YES! WEEKLY - Greensboro, North Carolina
September 19-25, 2007

OSMOND SONG RECORDED BY LOCAL BAND



 

 

 

 

 


  Clay Howard has a copy of his album signed by the Osmond Brothers

Local musician rethinks the Osmond Brothers
~ by Clay Howard

My wife loves Donny Osmond.  Well, she did when she was a little girl.  Since we have been married, I have continued to buy her Donny Osmond records and other paraphernalia.  In addition to his CDs, I have found and purchased a Donny and Marie play set from 1976 that our daughters love, an Osmond Cartoon DVD and multiple LPs.  Last Christmas I bought her the Donny autobiography, Life is Just What You Make It, and once she finished it, I have to admit, I read it too.  In it he mentions the Osmond Brothers' Crazy Horses LP numerous times.

I missed the Osmond mania of the early '70s.  I had no idea that the Osmond Brothers actually wrote and played instruments, and never suspected that they might have actually been good.  But I am here to admit that I was wrong.

Laugh if you want, but those guys - Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and yes, Donny - can actually play not one, but multiple instruments.  And they can write a darn good pop tune.  "Crazy Horses" came out in 1972, when I was 4.  I heard the title track in a dance remix a couple of years ago, and thought it was cool.  After reading the Donny book, I searched out a copy and, what a tune...what an album.  If your only exposure to the Osmonds is "One Bad Apple," this one will surprise you.

As my band, Stratocruiser, was finishing our latest CD, Egg Shells, I suggested we record our own version of the song, "Crazy Horses" to add to the final project.  I thought it would be really cool to have a quote from one of the Osmonds to help sell the CD, so I searched for any contact info that I could find.  Believe it or not, I found an address and sent an e-mail to the personal assistant of Jay Osmond, the lead singer of the song.  Honestly, I expected no reply, as rarely does something like this pan out.

Surprise...
One day later, I received a return e-mail from his personal assistant, letting me know that she would love to pass along our version of the song to Jay.  I mailed her the CD and she again replied and said that she was very impressed.  She also mentioned that the Osmond Brothers would be playing at the Walker Center in Wilkesboro on September 6, and that she could probably arrange for me to meet them, so I immediately bought tickets.

I took my wife to the Wilkesboro show, and even though Donny was not performing, we both had a great time.  To demonstrate how genuine the Osmonds are, minutes before they hit the stage, Jay Osmond's personal assistant, Terri, came out, introduced herself and told me, "Jay sent me out here to apologize to you - they are not playing 'Crazy Horses' tonight."

After the show, I had a chance to meet the guys.  Jay Osmond came out and immediately introduced himself to me, saying "Are you Clay?  Been looking forward to meeting you.  I am very impressed with your version of our song.  Great work!"  Jimmy Osmond echoed his sentiments, and Wayne Osmond, co-writer of the song, gave his kudos as well.  I then had the brothers autograph my copy of the Crazy Horses LP as Terri snapped a photo of the event for me.

The best part of the whole experience?  Had to be finding a great record from the past, having the opportunity to interpret it and share it with a few people.  Meeting the original creators of the song was just icing on the cake.  And their blessings on our recording of their song - very cool.

Clay Howard is a local musician who works for the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship.



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