Russ Kunkel

Dear Carly,

I recently played the song Waterfall from Playing Possum and even though I know the words by heart, I pulled out the tiny liner notes included in the CD. To my amazement, Russ Kunkel plays drums on this song! I absolutely love his contributions to Spoiled Girl and Coming Around Again, but I don't think I ever realized that he worked with you that early on.

After doing an extensive "google" search on the net, I came up empty handed as to what he's doing with this talent these days. Would you happen to know? Thanks for the joy your music brings to the world, Kevin - St. Louis, MO

Dear Kevin,
I love Russ Kunkel too. He is every singer's favorite drummer and I just was told last night as a matter of fact that he's Levon Helm's favorite drummer. He is brilliant as a person as well. I don't know what he's doing these days. I hope it's something that's worthy of the talent he always brings to whatever project he's doing.

I believe he did more for my career as a writer, arranger and producer than anyone. He kept pushing me in the best possible way when I was writing the music for "Heartburn" and the ensuing album "Coming Around Again", to write the bass parts, guitar and strings myself and play them on synthesizers. For the final recording we of course got reasonable people to play those parts. (I mean, don't kid yourself, that's not me being Billy Paine!!!) You only have to get me started on what a magaical person he is. Generous and brilliant. Love Carly - 8/29/02

Club Mixes

I LOVE you and your music, and since your music IS so great, I was wondering what you thought about the idea of putting out an album of club remixes, or at least releasing a dance remix of a new single in the future?

I think it would be grand to take some of your biggest hits and re-release them for the nightclubs for today's generation who may not know of your previous treasures! Your thoughts? Damian Bisagni - Tampa, FL

Nice idea, do you have your checkbook handy?
Love, Carly - 8/26/02

Darkness Til Dawn

Hi Carly - I have been a huge fan since the 1971 "Carly Simon" album, so first of all, thank you for all the years of beautiful music that you have written and performed.

My favorite album seems to be "Another Passenger" and I have always been especially fascinated with the song "Darkness 'Til Dawn," which has a style all its own. Could you perhaps write a bit about the creation of that song and how the collaboration with Van Dyke Parks came to be? Many thanks and much love, Joe - Los Angeles, CA

Dear Joe,
Darkness Til Dawn is a song I wrote with Jake Brackman. Van Dyke is a brilliant arranger and a fantastic man. I wish I could think right now of more subtle adjectives because he is deserving of them.

It is my recollection that the producer I was working with on that album was a friend of Van Dykes (what's not to befriend) and called him. We tried a more straightforward approach first (regular 4/4 time). It was too mundane for the elegant Mr. Parks. We said: scrap it and he began playing some tribal like rhythms and I started singing to them trying to keep up with his weird 'time'. I love the outcome.

I'm so glad you noticed. Hardly anyone has ever commented on what I think is a very very good song and especially the arrangement. Love Carly 8/23/02

Feels like "Home"

Hello Carly,

I have so many personal favorites among your amazing and heartfelt catalog of songs ("In Times When My Head" and "Touched By the Sun" blow me away every time I hear them), and there are many questions I would love to ask you one rainy day, however... being limited to only one (heavy sigh)... other than your home, of course, was there one place on the planet in your life's travels, that when you arrived, it just felt like..."home"(??).

And thank you, Carly, for being there - musically - time after time. You are a gift in life to so many of us. Gregory Rice - Hollywood, CA

Gregory,
It felt like home when I entered my kitchen on Martha's Vineyard. However not to be minimized is the amount of 'home' I felt creep into my emotional vocabulary when I was in the woods in Sussex England. Some Duke of Wellington's country estate no doubt (nod nod, wink wink). Or was it Surrey? Love Carly 8/17/02

Broken Hearts

Carly, I've always been touched by the lyrics of your songs about heartbreak and the ending of love affairs.To truly love someone is to make yourself vulnerable to being hurt, and sadly it often doesn't work out as in our dreams. Tell me, do you think that broken hearts ever really mend, even with the passage of time and falling in love again? Best wishes, Adrienne - Redding, CT

Funny, I think I just partly answered that question in my last letter about "Whatever Became Of Her". You have to absorb all the broken heart pieces and not let any of them become lost. If you save them and put them back 'in there', they may ultimately make a new shape out of love, but they won't be lost, nor will your space and capacity for love.

Do I know what the hell I am talking about? Maybe just a little. I hope so, because I am always picking up lost stitches and re-configuring the sweaters. Luckily the arms still wrap nicely around my needy little frame. Stick with metaphors. They hurt less. Love, Carly 8/3/02

Whatever Became Of Her

Carly, "Whatever Became of Her" from The Bedroom Tapes puts me in mind of the 1870s or 1880s and I envision the characters from that age. What were you picturing when you wrote it or what images does that song conjure up for you? Love your music. Frank - NY

The pictures of my mother and father in the early years of their courtship. There is a poem by Sharon Olds that inspired the lyrics to this song. Her memories were of her parents standing by the gate of their college campus somewhere around graduation time.

That command, that begging to not step out of the photograph. you don't know how you are going to be hurt. How others are going to hurt you. Leave it well enough alone in the grainy black and white print. That smile at once so sure and splendid and in love, gets frayed and sad and cynical. Boy, do you have to work in life just to see that you continue to pop up again like one of those dolls after a hard day at work in the pop up department. Love, Carly - 8/1/02