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Turn Inward
Turn Inward, our 3rd
release is the only official Willys release to feature a
recording of us doing a cover song. "Jet Plane" is a
wonderful folk song in the hands of Peter, Paul & Mary but in
the hands of the Willys it reaches new altitudes! It is
also the last time Jonathan was able to contribute as he left
soon after recording finished.
Songs like "Turn Inward"
deal with teenage drama that does not lead to violence and a
loving ballad by Neil to his future wife when she left for
England ("Underground"). For the computer nerd
there's "Mouse" and "Keyhole". Great mixes
and songs mastered in Gettysburg at Catalyst Recording
Studios. |
Agitated - "Agitated" is the second Willys release to hit the world.
Guitar oriented rock with sing able melodies that hit and coat the ears with desire for more. Guitar hooks, vocal harmonies, unbelievable bass lines for the genre.
It's as if the biggest band in history gave away their secrets to songwriting and left them in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Songs on the Agitated
Recorded at The Sound Works
studio in Hanover, PA Mixed and mastered by Pat Colgan. |
Songs About Girls is a collection of 13 songs written by Bill and performed by The Willys in 1997. The CD was
recorded at Soundworks Studio in Hanover PA in only about 17 hours. The songs are basically all about different
relationships that we've all been through at one time or another....hence the title of the mix.
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Butterteeth Smile
For our 4th recording the band
returned to the recording studio of Bob Ranalli and his Dead
Pheasant Studio in Fayetteville, PA. With the departure of
guitarist Jonathan Hansen the band enlisted an old friend from
college days; Bill Mitchell to take over lead guitar duties.
"Mitch", Dean and Neil used to punk it up while they studied
at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, PA. Also
coming our of retirement was Dan Chase lending his amazing
keyboard skills to the recording. (check out "Man Who Mumbles
and "Good Night Amelia").
Guitar oriented rock and clever
lyrics made this the best Willys recording up to this time.
Mitch it turns out has a fabulous voice to match his wonderful
guitar chops! Check out his songs: "Fashion Slave" and
"You're Only One". Neil brings "The Man Who Mumbles" a
song about a certain professor who used to roam the streets of
Gettysburg. Neil also remembers a local star "Stacy" who
made the big time in a famous magazine article. Bill was
inspired by a John K. book "Into the Wild" to write "Supertramp",
and used random forgotten English sayings smashed together to
create "Butterteeth". Maryland poet and friend of the
band; Kevin Thornton gave Bill permission to arrange his
touching "Where the Children Don't Grow Up". Kevin also
wrote the lyric to "Yuppie Bar" that inspired Bill to rock it
up!
Mastered by Bob Anderson.
Mixed by Bob Ranalli with a little help from the band.
Also appearing Rhonda Ranalli and the fab sax playing of her
famous husband! |
Willys 5
Our most recent effort
released on July 14, 2011.
With the amicable departure of
bassist Dean Vaccher, the Willys were bass less! Once
again, an old friend came to the rescue! While the
band was playing mostly acoustic gigs we were also road
testing new songs. Along comes multi-instrumentalist
Todd Mudd. Todd, Bill and Dan used to be members of
ETC. back in the day. Todd's enthusiasm and earthy
bass playing brought the new cache of songs to life!
This time the songs are more
personal. Neil writes mostly about relationships he's
witnessed over the past several years in "Is It Me" & "Alpha
Male". Alpha btw was written in 4 but during rehearsals an
amazing thing happened: it sounded better in dipping from
5/4 to 6/8! While writing with his songwriting team
(Mitch and Jeff Vetock) he sings "2nd Coming" (full of
hidden messages), "Descartes" and the clever
"Alliteration". Mitch brings his points in "Angry
World" and "Wind of Change". Bill brings "Warm &
Safe", "Frances" (with Todd's amazing Raggae styling), "What
I See" and the touching "John the Pilot" (everyone played
acoustic instruments).
The big surprise for this
recording was Dan's first song: "We Came to Watch You
Dance". A fabulous dance song written from the band's
perspective of playing a dance party! This song was
entered in a song contest at the local radio station!
Hope we win!
Recorded at Choking Furnace
Studios in Shippensburg, PA by Bill MItchell (who also
mixed) and Mastered by Bob Anderson. Fabulous photos
by Rinehart Studios in Mechanicsburg, PA. Special
guest vocalist Linda Coe on "We Came to Watch You Dance". |
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