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The Spirit Of Christmas

By Art Edelstein Arts Correspondent, TIMES ARGUS This year, there's a new Christmas theme album by Brookfield singer-songwriter Bobby Gosh. "The Spirit of Christmas" contains 10 tracks all penned by Gosh with help from the Broadway composer Carol Hall. This album contains none of the hackneyed, recorded-to-death Christmas music usually forthcoming this time of year. Instead, Gosh draws from ideas of peace and selflessness in his songs.
 There's a particularly nice song for parents or grandparents, "Baby's First Christmas," with words by Hall, that has holiday standard written all over it. Gosh is a fine keyboard player with a theatrical style and this album relies on his broad strokes of arrangement and a variety of keyboard sounds for its music verve. The most powerful song is "Someday at Christmas," a duet with blues/soul singer Tammy Fletcher. It's a strong wish for a better time in upcoming holidays, something we all wish for.

THE HERALD Bobby Gosh Releases "Spirit of Christmas" After a solid year of composing and recording, Brookfield singer and hit songwriter Bobby Gosh has just released a CD of self-penned Christmas songs. Entitled "The Spirt of Christmas," the holiday CD contains 10 tracks all recorded at Gosh's Brookfield studio by Leonard Osterberg. Gosh sings in all the tracks and shares a duet with Vermont soul-singer Tammy Fletcher in "Someday at Christmas." This song, Gosh says "captures the present mood of America" "Someday at Christmas the peace will begin/ We'll value each life more than wanting to win," the chorus goes. "Someday at Christmas our passions will soar/ We'll love one another, there'll be no more war." Another song is Gosh's own musical setting of the classic, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and another is a new version of his children's classic, "Welcome to our World of Toys," which has played for many years on the famous clock in the FAO Schwarz Toy Store in New York City. Gosh has had an impressive music career as a singer and songwriter--his best known was "A Little Bit More" as sung by Dr. Hook and others. He has also been very successful in penning advertising jingles for such major corporations as Burger King ("Have It Your Way..."). In this album he accompanies in his own arrangements on piano. Background vocals are provided by a number of area singers—Patty Akley-Warlick, Nancy MacCarthy, Julia Pattison, and Janine Reeves. The "Welcome to Our World" arrangement also includes a children's choir made up of Libbie, lan and Cameron Pattison and Molly Jacobs. "The Spirit of Christmas" is available at The Music Shop and Cover-yo-Cover in Randolph, as well as CD download sites on the Internet.

December 25, 2005 Section: NEWS

One song celebrates Vermont Bobby Gosh creates new Christmas album
 ROBIN PALMER Staff Writer BROOKFIELD - Every year around this time, Brookfield singer-songwriter Bobby Gosh contemplates writing an original Christmas song. But writing and producing a song takes time, and when the thought strikes him, it's usually far too late in the year to try for a new Christmas classic.

 "You've got to look ahead," Gosh says.
 Last Christmas, he finally did. He spent about nine months composing and recording his new album, "The Spirit of Christmas."
 "It was almost like giving birth," he jokes.
 What Gosh birthed is a 10-song disc of original music. It includes what he believes is the first Christmas song about Vermont; a song about baby's first Christmas that he and friend Carol Hall wrote with their grandchildren in mind; two others with a peace theme; a couple of up-tempo numbers; a remake of Gosh's famed FAO Schwarz Clock Song, "Welcome to Our World of Toys," and a musical version of Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
 Gosh says his songs call on Americans to carry the Christmas spirit into the new year. "Why can't we always get along as we do on Christmas?" he asks.
 A duet on the record with Vermont soul-singer Tammy Fletcher suggests:
 Someday at Christmas, the peace will begin;
 We'll value each life more than wanting to win.
 Someday at Christmas, our passions will soar;
 We'll love one another, there'll be no more war.
 Other songs poke fun at the holiday, its chaos and commercialism. "We got another fruitcake in the mail and that makes five," is a line from song "Christmas Frazzle."
 The song about Vermont, however, is probably truest to Gosh's own holiday experience.
 "All I've got to do is look out the window and put into lyrics what I see, for 'Christmas in Vermont,'" Gosh says.
 He came up with:
 Silent nights and fields of white as far as you can see;
 Where icicles grow and tufts of snow sleep in every tree.
 Chimney smoke and simple folk and grandma's recipe;
 Give me Christmas in Vermont, that's where I want to be.
 "It's about Vermont, but, 'Why do I want to be there?'" says Gosh. "My feeling is there's no place I'd rather be than in Vermont anytime, but particularly at Christmas."
 To Gosh, the holiday is a time of family coming together in Vermont. His two grown children will come from out-of-state to join him and his wife, Billi, for the holiday. "It's like it used to be: everybody at home, really good food. It isn't the presents to me or the gifts."
 Gosh has had a long music career. A rock musician turned music producer, Gosh is best known for his song "A Little Bit More," which became a Top Ten hit by recording artist Dr. Hook. He's toured the world as a pianist, and the songs he's composed have made it to the big screen and the TV screen. Gosh has also composed, produced and sung more than 200 national radio and TV commercials for Burger King (Does "Have it your way" sound familiar?), Pepsi and Post Honeycomb cereals.
 Gosh has made other CDs - "Loves Stories" and "Bobby Gosh Live" - but he hopes this Christmas album is his legacy. With most holiday songs dating back decades, Gosh saw an opportunity to write a new classic, he says.
 "The main thing is every year around Christmas, it's fresh again," says Gosh. "I picture someone 15 years from now, 20 years from now, playing the album and making it part of their Christmas tradition."
 Gosh hopes his album resurfaces annually, that it evokes emotion (one woman already told him one song made her cry), and that it gets national play.
 "I'm very proud of it. It will be there longer than I am and that's what I wanted," Gosh says. In fact, he is already contemplating a second Christmas album.
 "The Spirit of Christmas" is available for $9.99 at Buch Spieler in Montpelier, Cover to Cover Books and the Randolph Music Shop in Randolph, and at the Web sites www.cdbaby.com and amazon.com. Individual songs can be downloaded from www.iTunes.com for 99 cents apiece.
 Contact reporter Robin Palmer at robin.palmer@timesargus.com or 479-0191, ext. 1171.
 Copyright, 2005, The Times Argus

