<\/div>\n
The Mike Duke Project – … Took a While<\/h1>\n
Acclaimed Musician\/Songwriter Mike Duke Unleashes Southern Soul Sounds on First-Ever CD,\u00a0 <\/span>…took a while<\/i>, Due October 11 from Little Village Foundation<\/b><\/span><\/p>\nNICASIO, CA \u2013 Singer\/keyboardist\/songwriter Mike Duke has flourished as an in-demand musician and performer for over 45 years, yet October 11 will the see the release of his debut CD, the aptly titled \u2026took a while<\/i><\/b>, on the Little Village Foundation label. Recorded over a 40-year period, …took a while <\/i><\/b>includes four newly-recorded band tracks, plus a recent live solo piano piece.<\/span><\/p>\nThe story of this album of all-original material, is deeply intertwined between Mike Duke\u2019s life as a professional musician and former Huey Lewis & the News manager, Bob Brown, the driving force behind this album\u2019s release. It was Brown who recognized Duke\u2019s talents as a singer and songwriter in the early 1980s and set Mike on a path that led up to this album.<\/span><\/p>\nThe four newly-recorded tracks on \u2026took a while <\/i><\/b>showcase Mike Duke\u2019s southern soul vocals and piano work backed by a host of all-star guest musicians, including Elvin Bishop, Kid Andersen, Jim Pugh and Angela Strehli. For \u201cLet Me Be Your Fool Tonight,\u201d Northern California faves, The Zydeco Flames, bring the appropriate Louisiana sound and backing feel to the music. \u201cNicasio,\u201d the solo piano piece that closes the album, was recently recorded at Rancho Nicasio, the San Francisco Bay Area roadhouse restaurant and nightclub owned by Bob Brown, where Duke has been the house band leader for almost two decades.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMike Duke entered my life in 1981 by way of a cassette recording sent to my office in Mill Valley, California, by a music publisher in Los Angeles,\u201d relates Bob Brown in the liner notes. \u201cThere were four songs by different writers, one being \u2018Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do,\u201d written and sung by Mike. That original \u2018demo tape\u2019 featured here, has a vocal performance that blew me away. I called Huey Lewis, as we were looking for material for his second album, asked him to come by, \u2018now\u2019 to hear this song and ……. it was in the Top Forty on the Billboard <\/i><\/b>chart in June of 1982.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI got Mike\u2019s phone number and asked him to send some more tunes. After returning from a road trip, there was another cassette on my desk that included \u2018Let Her Go and Start Over,\u2019 also eventually recorded by Huey Lewis & the News. This is the ultimate break-up song and my marriage happened to be in the midst of ending; I had to meet this guy! Another tune, \u2018Doin\u2019 It All for My Baby,\u2019 was written a bit later and became a big hit in 1987 (*6 in Billboard<\/i><\/b>) for the band. Those three original songs as I heard them are here to share with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nOn the vintage tracks, none of which have been released before, Mike Duke employed a collection of superb players over the years, many of whom were in the Southern rock milieu that Duke was an integral part of during his time in the South. Most of the tracks presented here are in their original demo form, including the three covers by Huey Lewis & the News.<\/span><\/p>\nOn the original version of \u201cHope You Love Me Like You Say You Do,\u201d heard here for the first time, Duke is joined by his fellow members of the group, Wet Willie as it was in 1980: Jimmy Hall \u2013 sax, backing vocals; Larry Berwald \u2013 guitar; and Jack Hall \u2013 bass. The drummer on this track, who also appears throughout many of the other songs on the album, was Bill Stewart, who interestingly enough was the original drummer in Wet Willie before becoming a Capricorn Records mainstay in groups such as Cowboy and the Gregg Allman band.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s What So Good About the South,\u201d Mike\u2019s tribute to all-things-Southern, was originally pitched by Duke to the great Dr. John; and one listen to the tune confirms it would have been a perfect song for him. That track was co-produced by former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Jack Pearson, who also plays guitar on it. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMike also explains that, \u201dComing Round Again,\u201d Duke\u2019s heartfelt paean to the end of a relationship, was originally pitched to Gregg Allman after his break-up with Cher. The earliest recorded track on this project, it was produced in 1977 by noted Southern rock producer Paul Hornsby (The Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels Band) at his Muscadine Studios in Macon, Georgia.<\/span><\/p>\nGary Michael Duke was born October 18, 1948, in Mobile, Alabama. He learned to play music by ear on a piano his mother had in the house. Mike was a member of several bands in high school, and sang and wrote for a black church in the area. The song \u201cTorn & Scarred,\u201d written in 1969 and newly-recorded for this collection, is a perfect example of Mike\u2019s gospel roots.<\/span><\/p>\nIn 1974, Mike hooked up with fellow Mobile brethren Wet Willie and made his first appearance on record with them for their Capricorn Records breakout album, Keep on Smilin\u2019<\/i><\/b>, <\/i><\/b>and title track hit single. He next appeared on their 1975 follow-up, Dixie Rock<\/i><\/b>, before joining the band full-time later that year. Mike would go on to record on two more Wet Willie albums for Capricorn before the band moved on to Epic Records for two releases. Several of Mike\u2019s songs were recorded on those albums as well. Mike later also had a brief stint with The Outlaws.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn 1983, Bob Brown convinced Mike to move to the West Coast. He became a known entity in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene immediately, hooking up with other songwriters and just by engaging everyone he meets. During this time he also opened an East Coast tour on solo piano for Huey Lewis & the News.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter spending several years as the lead singer\/keyboardist of The Solid Senders, the house band at Slim\u2019s nightclub in San Francisco, he joined Delbert McClinton\u2019s band as a featured member for most of the \u201890s, and since Delbert was based in Nashville, Mike relocated there.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen Bob Brown purchased an old country roadhouse, Rancho Nicasio, in 1998, he asked Mike if he was ready to return to the West Coast, and Mike once again became a fixture in Northern California. He is not only a prominent member of the Rancho All-Stars at the roadhouse; Mike manages their General Store as well!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>