I'm a bit disapointed with the news of the "covers" album. We saw this on his jukebox tour. Did he just give up on writing or selecting new tunes or were the tunes that were presented to him just plain outright horrible ?
That leads to the question with the tour. How can he tour with just 4 new songs ? It will be the same thing again. I know some of you will tear into me but I am a musician and we regularly write our own songs but do play cover tunes. The past two shows have been less than sell outs cause we didn't learn anything new. Sorry but I expected more. I will still go to his concerts but feel there could have been much more.
No one is going to tear into you Rick! Lots of people are a little disappointed about the majority of songs being covers, but all the facts indicate that it wasn't the original intention that the album be that cover heavy.
In late 2004, when Clay was on Larry King Live, he said this about his hopes for the next CD:
I think at the root of all music, whether it's the music that gets air play now, is that it's organic -- it's music, it's people singing. And I think that 50 years ago, people were all about organic music. Sinatra - who I couldn't begin to compare myself to, but Sinatra and even Elvis pushed the edge to a little bit of rock 'n' roll. I think that at the root of it is all -- you know, basic music with a melody, and wonderful accompaniment and production. There's a tide right now that's pushing towards something edgier. But I think -- I like to hope it's a tide, and that eventually it will roll back in, and you'll still be left with the music, and hopefully that's what I'll be able to do.
To me, this statement indicated his desire to find music that is different than what's on the radio now.
Then, in May of 2005, we learned that Jaymes Foster, Clay's executive producer, had gathered a conclave of songwriters in Nashville in the hopes of finding Clay some new music.
On May 25 the ASCAP Connection featured Clay Aiken's executive producer Jaymes Foster Levy at the PRO’s Nashville offices. Levy, along with Nashville consultant Barry Landis and ASCAP's Dan Keen, hosted 60 writers and publishers from the Country and Christian communities for an inside look at the song needs for Aiken's next project. Among the writers in attendance were Rivers Rutherford, Mike Reid, Allen Shamblin, Kim Carnes, Dan Muckala, Shaun Shankel and Third Day's Mark Lee...
So, at this point they were looking for new music. During the JBT last summer and fall, they sang four new songs, one of which was A Thousand Days which did land on the new album. About a year ago, in August of 2005, we first learned that the album had been postponed until this year. This was mentioned in an interview with the NY Post:
So now he's waiting to find 12 or 13 songs can relate to, pushing back the release date till early 2006. He's also taken the unusual step of touring without a new album to keep his band and devoted fan base happy.
Still looking for new songs. Then, as late as December of last year, this was published in an article about the JNT:
I know for certain there will be one next year. My executive producer is Jaymes Foster-Levy, who was a judge on the Popstar show, the precursor to American Idol. She was the mean one [laughs], but she's been great.
We've been taking our time, trying to pick the best songs. The new record won't be too far off from the first one, but on the other hand I'm not going to try to be something I'm not.
Also in December, in an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer, Clay said:
When the executive producer of his next album, Jaymes Foster-Levy, asked him if he had any ideas for song titles for his new album, he gave her the phrase "Where I Belong." The writers can take that in any direction they please, he says.
"I think that would be a great title track for this next album because it will come out about the time I'm getting back to Raleigh, which is where I want to be," he says. "People in my life are falling into the place they need to be, and I don't know if my career is necessarily, but at least how I control my life is finally getting to the place where I'm comfortable with it."
"Where I Belong" fits.
I think we now know that the title of the album is
not "Where I Belong!" So maybe this album is not what Clay originally wanted, but he was able to get four new songs on it, as well as one songwriting credit, something he never publicly aspired to, and perhaps all those new songs he recorded last summer will end up on another album down the road. He said he had recorded four or five albums worth of songs.
There was another interview in which Clay mentioned a song called "Compromise." I have a feeling there may be some real meaning behind that one.
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