Love Stories

Review by Bradley Torreano All Music Guide The music industry truly is a fickle place, and acclaimed songwriter Bobby Gosh is a very good example of that. Love Stories has catchier songs and better lyrics than most singer/songwriter adult contemporary albums released around the same time. There is something to be said for writing memorable love ballads, and he obviously has a very strong talent for that. Any adventurous adult contemporary fans should really give this a chance, there are some really sweet and amiable tracks here that showcase an undiscovered talent.

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Times Argus, The (Montpelier-Barre, VT) CD Review: Gosh's 'Love Stories" ,straight from the heart By Jim Lowe Times Argus Arts Editor
 Bobby Gosh's new album, "Love Stories" is a paean to love with a tenderness that comes only with age. Set to Gosh's '70s-style finely crafted pop-rock music, the 11 songs on this recently released CD are the varying thoughts on love by the middle-aged Brookfield musician.
 Particularly unusual and beautiful is "Touch Me Softly," a duet with Vermont gospel-blues singer Tammy Fletcher, with the music adapted from the classical favorite, Pachelbel's "Canon."
 Gosh's raspy tenor contrasts Fletcher's bluesy contralto as they both implore, "Let this moment last forever." Gosh's lyrics aren't Shakespeare, but they feel direct from the heart. Fletcher and Gosh, who plays keyboard synthesizer as well as sings, are joined by Russ Lawton on drums, with background vocals by Patty Akley Warlick, Nancy McCarthy and Wendy Bourland.
 This song, like the other 10, is expertly crafted and performed, which is no surprise given Gosh's musical pedigree. Although he now lives in Vermont, Gosh got his start in New York writing songs with Sammy Cahn and touring with the likes of pop singer Paul Anka. His songs have been recorded by Diahanne Carroll and Englebert Humperdink, and have been featured in movies like "Big," starring Tom Hanks, and Woody Allen's "Aphrodite."
 Gosh also creates music for advertising and has composed, produced and sung on more than 200 national radio and television commercials, including those for Burger King, Pepsi Cola and Post Honeycomb cereals.
 Which makes it no surprise that this album is truly polished - but it also has Gosh's tender heart.
 Most of the songs represent aging love. "No One but You" is a thinly veiled tribute to Gosh's wife Billi, known to Vermonters for her time as chairwoman of the Governor's Commission on Women. "Wednesday Afternoon Lady" chronicles the bittersweet affair between a 40 year old man and a 20 year old woman. But, it's "Ten Thousand Times" that sums up the album: "I can't get enough of you, no matter how I try, and I'll keep tryin' every day as all the years go by …"
 "Love Stories" songs by Bobby Gosh (plus Johann Pachelbel), performed by Gosh on vocals and keyboards, with vocalists Tammy Fletcher, Wendy Bourland, Nancy McCarthy; Kip Meaker, Val Davis, guitars; Russ Lawton drums, percussion. BGM 33351-2, Bygosh Music

300-Year-Old Ultimate Love Melody Now Has a Pop Lyric for the Wedding Season BROOKFIELD, Vt. /Bygosh Music/ -- A haunting 300 year-old melody played traditionally at weddings has now become a love song by Bobby Gosh, ideal for the wedding season. Gosh is the composer of the classic Dr. Hook hit love song, "A Little Bit More." Gosh adapted the "Pachelbel's Canon in D" melody to his lyric and recorded "Touch Me Softly" as a duet with Tammy Fletcher, a recent winner of the Apollo Theatre Talent Contest in Harlem. It is featured on his romantic new CD, "Love Stories," available exclusively through www.bobbygosh.com. "I couldn't sit through another wedding listening to this beautiful melody, without writing a lyric to it," says Gosh. "My intention was to write a love lyric pointed towards a wedding ceremony, which is the culmination of a love affair." The lyric: Touch me softly, leave me never
Let this moment last forever
Hold me closely, let the love flow
Kiss me gently, let the love grow
When you're with me I'm on fire
You fill me with desire
For pleasures we have found
You have touched my very soul
Yes, you have made me whole
You turned my life around
When the world's too much to bear
Touch me softly, I'll be there
And like the sun will light the rainbow
We'll shine bright and make it right
...I know Though Gosh's voice is more like Joe Cocker than Andrea Bocelli, and Fletcher's voice is more like Whitney Houston than Sarah Brightman, their soulful recording of the classic 300-year-old melody might even qualify in the hot new Classical Crossover category. Jim Lowe of The Times Argus (Montpelier, VT) has called the album "straight from the heart," and described "Touch Me Softly" as "unusual and beautiful, with the music adapted from the classical favorite, 'Pachelbel's Canon.'" "I envisioned two people standing together, expressing their love and commitment to each other," says Gosh. "I imagined what would be going on in their minds as they begin to face today's messed-up and unpredictable world, believing that love conquers all.”

