Brett Walker - Last Parade

[Stefan]

 

From melodicrock.com:

For the last 12 months I have been working on a legacy box set for the late, great BRETT WALKER.

Titled ‘Last Parade’ (after one of the unreleased tracks), the special limited-edition package is set to pay tribute to one of the great songwriters of this genre and is scheduled for release in November via MelodicRock Records.

Brett tragically and suddenly passed away in July 2013, with a special tribute paid to him by his band and wife at MRF3.

I kept in touch, recalling various conversations I had with Brett about releasing his Person To Person songs and some of his unreleased demos, which collectors had been trading for some years.

Brett’s wife Sheron and I agreed to look at what was available and see what could be done. Brett’s entire DAT collection was sent to me to digitize, which lead to an extraordinary discovery.

Over no less than 47 DATs, it became evident that Brett was sitting on a treasure trove of unreleased material. I was blown away at the quality and the brilliance of these songs, with a cross-reference of styles present from throughout Brett’s career.

Some of the older unreleased material will rival the classic ‘Nevertheless’ album for melodic rock brilliance. Fans of all eras will in fact, be blown away I’m sure.

‘Last Parade’ is the most complex project I’ve ever put together, mainly because of the vast number of songs. At last count there was 174 song files in the “Work In Progress” folder. There were at least 2 versions of almost every track on the DATs and sometimes 5 or even 6! Some are from all different mixes, others various audio quality and some completely different versions of known songs. JK Northrup has been busy mastering and remastering for the past several months!

Either way...hours and hours of listening time and so many amazing songs.

This post is also an open invitation for those that personally knew Brett or were just big fans of Brett to submit some text for the accompanying booklet.

If you’d like to pay tribute to Brett or write some good memories, please do so by August 15 via email (ajm@melodicrock.com)

Please share this info if you know someone that would be interested.

Long may Brett’s music live on.

 

 

 

 

[Crazysam]

Both tracks sound pretty good.  It seems like quite the undertaking to go through everything.  Nevertheless was a really good album, especially in the context of when it was released.  I look forward to having the chance to hear more of his unreleased work, especially from those early years.

[Stefan]

 

[gener8tr]

I liked Walker's early stuff... Kind of a Danny Wilde meets Brett Michaels solo thing going on (for me). 

I wish "Nevertheless" had more electric guitar, gang-backing vocals and some sugary-sweet production (ala Blue Tears).  It could have been a really special album.

[Stefan]

Track list revealed. From melodicrock.com:

BRETT WALKER ‘Last Parade’ is an historic release - a box set of the late, great singer/songwriter’s career – with a difference.

Almost the entire box set is unreleased, never before heard material.

The tracks you do recognise are mostly in a different form. Ballad versions or rockers; instrumental pieces; alt-mixes; heavier guitar versions…you name it!

For the rest of the unreleased tracks, this set is a veritable treasure trove of classic BRETT WALKER, representing his various career paths – AOR, melodic rock, midwestern, acoustic – anthems, ballads and those classic singalong songs only Brett Walker can do.

For the first time, MRR is excited to announce the details of BRETT WALKER ‘Last Parade’ Box Set.

‘Last Parade’ will be a 6-disc box set (exact design TBC). The set will be priced at $99(includes shipping, airmail worldwide)

‘Last Parade’ is strictly limited to 500 units worldwide and will not be re-pressed.

Pre-orders will be available THIS WEEK.

Those that do pre-order will receive a download of another full disc worth of audio that couldn’t fit or wasn’t quite suitable due to audio quality.

 

BRETT WALKER – “Last Parade” BOX SET TRACK LISTING

 

The Early Demos (Quality Varies Throughout)

 

01. Crossroads Motel (91-93 Demo)

02. Don’t Say Goodnight (Early Demo)

03. Better Than Goodbye (Early Demo)

04. Big Electric City (91-93 Demo)

05. Bad Time For Goodbye (Early Demo)

06. Hard To Find An Easy Way (91-93 Demo)

07. I’ll Be Seeing You Around (Early Demo)

08. Take Me Home (Early Demo)

09. No Sense In Falling (91-93 Demo)

10. More Than A Memory (91-93 Demo)

11. I’ll Never Be The Same (91-93 Demo)

12. One Foot In Heaven (Early Demo)

13. Never Gave Roses (Early Demo)

14. She Don’t Live Here Anymore (91-93 Demo)

15. Waiting For Love (Original Demo)

16. After The Tears Have Gone (Early Demo)

 

