Big news for January/February!
Mood:  a-ok
 

Frank Lee Sprague interview online!
Mood:  bright

NEW! 3rd Merseybeat LP released!!!
Mood:  special

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New album by Frank Lee Sprague is all new/original/Merseybeat/Christmas songs! 

 

Beginning in 1963, the Beatles recorded an annual Christmas record for their fans, but they never released an entire album of Christmas songs, nor did any other Liverpool or British Invasion group.  With Merry Merseybeat Christmas, Frank Lee Sprague makes up for lost time with a cornucopia of self-penned, harmony-filled gems.  From start to finish, the album brims with shimmering melodies and richly textured singing, a heartfelt tribute to both Christmas and the well-loved Merseybeat sound, a style Frank mastered on his popular, widely acclaimed albums, Merseybeat and Cavern.

 

Creative inspiration comes in many forms, sometimes striking with the lightning speed of a southbound express train.  That’s what happened to Frank Lee Sprague when song after song came to him until, incredibly, within only one day he had composed a stocking-full of Christmas songs.

 

Merry Merseybeat Christmas begins with “She Gave Me Loneliness for Christmas,” a lament for lost love.  The song features a haunting melody threaded with mournful harmonica.  But we don’t stay in that groove for long.  With the mid-tempo title song, “Merry Merseybeat Christmas,” Frank sings that “love is still the word,” and we hear in his music a paean to both Christmas and the music he cherishes.

 

Imagine the Beatles on stage for hours and hours at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany.  It’s Christmas and they miss home and family.  “Rock on, lads,” roars John, launching into Frank’s “Christmas Time,” bringing yuletide cheer and high spirits to lonely fans and fellow Beatles alike. 

 

As is true with any Frank Lee Sprague album, Merry Merseybeat Christmas includes a generous helping of beautiful ballads.  There’s the upbeat,” My Love Will Grow,” with its winsome melody and surprising key changes.  “Fall in Love on Christmas” is a moving, spiritual commentary about love in a special time of year.  Picture a young Brian Wilson sitting in with Tottenham’s Dave Clark Five and listen to the wistful and yearning, “Don’t Cry on Christmas.”

 

Merry Merseybeat Christmas ebbs and flows with the grace of a symphony, eventually reaching its zenith with three remarkable songs.  “Peace on Earth” is a stunning Lennonesque rocker, warning us against war and hate while telling the story of Christ’s birth, in homage to “peace on earth, good will to men.”  Spiritual and tender, “The Third Day” infuses an ethereal glow to its unusual and highly effective vocal arrangement.  The song reminds us that there is far greater meaning to Christmas than tinsel, ornaments and colorful packages.  No Frank Lee Sprague album would be complete without a top 40 hit sound melody, and “Christmas Carol” fills the bill.  The memorable guitar line, the warm, Beatles ‘65 sound, and the sunny lyrics send us home feeling we’ve truly had a Merry Merseybeat Christmas.

 

Known for his unparalleled ability to synthesize authentic rock ‘n’ roll styles into his own West Texas imprint, Frank Lee Sprague’s work has wowed reviewers in Rolling Stone, Playboy, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and many other magazines and newspapers.  He has appeared on CBS nationwide television and National Public Radio, and performed live around the world, including several successful tours of Japan.  Over the last few years, this charismatic songwriter and musician has recorded and released the critically acclaimed albums, Merseybeat, Cavern, and Fulton Avenue, while also revered by fans for his long-time work as leader of the fabulous rock ‘n’ roll duo, the Sprague Brothers. 

  

 

FLS on WFMU
Mood:  cheeky

http://www.wfmu.org/ssaudionet.shtml

Check out the webcast at the above address on Saturday December 16th at 11:25 AM on WFMU FM!!!

Frank Lee Sprague will be telling all in a National interview conducted by Michael Shelly!

