GONE TO YESTERDAY

This CD was originally released on Vinyl (see history books for definition) as The Banana Brothers (Greg Murat and Jamie Phalen) and titled FACES. The CD has a couple of additions to the original album; The title tune and Lifeline (later removed). It is an eclectic collection of original songs with an overall happy island feel.
   Scott and I got together after another of numerous break ups of the Banana Brothers and we decided to make a Greg Murat album. With Dan Kenkella on drums and Scott on bass we laid the foundation for the majority of the album in a couple of days. We had an absolute blast for a couple of 12 hour sessions.
On the rest of the songs Jamie (congas and harmony) and I (vocals and guitar) played our very much free form style and Scott and Dan painstakingly added rhythm tracks after the fact.
   We brought in many great players including Doug Hamilton on Sax. Doug was a part of the Banana Bros before we disbanded once again. Doug has a way of playing that hooks you right into a tune. He added his signature to Love Me One More Time, Spinning and Faces. Dale Fuentes added his Flute salsa on Springtime and Just Don't Know and percussion & wood flute on Love Me One More Time. We brought in the now famous Jim McLaughlin on Baby Cannot Sleep but ended up using Tom Phalen's Harmonica instead. It certainly wasn't because of the performance. To top it off I misspelled Jim's name on the cover, I am so sorry.
   So much gets left off albums as I continue to see, like my son Josh's incredible solo on his brother Freedom's album. Dale played a beautiful solo on Spinning: not there. Doug blues'd out on Baby: not there. It is hard to imagine Dawn without Dale's flute solo's: not there. But so much is there.
   Scott took on the bass, keyboards, electric guitars and synthesizers and his solo guitar work is dazzling. God bless Dan Owens who made it on the album playing Fender Rhodes on Spinning after Scott and I went round and round about it. He has lost his ability to play due to a debilitating illness. He shines on that tune.
  Stan Vellis, owner of Venus Pizza (now called Stanello's) in Bellingham, was the Executive producer and made pressing the album possible. The band reformed before its release and the name was changed to Banana Brothers but it wasn't really the Banana Brothers. We had a whole different feel and flavor and I wish we had gone, as Doug suggested, right back in and made a real Banana Brothers album. Most people who have this CD on cassette or vinyl still play it because the music is timeless. It is a yesterday that lingers. GM