The title of this CD was inspired by a song in this album (Blues Ragù). A ragù is an Italian meat and tomato-based sauce, usually served over pasta. If the accent is changed to ragú then the word refers to a brand name (which happens to be trademarked). 1. Televangelist Blues – I was listening to the Rolling Stones play "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and that inspired me to write a blues song based on a (very modified) version of the chord progression for that song. I had recently seen a documentary about an evangelist who had ripped off a lot of people and that event inspired the lyrics. 2. Malaise (Not Gettin' Much Done) – I was being very lazy; feeling sorry for myself and not getting much done. That phrase stuck in my head, so I decided to write lyrics for a blues song, based on that phrase. A few days later, I realized that a guitar riff (that I had created while playing around with a variant on Gershwin's "Summertime") could be used as the melody for my song. 3. Don't Count Me Out – I was trying to get to sleep when both the phrase "don't count me out" and the melody for it suddenly appeared in my head. That phrase then gave me the idea for a song that would compare the count-down in boxing with a relationship. 4. Blues Ragù –The lyrics to this song came about because I had decided to name each blues CD that I produce after some form of food (my last two blues CDs were titled Blues Soufflé and Blues Brulee). Since I had chosen Blues Ragù as the title to this CD, I realized that it would be nice to also have a song by the same name and so I wrote lyrics to accomplish this. 5. I Need Somethin' – I was driving to work when suddenly I blurted out "I need I need I need I need I need something!" but I knew that I didn't know exactly what I needed. I decided to write a song about my problem. I started composing the lyrics in my mind while driving. Then I passed a small movie sign (common in L.A., which indicate to movie crews where to go for an outdoor shoot). The sign said "Hungry Man" and so I started singing "I got a hunger, but don't know what to eat." By the time I got to work, I had figured out much of the melody and lyrics. 6. Leakin' Battery – I wrote this song years ago when I was suffering from a form of peripheral neuropathy (weakness in my hands and twitching muscles all over my body). After getting an MRI I was sent to an oncologist because, at that time, I also had odd proteins in my blood – proteins which increased my chance of coming down with multiple myeloma. Luckily, those proteins disappeared from my blood a few months later. (The very annoying twitching throughout my body took a few years to die away.) 7. Floor Play (Revisited) – The original song appeared on my second CD (Our Unwinding Time) and was too long (over 5:30). This version is shorter; has tighter lyrics, and contains two key-shifts for greater musical variation. 8. Wicked Whims – I was playing with the chord progression: G7 F#7 F7 and the words "warm dark night" and "wicked whims" suddenly came to me. In that moment I knew I would write a blues song (which I did, that very day) based on that progression and those phrases. 9. Compli-intricated Life (Revisited) – This is rearrangement of my song that appeared in my earlier CD of the same title. IN this version I removed about two-dozen words and changed others. I also sped up the tempo. 10. Defiance & Insistence Blues – Most blues songs have simple lyrics (of the sort: "my baby left me"). I thought it might be interesting to use sophisticated language in a blues song – thus words like "intransigent", "acquiescence", "connivance", "dalliance", "incongruence", etc. 11. Boogie Blues 1 -- In the last year I have learned some boogie-woogie patterns on piano; so I wanted to use one in an instrumental piece. 12. Ps & Qs -- Sometimes, what inspires the lyrics to a song can be rather odd. I already had the music for this song but no lyrics. I was looking though all of my songs and noticed that I had no songs whose titles begin with the letter "P" or "Q" and that made me think of the phrase "Ps & Qs" which then led to the phrase "Mind your Ps & Qs". This phrase also sounds like "Peas & Cues" which are terms used in billiards ("peas" refers to small numbered balls that are used in a variation of billiards called "Kelly pool"). I then got the idea of a pool player whose girlfriend is trying to push him into marriage so he realizes that he needs to be moving on. (The term "head string" in the song refers to that invisible line behind which the pool player must shoot with the cue stick.) I composed this song back in 2008 and only now got around to recording it. 13. Barely Hangin' On – While driving to work and I had a panic attack (that feeling that one is just barely hanging on). I decided to channel this awful feeling into something productive, by composing a poem about how I was feeling. By the time I got to work I had some verses written in my mind and the panic had subsided. A few days later a melody came to me and I turned those verses into song lyrics. 14. Your Soul, Oh Margot (Revisited) -- This song appeared on my 3rd CD (Aboriginal Angel) and was titled "It's Your Soul, Margot". Over time I decided that the original arrangement was too long and also needed more musical variation. IN general, I enjoy rearranging (and hopefully improving) prior songs. The reason why this CD contains 14 tracks (rather than the standard 10 or 11) is because, on this CD, I have revisited 3 prior songs.