fake record stylus noises. |
| Second Hand Jam | |
3:04 | Elwood plays the drums again! Based on a song by 10cc that was popular at the time. |
| Anji | |
1:51 | Davy Graham's tune, or at least the tail end of it. |
| Diamond Girl | |
3:15 | John Q. again. Wonder where he is now? |
| Fade Out | |
7:38 8:15 | One of my favourite guitar improvisations, accompanied by "Mr. Weaklark" on organ. MIDI version completed 3rd August 2008 and dedicated to the memory of Solzhenitsyn, whose death was announced just as I had finished it. |
| White Elephant (African Version) | |
4:08 | "I've got blisters on my fingers!!!" |
| Hey Bulldog | |
2:47 | Our obligatory Beatles cover. Every band should do at least one. We also did a scorching version of "I Want You (She's so Heavy) but unfortunately never recorded it. |
| The Marathon (1st take) | |
6:07 | Our first attempt at this piece. My how it's grown since then! See the Interface band above for a better version, or Interface Reconnected for a stunning 27 minute MIDI version. |
| The Last Herring | |
3:57 | Which it was - the last Red Herring piece and the first Interface one. Quitars by "Ten Quid Ponn" |
| SKETCHES | Mp3 | Mins | |
 | Early solo guitar pieces and moody songs from the late 70's - the earliest stuff I still acknowledge as being half-way decent. | ||
| Llamedos | |
3:15 | A four-track guitar instrumental - probably my first ever attempt at multi-tracking. The trouble with instrumentals is, what on earth do you call them? I just jot down the first thing that comes into my head, in this case the name-plate on a house I spotted the week before. Good job it wasn't the one I saw recently - "Far Corfe"! |
| Pretty Boy | |
3:35 | The lyrics to this one were written by Dave Lewis, a friend who used to write hundreds of song lyrics but couldn't write music, so we collaborated on this song and a couple of others which were never recorded. I lost touch with him back in the 70's - no idea where he is now. |
| Charmaine | |
3:35 | Not the well-known song of the same name, but my own overly-sentimental teenage love song. Not my best by any means, but some people like it. |
| Wednesday's Child | |
3:50 | Actually I was born on a Sunday, so it's not autobiographical. Rhythm machine played by my brother Colin. |
| Don't Drink the Water | |
3:05 | Why not - what's wrong with it? Don't ask me, I haven't a clue what it means. Don't believe a word of it, it's all lies. |
| Sketches | |
4:53 | Basically a poem-song. Something to do with dreams, I think. Pity I didn't know what "teutonic" meant at the time. The word I actually wanted was "Titanic". |
| Appassionata | |
5:15 | A heartfelt lament on the loss of my first ever girlfriend. |
| Angie's Song | |
6:05 | Another song to another ex-girlfriend - only this one didn't deserve the praise I heaped on her in this piece. Good riddance! I still like the guitar part though. |
| September Sunshine | |
4:10 | Another guitar instrumental, all done with simple root-position chords. Well it was September, and the sun was shining, so that's what it ended up being called. I've recently made a MIDI file of this - try it! |
| Break | |
5:07 | A laid-back bluesy piece, where I multi-tracked myself humming and pratting about in the background. Plus an accidental but perfectly-timed burp! | Life Cycle | |
3:40 | My favourite of all these songs. If you play nothing else, please play this one. A farewell lament to a woman, a country and a life in three nostalgic verses. This is also included on the Red Herring CD. Can you spot the famous tune which I pinched the chord sequence from? |
Best | New | Easy | Hard | Short | Long | Symphonic | Guitar | MIDI | Full List | Artwork | Instruments