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'!

DVD now available!
The new live concert DVD "Merseybeat Live!" is now available! Go to www.frankleesprague.com and navigate to the "store" page, or just check out Amazon.com! Party on!

Video from new DVD!
Mood:  celebratory
Check out the new video from "Merseybeat Live!", the new DVD available at Amazon.com

Available at Youtube.com
and at myspace.com/frankleesprague

or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3X9Zo1WLD8

Video

Vox Novus
A composition by Frank Lee Sprague has been chosen by Vox Novus for inclusion in their "60 X 60" program. Here are the program notes they included:

"An original American composer, Frank Lee Sprague was born in Wichita Falls, Texas and began to compose at the age of eight. He wrote String Quartet in B-flat Major in 1994 and debuted it in Los Angeles to rave reviews. His Symphonic Poem, is his best-known score. Sprague’s other noteworthy works are currently being published, including Concerto for Violin with Orchestra, Guitar Quintet, Symphony No. 2, Pirate Music Suite for Strings, Quartet No. 2, etc. His music is described as lyrical and tonal, with passionate and original writing marked by exclusive modulations and chord techniques. Various works by Sprague have been recorded and performed around the world which landed him acclaimed articles in such periodicals as Washington Post, Playboy Magazine and features on such radio programs as NPR’s All Things considered and All Songs considered. The aleatoric work “Organ Madness” by Frank Lee Sprague was written and recorded using a new technique in which the MIDI information for percussion is applied to a tonal instrument. This is only one of many new innovations the composer has created and applied to his works. The result is a piece with momentum and atonality that propels the listener onward until the short journey ends with a fade."

Check out the entire program at
http://www.voxnovus.com/60x60/2005/Concert_Pacific_Rim_Program.htm
Pacific Rim Program

Goldmine!!!
Mood:  a-ok
Spreading the news:
Out now: Goldmine #671, cover date April 14

Goldmine Magazine teams up with Wichita Falls Records to present an all Merseybeat issue! Go to your local newsstand now and get your copy of Goldmine issue #671 cover date April 14th 2006. This gear mag is filled with Macca info and on page 31 you'll find the new ad from Wichita Falls Records featuring 2 releases from Frank Lee Sprague!


Paul McCartney took time to chat with Goldmine about his tour, recording his new album, Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, and share a few memories of a little band he used to be in that you may have heard of. A post-Wings McCartney U.S. discography by Tim Neely is included.

Plus an interview with guitar great Ray Russell, a preview of rare Buddy Holly memorabilia going up for auction, the connection between Jamaica and the British Beat, the recordings of Joe Meek, and reviews of Joe Cocker, Peter Green, Vashti Bunyan and much more.

Review of new LP!
Mood:  chatty
An intimate, soul-baring acoustic collection of exquisite songs, crafted with precision, shows a new side to the profoundly-talented, taller Sprague brother.

Of the multi-talented Frank Lee Sprague I've written about at length within these pages, so I'll submit that there is much goodness that has come and has yet to come from the taller Sprague brother, this acoustic-based collection of searingly endearing songs the latest example.

Working within the softer confines of popular song, Sprague has master-crafted a dozen musical perceptions seeded with honesty and the rich, textured melodies he is famous for. Pouring his heart out over adept acoustic guitar work, Sprague speaks directly to the listener, creating a heartfelt connection with all the trimmings of the real-life emotions he is singing about.

Sprague creates enticing soundscapes with little instrumentation, employing echo and complex chord changes and melody shifts to bring his creations to life. This is no more evident than on the opening track, "Another World," a paean to all-encompassing love that can make the rest of the world stand still. A beautifully-placed key change towards the end of the song elevates its considerable charm.

