The Jones-Hay Residence EP 1998

Hello, You’ve Reached the Jones-Hay Residence. This is the Original Five Cent Mary…

The true story of the Jones-Hay Residence was years in the making, almost a decade in fact, and long before the original 5-Cent Mary selected their name around the dining room table at 5CM keyboardist Chris Curry’s residence where the newly-formed band rehearsed. Appropriately, if ironically, the band had started by phone, land-line phone (1998), when drummer Frank Sardella called guitarist Kevin Slover and asked if he wanted to start a band. Getting his answer, Frank called Chris with the same response, with a call to lead singer Buddy Hay and same result to follow. In under 20 minutes, the band was formed, rehearsal space was secured and the road to The Jones-Hay Residence was paved.

Frank Sardella, Chris Curry and Kevin Slover had gone to the same high school and played together years before. Chris, Frank and Buddy Hay had previously worked together in other bands as well and so knew each other as friends and bandmates for some years, years during which many calls were placed to Buddy at home, often met with Bud’s hilarious analog answering machine greeting. Buddy lived there with his apartment mate “Bill Jones” who Frank always contended (jokingly) was an imaginary person because “Bill Jones” sounded like a made-up name.

The greeting featured a perfect capture of Buddy Hay’s personality, “teddy-bear-at-heart-ish” but outwardly sarcastic, loud and semi-abrasive with a keen, witty sense of humor as well as an unplanned cameo by his lifelong friend and devoted fan of the band “Ralph” who could be heard calling Buddy’s name toward the end of the greeting while Buddy was pausing at the end of his recorded greeting,

Appropriately, when it came time to name the album, Frank suggested the Jones-Hay Residence because of Buddy’s famed greeting and lobbied to include a digital recording of it as the first track on the album to run right into the lead-off single release ‘With You” just after the beep, perfectly framing and setting the tone and dynamic of the record, emanating the band’s true personality and vibe. The album name additionally sounded like a name typical of those of similar bands of the time in the spirit of The Wallflowers’ “Bringing Down the Horse”, The Gin Blossoms’ “New Miserable Experience” and others of the like.

Included on the album are 4 originals and a Led Zeppelin cover of “Since I Been Lovin’ You” recorded at a live show where 5-Cent Mary first announced the release of The Jones-Hay Residence EP. The collection kicks off with a recording of Bud’s old answering machine ne greeting, as planned.

Highlight features of the project were that, first of all it was recorded at Rocket Silo Studios in Gardiner, NY, in the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountain cliffs face on the Mohonk Preserve.

Named “Rocket Silo Studios” because of the old stone silo on the property. The studio was designed and retrofitted into a 19-century stone barn. The chief engineer who designed it was a physics major in college and so had all the angles down for the acoustics of the main room. He used the stone silo as a natural echo chamber. Quite a fascinating experience.

In addition to the 1/4″ magnetic tape we used for the recording, mixdown was done on the board pictured. This board was taken by crane out of a second-story window just off Times Square on Broadway where it had a significant claim to fame: Michael Jackson’s Thriller was recorded and mixed down on it, a thrill for me because of the influence MJ had on me from a very young age, whose musical influence helped me develop such a deep pocket!

Finally, the album cover was set up, planned and photographed by me. It was an old barn by the furnaces in Harriman NY on the famed Hariiman estate. Having known its official historian (having been dating her daughter at the time) I was able to arrange for the picture. I set up a tripod at the bottom of a gulley and shot upward. Putting the camera on auto-timer, I had to run up the hill and get into position before the photo snapped. After a couple of dry runs, we got this awesome photograph which made for a perfect album cover!

The trip to Rocket Silo that June was an interesting one. Just two days before recording, we had planned for 3 originals and 2 covers for a total of 5 songs, 3 for the EP and two for demos to get club gigs (“Remedy” by the Black Crowes and “The Difference” by the Wallflowers, two of our best-sounding, tightest tunes in the set).

At our rehearsal three nights before we expressed concerns that 3 songs wouldn’t be enough and a fourth would be preferred. So, I did what anyone would have done… I went home and wrote a song. The song was “Hollywood”. I had already contributed the album’s “hit” for our first release, “With You” and figured, why not 2 songs?

I played it for the guys the next day and they liked it. We fleshed it out in an hour and decided to take it into the studio that weekend. After a Friday night of setup the next day and a Saturday of recording, here is what we got…

The Original Five-Cent Mary Studio EP ‘The Jones-Hay Residence’

The Jones-Hay Residence · The Jones-Hay Residence

You’ve Reached the Jones-Hay Residence

Buddy Hay, Lead spoken answering machine voice
“Ralph”, Guest voice

BUDDY: (mock, high society British accent) “Hello, you’ve reached the Jones-Hay residence. Sorry, we’re not home right now. Please leave your name, number and a message, and we’ll be back to you real soon. Hi-dee, die-dee, doe, have a lovely day and take care…”

BUDDY: “…”

RALPH: “Buddy.”

BUDDY: (sarcastically and abrasively) “What?”

ANSWERING MACHINE: “Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep….”

