Here's some of the songs I've gotten recorded over the years. These are HOME studio recordings - most tracks are from Apple's Garage Band (I have copies of other recording software, but have time to either learn new software, or just sit down and record in Garage Band). Some older ones are just one-shot, single track "live" recordings, so the vocal/instrument balance isn't always quite right and hard to adjust, since everything's on one track.
I've posted them here with my own self-critiques, just so you don't think that I think what's posted here are the greatest things you ever heard. These don't necessarily include all the best songs I've written and certainly aren't professional recordings; just some tracks I've found the time to record on evenings or weekends.
FORM - Request for PERMISSION TO ARRANGE - jbcmusic
Songs noted as being from my 2017 PROMO CD are 10 songs submitted to a group in Nashville, April 2017. Most were tweaked or remixed to sound better than previous versions posted, but I haven't had time to re-record any yet.
You can hear some of the (same) recordings below at:
You can see my CCLI catalog at songselect.ccli.com, and all sheet music for sale in the JBCMusic Store.
| TITLE | FILES | Notes | Self-Critique |
| There Lies the Cross | Lyric Video on YouTube (5:16, 20.6MB) | (Home Studio May-2020) | My wife and I collaborated on this, our first ever attempt at video, so only the basics. MP3 audio below. |
| TITLE | FILES | Notes | Self-Critique |
| A Child of Yours | Download the MP3 (3:24, 1.8MB) | (Home Studio June-04) | One of the best recordings here, but I know, the piano part (many of my piano parts) needs work to play less of the melody. Track 7 on my 2017 Promo CD. |
| As We Enter Your Communion | Download the MP3 (6:29, 7.8MB) | (Home Studio Nov-20) | NEW SONG April 2020. In the interest of getting the song out there for people to hear, used the MIDI piano part from Musescore, added vocals and another little piano overlay in Garage Band. I was having equipment troubles the first cut in May, went back and re-recorded the vocals with a new microphone in November 2020. |
| Before the Day is Done | Download the MP3 (2:16, 1.3MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | Sound is good, but again, I haven't spent much time on the piano as accompaniment instead of just playing the melody. |
| Clap Your Hands and Sing (Jehovah Rises) | Download the MP3 (2:55, 1.6MB) | (Home Studio Mar-04) | Psalm 93. The recording's a little rushed, but I wanted to include it because this is a song I often start out my live sets with, and it seems to be well-received live.. Track 8 on my 2017 Promo CD. CCLI Song No. 7121008. |
| Freeway Song (Lord, Save Me) | Download the MP3 (4:09, 2.9MB) | (Live Performance Dec-2005) | Ah, come on! This is a FUN song to either play or listen to. You'll have to forgive a couple of minor keyboard bobbles at the beginning, but not bad for just pushing "Record" at a live performance. |
| Get in the Flow | Download the MP3 (2:19, 1.3MB) | (Acoustic piano to tape Nov-03) | Sounds like a "live" cut sitting at the piano singing into a little single-track karaoke/tape machine - oh, wait, it was. Get in the flue? |
| Grace, the Grace | Download the MP3 (3:22, 1.9MB) | (Home Studio June-04) | Yeah, right-when I try to sing too "pretty" - it often ain't. I love this song, but that doesn't mean I'm the best person to sing it. CCLI Song No. 44443957. |
| Halle-Hallelujah! | Download the MP3 (2:12, 1.3MB) | (Home Studio?) | Ugh! I can do better! But here it is, just as a ROUGH idea of what the song sounds like, since it's one of the songs I've got the sheet music on sale for. I promise a better cut to come when I can get to it. CCLI Song No. 4444066. |
| How Much More | Download the MP3 (3:00, 1.7MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | A little rushed, but I think the sound came out OK. CCLI Song No. 7121010. |
| In the Presence of God | Download the MP3 (1:46, 1MB) | (Home Studio Nov-03) | Hey! OK, THIS is one of my better recordings here. |
| I See Jesus Come for Me | Download the MP3 (3:15, 5.7MB) | (Home Studio May-20) | Getting back to some recording after a long time focused on writing the songs. I initially posted a mixdown that didn't sound that great, but I went back and reworked it the next day, and think it came out pretty good. |
| Jesus Will Speak of Me | Download the MP3 (2:50, 1.6MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | One of my Kermit-the-Frog days - with Miss Piggy standing on his toe! This song deserves better. |
