Former Journey singer Steve Perry recently released an expanded version of his 2021 Christmas album, The Season. Retitled The Season 3, the updated collection features several additional tracks. One of the newly added tunes is a poignant, studio-created duet that features Perry singing the jazz-pop standard “Call Me Irresponsible” with his late father, Ray.
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Now, a new animated video for the “Call Me Irresponsible” duet has premiered on Steve’s official YouTube channel. Accompanying the clip is a note from Perry explaining how he discovered a recording of his father singing the tune that was used to create the new track.
“My father … was a singer and when I was a child he would sing to me at bedtime,” Steve shared. “I recently found a karaoke cassette of my dad singing that he sent me back in 1993 for Christmas. The one song that touched me the most was ‘Call Me Irresponsible.’ His voice was lovely.”
About the “Call Me Irresponsible” Video
The video touchingly depicts various moments in Perry and his father’s lives using animated line drawings. The clip begins with a Christmastime scene at the family home showing Steve’s father leaving with a suitcase. (Perry’s father and mother divorced when Steve was 7.)
As the video continues, it shows Perry learning to play guitar as a teenager. It then follows him as he becomes a rock star, singing with a band in front of a large crowd. The clip also shows Perry’s father watching his son perform on TV, while one of Steve’s solo albums is seen on a dresser.
The video also depicts a young Perry have a snowball fight with his father. We later see an adult Steve at his ailing dad’s bedside, and then laying flowers at his father’s grave. As the clip nears its end, it shows Perry opening a box and finding the cassette of his father singing, with the inscription, “Merry Christmas, Love, dad.”
The video concludes with images of Perry and his father singing “Call Me Irresponsible” side by side. The track ends with Steve saying, “I love you, dad,” and a recording of Ray Perry saying, “Merry Christmas, God love you.”
The video was designed and animated by visual artist Tolga Tarhan.
Perry Shares More About the “Call Me Irresponsible” Duet
Perry discussed the “Call Me Irresponsible” duet in an exclusive interview with People.
“Though my father is no longer with me, he is with me on this song, and we are together once again, doing something we always dreamed about doing,” the 74-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer told the magazine. “This all came from a cassette my father sent me back in 1993 for the holidays. It was him singing into a karaoke machine. I thought the tape was lost, but I recently found this cassette and was able to build a beautiful track around him so I could sing with him. This was my holiday miracle.”
Perry also pointed out that he never saw much of his father after his parents divorced.
He added, “Singing with my father after all these years was a very emotional experience. His voice was just as I remembered it as a child. … To hear him speak again brought tears to my eyes.”
Ray Perry passed away of natural causes in 1998 at age 79.
About “Call Me Irresponsible”
“Call Me Irresponsible” was written in 1962 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn. The tune was sung by Jackie Gleason in the 1963 film Papa’s Delicate Condition and won the Oscar for Best Original Song the following year.
“Call Me Irresponsible” has been recorded by many famous singers over the years, including Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, Eddie Fisher, Tony Bennett, and Michael Bublé.
About The Season 3
The Season 3, which was released on November 8, features 16 tracks.
When The Season was originally released in 2021, it featured Perry’s renditions of eight yuletide tunes. A deluxe digital version of the album came out in October 2022 with two bonus tracks, one of which was an original tune titled “Maybe This Year.”
The Season 3 boasts six newly added songs, including the aforementioned “Call Me Irresponsible” duet, and Perry’s versions of “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Let It Snow,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” and “What a Wonderful World.”
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