The Album
“My song development has always begun with an experience that serves as my inspiration - whether it be a city, a sitcom or love. I’ve written countless songs over the last several decades. Each one has a special place in my memory. I’m excited to share my album and the stories behind my music.”
— Bob Kaliski
Big Ben
After my wife and I had our new Laurel Mississippi home renovated on HGTV’s “Hometown” show I started thinking of ways I could thank Ben Napier for building us a beautiful Kitchen Island and China Cabinet for our house. I came up with this song which was a take on the Jimmy Dean song “Big Bad John”. I named it “Big Ben”. I hope you like it – because it is all true!
Ode to Laurel, Mississippi
The path to this song was “Pandemic” driven. During the Pandemic I started watching many of the HGTV shows but was especially drawn to “Home Town” featuring Ben & Erin Napier and the lovely little town called Laurel, Mississippi.
When travel restrictions began to lift in November 2020 I convinced my wife Linda for us to travel to this cute little town and see for ourselves what was going on there. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast Inn called Grandiflora and just two doors down from where we were staying a house came on the market that we ended up purchasing! We had been around the town and loved all the people, the ambiance of the entire area and the Southern hospitality. A week after arriving home from the first visit, I wrote the song “Ode To Laurel, Mississippi," a gift for the wonderful people of Laurel!
Nashville City Junkie
Several months after recording ‘Cruising Club Woos’, my wife Linda and I made a trip to Nashville, TN. We were excited as we had scheduled many tours including the Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Oprey, a Jimmy Buffett concert as well as a visit to Jimmy’s Margaritaville Bar & Restaurant. We were surprised and amazed by the Parthenon as it is currently reimagined as an art gallery! We had a wonderful time on our trip and loved meeting so many friendly people that shared a love of great music. The experience inspired me to write ‘Nashville City Junkie’ upon my arrival home. After I recorded the song, I was introduced to Dave Jenkins who is a member of the Pablo Cruise Band. My producer Jeff thought the song needed some ‘country twang’ . So we talked Dave into doing a harmonica riff and a steel guitar riff throughout the song including the music solo in the middle of the song. Dave’s additions provided country authenticity to the song. Engineer Andy Greenberg added some airplane landing sound and the song officially became ‘Nashville City Junkie’ - a love song to Nashville!
Cruising Club Woos
Back in 2018 a good friend, Pat Van Gorp, brought Linda and I to meet her son Scott and watch him play Bass in a band at the Sausalito Cruising Club. It was a funky place with a lively group of people that loved to dance and just hang out listening to music and chat with friends around a rustic bar. Drinks were not too expensive but you had to catch the bartender’s eye to get served. I enjoyed sipping my $4.00 PBR beer and mostly loved the music and the people’s energy. I went a few more times over the next two months and heard some more really good bands. I decided this place needed to be recognized for the fun, unique place it was and proceeded to write this song about it. When I finished the song I had Jef Labes write the music sheet and asked the Chris Haugen Band to be my “Studio Band” for this song. The band included Scott Lipsitz, Pat’s son, which made it a perfect connection to my introduction to the Cruising Club. I was going to call it Cruising Club Blues - but realized there were no blues at this Club - only “Woos” or happy people!
Is It True?
In the summer of 1962 I had my first “summer love.” I met a girl in Lake Tahoe who lived in San Mateo. I had no car and little money so going to the movies was about all we did plus a little time on the beach hanging out. During the Easter vacation in 1963, I took a bus to San Mateo to visit my “summer sweetheart” and realized that with no car and no money this romance was meant for the ‘geographically undesirable’ (GU) scrap heap. This song came from this brief romance which was not really a romance but more of a puppy love experience. Live and learn!
Sittin’ Here A-Crying
In the summer of 1965, I met another special girl from Oregon while she was vacationing at Lake Tahoe. I had a summer job in South Lake Tahoe and had a car by this time, so we were able to tool around the lake during the time I had off and during the two weeks she was vacationing there. We went to a few parties and had some good times and then back to Oregon she went. I visited her in Eugene once during spring break while I was going to St. Mary’s College in Moraga. Her family owned a logging company and I got a chance to ride along with the lumberjacks when they delivered their logs to the lumber mills. Well, as you probably already figured out, that (GU) bug hit again and she told me that she had met someone at the University of Oregon shortly after I got back to college. I really did not do as much crying as the song suggests, but I was quite sad for some time and this song was the result of those strong feelings.
