THE MUSIC
Most of the files below are performances by me of songs I have loved for years. It's a hobby for me at this point although I once did sing for money. There may be a couple of exceptions from time to time which are noted in the individual song descriptions.
My recordings are simple, usually just one guitar, one voice. I have put some of my music onto a few CDs which I have shared with (or inflicted upon, depending on your viewpoint) my friends.
MP3
These MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) files were generally encoded at a sampling rate (64 to 128 kbps) to produce decent quality and not be an onerous download using a dialup connection. Still, some may be rather large and using a dial-up connection could take 10 or 15 minutes to download. But they'll be PDQ with broadband.
NOTES - Depending on your browser's capabilities, and how it's set up, you can just click on a song link below and it will download and then play. If not, try this: RIGHT CLICK on the song, then pick SAVE TO DISK (or SAVE TARGET AS or SAVE LINK TARGET AS), and select a folder where the file will be stored. After the file downloads to your hard drive you can play it your standard player(s).
Please note
All songs are copyrighted by their respective owners except for:
A Minstrel's Carol © Copyright 1978, 2001 by Ed Mullen
Melodies © Copyright 1978, 2001 by Ed Mullen
My Love Song © Copyright 1978, 2001 by Ed Mullen
Courses © Copyright 2000 by Ed Mullen and Matt Carl
No Time To Cry © Copyright 2001 by Ed Mullen
SONGS - General
Songs added August 2007 - Gotta love this new Web host with all this disk space! The following OLD cuts are from the era when I started singing for "a living." Our friend Ed Tourigny on bass, Sharman's brother Steve laughing, some comments by our friend Mack, and, of course, our Black Lab Lightfoot barking. Oh! And Sharman ran the recordings on all those 1975 Toftrees (our apartment complex name) cuts!
Good Old Song - The Alpharetta Sessions
Drift Away - The Alpharetta Sessions
I Will Remember You - The Alpharetta Sessions
Help Me Make It Through The Night - circa 1975, Toftrees
More Often Than Not - circa 1975, Toftrees
Rainbow Trout - circa 1975, Toftrees
Rocky Mountain High.mp3 - circa 1975, Toftrees
10 Degrees And Colder - circa 1975, Toftrees
Affair On 8th Avenue - circa 1975, Toftrees
Solitary Man - circa 1975, Toftrees
Cracklin' Rosie - circa 1975, Toftrees
Talking In Your Sleep - 1972, The John Thomas Tapes
The Town I Loved So Well - written by Phil Coulter
I grew up fully immersed in the Italian side of the family. It was wonderful and warm, full of fun people, lots of love and food. It wasn't until I was an adult that I started to wonder more about the Irish side of the equation. I saw a made-for-TV movie (must have been in the early to mid 80s) starring Charles Haid (best known for his role as a cop on Hill Street Blues) about American couples who sponsor Irish children to visit the USA for a summer. The children are from Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was a very moving show and the one song that ran throughout was this one. I was also spending a fair amount of time in Irish pubs at the time and heard numerous traditional Irish groups sing it. Took me about 15 or so years but I finally learned it in 2000.
The Rebel Jesus - written by Jackson Browne
Maybe I've been saving up music for when I have time to really listen to it. Who knows? But, I have gone through stretches of many many years of loving and admiring people like Jackson Browne, The Eagles, and others without ever having owned any of their music. I bought a JB "Best Of" CD and found this tune that I'd never heard before.
Nova Scotia Farewell - with Derek Kidd - written by Anonymous
This song goes back to around 1964 for me. I haven't done it regularly in a couple of decades. Then I saw it mentioned in the Gordon Lightfoot newsgroup (alt.music.lightfoot) and dragged out the sheet music.
I sent my original solo track to my buddy Derek Kidd in California. The next thing I know I get this file back in my email! Derek - you rock! (Or, Usted Roca!)
July, You're a Woman - written by John Stewart
Recorded 1998 - Here's one by request from fans of John Stewart
ORIGINAL SONGS BY ED MULLEN
A Minstrel's Carol - written by Ed Mullen, (Copyright 2001 Ed Mullen)
Only took me 23 years to finish this one. It's not as depressing as it sounds. Honest!
Courses - Lyrics, Ed Mullen - Music, Matt Carl, (Copyright 2000 Matt Carl & Ed Mullen)
This is probably my personal favorite of all the things I've written. (thanks to Melissa for the grammar correction) Originally it began as a poem I did while musing about Gordon Lightfoot's 60th birthday in 1998. I later posted it on the Lightfoot Internet newsgroup. Matt Carl liked it and asked if I minded if he tried to put it to music. I'm glad I was smart enough to say "Sure!" A while later he sent me a recording that just blew me away. From there he went on to create a new mix with background vocals, lead guitar, pedal steel, and bass! Awesome job, Matt! MP3 format file
My Love Song - written by Ed Mullen, (Copyright 1978 Ed Mullen)
This is Sharman's favorite of mine.
No Time To Cry - written by Ed Mullen, (Copyright 2001 Ed Mullen)
Is it about September 11, 2001? Is it about something else? Well, I'll say that out of tragedy comes honest emotion. I like this one and I generally don't have much to say about what I write. I like the idea that, if well done, a song can be a window into the soul of the artist but, best of all, it's about whatever the listener hears. I tried hard to make this not just another story about planes, buildings, nations, fanatics, and all that. I hope it works for you on some level.
LIGHTHEADS - THE AUSTIN JAMS - When we get together to make merry and play music I usually record everything. "Everything" meaning 354 File(s) 2,494,294,990 bytes of "stuff" over the years. Here are some highlights. I sift through it periodically to try and find some "gems." So, like all else here, the playlist changes.
COUNTRY SONG LYRIC GENERATOR - an Excel 2000 workbook, approximately 111Kb. It is one of the stranger things I've ever done. It's pretty self-explanatory; just load the file in Excel and click the button to generate a country song!
MORE INFORMATION
This page has a brief description of how I record, software and hardware used, my guitars, etc. It includes software for recording, editing, converting formats, playing mp3 files, encoding, ripping, etc. Additionally, there are a few links to sites with info on recording techniques.
The Living Room Tapes - artwork and CD information
The Alpharetta Sessions - artwork and CD information
The Gordon Lightfoot Internet Tribute CDs - Information and Ordering. Why is this here, you ask? Because it's an interesting compilation and I'm on Volume 2. Ok?
The Gordon Lightfoot Crossword Puzzles
Sometimes this page contains additional music and other stuff. Sometimes.