writer: Doug Koempel
albums: Tightrope! (BOF-65) 1989
Somebody's Searchin' (Minotaur RMT-J-1993) 1993
artists: the Memory Brothers
publishing: Blue Baker Music BMI
albums: Tightrope! (BOF-65) 1989
Somebody's Searchin' (Minotaur RMT-J-1993) 1993
artists: the Memory Brothers
publishing: Blue Baker Music BMI
1989 version:
- vocals: Doug Koempel
- all backing tracks programmed and played by Doug
- sequenced on Korg M1's internal sequencer
- instruments: Korg M1 and Alesis HR-16
- recorded at: Bird-On-Fire Recording Studio / West Union, Iowa
1993 verson (now playing):
- (same as above with additional vocals + guitar)
- acoustic and electric guitar: Mike Williams
- background vocals: Mike Williams and Doug
Doug's notes:
Hi friends,
"Who'd ever buy that song??!!" was the terse, one-sentence reply I'd received from some "music exec" back in the late '80s when I was shopping this song around to various music publishers. I still have that letter somewhere, and I think of his words every time I check the iTunes sales for "Little Girl's Eyes."
I wrote this song for my oldest niece, Betsy, on July 17,1988 when she was only three years old. Back then the Memory Brothers spent every summer at Crescent Beach Resort on Lake Okoboji. For thirteen years Kevin Conner and I played at that resort for locals, vacationers and resort guests - six nights a week from June until September each summer.
Needless to say we spent a lot of time soaking up the sun, swimming, boating and playing golf. However after the novelty of spending the entire summer smack dab in the middle of a premiere vacation spot wore off, I decided to start using my free time a bit more productively and began sealing myself off in the resort's showroom during the afternoons. I converted it into my personal, practice studio.
With the doors locked, interruptions were at a minimum; and in that room I did a lot of songwriting - writing many of the tunes that later appeared on our Tightrope! (1989) and Waiting for your Love (1990) albums. One of those songs was "Little Girl's Eyes" which debuted on Tightrope! and was later re-recorded with additional instrumentation and background vocals for our 1993 album for Minotaur Records entitled Somebody's Searchin'.
Over the years people have been able to relate to this song on various levels. Because the exact identity of the "little girl" in the song is somewhat ambiguous, she could represent a daughter, granddaughter, a niece (in my case) or even a wife or girlfriend. So over the past 32 years, this song has been adopted by various people as; "My daughter's song", "Our granddaughter's song", etc. And occasionally that "little girl" will now walk into one of our shows all grown up with kids of her own!
As of January 2021, "Little Girl's Eyes" is not only our most-requested tune but is also our #1 downloaded song on both iTunes and Amazon.com.
Hmmmm . . . I wonder what that music exec is doing nowadays?
Hi friends,
"Who'd ever buy that song??!!" was the terse, one-sentence reply I'd received from some "music exec" back in the late '80s when I was shopping this song around to various music publishers. I still have that letter somewhere, and I think of his words every time I check the iTunes sales for "Little Girl's Eyes."
I wrote this song for my oldest niece, Betsy, on July 17,1988 when she was only three years old. Back then the Memory Brothers spent every summer at Crescent Beach Resort on Lake Okoboji. For thirteen years Kevin Conner and I played at that resort for locals, vacationers and resort guests - six nights a week from June until September each summer.
Needless to say we spent a lot of time soaking up the sun, swimming, boating and playing golf. However after the novelty of spending the entire summer smack dab in the middle of a premiere vacation spot wore off, I decided to start using my free time a bit more productively and began sealing myself off in the resort's showroom during the afternoons. I converted it into my personal, practice studio.
With the doors locked, interruptions were at a minimum; and in that room I did a lot of songwriting - writing many of the tunes that later appeared on our Tightrope! (1989) and Waiting for your Love (1990) albums. One of those songs was "Little Girl's Eyes" which debuted on Tightrope! and was later re-recorded with additional instrumentation and background vocals for our 1993 album for Minotaur Records entitled Somebody's Searchin'.
Over the years people have been able to relate to this song on various levels. Because the exact identity of the "little girl" in the song is somewhat ambiguous, she could represent a daughter, granddaughter, a niece (in my case) or even a wife or girlfriend. So over the past 32 years, this song has been adopted by various people as; "My daughter's song", "Our granddaughter's song", etc. And occasionally that "little girl" will now walk into one of our shows all grown up with kids of her own!
As of January 2021, "Little Girl's Eyes" is not only our most-requested tune but is also our #1 downloaded song on both iTunes and Amazon.com.
Hmmmm . . . I wonder what that music exec is doing nowadays?
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