Houses In White

(original version)

Sung by Gerry Beckley

In March of 1999 I received an audio file of Gerry Beckley's "Houses In White" from Gordon, a good friend of Gerry's. It was sent to me as a work in progress. The song was written and produced by Bobby Woods. Gerry and Bobby played all the instruments. It was recorded up in the Hollywood Hills at Heart Times Coffee Cup™ Studios on all digital equipment. The sample files were included here with the understanding that they were to be distributed freely and not to be sold.

Over the weeks that followed, Gordon sent a couple of updates showing how the song had progressed.

The recording sessions weren't always a complete success as you can see in a short video clip that Gordon sent me. You'll need a QuickTime viewer in order to see the video clip.

Gordon, Bobby, and Gerry were interested to find out what the fans thought about the song and followed several discussions on the America Fans chat folder. It was a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes of the production of a song.

I was so impressed with the song that I couldn't get it out of my head. One night I decided I needed to learn to play the song so I sat down and transcribed the lyrics and then figured out the chords. I was glad to be able to share them with all of you.

Houses In White

(updated version)

Sung by America

In October of 2008, Bobby made a new version of this song available online. When I asked Bobby about it he said that Dewey went to his studio a few months earlier to record the lead vocals. Then he recorded Gerry's backing vocals at his place. The track features Les Deux Love Orchestra members Larry Treadwell and Dave Storrs on guitars, Andrew Golomb on drums, and Bob Dichiro on bass. Careful listeners using headphones may be able to hear the beautiful Anne-Marie Mackay announcing an itinerary. Bobby sings on it as well, played some keyboards, and also played some guitar.

Click here to access the web page with the lyrics and the song

In addition to the lyrics and the song, Bobby also allowed the sheet music to be downloaded. I discovered that the chords that I figured out weren't quite right, but they were pretty close.

Steve Lowry