I'm Your Man

June 22/06 marks the first anniversary of this humble online journal blogspot otherwise known as FRANKtalk. It's been a real slice so far and hopefully we'll continue to be able to inform and entertain as we continue on our journey of musical and philosophical illuminations.

I wish to thank all of you who have taken time to read and review FRANKtalk on a regular basis this past year and thanks also to those very intelligent and highly creative bloggers who have honored me with supportive links to FRANKtalk at their own wonderful blog sites including Right Wing Bob, Small Dead Animals, Pro Ecclesia, The Great Pumpkin, Faithmouse, Either Orr, Let Freedom Reign and more who were early to recognize the unique spirit of my efforts.

Thanks as well to all of you who have bought and supported my music via CD & download purchases at our InDepth Links and via my other singer/songwriter website www.franktrainor.com The year ahead will encompass many surprising changes and much news in regards to my ongoing business and creative enterprises so you'll want to stay tuned for what's been developing here at FRANKtalk.

We're going to have some fun this coming year. I've been writing and producing some more new music for you too as there are a handful of exciting new songs already getting a lot of serious attention recently.

There will also be a few unexpected moves and some surprising news announcements made this coming year which will hopefully serve to inspire further recognition and acceptance of our creative purposes.

As has been the case since day one, I will continue to post on topics of passionate interest and concern in those areas of my experience and involvement that I think you’d appreciate & enjoy reading about.

I’m an artist. What I cover may not be widely appreciated by the masses. That’s ok... you like the novelty of my unique twist.

And that's what counts.

In the meantime, it's Fathers Day and everybody's wounded...

First We Take Manhattan

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

You loved me as a loser, now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister
And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin
I don't like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby ...

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin


First We Take Manhattan by Leonard Cohen
Copyright 1988 Stranger Music, Inc.
from the album "I'm Your Man"

Hinterland: Who's Who

The Fox
The fox has been called bold, cunning and deceitful. In fact, the fox is shy, secretive, and nervous by disposition, but he appears to be highly intelligent. The fox has excellent eyesight, a keen sense of smell and acute hearing which helps him greatly when hunting.

The slight movement of an ear may be all he needs to locate a hidden rodent. Sometimes he waits patiently for the sound of a rodent moving along its path in grass or snow and then pounces.

The fox’s den is often an abandoned woodchuck burrow, but it may be a hollow log, a patch of dense bush, or a customized excavation under a barn or other structure. Stream banks, hedge rows and forest edges are favored locations. Dens are kept insulated and often will have more than one entrance to permit fast escape from danger.

Fast Fox [a poem by Frank Trainor]

How do you do...Fast Fox is my name
My incursions are swift and direct
I'm efficient and stealthy with instincts so true
Even jungle cats give me respect

Fast Fox is the name...consider my game
These woods are my natural home
My den's in the holler up beyond Poison Creek
Where the rattlesnakes tend to their young

I'm a scavenger...I do what I have to do
When the scent of a rodent drifts up from the scum
My hunger gnaws deep for the blood from its meat
Til I've captured and eaten me some

With surprise my advantage… my jaw as a snare
My tail "white" waves in the sun
I've never seen famine that didn't bring feast
On the heels of a "do or die" run

I snag my prey quickly...then head for my den
To avoid running into a gun
The grandstand play might be your pleasure and sport
Eating "Kill" is my way to have fun

Fast Fox is my name...I'm wily and smart
My head don't adorn many trophies or plaques
You won't see my coat on no fireplace floor
I'm a master at shuffling my tracks

Badgers and wolverines study my ways
I give every dog a good chase
I never grow tired of my circular path
That competitors think is a race

Fast Fox is my moniker...or just call me chump
But you'll find me wherever you hide
At the end of a hollow log or up on a stump
It really don't matter that much to my pride

So how do you do...I've been waiting for you
I can tell you're a "hunter" by trade
Sure, I'm easy prey...go ahead...fire away
I'm already digesting you here in the shade

Fast Fox is my handle...I must thank you again
For the spirit and heart of your game
You'll be well remembered for stalking my lair
But survival is my claim to fame

FAST FOX Copyright 2006 FrankTrainor

Speaking of Foxes: Our regular Talking Points and Spotlight features combine at FRANKtalk this week in honor of the hottest conservative pundit on the planet right now. Ann Coulter, whose latest book "Godless: The Church Of Liberalism" debuts this very week at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller List, is an American publishing phenomenon and a vixen. A regular guest on Fox network programs such as Hannity & Colmes, Ann's been a personal favorite for years. Check out Ann's website at my Scribes & Illuminators sidebar. In the meantime, here's a couple of current spotlight links regarding Ann Coulter to get you in the right conservative spirit.

Coulter Delivers Knockout

News & Commentary: by Ann Coulter

InDepth Records News

More InDepth Records news this week as our dedicated online label partner ItsAboutMusic reports that my published catalog of Americana/Country songs is now being distributed by the most successful brand name digital music download sites in the world.

