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From Something New: Unreleased Gold, a new collection of unreleased demos by the late songwriter
American Songwriter is honored to premiere “Come Down To Me,” written and performed by the late great Andrew Gold. It’s one of many unreleased gems discovered by Gold’s wife Leslie Kogan, recorded as demos in 1973 with producer Chuck Plotkin, which were abandoned and forgotten for all these decades
Until now. that is. In April, Omnivore is releasing Something New: Unreleased Gold, a colllection of these songs on both vinyl and LP. Andrew’s friend, producer-musician Peter Asher, wrote the liner notes.
Of all the songs on this album, Leslie said, this one means the most to her.
“‘Come Down To Me’ is my favorite of the 1973 demos,” she said. “It’s fantastic, just so, so beautiful. I’m thrilled and honored that American Songwriter is going to do this, because this song means so much to me. I just love it, love it, love it. The first time I ever heard it, I had to just play it over and over again.”
“Andrew wasn’t like most songwriters,” she said. “He could write everything. He would listen to the radio and could write whatever was on the radio at the time. He would move with the times. In his songwriting he was able to reach every audience.”
“He was also the funniest person I ever knew,” she said.
A beloved member of this Angeleno music community for a long time, Andrew is missed. A brilliant and funny presence in person, he was a remarkably gifted singer and songwriter. But he also happened to be such an astounding musician, and on such a vast range of instruments (including guitar, bass, piano, accordion, synthesizer, harmonica, saxophone, flute, drums, ukulele, musette, and even harmonium) that he was in perpetual demand by the greatest artists to play on their records, or in their bands.
He toured with Linda Ronstadt for years, and also performed with a list of luminaries so long, it’s staggering. Even the short list, though, is rather amazing: Roy Orbison, Ringo Starr, Don Henley, The Eagles, James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, America,Bonnie Raitt, Nicolette Larson, Maria Muldaur, Neil Diamond, Freddie Mercury, Bette Midler and Cher.
And if that didn’t keep him busy enough, he was also a serious producer, sound engineer, film composer, session musician as well as actor and painter.
He’s most famous for his own version of his classic “Lonely Boy.” But the song of his which has eclipsed it in terms of cultural impact has to be “Thank You For Being A Friend,” which was used as the theme to the TV show “The Golden Girls.”
He was also a member of the great folk-rock quartet Bryndle, with his dear friends and fellow songwriters Wendy Waldman, Karla Bonoff and the late Kenny Edwards.
He recorded these Something New demos at Clover on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood in 1973, for use in his pursuit of a solo record deal. For several months he and Chuck Plotkin recorded these, and did result in a record deal for him, with Asylum. Yet by the time he started recording his debut album for them, he chose all new songs, and never returned to the Clover collection.
If not for Leslie, who valiantly champions Andrew and his great songbook, these songs might have remained unheard forever. In advance of the release of the album, we are happy to bring you this unheard gem, with gratitude.
A conversation with Leslie about her life with Andrew, as well as the journey that led to this album, is coming soon.
From Something New: Unreleased Gold on Omnivore Recordings, this is “Come Down To Me” by Andrew Gold.