With You

Buddy Hay, Lead Vocals
Kevin Slover, Guitars
Gregory Alan Weiss, Bass
Chris Curry, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Frank Sardella, Drums, Backing Vocals

Well, I don’t care about the circumstance
that made you look, then step away,
because, you see, I think that we are right
for each other and for ourselves

Forever has become cliche
and light years seem so far away
A trillion years, and here I am with you

You dropped me off and it was raining then
and then I turned as you drove away
And, as I walked up to my door that night,
all I could think of is how we belong,
together now and…

Forever has become cliche
and light years seem so far away
A trillion years, and here I am with you
If I were smart then I’d seize the day,
now before you slip away
Maybe give forever
one more day with you

And if I failed and this fell through,
would you never try again to make it?
And if we met, some better time,
maybe we could try it then?

For now I’ll keep it in my heart for you,
a place you may never think to look,
because I think that you and I deserve
to be together when the time is right,
together now and…

Forever has become cliche
Light years seem so far away
A trillion years, and here I am with you
If I were smart then I’d seize the day,
now before you slip away
and maybe give forever
one more day with you

Forever has become cliche
light years seem so far away
A trillion years, here I am with you
I think I’m gonna seize the day
Never let you slip away
Maybe give
forever one more day
with you
with you
with you
with you…

Hollywood

Buddy Hay, Lead Vocals
Kevin Slover, Guitars
Gregory Alan Weiss, Bass
Chris Curry, Keyboards
Frank Sardella, Drums, Backing Vocals

She slips in the rain and yells at me
She will boast the pain, oh, the misery
A drama she will save for an audience
Critics will all rave her performance

Sitting in the jam, an emergency,
rages through the cars with an urgency
A drama he has saved from long ago
played in present time like a movie show

He makes it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of his life
He fakes it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves him well to survive

Girlfriend sets the stage, their apartment
He mocks up some rage for the argument
She will say some things and pound the floor
He will take a swing and slam the door

He makes it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of his life
He fakes it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves him well…

I can’t go on with a loved one dead,
You give me worries I take to bed
And no one seems to live a life so free,
just acting out their scenes…

Serves the victim well, the apparency,
that his way makes him fail so miserably
Now, he says “I’m hurt! Oh, woe is me.”
And tries for agreement among the majority

He makes it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of his life
He fakes it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves him well…

A Friend Like Me

Buddy Hay, Lead Vocals
Kevin Slover, Guitars
Gregory Alan Weiss, Bass
Chris Curry, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Frank Sardella, Drums, Backing Vocals

I can’t understand why
you don’t understand why
I don’t need you
How many ways can I tell you
it’s all wrong?
You say you want me,
I don’t want you…

Shaving, one morning,
in front of the mirror,
and what did I see?
Someone who looks like
someone that I’ve been
waiting for
Clones cost too much money!

If all the world
would just be more like me
I’d have all the friends
I’d ever need
Don’t you wish
you had a friend like me?
I wish I had
a friend like me!

Yellow pages, want ads,
4-1-1, internet search agencies,
private Dicks, satellite pictures…
USELESS TO ME!
Watch my infomercial on TV!

If all the world
would just be more like me
I’d have all the friends
I’d ever need
Don’t you wish
you had a friend like me?
I wish I had
a friend like me!

What’s this world comin’ to,
I can’t find one friend
like yours truly,
What a sad word to live in
when there’s only one of me!
I think I’ll start my own
“Me Factory”!

If all the world
would just be more like me
I’d have all the friends
I’d ever need
Don’t you wish
you had a friend like me?
I wish I had
a friend like me!

Don’t you wish you had a friend like me?
Don’t you wish you had a friend like me?
Had a friend like me?
Had a friend like me?
Had a friend like me?
Had a friend like me?

5-Cent Mary

Shows a little leg outside
Her passage is guaranteed
Butts out her cigarette
and starts to make a scene

She moves to the front of the line,
despite all the looks from the girls
She winks and gives me the sign
that it’s time to rock our world

Well, we don’t condone her
but we sure understand
why 5-Cent Mary wants to be with the band
You can compare us looking deep in our souls,
’cause we’re the sluts of rock and roll

So looks through those 5-cent eyes
and flashes a 10-cent grin
Gets in her 2 cents at last
and starts to do her thing…

Well, we don’t condone her
but we sure understand
why 5-Cent Mary wants to be with the band
You can compare us looking deep in our souls,
’cause we’re the sluts of rock and roll

5-Cent Mary wants to beat with the drummer
and do a little “solo” on the lead guitar
5-Cent Mary always stays for an encore
and follows you out to your car…

Shows a little leg outside
Her passage is guaranteed
Butts out her cigarette
and starts to make a scene

Well, we don’t condone her
but we sure understand
why 5-Cent Mary wants to be with the band
You can compare us looking deep in our souls,
’cause we’re the sluts of rock and roll

You know we’re just like her,
’cause we put out,
and Mary’s our biggest fam, without a doubt
You can compare us looking deep in our souls,
’cause we’re the sluts of rock and roll

Since I Been Loving You (Live Show) – Led Zeppelin cover

Recorded at a club show in Suffern, NY promoting the upcoming release of “The Jones-Hay Residence” EP

Buddy Hay, Lead Vocals
Kevin Slover, Guitars
Gregory Alan Weiss, Bass
Chris Curry, Keyboards
Frank Sardella, Drums