| Little Man | Download the MP3 (4:03, 2.1mB) | (Home Studio Mar-04) | My most popular song on ReverbNation, and when I play live. A few ragged spots, but overall not a bad recording of another FUN song. Winner of the July 2015 Akademia Music Awards for Best Song - Christian Alternative! Track 1 on my 2017 Promo CD. CCLI Song No. 7117363. |
| Let Us Go Straight to Bethlehem | Download the MP3 (3:32, 6.9mB) | (Garage Band Dec-2021) | NEW CHRISTMAS SONG! Luke 2:15 (NASB): "Let us go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." I hadn't worked in Garage Band in a long time, but wanted to get this new song out before Christmas. First cut in F was straining my voice; I dropped it to E flat and think it came out well about the 5th try on the vocals. Posted on ReverbNation.com/BrentClifton. |
| Lord, Don't Float My House Away | Download the MP3 (5:36, 11.5mB) | (Garage Band June-2016) | Probably my 2nd most popular song when I play live. I wrote this song in 2001, shortly after Tropical Storms Allison and Frances had flooded parts of Houston. Since we've had MORE flooding starting with Memorial Day 2015, then "Tax Day" and AGAIN on Memorial Day 2016, I thought it was high time to get the song recorded and out there for folks to hear. Track 2 on my 2017 Promo CD. |
| Lord, Magnify Your Light (A Candle Burns) | Download the MP3 (5:54, 10MB) | (Garage Band Nov-2015) | One of my favorite songs I've written.I had the piano and strings pretty much done with some ragged vocals from a couple of years ago in Garage Band, finally picked it up and recorded some better, still not perfect, vocals. Track 4 on my 2017 Promo CD. CCLI Song No. 7114036. |
| Lord, Set My Spirit Free | Download the MP3 (1:33, 0.9MB) | (Home Studio Nov-03) | This is a decent recording of a nice little song. CCLI Song No. 7121011. |
| Me and the Lord | Download the MP3 (2:56, 1.6MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | The piano came out good except that one blurb near the end; vocals sound too much like - ME! |
| Mercy Seat | Download the MP3 (2:20, 3.9MB) | (Garage Band Aug-2015) | The song's originally from around 1990, formally copyrighted 1997, and I finally got it recorded around the 25th! anniversary of writing it. I think the audio came out OK, and I got the vocals sounding a little better for the 2017 promo CD. Track 5 on my 2017 Promo CD. The most popular song in my CCLI catalog, #4444451. |
| Mighty Moves (Version 1 - E-flat Major, 80 bpm) | Download the MP3 (4:44, 9.3MB) | (Garage Band Jan-2022) | This is a song I've struggled with the exact sound I wanted -this first version was ok but didn't have that unique sound that songwriters strive for. After I've worked with it awhile in MuseScore (notation) and GarageBand (audio) I'm liking it better, though. Versions 2 and 3 are linked below. My plan is to put out some kind of online voting form so website, ReverbNation and Facebook fans can vote on the one they like. A shorter version (3:44, 7.2MB) is also posted on ReverbNation.com/BrentClifton. |
| Mighty Moves (Version 2 - C minor, 84 bpm) | Download the MP3 (3:30, 6.8MB) | (Garage Band Dec-2021) | This is the 2nd version, in C minor; I didn't like it as much at first, but after putting it aside, then reworking some chords when I picked it back up, I'm liking it better. Version 1 is linked above and version 3 below. Also posted on ReverbNation.com/BrentClifton. |
| Mighty Moves (Version 3 - E Major, 132 bpm) | Download the MP3 (5:19, 10.5MB) | (Garage Band Dec-2021) | This recording is Version 3, more upbeat and driving than the others. A shorter version (4:16, 7.4MB) is posted on ReverbNation.com/BrentClifton. Versions 1 and 2 are linked above. |
| Morning Thanks Song (This is Your Day) | Download the MP3 (1:32, 0.9MB) | (Home Studio Nov-03) | Kermit the Frog is a freakin BA-ZILLIONAIRE! SO THERE! You can sing it better, I'm sure. CCLI Song No. 7121012. |
| Root Out the Planting | Download the MP3 (2:30, 1.4MB) | (Home Studio Nov-03) | Vocals start out a bit muddy, but it gets better. CCLI Song No. 4444516. |
| (I Wanna Be) Singin' With Angels | Download the MP3 (4:55, 7.9MB) | (Garage Band Mar-15) | Trying to get back into recording with a new version of Garage Band, so I picked a simple tune that I enjoy singing. |
| Somebody Touch Jesus | Download the MP3 (5:49, 9.4MB) | (Garage Band Jan-14, March 2017 remix) | For the quiet place in worship. One of the more contemplative songs I got on my past morning commute. Re-mixed and improved as track 6 on my 2017 promo CD. |
