October 8, 2005
A widow’s song
WALLACE BAINE
Sentinel staff writer
It was no deathbed vow that made Ginny Arguello follow through on her late husband’s dream after his death. She never got the chance to make such a vow. In an instant, an ordinary winter’s day in January 2003 turned into a devastating personal tragedy when 54-year-old musician and Watsonville High teacher Alex Arguello died of a heart attack no one saw coming. Now, 2½ years after Alex’s death, Ginny Arguello has finished a project that serves as a tribute to her husband’s consuming passion. She took hours of unfinished music Alex had recorded in his home studio and fashioned from that raw material an album in which Alex posthumously collaborates with several other musicians.
"Only Dreaming: The Music of Alex Arguello" collects 13 of Alex’s original songs, pieced together from demos featuring Alex’s singing and guitar-playing. Using part of Alex’s life-insurance funds, Ginny gathered up the material that had been recorded on several different formats, hired a stable of new musicians and booked studio time at MARS recording studio. The result is a crisply produced compilation that shows off Alex’s diverse songwriting chops swinging from smooth jazz to reggae. "He was going to do music full time, when he retired from teaching," said Ginny in the Aromas home she shared with Alex, who was also survived by his and Ginny’s two daughters. "He was going to start a jazz band, and he wanted to record and tour. He just never got the chance." "She really believed in Alex," said Mark Whittington, who played bass with Alex in a band called the Rhythm Casters and contributed bass tracks to the "Only Dreaming" project as well. "She couldn’t just let his music die. These were more than just a bunch of old tapes she found in the closet. They were a lot better than that and she knew that."
Alex Arguello taught social studies in the special education department at Watsonville High School, where the news of his death was a jolt. "It really crippled us for a few days," said Cathy Atwood, who at the time was co- department head with Alex. His students planned a memorial service at the school for him, purchasing a tree and a bench in Alex’s name. "He was probably the most well-loved teacher in our department," said Atwood. "He was always upbeat, humorous, very supportive."
|
His passion was his music, which he often used as a tool in the classroom. With the Rhythm Casters, he played occasional gigs at places like the Moss Landing Inn, Cilantro’s in Watsonville and the annual Wharf to Wharf race. As a songwriter, he was winner in the Great American Song Contest for his song "Yesterday’s Heartache," which is included on the new album.
|
|
Alex left behind vocal and guitar tracks on 4-track, 8-track and ADAT recorders. In assembling the "Only Dreaming" CD, Ginny used Alex’s own voice and guitar where it was available. She did not, however, have a vocal track from Alex on "Yesterday’s Heartache," so she brought in singer Richard Bryant — he sings the McCartney parts in the Santa Cruz White Album Ensemble. Also contributing to the disc were guitarist Yuji Tojo, percussionist Gary Kehoe, saxophonist Gary Regina, bandmates Whittington and Nick Chiulos and more, including well-known jazz guitarist Bruce Forman, who had recently played on the soundtrack for Clint Eastwood’s Oscar- winning film "Million Dollar Baby."
Only one song on the new album, the title track, included no tracks from Alex.
Ginny Arguello knew nothing about the intricacies of recording music when her husband died. "My only experience was watching Alex. I didn’t really pay attention. It was just something that Alex did. I just listened and applauded." When Alex died, Ginny took his tapes to Ken Capitanich at MARS in Aptos. He hooked her up with producer Steve Malcolm, a veteran sound engineer who had worked with Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. As Malcolm’s apprentice, she learned all she needed to know to produce "Only Dreaming."
Alex Arguello grew up in San Francisco as part of a family that traced its roots back to two governors of California during Spanish and, later, Mexican rule in the early 1800s. The family pronounced its name as "ar-GWEL-o" in keeping with family tradition of that period (Arguello Street in San Francisco is named for the family). Alex’s mother, Marty Links, was a syndicated cartoonist for years. She created the strip "Bobby Sox," the storylines of which were often inspired by day-to-day life in the Arguello household.
Alex came of age in the 1960s in a city widely acknowledged as the epicenter of the psychedelic ’60s sound. As a guitarist, his grounding was the blues. "Albert King, B.B. King, Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, these were his heroes," said Ginny. "He loved the blues but he didn’t really write songs in that style."
Whittington said that the Rhythm Casters were just hitting their stride at the time of Alex’s death. "It’s a real shame because the band was just getting facile," he said. "As a guitar player, Alex was always searching for the perfect tone. And he’d finally found that right tone just before he died."
Alex’s father had died of heart trouble, but at the age of 54, Alex was a conscientious eater and even employed a personal trainer. The coroner had told Ginny that Alex’s diet and exercise pattern likely extended his life. The day before he died, Alex told his band that he felt he might be getting the flu. The next day, a Friday, he went to work. In the middle of the day, Ginny called him with an idea. The Rhythm Casters had been looking for some slow songs to mix in with their set. She suggested the old Sam Cooke song "(What a) Wonderful World." "I remember, he said, ‘Let’s have a fire tonight. I’ve had a really hard week,’" she said. "So, I got the lyrics to ‘Wonderful World,’ came home and built a fire, just looking forward to a nice quiet evening at home."
The hours ticked by, and Alex didn’t show.
"I figured he was stopping somewhere to get some take-out or something. And then the phone rang, and I thought, ‘Oh, there’s Alex now.’ It was the sheriff ... and that was it."
In the days and weeks after Alex’s death, Ginny found comfort in immersing herself in Alex’s tapes, listening to them one by one in the car and at home. She went back only to 1987, the year the two were married, though there were tapes older than that.
"I called him my Tin Pan Alley composer," said Ginny. "I wanted to capture as much of Alex as I could. Because his goal was always to sell his songs. He would say, ‘I want to be a popular songwriter. I want my songs to be known.’"
"Only Dreaming" by Alex Arguello can be purchased at CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com) or by calling 800-289-6923. All proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to the American Red Cross for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Contact Wallace Baine at wbaine@santacruzsentinel.com.
Left too soon.
