DDY Styx History - Tommy's original "Crystal Ball" Recording
Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 4:15 amThis was just posted on Dennis' Facebook page. I found it very interesting and he also attached the original music when Tommy was in the band Harvest.
Hey, Kids.
Here’s some Styx history -- Tommy’s original "Crystal Ball" recording.
Tommy auditioned for Styx at my house in the fall of 1975 without ever playing guitar. He sang the "Lady" harmony part and played us tapes of songs he’d written. I asked if he was playing the acoustic guitar and were these his songs to which he answered yes. That was all I needed to know. I didn’t even know what a great performer he was.
I immediately hired him on behalf of the band. He was however pretty far from that proggie thing we were doing. He was well versed in Funk, southern rock, R&B, pop and acoustic guitar music but not “art rock” which is what it was originally called. The same was true of JY’s brand of hard rock. Truthfully he could play anything.
His working with me and JY is what lead to "Crystal Ball" being more than an “America” or CSNY-type of tune. I suggested he sing it solo and drop the 3 part harmonies (as beautiful as they were) because the lyrics sounded so personal. Getting the focus on him was my goal because of my belief in his star potential after playing with him on stage. I also told him that we needed to sing the title as a hook which led to the classic Styx harmony triads on the chorus. Synth solo, rock guitar solo, power chords...done.
This is true of "Ballerina" and "Put Me On" as well, we then progged and rocked up his tunes. I added "Claire de Lune" which proceeded "Ballerina" as my lyric evolved into a song about the sacrifices made by performers (dancers here) in balancing love and work. Tommy’s C minor to D7 chord change in the verse is straight out of classical music. Great tune. Very underrated. Play it tonight. We played some shows on the Crystal Ball tour where an actual ballerina danced in dry ice fog while I played Debussy. Anyone see it?
"Foolin' Yourself" was an acoustic guitar-based song before JY and I added the keyboard intro which was not written in its original form. But Tommy leaned quickly and was responsible for the chord progression in the instrumental GI opening. This is what groups do, they bring out the best of their members.
I mention this because while listening to "Misanthrope" on YouTube while in the shower it rolled right into T talking about "MITW" being influenced by Kansas. It didn’t surprise me because while recording the song I told him how much he sounded like Steve Walsh, whom I admired. This immediately reminded of the time Kansas opened for us at a Chicago roller rink and I met the talented Kerry Livgren. This was in '74 I believe, before Tommy joined Styx.
I was shocked when Kerry told me he really liked 'Serpent' and 'Styx II' and listened to them prior to recording their first record. Full disclosure, that night in front of our hometown crowd they blew us off the stage. Yikes they were good. I hate that when that happens. After Tommy joined that never happened again.
Below is a rather weathered recording of "Crystal Ball" as I first heard it in my front room the day he auditioned. Hearing it made me convinced he was the right guy for Styx.
Cheers, Ballerina in the Ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgV__rqb5o
Hey, Kids.
Here’s some Styx history -- Tommy’s original "Crystal Ball" recording.
Tommy auditioned for Styx at my house in the fall of 1975 without ever playing guitar. He sang the "Lady" harmony part and played us tapes of songs he’d written. I asked if he was playing the acoustic guitar and were these his songs to which he answered yes. That was all I needed to know. I didn’t even know what a great performer he was.
I immediately hired him on behalf of the band. He was however pretty far from that proggie thing we were doing. He was well versed in Funk, southern rock, R&B, pop and acoustic guitar music but not “art rock” which is what it was originally called. The same was true of JY’s brand of hard rock. Truthfully he could play anything.
His working with me and JY is what lead to "Crystal Ball" being more than an “America” or CSNY-type of tune. I suggested he sing it solo and drop the 3 part harmonies (as beautiful as they were) because the lyrics sounded so personal. Getting the focus on him was my goal because of my belief in his star potential after playing with him on stage. I also told him that we needed to sing the title as a hook which led to the classic Styx harmony triads on the chorus. Synth solo, rock guitar solo, power chords...done.
This is true of "Ballerina" and "Put Me On" as well, we then progged and rocked up his tunes. I added "Claire de Lune" which proceeded "Ballerina" as my lyric evolved into a song about the sacrifices made by performers (dancers here) in balancing love and work. Tommy’s C minor to D7 chord change in the verse is straight out of classical music. Great tune. Very underrated. Play it tonight. We played some shows on the Crystal Ball tour where an actual ballerina danced in dry ice fog while I played Debussy. Anyone see it?
"Foolin' Yourself" was an acoustic guitar-based song before JY and I added the keyboard intro which was not written in its original form. But Tommy leaned quickly and was responsible for the chord progression in the instrumental GI opening. This is what groups do, they bring out the best of their members.
I mention this because while listening to "Misanthrope" on YouTube while in the shower it rolled right into T talking about "MITW" being influenced by Kansas. It didn’t surprise me because while recording the song I told him how much he sounded like Steve Walsh, whom I admired. This immediately reminded of the time Kansas opened for us at a Chicago roller rink and I met the talented Kerry Livgren. This was in '74 I believe, before Tommy joined Styx.
I was shocked when Kerry told me he really liked 'Serpent' and 'Styx II' and listened to them prior to recording their first record. Full disclosure, that night in front of our hometown crowd they blew us off the stage. Yikes they were good. I hate that when that happens. After Tommy joined that never happened again.
Below is a rather weathered recording of "Crystal Ball" as I first heard it in my front room the day he auditioned. Hearing it made me convinced he was the right guy for Styx.
Cheers, Ballerina in the Ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgV__rqb5o