Sorry About That
I have no personal relationship with this song except for the fact that I loved the phrase “Sorry about that” when it came out of the mouth of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) in the TV sitcom, ‘Get Smart.’ The comedy / spy show ran from September 1965 until September 1970. When I was in the Navy, up in Kodiak, Alaska I had time on my hands to create this song without any real emotional attachment. It was fun writing a song that did not require me to first go through a painful cathartic experience!
My Heart
While on a naval vessel from November, 1968 until October, 1971 I had a lot of time to think and create. This song I started to create, again, without actually having a heartbreaking situation that created the lyrics. This song was my thoughts of what can happen when one is in love and what happens when one’s heart is broken. Thus, lessons to share for those seeking to ride the waves of love in their lifetime. Be aware of the mishaps, be prepared to make mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes twice. Because, a wasted love is such a shame, and your heart will never be the same!
Just Looking
On March 8, 1967, after 30 days of Navy boot camp, I was given a one day leave. I walked into downtown San Diego and after a day of roaming around, I started back to the naval base, but stopped for dinner at a diner on the main drag. They had a u-shaped counter at this diner and I sat down on one side of the u. A few minutes after I sat down, this most beautiful girl walked in and sat down almost directly opposite from me. We exchanged glances for a while and she ate and left. When I left, I was so frustrated and angry at myself for not trying to meet this lovely girl, that I started singing “Just Looking” as I walked back to the base. By the time I got to the naval base, I had completed the lyrics and melody of this song. I dedicate this song to all of the extremely shy people of the world.
Mama Being Mama
In late 2015, after discussing the previous year’s Wine, Women & Song event we produced with Susan Z, I watched a very special interaction between Susan and her children. That night I had a dream about Susan, and how she went about being a mother to her children. I woke up at 5:30AM with this song in my head, and immediately went down to my kitchen and pounded out the tune in about 30 minutes. In 2016, I shortened the name to Mama Being Mama and refined the words while Jef Labes, my transcriber, got the song down on sheet music. This was a most unusual way of being inspired to write a song, but I think great moms everywhere will appreciate the thoughts – even great dads too! There is a lot going into being a great mom or dad! It’s time to appreciate their efforts!
I Love Girls
In 1965, I saw an Elvis movie called ‘Girl Happy’. I loved the title song from that film and sang it often. While still in the Navy, in 1970, I wrote this song with the hopes of delivering it to Elvis someday for him to sing. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to get this song to Elvis, but I am sure he would have loved to sing it! It’s a perfect Elvis song!
Along The Way
In 1983, due to high interest rates that drove me out of the real estate business, I decided to drive around this beautiful country and see the 45 states I had yet to see. I borrowed my mom’s Toyota Chinook and drove 19,600 miles in 4 ½ months from April through August, visiting those 45 states. As I was driving the beautiful roads and highways of the USA I saw hundreds, no, thousands of gorgeous girls and women in all kinds of vehicles “Along the Way”. I actually named this song “Falling in Love in Your Automobile” but was encouraged to shorten the title!
I Don’t Want To Go
In 2015, while working with Jef Labes, as he transcribed all my songs onto sheet music, I let him know I was interested in writing a song about not wanting to die. He encouraged me to do so in hope it would inspire other people, who might be depressed, into finding reasons to want to keep living. This song gave me great pleasure to write and especially to collaborate with the fantastic studio musicians for the amazing music intro, solo and ending to this song. I hope this song helps people who think they have nothing to live for.
Without You
In 1962, my sister, Barbara, was in Europe with our parents when she received a piece of sheet music by a young Italian man named Luigi. The song was titled “Senza Di Te” or “Without You”. There was only music, no lyrics. My sister gave me the sheet music in 2016 to have my music transcriber, Jef Labes, play the song and put it on a CD for her. After hearing it, I decided to add some lyrics of my own, and played it for my studio band while we were recording the album. Ed Bogas loved the sound of the music so much, he asked if he could arrange it in a big band style. After doing so, we decided to add it to my album as the final touch. So, born in Italy, then nurtured and finished in America, here is “Without You”!