Lonnie Fowler Works Of The Heart CD

'' WORKS OF THE HEART ''BY LONNIE FOWLERGOD, JAMES DEAN , AND ELVIS. PAUL SIMON, ROD MCKUEN, AND BOB LIND. MY DAD, AND THE STATLER BROTHERS. HEROES! MY HEROES. I BELIEVE IF YOU KNOW A MAN'S HEROES.... THEN, YOU PRETTY MUCH KNOW THE MAN. OR, IN MY CASE, THE MAN, AND HIS MUSIC.One of my first clear memories, is as a 5-year old boy, swinging in my new swingset my dad had built for me.... and hearing Elvis' '' HOUND DOG '' for the very first time on the radio.I grew up on Elvis. Every song, every movie. Even today, Elvis Aaron Presley remains one of the greatest influences on my life. From him I leaned how, and that I wanted to, SING! Sing with all my heart, from the soul, as if the song and I were ONE!Then, eight years later, came THE NIGHT ! Musically, THE most important night of my life! As usual, I lay in the darkness of my quiet room, as my parents slept, secretly listening to my Western Auto transistor radio ( the kind with the single earplug )... when from my favorite radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with D.J. Art Roberts, came the most beautiful piece of music I had ever heard: Mr. Bob Lind's '' ELUSIVE BUTTERFLY ( OF LOVE ) '' ! I said to myself, out loud, " That's what I want to do with the rest of my life..... write beautiful words like that '' ! And so, by the Grace of GOD, I became a teenage poet, inspired by not only Mr. Lind, but also especially by the Scottish minstrel, Donovan de Leitch ( SUNSHINE SUPERMAN ), the awe-inspiring compositions of Paul Simon ; the uniquely beautiful works of Rod McKuen... and even one lone young poetess/singer, Janis Ian... ( o.k., I admit it---- there was a teenage crush involved. BUT DON'T TELL JANIS !!!!! )The 6th song on this c.d., my original '' THE RHYMESMAN '' is respectfully dedicated to BOB LIND .... but it is also for every poet/songwriter/composer who ever woke at 4 in the morning, to grab a pen, a guitar, or a pianostool, to write the next musical masterpiece!!!!Then came the second-most important musical night of my life!!! When I was 20 years old, an old friend called to ask me if I was still writing poetry. Telling him that I NOW lived in the real world, with a young wife, children, a job, and bills.... I had little time to write. He scolded me, saying I should definitely write... then adding that '' you should put MUSIC to your lyrics. "" I reminded him I was " just a poet'', but again he said, that I should put music to my poetry. Well, GOD spoke through Billy that night.... because, I eventually tried, and Praise GOD.... I've been writing songs ever since ( with of course, those DRY periods mixed in ! )It was during my early songwriting that four special gentlemen entered the picture... the absolute BEST singing quartet that ever sang, as well as 3 of the greatest songwriters who ever took pen to hand.... THE STATLER BROTHERS !!! In fact, even today, I consider Mr. Don Reid of THE STATLERS, my Unintentional Music Mentor (I learned by listening. Then had the blessing of having The Statlers listen to some of my songs in the 70's---they even made arrangements with a local radio station so I could record there. I thank them so much for that oppurtunity, and for allowing me to visit them backstage in Macon, Ga. to Hand deliver some requested rewrites. I have been blessed to have even shared letters with Mr Don Reid as late as 2004.) He is a very gracious and kind man, I am proud to call one of my most influential musical heroes. ( O.K. HAROLD< you are too ! ) THE STATLER BROS: ALWAYS WERE< ALWAYS WILL BE> THE BEST!!!!If Bob Lind, Donovan, Paul Simon, Mr. McKuen, even my teenage crush Janis Ian,unknowingly taught me how important the BEAUTIFUL WORD was, then THE STATLERS taught me how to keep it Home- Grown, Down-Home, Pure as cotton, and from the heart . I hereby offer honor and gratitude to them all!!!Still, there are three names from my list of h