All-encompassing love is the topic at hand on Fulton Avenue, fueling the gorgeous "When I'm Without You." Happiness may not be a given, though, as this album proves; sometimes love encompasses and communicates loss. In "My Dream Was You," the object of the singer's affection is a woman who now exists only in his dreams. In "All Too Well," the singer ruminates over a love that takes a lifetime to reveal its complexities. Even the instrumental "The Devil's Joke" tells a nameless story of love over a lazy, Latin-tinged beat punctuated by nimble guitar turns and the wisp of a world music whistle. There is no singing, but there is mood and perception, and it rings true.

The vaguely-psychedelic "Mixed Up" is sort of a he said, she said examination of a love that tumbles up wet and dry. Love could go this way, or that, or even there. In these songs, Sprague examines every nook and cranny of the complexities of the heart that sometimes result in a tearful goodbye, as in the closing "Turning My Back on You," which features some sublime harmonies amidst the keen observational bent Sprague brings to all of Fulton Avenue's songs.

Fulton Avenue comes full circle with Sprague's version of Tim Moore's "Second Avenue," recast here as "Fulton Avenue." It's a beautiful, quiet song that neatly segues from "Turning My Back on You." The singer and his love have grown apart, he remains committed to her memory, but he, and she, have moved on to their second chances.

Sprague used to live on Fulton Avenue. His work here proves that the streets on which we live are immaterial to the way we live our lives, to how we achieve our promise, to how hard we strive for success and true love, and to how we accept our fates and move forward. Fulton Avenue turns out to be a collective metaphor for our lives, a grand statement delivered by a master craftsman working in his zone.

Alan Haber
April 2, 2006

Buhdge.com

CD Single!
Mood:  silly
A new Frank Lee Sprague song is now being recorded for release as a CD single! Party on you hosers.

"Classical" Music
The once “modern” techniques of composition (aleatoric, atonal, 12 tone, etc), falsely so called, sometimes employing the addition of a tape machine, electronic media, etc, are now old and belong to the category of abstract works. They could also be placed under the title of experimental.
It seems that when some reviewers whose ears are accustomed to the tired, trite, unmusical and unoriginal non-melodic fare offered in the last century hear anything with a real theme structure that introduces actual melody and development, and brings pleasure and enlightenment to a listener, they are offended and threatened.
I am a Christian composer whose talent comes from God. I compose for the Glory of God in Jesus’ name. I write new and original melodies and harmonies in my serious compositions that have been recognized by true music lovers as beautiful and unique.
As for today's critics of “classical” music who profess to have an ability to advise the public as to the worthiness or originality of a new work; I refer them to the quote from Stokowsky at the bottom of this page.

….”Because he is extremely original,

and to understand originality, the understanding person

has to have originality himself, and as this is a rare matter

of the mind, (this originality), he has suffered like every

person in the realm of science and philosophy.

They have all suffered the difficulty that they are not

understood naturally by persons who are less original than

they are.



That is the price the human mind pays for being original,

for being creative, for producing something which is quite

different from every thing which has been known in that

country before him.”



Leopold Stokowsky

Not Lame has never been so "Not" lame!
Mood:  cheeky
YO!!!
Check out the newest LP by Frank Lee Sprague on Not Lame: Notlame.com

You gots ta love it!

More news from Notlame coming this Friday! Hold on to yer britches.....

2 new LP's available NOW!!!
Mood:  silly
The 2 all new LP's are now available! The acoustic LP with all new/original songs "Fulton Avenue" and the long awaited recording of "Concerto for Violin with Orchestra" have now been released!
Check out the details yo:

Wichita Falls Records Announces new release by Frank Lee Sprague
Hollywood, March 4th 2006
Fulton Avenue