| Speak Forgiveness (Long version) | Download the MP3 (6:42, 12.2MB) | (Garage Band Sept. 2010) | Garage Band recording, much improved over a previous version I had here. Track 3, maybe my own personal favorite recording on my 2017 Promo CD. I was able to tweak the audio slightly for the Promo CD, but I seem to have lost the original Garage Band file! I guess I'll have to get that crashed external hard drive recovered, after all. This is the long version; had to put a shortened version on ReverbNation.com. CCLI Song No. 7117361. |
| Start it Out Here in Bethlehem | Download the MP3 (6:49, 12.5MB) | (Garage Band Dec. 2015, March 2017 remix) | My one and only Christmas song - but not only about Christ's birth, but His whole life and relationship with us. This remix replaces previous versions, including an older recording that's been online for a few years. Track 9 on my 2017 Promo CD. CCLI Song No. 7121013. |
| Tabernacle | Download the MP3 (7:28, 5.1MB) | (Live Performance Dec-2005) | Ok recording for a live performance, but I now play the song differently, and have recently written two different versions of the score - an ensemble version with voice, piano, flute, and strings parts, and a solo voice and piano version. PDF Sheet Music in the JBCMusic Store: Ensemble version, Solo piano version, or Both versions. CCLI Song No. 7122573. |
| There Lies the Cross | Download the MP3 (4:35, 7.4MB) | ** NEWEST RECORDING - MAY 2020 ** | Finally got back to my first home-studio recording after a few years, not perfect, but pretty good. I usually stretch it out with V1-V2-Ch-V1-V2-Ch-Ch, but only did the verses once on the mp3 to keep it shorter. Also put together our first attempt at a Lyric Video (5:16, 20.6MB). CCLI Song No. 7082057, BMI 041363206. |
| When My Heart Hears You | Download the MP3 (2:00, 1.1MB) | (Home Studio Nov-03) | Vocals are a bit lacking, and I think I tried cutting and pasting some parts in Sound Studio that didn't come out too smooth. |
| TITLE | FILES | Notes | Self-Critique |
| A Father's Wedding Song (lyrics by Bruce Clifton) | Download the MP3 (5:35, 9.9mB) | (Garage Band May-2014) | My brother Bruce called me 10 days before his daughter Alicia's wedding to ask, if he sent me some words, could I put some music together for the father-daughter dance at the wedding? Loved his lyrics, so I put a simple piano part and vocals together. Our other brother's son Jeremiah was then an audio engineer for NASA, formerly for Tequila Mockingbird studio in Austin. I normally don't bother him for my mixes, but since this was a special deal for his cousin's wedding, I sent my Garage Band file to him to polish up in ProTools. This is the final mix as played at the wedding reception. |
| About You Blue | Download the MP3 (4:49, 7MB) | (Garage Band Apr-2014) | The mp3 posted here replaces an older, rushed version. I like this cut a lot better, though it's still not perfect. I first wrote the song May-1997, so I've been playing it a long time, one of my favorites to play. At the moment the song popped into my head, the cat really was sitting on the window sill, and the dog probably really was asleep on the back porch, but nothing else about the song is autobiographical. |
| Backout (Huntin' You Down) | Download the MP3 (3:33, 5.2MB) | (Garage Band Apr-2014) | I must have recorded this soon after I got the song (2010); months later I was looking through my Garage Band projects and didn't even remember taking this song as far along as it was. Lyrics are another of the backwater places my mind wandered to when I was making that long commute; music is simple but I enjoy playing it. |
| Beulah Lynn | Download the MP3 (7:15, 8.3MB) | (Garage Band March-10) | This is pretty much what I sound like "live;" I had the tape running on the Tascam during a practice session, thought it sounded pretty good, so I pulled it onto the Mac and tweaked it a tiny amount in Sound Studio. |
| Bullfrog, You Don't Know | Download the MP3 (4:54, 5.6MB) | (Garage Band August-10) | This is what came together on two pretty quick evening Garage Band sessions. Still not perfect, but I think you'll like the song. The lyrics show the kind of backwaters my mind wanders to on the morning commute. |
| Dog Go Howl | Download the MP3 (4:53, 2.8MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | Ok, but I think I can sound a little better on this song now. No soul comes through in this cut. |
