LINER NOTES - "ACTUAL SIZE"
Actual Size is an angora sweater with one sleeve too long. It's that national
holiday you celebrate in August, a gut feeling etched in wax. It's more
than a satisfying song session with a modern one-man band. It's the distillate
of a man who presents an array of emotions. Heyman isn't an angry young
man, or an innocent man, bossman, travelin' man, ramblin' man, or even
a macho man. Simply, he's a Heyman. Consistency is a rare thing in any
performer, and Heyman maintains a high standard of music integrity. The
artist hasn't been around a long time, but his topics have. Sadness, frustration,
loneliness, optimism and pessimism, all at once. The art of capturing
sound and making the transfer to a disc is no easy task. Heyman does it
with enthusiasm and a distinctive flair. We hope that Actual Size will
catalyze the breakdown of molecular hardness around us, and spark a rediscovery
of the joy found in inspired melodies linked with lyrics that hit home.
The needle touches down on Side One. The frolic of I'm That Kind of Man
is the declaration of independence that injects the body with momentary
exhilaration, before the hatching of a lost soul. Of this track Heyman
says, "It's one of those guitar songs where you just lay two fingers
across the neck and twitch." To keep things spontaneous the lyrical
images in the chorus were ad-libbed while recording the lead vocal. A
press roll on the snare drum ushers in Hoosier, a ballad with layer-cake
harmonies and more than a nod of respect for a love gone by. This song
was written for a first girlfriend whose nickname happen to be, for reasons
unknown, Hoosier. Then Richard digs in his heels with the clear vision
of When Giants Fall. "To the wise men of this sphere/Is there one
who can truly hear?/Through the madness to the haunted call/Then you'll
be standing when the giants fall." Here is a call to arms -- of common
sense and intelligent thought.
The drag of a cigarette, the gulp of dark bourbon, the searing hand cramp
at four in the morning. All are products of life-consuming additions.
Heyman's is songwriting, and like the playwright who uses life experience
and the people he knows and loves as his characters, Heyman sees stanzas
and notes in the objects and personalities around him. The Gallery was
a .dark phantom who visited during the night, the result of swallowing
music and regurgitating a melody which drove a tired body out of bed and
overcame darkened obstacles to arrive at the black and white oasis known
as a keyboard.
We're all kind of like the Masquerader Man, skulking through the days
in search of a goal. For love? For acceptance? The search seems fruitless
and the Masquerade continues. (We all want to damn the New York Post;
Heyman does it.) Ending this set is Special Love which Heyman calls his
"upbeat folk ballad of lament." With a distinctly Mediterranean
flavor, the tune encircles and envelopes the senses. It is sad, or happy,
but the special love is never fleeting.
Actual Size is a gift. A gift box of time, tired in a red ribbon of music,
and wrapped in a cellophane symphony of celebration.
The card reads Love, Rich and Nancy.
-- John Moore
TRACKS:
1. I'm That Kind Of Man
Backing vocals: Nancy Leigh
2. Hoosier
Organ: Nancy Leigh
Electric Guitar: Nick DiFabbio
3. When Giants Fall
4. The Gallery
Backing Vocals: Nancy Leigh
5. Masquerader Man
Backing Vocals: Nancy Leigh
Bass: Steve Cohen
6. Special Love
CREDITS:
Produced by R.X. Heyman, Nancy Leigh, and Nick DiFabbio
Recorded September, 1985 at DiFab Studios and New Breed Studios, N.Y.C.
R.X. Heyman - acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, bass, drums,
and vocals (except where noted)
Engineer - Nick DiFabbio
Engineers at New Breed - Stewart Lerman and David Kumin
Mastered at the Master Cutting Room by Joe Brescio
Photography - Nancy Leigh
Wire Sculptures - Bob Springer
All Songs by Richard X. Heyman, ©1985
Jacket made in Canada
Thanks Mike L., Mike C., Sue and Andy
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