
I was struck by an article in the Guardian 10 years ago about a woman who used to hang out and work with the Rolling Stones in the 60s and the article was about adapting to old age while having nostalgia for such a potent time in her life. For this recording I had to change one word - 70 to 80. Musically it needed to be rhythmic but melancholic: something you got from major and minor seventh songs in the mid 70s as disco kicked in



YESTERDAY’S PEOPLE

Yesterday’s people used to party, party, party
Yesterday’s people were so cool so cool so cool

There was a girl her skin so fresh and fine
There was a guy as smooth as a dark red wine
They were out there in a happening era
Face to face so close and nearer
Photogenic and oh so bold
But that generation has all grown old

In 69 it was crazy zany time
In London town all that music going down
Young people travelling - free love happening
Beautiful people philosophizing
Mary Jane twilight in the Mediterranean
That generation they’ve all grown old

If you’re talking to an 80 year old guy
Remember he - was Mr cool way back in time
Try to imagine the face much younger
The yearning soul hormonal hunger
Suite Judy blue eyes young people dancing
That generation they’ve all grown old


Yesterdays People

Cover Art: Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm (right), portrayed by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann (1855) PD-US
Music and Lyrics Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino

Hansel and Gretel were abandoned by their parents in the forest all alone.
They stumbled across a delicious looking candy-coated home.  A cannibalistic witch captured them and put them in a cage. Those were the kind of stories they used to tell children at a young age.

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty and things were not going fine 
We had to sanitize the stories because our modern stomachs are weak
And you’ll get in trouble if you read a book to kids, and it makes them shriek

Three little pigs were in a brick house trying really hard to survive 
The big bad wolf came down the chimney, fell in a pot of water and was boiled alive.
Cinderella’s stepsisters wanted to marry the prince, but they couldn’t fit into her shoes so they chopped off their heels and toes because they had so much to lose 

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty, and things were not going fine 
Little Red Riding Hood in the bedroom with a wolf dressed in human clothes.
Wondering why her grandmother had sharp teeth and a snout instead of a nose. Jack climbed the beanstalk, there was a giant who wanted to grind up his bones and make some bread. He stole the magic harp and the hen that laid golden eggs and the giant ended up dead

There’s days when you want to take a sheet of tin foil and stick it in your baseball cap
To keep all those negative thoughts from getting in your head and making you a miserable chap
Did it all start when you were a child, and your mother read you that bed time story that perhaps in retrospect may have been a bit too dark and gory

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty and things were not going fine 
Now we environmental devastation, nuclear weapons and milk that might have bird flu
Just turn on the news you don’t need a fairy tale to put the fear of God in you
But if you take away all the parts that are dark, sick twisted and gory. 
Do you have anything left that actually resembles a good story.
***
Vocals and backing vocals -  Joe Stroffolino 
Guitars - Joe Stroffolino ( 2 Strumming tracks: Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire and I picking track:Taylor114ce)
Bass, Saxophone, Horns: PG Music Real tracks
Piano andi Strings: PG Music and Native Instruments
Drums: EZ drummer 3
Recorded, mixed and mastered with Logic Pro 11

The Brothers Grim

The train to nowhere has no end
As far as you can see around the bend
There always is another curve
Another chapter to the story
So we can continue to pretend
Not to see how our story ends

We try so hard to never see
The end of tracks go on endlessly
We hear them rumble beneath our feet
We feel the sway in perfect time
An effect for every cause we find
Creates our end in harmony

A life of storms with wind and rain
Teaches us to weather pain
There is no sense to lie and blame
Hardships on bad timing
The train that I am riding
Is my story just the same

The Train To Nowhere

Sailing Away

"Necessity" is a soul-stirring collaboration featuring the smooth and gritty poetry of Maeki Maii and the intricate guitar work of Dave Featherstone. This genre-blending track explores the tension between want and need, weaving together elements of indie-folk, ambient pop, and subtle blues textures. With raw lyricism, moody instrumentation, and a chorus that lingers long after it fades, "Necessity" is both intimate and expansive — the kind of song that quietly demands your full attention.

Necessity

J'ai le plaisir de vous présenter la version Trio enregistrée en live lors de la session du 08 mai 2025 à La Barraque Mirepoix (09) du morceau : 
"Jane " extrait du set de Mathieu Torres Trio :
https://youtu.be/tiZxT7iPa5c

Mathieu Torres Trio est un projet intimiste jazz - rock - blues - funk hip hop - qui jongle entre old school et modernité, porté par un son rond, vivant, chaud, organique dont l'objectif est d'arpenter des terrains cosys, calmes et poétiques.