Trains
Mood:  happy
I'm on a railroad train, I hear the whistle blow the note: F# You hear the whistle blow a clear low C. The whistle actually blows F#.
Coming toward you, you hear a high E, but the whistle is actually blowing F#.
This is not true of time dilation. You would hear the low C going both ways. This indicates a true paradox.
The whistle changes pitch because of its relative speed to you.
It dilates going away, and it contracts coming back, all the while blowing a clear F#.
My Suggestion:
Time-dilation occurs because of my relative speed to the railroad tracks. You hear what the railroad tracks hear in time-dilation. This way, the whistle always blows an F#, but you always hear a low C.
Deep in the well of gravity, there's more railroad track around your clock.

New SBs and new MERSEYBEAT

Keep on Truckin'

FLS continues work on the new truckin' LP by Chris Sprague.

New Frank Lee Sprague song "Speeding Truck" soon to be recorded for the LP. It will feature the extraordinary lead guitar playing of the master of Merseybeat.

Party on.

CD Single!
Mood:  energetic

New CD Single by Frank Lee Sprague!!!

WFR345
June 26th 2006

 She’s Good – Publicity

Imagine yourself at a dance, bored people at the sidelines milling about, sick and tired of the same old cookie-cutter beat.  The deejay announces, “Folks, we’ve got a new one here by Frank Lee Sprague, called ‘She’s Good.’”  And then you hear the thump and cascade of crashing drums, the warm voice of the singer telling us about his girl, the kinetic sound of surging guitars, and suddenly people rush to the dance floor. 
June 2006 brings us the latest gift from Frank Lee Sprague, “She’s Good,” the perfect summer song, an anthem expressing the joy and passion of love.  “She’s Good” bursts with life and confidence, a thoroughly timeless work, imbued with the song craft of classic 60’s British Invasion hits and with the feel and sound of a modern day Bobby Fuller. 
 Over the last few years, Frank Lee Sprague has recorded and released his widely acclaimed albums, Merseybeat, Cavern, and Fulton Avenue, while also revered by fans for his long-time work as leader of the fabulous rock ‘n’ roll duo, the Sprague Brothers.  With “She’s Good,” Frank demonstrates once again his prowess as vocalist and remarkably inventive and powerful lead guitarist.  Frank’s brother, Chris, sings impressively arranged harmonies, while David Raven provides that unforgettable beat on the drums.   
 Listen to “She’s Good.”  It will reach inside your soul and make you dance. 

www.amazon.com

www.wichitafallsrecords.com

www.frankleesprague.com

New review of CAVERN
While you're enjoying the new DVD "Merseybeat Live!"and partyin' with the new Frank Lee Sprague CD single "She's Good" be sure and check out the newest, bestest review of Frank's LP "CAVERN"!

http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/gary17

Check it out here!

"Perhaps it was the most untimely demise of original dreamer Freddie Garrity. But did I really neglect to mention when last we took the virtual Ferry cross the Mersey that none other than Frank Lee Sprague yes, he the still-taller half of those supremely rooty-rockin Sprague Brothers (not to mention an authentic cousin of The Man Who Invented Sixties Music Himself, I kid you not!!) -- has been very busy indeed on the side, helping keep the meaty, big and bouncy spirit of the M-Beat alive and very thriving here in Century 21?

I hardly wouldve believed it possible myself UNTIL, that is, I heard for my own a deceptively, disarmingly charmful little disc called Cavern, and on it some of the best, most magnificently melodic p-o-p this side of your fave rave Searchers EP of yore.

And also, here I felt I was the only lad left on the block who thought a certain P. McCartney wrote many of his best songs EVER for..... Peter and Gordon. But Frank Lee too has obviously been listening lots to I Dont Want To See You Again, as well as to some of the more rough n tumblest circa-62 cellar sounds this side of The Big Three. When not channeling a certain Jane Asher as muse, that is.

Alas, the dank, sweaty, musty, subterraneanly homesick aura of those magic long-gone days and particularly nights beat again right there deep down in Frank Lee Spragues very own Cavern.

Meet you there soon?"

Gary Pig Gold, June 2006

New CD Single!
Yo! Check out the new CD Single from Frank Lee Sprague: "She's Good" is an all out rockin', party song! It's sure to set your Summer rockin' and rollin'!