You can't pigeonhole Frank Lee Sprague unless it's to say that his music is always pure and always passionate. He is a master of many styles and many genres. Those familiar with his rock & roll recordings know that he mixes rockabilly and surf and British Invasion-style music into a unique West-Texan stew. And yet he moves so fast you can't pin him down. Now, after two powerful, highly acclaimed Merseybeat themed albums, Frank explores another side of his talent on the superb, Fulton Avenue.
Although Fulton Avenue is acoustic-based, it is remarkably rich in song structure, with nuanced themes both musically and lyrically. Each song claims its own mood and yet fits together seamlessly.
Another World leads off the album. It's a soft, sweet, sigh of a song with a delicate acoustic lead break and a warm melody that will make you close your eyes and hum along.
Anaheim Girls takes a nostalgic look back to the year 1971 and yet its lyrics paint a glimpse of innocent youth in a way we all relate to.
Known for his exquisite ballads, Frank includes several absolute beauties on Fulton Avenue. All Too Well,with its yearning melody, massed chorus and subtle percussion is a classic, the kind of song Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson once wrote and we seldom hear today.
So Long Ago features one of the album best and most unusual arrangements. The song begins with spare acoustic guitar and a stark, pain-filled vocal and then builds with a vibrant cello backing and an accordion functioning as an organ.
A nifty and extremely catchy instrumental, The Devil's Joke, begs to serve as a movie theme. Listen up, Hollywood!
Every Frank Lee Sprague album includes songs that sound like automatic top-ten smashes. On Fulton Avenue, first choice would have to be Mixed Up, a mesmerizing sitar-laced psychedelic production, featuring a hypnotic melody that will have you returning to the song over and over again.
The album proper ends with Turning My Back on You, an impossibly catchy Beatles-flavored purely acoustic number. You'll swear Paul and George sing backup.
As with any Frank Lee Sprague album, the show isn't over yet! First we're treated to Frank's lovely rendition of Art Garfunkel's, Second Avenue, here transformed to Fulton Avenue, where Frank lived for many years.
As an extra gift, Frank includes two further bonus tracks. No toss-offs, they are spectacular in their own right. If Mary, has a glorious mid-sixties Beach Boys feel, while It Won't Help reinvents George Harrison's slide guitar circa 1970 and has all the earmarks of a power pop classic. Don't forget to stick around for a sneak peak at the prolific Frank Lee Sprague's next album!
Fulton Avenue is wondrous, deeply felt art. With impressive singing, skilled musicianship and expert songwriting, Frank Lee Sprague has crafted a work for the ages.
Known for his remarkable ability to synthesize authentic rock & 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 has performed live around the world, including several successful tours of Japan. With two Merseybeat-style albums under his belt, he will perform live at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in spring 2006.

Watsup with the Info on the Violin Concerto:

Frank Lee Sprague is an American composer with over 1000 works to his credit. Many of his compositions have been debuted and performed in Los Angeles by the best musicians in the world including Ernest Ehrheardt, Karen Elain, Robert Korda, Brian Leonard, and more.
Originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, Frank has spent his life studying, writing, and performing music. His main instrument is the guitar. He has many works for guitar and also guitar with various chamber ensembles.

His newest recording is his Concerto for Violin with Orchestra.

This is music by a master craftsman, played to the hilt and recorded with stunning realism and fidelity. A performance of great emotional extremes, one that wrings every drop of expression from the music. The first steps on this Sprague pilgrimage lift the heart for the journey to come. Sprague has become among the most esteemed musical figures of his generation. Each work bears the unmistakable stamp of a wildly fertile musical imagination and a distinctive voice forged out of the wide-ranging musical languages.

Frank Lee Sprague is a new breed among American composers. His Violin Concerto is unique and fresh. The recording is gorgeous...an unusually beautiful disc. Superbly played, vividly recorded, simply the last word in unobtrusive virtuosity and sumptuous blending of tones. There's so much color and invention packed into this composition and
this world premiere recording offers a musical journey to the listener.

An outstanding contribution to the still far-too-small Sprague discography. This irresistible discovery, winningly championed by a new orchestra with this long-overdue first recording of his Violin Concerto, proves Frank Lee Sprague a musical genius of Mozartean universality and range.

Virtuoso compositional skills and an amazing ear...full of passion, joy, sorrow, and love.
An ecstatically beautiful piece. Indispensible...get the CD!

www.frankleesprague.com