Album Cuts – The Alt Mixes/Alt Versions

 

01. Hard To Find An Easy Way (Early Solo Version)

02. It’s A Good Thing (Rock Mix)

03. Bad Time For Goodbye (Alt Mix)

04. American Dreamer (Rock Version)

05. Rain Dance (Rock Mix)

06. Everything I Want To Do (Piano Ballad Version)

07. Bring Back The Night (Alt Mix)

08. Long Way Down (Rock Mix)

09. Can’t Stay Too Long (Alt Mix)

10. Drown In Your Ocean (Edited Version)

11. Give A Little (Alt Mix)

12. Give Me Back Tomorrow (Solo Acoustic Version)

13. Rain Dance (Acoustic AOR Version)

14. Someday I’m Going To Be Famous (Original Demo)

15. Take Me Home (Raw Demo)

16. Better Than Goodbye (Rock Version)

17. Quicksand (Alt Mix)

 

Person To Person – The Complete Original Recordings

 

01. Undercover Lover (Brian Jones/Brett Walker Vocals)

02. Never Be The Same (Brian Jones/Brett Walker Vocals)

03. Lecia

04. Careless Nights

05. Hard To Find An Easy Way

06. No Shortcut To Paradise

07. Far Cry From Love

08. Waiting For Love

09. I’ll Never Be The Same

10. No Sense In Falling (Extended)

11. One Night Away

12. No Fire Without You (Keyboard Mix)

13. Outta Site

14. Eye For Love

15. More Than A Memory

16. Undercover Lover (Live)

17. Waiting For Your Love (Live)

18. Burning In The 3rd Degree (Live)

 

The Unreleased Archives – Vol. 1 – The AOR Anthems

 

01. Still A Dream Away (Demo Version)

02. Branded

03. Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

04. Don’t Turn Out The Lights (Brett Vocals; Guitar Mix)

05. After The Tears Have Gone

06. I’ll Be Seeing You Around

07. A Far Cry From Love (Faster Version)

08. Higher Ground

09. Who’s Gonna Be In Tears

10. So Close And Yet So Far Away

11. Heaven Stops The Rain

12. In This Crazy World

13. Still A World Away

14. One Foot In Heaven

15. On The Train Again

16. Countless

17. Last Parade

 

The Unreleased Archives – Vol. 2 – More Anthems & Guest Spots

 

01. Always A Place

02. A Little Too Late

03. Fools Paradise

04. Heaven Only Knows

05. Wrong Side Of Love

06. Not About To Give In

07. All I Need Tonight (Guitar Mix)

08. Take Me To The River (Heavy Version)

09. No Reasons Of The Heart

10. Silver And Gold

11. Bring You To Life

12. Hard To Leave (Demo; Carl Dixon Vocal)

13. Don’t Turn Out The Lights (Demo; Carl Dixon Vocal)

14. She’s A Touch Like You (Carl Dixon Vocal)

15. A Taste Of Love (Demo; Carl Dixon Vocal)

16. More Than A Memory (Carl Dixon Vocal)

17. One Good Reason (Carl Dixon Vocal)

18. Don’t Turn Out The Lights (Michelle Rohl Vocal)

 

The Unreleased Archives – Vol. 3 – The Midwestern Moods

 

01. Steady Love On Shaky Ground

02. I Know You’re Still Around

03. The World

04. Hit The Dream

05. Believe Me

06. Never Too Late

07. Good Enough (from Rock For Japan Comp)

08. Hard To Break

09. Catchin’ On (from SJV Sessions)

10. Alright By Me (from SJV Sessions)

11. Rights To Yesterday (from SJV Sessions)

12. Living On The Moon

13. Wherever

14. Photographic Life

15. Shine

16. Stranger In Town

17. Feels Like Forever

 

Pre-Order Exclusives - Digital Bonus Tracks

At least one additional disc worth of  extra tracks – several instrumental versions of known songs; a few more unreleased demos and some alt mixes that were sonically not up to the standard needed (due to the deterioration of old source tapes)

[Stefan]

 

[gener8tr]

I ordered a copy of the complete set.  $99.00 shipped to the USA was just too good to pass-up.  I enjoy Brett's early stuff, and those remixes should be a fun listen. 

If you're not familiar with Walker, but you enjoy Blue Tears or Mitch Malloy, for example, you really need to check him out.

[melodicrock]

Thanks G - I'm listening to the masters right this second in fact...just tidying up some audio tweaks.

[Stefan]