WFMT '76  -  the song notes page


 on this page, i give brief biographical and contextual information about each song,  how it came to be written, etc.   for a more detailed biographical memoir  by kendell kardt, click the link: ' the poems of bernard rudolph ' on the home page.   be sure read the disclaimer before proceeding.  



click on the title of any song to go to the 'lyrics' page.
1)   apple pickin' time -    written in '72 for my good friend siri moeller margerin,  who found me sing in the open air at SF's Cannery, flipped a quarter into my guitar case, stopped to chat and ended up staying with me at my home in Mill Valley for a year, working on her marvelous paintings.



2)   buddy bolden -                         for notes on this song, click here



3)   you can count on me -  written '72 for Bonnie Swift, ( yes that's her real name )  a loyal friend and very hospitable lady.   i thought to myself, 'why should Carol King get all the airplay? i can write one of those "friendship songs".   oh, well.  as usual no one paid any attention



4)   bicycle wheel  -  also known as 'bicycle wheel' .  one of the few instances where i actually bowed to public pressure.    ( enough to accept the alt. title )   see notes here and here



5)   lady of a thousand songs  -          for notes on this song, click here



6)  liza bookman  -                               for notes on this song, click here



7)   city of lost angels  -  if you've read the notes for gypsy, bicycle wheel, and lady,  you've met V. Perry.  all bad things must come to and end.  in '74 i packed my shattered dreams into the back seat of my '51 Lincoln Coupe and took rte 5 south to LA to start a 'new life'.  this is a song of transition.  my new life didn't turn out any better than the old one, but that's a different song.                      



8)   sgt. barkley and little tim  -  click here and here for notes on 'street racer' and 'tutu and the cannibals'.   Little Tim is Pat Murray's brother, the young criminal.  he's my hero for 1975.  a teenage Robin Hood.



9)   starting out  -   another song for my 'new life' in LA, '74.  i took it around to my pal Rick Riccobono at BMI.  he had some comments and sent me to a few other 'experts'.   they couldn't find the bridge, couldn't find the chorus, couldn't find the 'hook'.  i left them to grope in their respective darknesses and took my song home.



10)   stealin' love  -                              for notes on this song, click here