By most standards I am a "Master" at Residential Real Estate. For many clients that's all they need to know. But part of what makes a salesperson good at what they do is their ability to empathize with others. This ability is proportionate to the depth of their personal life experience. The deeper and more diverse this experience the greater the number of people they can relate to and the better a salesperson they will be.
Conversely, by most standards I would be considered an “Amateur” Musician, but if you want to know about the depth of my life experience beyond my Real Estate credentials, listen to my music.
Music was probably my first career choice out of school. But that was 40 years ago. Almost another lifetime. Though I never could make a living at it, while finding success in other fields I acquired the experiences I wrote about in these songs. They are in effect a journal of my life in California for the past 40 years.
Leonardo Da Vinci once said "A work of art is never finished, only abandoned." Some of these recordings are the first and only takes recorded on a hand recorder but even the more recent studio recordings are still being tinkered with. For now this is all I've got. I hope you will forgive the inadequacies of my musicianship to hear the messages within them.
If you are a Musician/Realtor interested in putting together a band to perform locally for charity give me a call.
"Come Up to The Cove, Baby"
Words music guitar bass and vocals by Lance Frank.
Recording and Digital effects by Ed Genovese.
This tune is sort of a travelogue of things to do in the rustic La Quinta Cove. It's also a love song based on a phone conversation I had with a former girl friend. I had not spoken to her for years when she called me out of the blue. She was living in "The Cove" and it sounded like she wanted to invite me over to get reaquainted. I was in the process of moving and told her I would call her back but I could not reach her and never saw or spoke to her again. Turns out my Haute Couture El Paseo Girl wound up living in The Cove too...but that is another story.
A story of unrequited love set in Palm Desert's El Paseo High Fashion District. It is told from the point of view of a Barista who can not help but fall in love with the seemingly unattainable women he waits on. I never worked as a Barista but I did manage a consumer electronics store just off El Paseo for many years. Casting myself as a Barista just seemed more romantic. I waited on many El Paseo Girls back then , but if any one of them could be considered “MY” El Paseo Girl it’s the model in the photo. She disappeared from my life for many years until one day we reconnected at an open house in South Palm Desert. Several years after that she decided to stop throwing her money away on rent and become a home owner. After showing her houses all over the valley I told her “We’ve got to find you a place in South Palm Desert. You’re an El Paseo Girl” and I went home and wrote the song.
A song about a night out playing poker at one of the local casinos containing a glossary of somewhat esoteric poker terms along with some good advice for any wanna-be gamblers. I played a lot of poker in Las Vegas when I lived there in the early 1980's but when I moved to California I stayed away from the local casinos. When I sold my house for a tidy gain I breifly revisted the tables until I turned my attention to more produtive pursits including songwriting.
Words, Music, Guitar and Vocals by Lance Cory Frank
A tribute to the film "Lawrence of Arabia" inspired as much by one famously hot summer day in Indio California. Coincidentaly, Indio is infused with a good deal of Arab culture owing perhaps to the origins of the local date industry. Every year scenes from the Arabian Nights are played out here during the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival. The local High School sports team is The Rajas and many of the streets have Arabic names. Just South of here is the city of Mecca.
For 15 years I have lived walking distance from the Coachella music festival but only attended once. Of all my tunes this one begs to be performed there. The long form jam and drum solo in the middle will knock your socks off.
Words, Music, Guitar and Vocals by Lance Cory Frank
Among other things, one of the principal reasons I chose to study TV and Film was because it merged music with my many other interests. This tune is a tribute to the film "Ben Hur" and it's score by Miklos Rosas. I identify with the main character not just as a Jew, but because of the 15 years I felt chained to the oars of a corporate slave galley. It can be tough for a long haired wild eyed musician to reinvent himself as a conservative Fortune 500 executive. In time I came to realize it was my customers that I served, not my corporate masters. Though I was for the most part well treated, I freed myself as soon as I could. (Note: 41 is Ben Hur's oar number in the 1959 version of the film)
Fans of the film will recoginze the bass line from the slave galley scene. I'm kind of proud of my first full on guitar solo just before the bridge. Simple but tasty, I think.
One day I was holding open house in the retirement community of Sun City Palm Desert when the owner walked in and told me how he met his wife at a singles club there called "Solos." I was facinated by his stories of passionate soap operas among the members. But the title is really more of a double entendre in that regard. Most of the people who live there are swingers in one sense only...they swing a golf club. Golf is by far the most popular social activity there..that and just enjoying life to the fullest...and what's life without a little romance? The people who live in Sun City are also of the generation to appreciate Big Band Swing music. Having been schooled by a big band drummer it is part of my roots too. I look forward to one day recording a big band arrangement of the tune.
This is the original instrumental version of Sun City Swinger written on a Baby Grand in the living room of a house for sale that I was holding open. The vocal version with lyrics is tagged on at the end.
Barstow was big during the hay day of rail travel. Now it is mostly known as a rest stop for motorist on their way to and from the entertainment meccas of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I first learned of it during the early 1980s while working as a photo journalist in Vegas with Hollywood aspirations. I never lived there but it always seemed an appropriate metaphor for being stuck in the middle of nowhere physically, mentally or both. I worked freelance Radio and TV in L.A. but never did make it in Hollywood. My "Barstow" was being stuck working as a 60/hr a week retail manager for 15 years. When I finally broke free to start my own Internet business it failed miserably. Bankrupt and on the verge of foreclosure I had to find some way to make money and I didn't want to go "Back to "Barstow." Unfortunatly, I had to for a couple years until my real estate business was able to support me.
This is the original acapella version of this tune. I had gathered a nice collection of guitars during my fat years but at the time I was on the verge of bankruptcy and was forced to sell all of them to a local instrument broker. When I managed to buy one of them back I was amazed that I was instantly able to play the tune without any practice at all. Probably due to my state of mind at the time, this version sounds a bit more soulful to me than subsequent versions. Not having to play guitar and sing at the same time might have had something to do with it too.
This tune attempts to sum up my musings about the various socio-economic / competitive forces I encountered as an aspiring filmmaker and musician in the mid 80’s. I l later found these forces to be inescapable no matter what alternate career path I took.
The courts may be the great equalizer, but the lack of money to access them relegates most of us to de facto Second Class Citizens dependent upon getting in the good graces of those in positions of power. More often than not we are pittted against our peers while at the same time trying to forge alliances with them. None of this is necessarily a bad thing and I have found adversity to be a God send. The struggle is often a test of will that tempers us and forces us to learn, grow and adapt…but it sure can be frustrating if not infuriating at times.
Lance Frank, Broker Associate Berkshire Hathaway Home Services California Properties 74-990 Hwy 111 Indian Wells, CA 92210 760-610-9282 Relax@LanceFrank.com
