(original recording: March 2004; digital release: Jan 2009)

[1] Whiskey, My Wife music by Marchese; lyrics by Robertson. Guitar, drums, and backing vocals by Marchese; bass, banjo, and vocals by Robertson. Recorded March 2004 at Rowen University; engineered by Marchese; produced by Marchese + Robertson.

[2] Autumn Leaves music by Robertson; lyrics by Robertson, Marchese, Rosko, and Lars Marchese. Recorded March 2004 at Rowen University; engineered by Marchese; produced by Marchese + Robertson. Piano, organ, bass, and vocals by Robertson; guitars, banjo, and backing vocals by Marchese.

[3] Happy Ending written by Joe Jackson. Recorded by Marchese.

[4] Jack and Ginger written by Marchese. Recorded by Marchese.

[5] Autumn Leaves - demo recorded by Robertson live to minicassette. Jim on live piano and vocals. Programmed Boss DR-660 providing live drum track.

Digital Release Notes:

There were a few years in the early 2000's when Jim would make an annual Friday pilgrammage down to visit Anthony at Rowan University. They'd spend the day recording at the music studio Ant set up in the music building. They'd retire to a bar at night to watch NCAA basketball.

Whiskey, My Wife was the most complete product of these sessions -- written and recorded in one afternoon from scratch. Ant laying down guitar tracks in the control room, while Jim scribbling lyrics at the piano bench.

Autumn Leaves was an already-written song, with lyrics collaboratively written a few years prior via an email "torch relay" among Jim, Ant, Lars, and Tom. (Write a line and forward the email to the next guy in the queue.) Jim pulled the resulting raw lyrics into shape and (in a rare way of writing for him) then wrote music to accompany the words. After laying down the basic tracks at Rowan, Anthony overdubbed some additional instruments and vocals weeks later.

The bonus tracks include two tracks Ant recorded himself either at the Rowan studio or his North 21st St. Phila apartment -- Happy Ending, a Joe Jackson song from Body and Soul, and an unfinished (?) Anthony composition, Jack and Ginger.

The last bonus track is a demo version of Autumn Leaves Jim recorded on his home piano soon after he wrote the song. You can hear that he has a cold. Obviously, this demo was never meant for release; it was just to capture the song so as not to be forgetten.

In Jan 2009, Jim pulled together all the versions of these songs and photos he could find and launched this Marchese + Robertson site to share these files and make it easy for friends to add these to their MP3 libraries and players.

Sharp-eyed readers will note this was in Jim's short-hair years between 2001 and 2005.

Photos + website: Jim Robertson