Bobby Gosh Live

Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff "Bobby Gosh Live," featuring a live performance, Sept. 27, 2003 at Randolph's Chandler Music Hall, by Brookfield singer-songwriter Bobby Gosh, with lyricist-composer Carol Hall and fiddler Harold Luce, has been released by the Bygosh Music Corporation in DVD (BGM 33361) and CD (33371-2).
 Bobby Gosh is a professional songwriter - professional because he has written everything from jingles for well-known television commercials to world-hit songs.
 Gosh is also a professional entertainer - he was pianist and conductor for Paul Anka, has opened for Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel, and performed on Johnny Carson's and David Frost's national television shows.
 Gosh has lived in Brookfield for more than 30 years. Last year, he performed a concert at Randolph's Chandler Music Hall to benefit the Brookfield Old Town Hall restoration project, joined by Chelsea fiddler Harold Luce and Carol Hall, lyricist-composer of "The Best Little Whore House in Texas." The Sept. 27, 2003, concert was released on DVD and CD this summer by Gosh's Bygosh Music Corporation.
 "Bobby Gosh Live" is more than the chronicle of an entertaining evening, it is a showcase of the music and the character of a man who has touched many Americans and has chosen Vermont as his home. The evening also sheds new light on Luce, a native celebrity, as well as Hall, a Broadway composer.
 The evening revealed Gosh as a musician of broad sensibilities. On the one hand, there is plenty of the expected, music that is skillfully written, always attractive and appropriate, easy to respond to. On the other hand, there is nearly always a subtle lick or nuance that gives it a unique flair. And there is music that is genuinely inspired. But, regardless, there isn't a moment that isn't heartfelt by this genuinely sentimental artist.
 The evening included what is likely Gosh's biggest hit, the Dr. Hook rock classic, "A Little Bit More." It was delivered touchingly by Gosh. Accompanying himself ably on Chandler's Steinway concert grand piano, Gosh sang with a raspy, though mellow baritone that delivered his heart to an appreciative audience.
 Perhaps more recognizable, and certainly funnier, was a short medley of a few of the more than 200 national television and radio commercials Gosh has composed, produced or sung. Delivered with panache, and a show of financial gratitude, were theme songs for Burger King, Pepsi-Cola, Post Honeycomb cereal, and the F.A.O. Schwarz classic, "Welcome to Our World of Toys."
 Delivered with a bit more seriousness - and heart - was "A Song for Erik," Gosh's impassioned setting of the Rudyard Kipling poem "If." The song was written for Gosh's son, and he dedicated this 2003 performance to his then-9-month-old grandson.
 Luce, a local legend, provided the plaintive fiddle obbligato for Gosh's tender paean to Vermont, "More Cows than People." And, in the major feat of the evening, Luce fiddled and sang the square-dance classic "Wabash Cannon Ball" - while accompanying himself on piano with his feet! Luce has devised a mechanical device allowing him to press piano chords with levers from foot pedals. It's no wonder he's a legend!
 Luce was part of another paean to Vermont. In Gosh's "Two for a Dollar," Luce plays and Gosh sings and plays as they accompany a very short but charming film depicting a country auction by Hall's husband, Leonard Majzlin.
 Perhaps the tenderest moment of the evening was achieved through the miracle of electronics. Gosh was joined by popular gospel singer Tammy Fletcher and a synthesized band in "Touch Me Softly." Here, Gosh has taken Johann Pachelbel's (1653-1706) famous Canon, arranged it, and added his own words, resulting in a tasty and tender love song. It first appeared in Gosh's 2001 album, "Love Stories." At the time of the Chandler performance, Fletcher was in the Caribbean getting married, so Gosh sang to tracks from the album - and it seemed to work.
 Gosh operates a recording studio attached to his home in Brookfield, where he continues to create music - both commercial and personal. And he continues to involve himself in his chosen community.
 Appropriately, Gosh closed the evening with a protest song he had written in a different era, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," which seemed as if it were written for today. Illustration: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus
 On Sept. 27, 2003, Brookfield entertainer Bobby Gosh performed a concert at Randolph's Chandler Music Hall to benefit the Brookfield Old Town Hall restoration project. That concert is now available on DVD and CD. Copyright, The Times Argus

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