dog years by Teddy Quinn

this album was made amid many storms, losses, some voluntary, others inadvertent...i called it 'dog years' because it has so many references to all the dogs in my life, mainly negra, and because i am a dog, in terms of chinese astrology...but i had a thought of naming it something to do with the river or the rain. also, i had done a bunch of paintings of dogs i'd met on the sidewalks of new york city. elia thought i should present them to the public as "found dogs" or "ted quinn's dog show."

it was begun during the same time as 'help wanted' was recorded. with fred drake at the control board - with the HEARING sign hanging overhead which i'd lifted off a movie set i helped to decorate. others, billy, dana, tony and i took turns recording the rest.

the rancho was fred's home. we had first pulled into that driveway together after a night of intensive star gazing in joshua tree. it was one of three houses for rent. fred knew from the minute he walked in where the studio would be. it took some convincing gene the landlord that he should rent the house to a musician from hollywood but his brother hal did most of the persuading. we had a shared background in the circus and both brothers could tell how much fred loved the desert. i moved into the third house up the road with a woman who wrote punk fairy tales for teenagers. i had worried that fred would be lonely in the desert.

but it didn't take long before it seemed like the whole world was arriving at his door, with musical instruments, bags of groceries and boxes of paint. later, i met a woman named elia who did performance art that explored some deep psychological terrain from the center of a sacred heart. she and fred taught me a lot about how to make a record like this and, more, how to live, by being unapologetically oneself.

there were always lots of dogs around and fred's horse, kashmir. when fred died nine years after first moving to that house, it was the last day of spring. all the dogs had started by patrolling his driveway, but by the day he died they were all on the floor right next to him. they had gathered around to protect him on his couch.

when we spread his ashes around his "singing, ringing tree" as chrissie named it, the desert kicked up a biblical wind and all the dogs and horses went wild, expressing some hidden emotions in the people standing around. then, all the dogs went back to normal. their job was done and they went back to playing. for them, there was no such thing as loss. for two years i walked those grounds like heathcliff in "wuthering heights" and chased away intruders. the tree lost its leaves and most of the people around left to get on with their lives. others came around to make a claim on the place. as i finished this album, i watched them come and go, as the storms came and went.

Tracklist

1.	walking on a river	2:09

2.	i dream of sleeping (peacefully)	5:49

3.	you sleep so deeply (i just can't wake you up)	4:03

4.	love on	4:33

5.	power struggle	7:14

6.	perfe tworld	4:05

7.	only so many heartbeats	3:03

8.	rain of love	5:32

9.	crossing the river	5:03

10.	sunday (home)	10:10

11.	mars is near	1:42

Credits

released October 1, 2005

written and produced by ted quinn at rancho de luna
joshua tree, california
with
elia arce, bill bizeau, sue bradley, carlos de la fuente, digital dna, fred drake, jeremy gilien, michael kleinschmidt, tony mason, kevin sanders, victoria williams, ray woods.

also instrumental in this, fred burke, thanks for the melatonin!

when the rancho was empty, judy wishart was there. and many times, nurse linda, the beatnik, the inipi...the booklet was designed by sydney mccutcheon. photos by judy wishart, ted quinn and sydney mccutcheon.

to gothic harris, harold hill, george 'sabu' ahumada, kyoti king, brenda mcclintock, mewriel, patrona, sunbear, kashmir, amigo, duke & poncho, chasing rabbits, dreams and shooting stars across the universe accompanying fred drake on what jeremy calls the 'other world tour' and always, my family & negra...and to the future, the tree and above all, sage.

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