Written by James Chriss.  Recorded in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1987.  Chriss on vocals, guitar, and bass.  Russell Steele on guitar, keyboards, drum programming, and recording engineer.

Roberta Vasquez

This is a snippet, not yet completed.  I really like the minor half-step progression transitioning back to the opening chord sequence.  I am working on completing this song.  Written by me somewhere around 1990.  My guitar and vocals.  Note: These chords are borrowed from the Doors' "Tell All the People," but of course with a different melody.

Waiting For The Rain

Recorded in mid-80s, written by me.  My guitar and vocals.  Just screwing around at the end with simply single note lead work.  Could probably be turned into something more substantial with some effort.

Esmeralda

This song is one of my favorites.  It has a rollicking lead intro that I cannot play since I am doing the chords.  This lead riff returns in the middle of the song as well.  Done around mid-80s, written by me.  My vocals and guitar.

All The Time

This is a better mix than the one previously posted.

My Own Blue Heaven

There Was Something

Wanted

Upside Down

The Wicked Ways

New mix.

Key is A.  Chords are A D E E7 A7 B B7.

I'm Leaving It Up To You (Dale and Grace)

This is a cover of a song originally recorded by the Five Man Electrical Band in 1971.  This is another great song written by Les Emmerson, one of Canada's great songwriters.  I screwed up in one part, but figured I'd post it anyway.

Me and Harley Davidson (Five Man Electrical Band)

Some extra parts of the song added from the first take posted earlier.

There's Nothing Left

I discovered, because of how low Godley is singing this, I needed to record it early in the morning for any chance of hitting some of these notes.  This is the latest attempt to do justice to this wonderful song.  There was a slight screw up in one part, but I figured I'd post it anyway.  Godley is a baritone and I am a tenor.  Tough for me to get down to Godley's lower register.

This is in G, with a key change to A.  The chords are as follows:

G C D G7 D7 Bm Em Am E A C#m F#m

I had another screw-up beside the pause.  Going into the instrumental bit, I accidentally played E instead of Em.  You can hear it.  One of these days a complete version free of errors may be recorded.

Sale of the Century (Godley and Creme)

This is a fragment, but could be developed into a full song.  Written and recorded by me.  There are unfortunately a few glitches in the transfer from cassette to MP3.

It Is All Wrong

This song had been forgotten for 25 some odd years.  I only recently purchased some software to convert old cassettes to MP3 files.  It had been long forgotten and never performed until its rediscovery recently.  I am going to have to relearn it.  Let me know what you think.  Note: There are some glitches in the transfer from cassette to MP3.

Oh Sophia

This an odd tune no doubt.  I don't know how to play it anymore.  It was quite awhile ago.

Apple of My Eye

This is a feel-good rockabilly tune.  Unfinished but you can sense what is going on here.  A few glitches on the conversion from cassette.

My Hometown

Recorded in Virginia Beach in 1987.  Written by James J. Chriss.

The Perfect Girl

Recorded in Virginia Beach in 1987.  Written by James J. Chriss and Russell Steele.

Babes in Thailand

This has always been one of my personal favorites.  Hope you like it.  The key is Bflat with a key change near the end of the song to G.  The chords are Bflat Eflat F Dm D A G G7 B C Bm.

Getaway

Been screwing around with this one for awhile.  Some errors, but posted anyway.

The Mystery Mile

This has real potential.  Will re-record a complete version later with lyrics.

I Wanna Be That Guy

First stab at this great song.  A bit rough for sure.  The key is D, and chords are G C Cm D.  I threw in an extra D7 and A7 at the end of the song.  I also freely admit that my vocal rendition completely lacks the power and emotion of Christie, but in the world of music and singing you bow to the masters and when you attempt a cover you know full well you will probably not live up to the original.  To really do this song justice would require going into the studio and really amping up the vocal performance with a studio-quality mike and professional production.  The vocals might still not reach the greatness of Christie, but they would be much improved.

I Did What I Did for Maria (Tony Christie)

This is a song that really requires multiple layers of electronic keyboards.  This is a very rough take with just vocals and acoustic guitar.  The lyric "water-tangled gardens that are hidden in your hair" is from the Guess Who song "When You Touch Me."

Swimming

This song was inspired by "When You Wish Upon a Star."  Hope to post a better version later.  Here are the chords.  It is too much work to show you where they show up in the song.  I list the chords by appearance.  Intro is in Cmaj7.  Regular song is in C.  And a later key change to F.  Most of the song is in 6/8 time, but there are parts that are in 4/4.

Cmaj7 Bflatmaj7 Bm Em C G7 Am G C6 Em7 Am7 D6 E E7 A9 D Amaj7 C#m7 Bm7 A F Dm C7 F6 Gm F7

In My Dreams

This song was inspired by Procol Harum's "Grand Hotel."  The key is Eflat.  I think it's in 2/4 time. The chords are as follows:

Intro and outro: Eflatmaj7 C#maj7 Aflatm Fm Aflatm Cm Aflat Bflat7 Eflat

Body of song: Eflat Bflat7 Eflat Bflat Aflat7 Eflat Aflat Bflat7 Eflat

Chords for solo: Eflat Bflat Eflat C#maj7 Eflatmaj7 Eflat Gm Aflat Fm Gm Eflat Aflat Bflat7 Eflat (After the solo throw in this bit before going back to the body of the song: Eflat Bflat7 Eflat Eflatmaj7 Eflat.)

In the Oven

Played a bit too fast here.  The final version would need to have a slower bpm. Ironically, I would need to "slow on down."

Slow on Down

First stab at recording with Presonus.   This is a humbling learning experience.  Lots of stuff is wrong, but oh well, posted it anyway.  There will be improvement along the way.  No vocals yet.

James J. Chriss

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