A Love of Music
Scroll down to hear some of Joe's Original Music
|
Joe LeValley used proceeds from a paper route to buy his first set of drums while in 8th Grade, and has been playing in rock bands almost continuously ever since. He wrote his first song at age 14 and bought his first guitar - an Epiphone acoustic which he still cherishes - while in college at Drake University.
Bands in which Joe was a part included: The Collector's Item, Free-On 12, Mourning Glory Rock Band, Armageddon, Posse, Dr. Bop and the Med-Funk Showstoppers, and monkeywrench. Most recently he performed with a band called Cloud Ten, based in Des Moines. Along the way, Joe has had the opportunity to open for national acts such as Dobie Gray and Kenny Rogers, and to drum on numerous recordings, one of which received some air play (a song written by T.C. Dakin of Posse). Joe was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in September 2016 as a member of the Mourning Glory Rock Band. Induction weekend at the Iowa Great Lakes was one of the most enjoyable and memorable of his life. Surrounded by family and friends, it was a weekend of music, laughter and love. It also was a reminder of how important the Hall of Fame and the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association are to Iowa's many musicians and fans of music. He encourages all of his musician friends to become members and support the association with donations. The web site is www.iowarocknroll.com. One interesting aspect of Joe's musical life is the opportunity to meet famous musicians. In 1975, Joe met all four original members of The Who. He has a T-shirt they signed for him framed and hanging above his piano at home. He also had the opportunity to take Tom Jones to dinner. While in a private dining room with just Tom, his manager and Joe, the famous singer told fascinating stories of his travels all over the world. Others Joe has met include the Beach Boys, The Oak Ridge Boys, the Temptations, Count Basie, Ed Shaunessy (Tonight Show drummer), Woody Herman and, of course, Kenny Rogers and Dobie Gray. Joe has written dozens of songs, including rock and country songs for live performance, ballads and novelty songs for use at special events at Mercy Medical Centers where he has worked, and tributes to his children, written as gifts for each when graduating from high school. A few of the songs have been recorded in professional studios and several others have been recorded at home. Some of them are posted below. Please NOTE: All songs posted here are copyrighted by, and the sole property of, the songwriter. Visitors to this site are welcome to download the songs for their personal use. All other uses are prohibited without the written consent of the songwriter. In either case, we would appreciate knowing if you download the music. Please email Joe at joe@josephlevalley.com let him know you're using it, and to let him know what you think. Thanks! |
|
Original Songs by Joseph "Joe" LeValley
|
Highway Sign - Performed by the group Posse in about 1980, "Highway Sign" was Joe's first attempt at a more up-tempo rock tune. He got the inspiration for it from a friend in the Mason City Community Theater. She said when she took a trip to Des Moines one weekend, she decided to "...hang all my guilt right out there on that highway sign, so I could have a good time and not worry what my husband thought." Performers on the original recording were Joe LeValley, drums and vocals, Tom Dakin, bass and backup vocals, and Greg Nicoll, guitar and backup vocals.
Special thanks to Don Myers who added a second guitar track to the original recording and to Carey Crowson, who added piano. Don and Carey also added backup vocals. The original recording was done at West Minist'r in Otho, Iowa, now called Junior's Motel. The additional recording and remix were done at Crystal Sound in Urbandale, Iowa, and were produced by Keith Brown. All the World's from Dayton Tonight - Joe wrote this song to honor the teachers, administrators and students from his hometown high school in Dayton, Iowa. This version was recorded, remixed and enhanced at Crystal Sound in Urbandale in October 2015. Joe performs this annually at the Dayton High School Alumni Banquet. Thanks to Keith Brown, Carey Crowson and Rich Casciato for their excellent musicianship. Thanks to Keith for his engineering. And thanks to daughters Beth and Emma for their background vocals. Working with everyone in the studio was a blast!
We Are His Song - Joe was fortunate to have worked for Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines and Mercy Health Network in Iowa, now MercyOne. Both are affiliated with CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health care systems. A few years ago, Joe was asked to provide the opening reflection at a system meeting in Denver. The committee chair knew of Joe's musical background and asked him to do something with music.
Joe agreed and the result was this original song about God's presence in health care and honoring the health care workers who practice His healing ministry. The song was recorded at Crystal Sound in Urbandale with engineering and creative assistance from Keith Brown. Joe was joined by Mercy nurse executive Kathy Goetz in singing lead. Carey Crowson played keyboards and Rich Casciato played guitar. Keith and Joe did acoustic guitars and electronic drums. The song now can be seen as a music video on YouTube. If you'd like to see it, type into the YouTube search function: Joseph LeValley and select We Are His Song. Rebecca - This was Joe's first attempt at a "hard-core" country song. In traditional two-beat, it tells the story of a girl a desirable in every way, except her lack of interest in return. Of course it is pure fiction... as far as Joe ever has admitted. In all seriousness, it is important to note it is NOT about the Rebecca Joe dated brieflly. She is a wonderful person.
This song was recorded by Posse at Westminst'r Sound in Otho, Iowa (now Junior's Motel). Kirk Kaufmann, a longtime friend and a fine musician, was the engineer for all Posse recordings. Piano, mandolin and guitar tracks were added in February 2015 by Carey Crowson and Don Myers. They also added some harmonies to the original three-part recorded by Posse. More of Joe's music, along with music from others, photos, and additional information, can be found at rockiowa.net |
Above: Joe's daughter Beth joins Keith Brown in the studio at Crystal Sound, after recording background vocals for one of dad's original songs.
The Girl I'll Never Know - "They" tell a story about a cellist in Europe many years ago who passed a beautiful servant girl in the street. He was completely smitten, and later found himself deeply saddened, knowing he would never see her again or ever have the opportunity to know who she was. He therefore sat down and poured his heart into a cello composition dedicated to the girl he would never know. Well, Joe doesn't know which end of a cello is up, but he took a stab at a simple ballad with the same thought in mind. The first verse and the refrain of "The Girl I'll Never Know" were written while jogging (yes, Joe used to jog) in Mason City in 1995. The song was recorded several years later, on digital equipment in a home studio.
|