Songs from each of my three digitally remastered CD's can now be easily purchased through the following cool digital download sites: Napster, iTunes, eMusic, SonyConnect, Audio LunchBox, Sandbar, KarmaDownload, GroupieTunes and of course, ItsAboutMusic.com

More sites are picking up Frank Trainor music almost weekly now and all links will be added at FRANKtalk as my music is available.

Our distribution partner sites are the most successful name brand marketers of digital download music and ringtones in the world.

My current CD is called Grace & Gravity. Two previous records are Playin' Down At The Hollywood and The Comfort Sound Sessions. Order all three CD's direct from www.franktrainor.com or purchase songs from one of our download sites at our InDepth Links sidebar.

Napster, iTunes and Sandbar are licensed for Grace & Gravity while Audio LunchBox, SonyConnect, KarmaDownload, GroupieTunes, eMusic and ItsAboutMusic are licensed for all three of my albums.

Hope you enjoy listening to my music and thank you for supporting my efforts as an independent professional songwriter/music artist.

Frank Trainor

A Troubadour Revisited

My journey back to Charlottetown, PEI Canada for our ECMA week Songwriter Summit events this past February was a time of much reflective emotion and deep spiritual reconnection for me as many old friends and former music mates discovered each other again during this special gathering of songwriters and musicians from around our home town and from all around Atlantic Canada.

In my own case, it's been 30 long years since I left my birthplace of Charlottetown for the wilds of Toronto and Nashville, Tennessee. I've been back to visit on several occasions although I have not always had the opportunity to touch base with other songwriter/artists with whom I share musical roots. This is because performing/songwriters and musicians of our generation usually had to leave the east coast in order to seek viable professional opportunities in the music business.

Bonnie LeClair is one of those artists. Bonnie is a very talented singer/songwriter and a sweet, special person. She's also one hell of a fine acoustic guitar player and was great even at 15 when she and I both performed in our early 70’s singing group The Troubadours.

Bonnie also lived in Toronto for a number of years and she has enjoyed a wealth of experience as an artist and dancer, performing in theatrical & musical touring revues along with performing her music and songs on stages around the country with some big names like Gordon Lightfoot, Valdy and more. Bonnie LeClair has written songs with artists such as Ron Sexsmith among others so her professional experience and credentials as a songwriter/artist are solid. She's a "heart" person and a wonderful talent.

The Heart Rules is the title of Bonnie's latest CD and it’s a beautiful collection of songs which I recommend to anyone so if you'd care to purchase it you can contact Bonnie through this site's email address and I will forward your requests on to her personally.

I'm sure she would be delighted and very happy to receive your interest in her songwriting and wonderful music. You'll love it!

Lucian “Lucky” LeRoux, Bonnie LeClair, Frank Trainor & Scott Parsons

Walk Away Renee: It's not often that I hear or read anything these days about The Left Banke whose seminal avant garde 60's classic Walk Away Renee still haunts my mind 40 years after it was a hit. So this recent article was great to discover as it tells the story of the sonically original band and the hit record that exploded their dreams for what very well may be the first time ever. Why it's also valuable information for me to learn about personally at this point is because I actually met the group in 1966 when they came to my hometown to perform a winter carnival event for our university. The promoter had arranged for the group to sign autographs and hang out with fans at a local department store. This was a major music buzz for me as I loved Walk Away Renee but it also seemed amazing and unlikely to me at the time that a hit group on the radio would ever visit tiny Prince Edward Island and actually hang out with their fans. Believe it or not, hardly anybody showed up so I was the most interested music nut of about ten other kids who came out to meet The Left Banke who were not really big stars, but who at least cared enough to come to Charlottetown, PEI. I was not only there and hanging out, I had a camera and a thousand questions to ask these guys about life as rock stars which was crucial information to me since I too would someday be wearing an American Flag for a tie as was guitarist Jeff Winfield who was also very appreciative of my interest in their music and the group's life at the time. We talked for over an hour. This was the first real working band I'd ever spoken with and the impression they made on me was huge. I mean just think about that one song for a minute. The only other record that comes close to Walk Away Renee from that era in terms of its classic sonic originality would have to be A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum.

Anyway, I got dozens of pictures with me and the guys whose average age was only about 19 but since I was just a young kid of 12, they seemed much older and cooler to me of course and their hip styles from New York City in our little Eaton’s catalog store were just incredible. Carnaby Street hip meets Broadway cool in the 60's.

UltraHip to the max of cool. Sadly my entire shoebox full of photos of me just hanging out with The Left Banke which had been tucked away for safekeeping were discovered in the attic at my parents house and were thrown out by my mother who figured that I wouldn't want them to be saved. This is an important and very special music memory of mine. Great hit songs and classic pop records were about the only thing that made my difficult life as a teenager bearable.

Just walk away Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes
For me, it cries…