Anonymous
Inside The Shadow

Notes on the Anonymous album from Ron Matelic:

Anonymous never performed as a band. It was strictly an album project that was made possible by my good friend, Jim Spencer, who was one of the purest song writers I have ever known. We used to write songs together when he lived in Indianapolis. I had been in other bands with all the members of this album. John Medvescek and I started in a 60’s group by the name of Sir Winston and the Commons and have played most of out music together ever since. Besides being my best friend, he is simply the greatest drummer I have ever known. We have both known Marsha for a long time and used to hang out at her and her sister’s house, where we mainly used to sing Beatle songs together. Glenn entered the picture when he joined a band with Marsha that I too later joined. After that band’s demise, Glenn and I continued to play and write music together. We also used to jam with John, usually on Sunday afternoons. When the opportunity for this album arose, I asked these friends to help. We practiced for a few weeks and then went to Milwaukee to record. We did all the instrumental tracks on a Saturday and went back a couple of weeks later to do the vocals. That was it for this record. I am not sure how many months later we began practicing for live performances. We added another guitarist, Justin Garriot, and that band eventually became J. Rider with Greg Reynolds replacing Glenn on bass. John, Greg and I continued as a three...

Notes on the Anonymous album from Ron Matelic:

Anonymous never performed as a band. It was strictly an album project that was made possible by my good friend, Jim Spencer, who was one of the purest song writers I have ever known. We used to write songs together when he lived in Indianapolis. I had been in other bands with all the members of this album. John Medvescek and I started in a 60’s group by the name of Sir Winston and the Commons and have played most of out music together ever since. Besides being my best friend, he is simply the greatest drummer I have ever known. We have both known Marsha for a long time and used to hang out at her and her sister’s house, where we mainly used to sing Beatle songs together. Glenn entered the picture when he joined a band with Marsha that I too later joined. After that band’s demise, Glenn and I continued to play and write music together. We also used to jam with John, usually on Sunday afternoons. When the opportunity for this album arose, I asked these friends to help. We practiced for a few weeks and then went to Milwaukee to record. We did all the instrumental tracks on a Saturday and went back a couple of weeks later to do the vocals. That was it for this record. I am not sure how many months later we began practicing for live performances. We added another guitarist, Justin Garriot, and that band eventually became J. Rider with Greg Reynolds replacing Glenn on bass. John, Greg and I continued as a three piece band after Justin and Marsha left the group.

Here are some of my thoughts about the songs on the Anonymous album.
"Who's Been Foolin'" I at first thought that the melody of the verse was something I heard on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, but I never could pinpoint it so I kept writing the song with the help of Glenn Weaver. My favorite part of the song is the second “... who’s been foolin’...” in the last verse. I always have liked subtle variations in a song’s arrangement or melody -- something I learned from the Beatles to whom I attribute most of my song writing interest.

J. Rider - I first came up with the opening guitar lick on my acoustic guitar, but I knew the it was meant for the Rickenbacker 12 string. I’m not sure how the rest of the song fell together but I always attribute it to some McGuinn vibes. It’s one of those fun songs to play. (Thanks, Roger!)

Up To You - This is a song written to my wife. The “her” in the “I see her...” verse refers to my daughter, Sarah, who at that time was our only child.

Shadow Lay - This rendition was the second incarnation of this song. When I first wrote it, it had a Lennon, “Glass Onion” groove. In a third version later on, it was changed to a smooth, mellow jazz arrangement. I like the way the instrumental accents vary at the start of each verse. I think the “you” of the song is really me.

Pick Up and Run - Another song built totally around the 12 string, ala “So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star”. I spent a lot of time listening to the Byrds, but I was also hung up on changing the time signatures in a song, like this song’s bridge.

We Got More & Sweet Lilac - I think this is the only time I took someone else’s words and put them to music. My friend, Becky, handed me these lyrics one day and these songs are the result. I did have to change a few of the words for the song’s meter, and I also came up with the reference to “Shadow Lay” in “Sweet Lilac”. The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah in “We Got More” is sort of a theft from the Mamas & Papas.

Baby Come Risin’ - This is a conglomeration of ideas that have some origin in “Layla” and a couple of McCartney songs. The instrumental section in the middle came from those Sunday afternoon practices, when we just let loose.