Contrebasse et arrangements :  Jean-Baptiste Azanza
Batterie et arrangements : Guy Ould Yahoui
Guitare et composition : Mathieu Torres

Merci Stéphanie Artaud pour l'étalonnage

Plus de musique ici : 
https://soundcloud.com/mathieutorresworks/sets/set-list-mt

Plateforme streaming pour le morceau Jane :
https://music.imusician.pro/a/rRi7Rkc-
Et là : 
https://matzizrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jane

et ici les anciennes vidéos 
En trio :
https://youtu.be/J55nNfEKvFM
https://youtu.be/y6GRZZ0K-xs
(et en solo) :  
https://youtu.be/XB7ExqJ2uG8
https://youtu.be/xXj-fzG8M-s
https://youtu.be/eI8yArJpvxc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP69ovvmteU

Mathieu TORRES Trio - Matziz records

https://matzizrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/mathieutorresworks
https://www.instagram.com/torresp2b/
https://mastodon.social/@Matziz
https://www.facebook.com/Matzizrecords
https://x.com/EtcAux
https://www.youtube.com/@torresmathieu6027

Jane - Trio Live - Video in description

"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl

“He does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods; the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted.” - C.S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature

The Enchanted Hour

lyrics

Don't think I like it
But I breathe it
Don't think I like it
But I have to be it

I retreat, I retreat
I retreat, I retreat

But I breathe it
I have to be it
I retreat, I retreat

Sometimes I feel ok
But not today
Sometimes I feel ok
But I'm made of clay

I retreat, I retreat
I retreat, I retreat
I retreat, I retreat
I retreat, I retreat
I retreat, I retreat

no more

retreat

'In An Altruistic Manner' An Alternative Acid Jazz track.

Dont Smudge The Ink

In An Altruistic Manner

This is a fun little experimental jam that I got started and then looped in STONERJAZZ @user-911083679. It had been a little while since I collaborated with him-- it's always a blast and stretches my creativity in new directions!

Bassfingers

Tom said "Fancy doing Superstition?"
We all said "YES!" 
Tom put an initial music bed together which was amazing, of course! Hedd sang the heck out of it and Rick laid some serious drummage on it. I added my stuff and here we have it... enjoy strutting your funky stuff! "Remember! Free drinks tonight!"

THRP were Tom, Hedd, Rick & Phil (RIP Hedd 2021)

Vocals: Hedd (RIP) @Randy-Hedrick
BVox: Tom @Tom-Roxx
Guitars & Synths: Tom & Phil @Tom-Roxx @Phil-McWalter
Drums & Percussion: Rick @Rick-4-1
Bass: Tom 
Brass: Phil 
Final Mix and Mastering: Phil

(If you are interested in guitars: I took the first solo/harmony section 2:05-3:04, Tom the second from 4:00 and out. Tom played all the funky rhythm stuff too :-). Please share some love on Tom's page too: https://soundcloud.com/tom-roxx/superstition-with-phil-rickhedd-and-tom-new

SUPERSTITION - THRP

!!!HOT NEWS!!! New Valuable Friends vinyl album and CD available! ALSO 2nd Deluxe Vinyl & CD+Booklet "Songs That Mean Something" See links below. 

Composer/Guitarist/Producer

Songs: We find them unpainted in our hands, throw them up into the air of our imagination, turning them in the colours we see after we close our eyes until they feel just right, and sometimes we catch them perfectly, without blemishing them...

My music is on most platforms for your ease.

Wow!!  417K+ plays and 4,000+ valued followers and friends on SC alone, that provide lots of wonderfully helpful comments that fuel the next track! Really big thanks to the SC community for listening and providing such brilliant feedback and support. It means so much to myself and my collaborators - huge thanks.

I work in different styles, as the inspiration, dreams or bubonic plagiarism comes! I use Logic Pro X on Mac.
 
I write, produce and play all my own stuff (unless otherwise stated), play vintage Tokai Strats mainly, PRS Torero, Steinberger, Gretsch G2627T, Classical, Fender Dreadnought, Yamaha and Rickenbacker basses, keyboards and sax. I use Native Instrument's Komplete, Omnisphere 2 and my own organic samples.

I mix on Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's and HD 650's (closed and open headphones) when not making a bigger noise through my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. I use Focusrite Clarett 2Pre ThunderBolt and Apogee audio interfaces, Neumann & iSK condenser & AKG dynamic mics. 

Hardware: Feb 1978 Marshall JMP 50W Combo, BOO & BOSS stomps

I love collaborating with other musicians and will compose with, play guitar for, produce, arrange, master or even just hum along with other SC musicians. Please ask!

P.S. I am a long standing member of the Performing Rights Society and PPL through my old TV and theatre work as well as my record and publishing deals.

SUPERSTITION - THRP

Phil McWalter