| Don't Buy Momma a Truck | Download the MP3 (2:54, 4.9MB) | (Garage Band July-15) | This has absolutely nothing to do with my real mother, who just celebrated her 90th birthday - but we all KNOW this woman! A fun little song I've been playing awhile, finally decided it's time for tolks to hear it! |
| Empty Air | Download the MP3 (4:23, 5MB) | (Garage Band Sept-10) | I think this is my best home studio work so far. I'm starting to learn my way around Apple's Garage Band a little more. It came out a little less country than I originally envisioned, but I think what I ended up with fits the song quite well. I like it! |
| Google My Name | Download the MP3 (2:42, 2.5MB) | (Garage Band Oct-09) | First cut in Garage Band when the song was hours old, so after I play it awhile it may change some. Not perfect - there's those vocals sounding too much like - me - again, but not bad considering I haven't done much in Garage Band, and what I have done was months ago. |
| Have You Got a Piano | Download the MP3 (2:10, 1.2MB) | (Rough First Cut June-04) | Not bad for a "rough first cut;" I think this song was barely an hour old when I sat down and recorded it. Actually recorded a much longer version; these are the good parts spliced together in Sound Studio. |
| If You Were Not the One | Download the MP3 (4:34, 2.6MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | Sounds like I tried to sing too sweet for the song. OK, but needs to be redone with a little more edge - and without the little mistakes on the piano! |
| Lonely Songs | Download the MP3 (6:21, 6.9mB) | (Garage Band June-2016) | This is a song I enjoy playing, even though the words are pretty sad. Recorded it more-or-less live in the home studio, then was playing around and came with a stringy counter-melody. Recorded it with a drum track, then decided it sounded cleaner without it. This is the 2nd take, replaces an earlier track posted in May. Words and music originally from 2007. |
| Old Kermit Cowboys | Download the MP3 (5:15, 6 MB) | (Garage Band Dec-2010) | For my father. Kermit is a treeless town in West Texas where my grandfather ran a grocery store for a few years. My mom still has the old 8mm films of a freckle-faced kid doing amazing tricks on the back of a paint pony. John and Gene Haley are the progeny of author J. Evetts Haley, who ran a ranch outside of town. The recording is simple voice and piano, more-or-less live in the home studio, only went back and corrected a couple of measures. May add some counter-melody with strings later, but I like it as it is. |
| The Rent Came Due (Here's the Deal) * NEW MAY 2020 * | Download the MP3 (4:32, 7.2 MB) | (Garage Band May-2020) | Fun song! (with a message). I originally wrote this in 2002, finished the notation in 2019 for the "BC Blues Book, Vol. 1." I thought it would be good to record and put out during the COVID-19 crisis, when people off work were worried about paying the rent and some government people were talking about rent forgiveness. A quick one-evening recording - I used the midi piano track from MuseScore, then recorded the vocals and another piano tinkle track over it. |
| Tropical Breezes | Download the MP3 (4:12, 6.1 MB) | (Garage Band July-2013) | An old sailor sets out on what may be his last voyage... Garage Band recording of a commuting song from 2005. One of my personal favorites; I've been playing it awhile, just didn't have a decent recording of it until this one. This track replaces one I had posted online for awhile that only had the vocals on the left channel - finally got the settings right in my studio. |
| Walkin' the Dog (Alligator Song) | Download the MP3 (2:24, 1.3MB) | (Home Studio Jan-04) | This is another one of the times my tongue trips over the Texan in me and I sound too much like - ME! It's a fun song, anyway. |
| Won't You Come Drive With Me | Download the MP3 (5:30, 6.3MB) | (Garage Band Jan-08) | My first completion of a whole song! in Garage Band! Could still use some improvements, mostly with my "bangin' and sangin'", but now I've got a multi-track baseline that I can go back and do that with! |
| Worn Out Blues (Blue Haze) | Download the MP3 (6:21, 6.7MB) | (Garage Band July-2016) | If you've ever driven through Texas a little east of Hill Country in a wet spring, when the grass grows taller than the bluebonnets, you've seen what I'm talking about - the tops of the flowers show as just a blue haze in some fields. This is the 5th or 6th cut, hopefully better than the first couple I've had posted here. A change for me - to keep the tempo and accompaniment consistent, the keyboards are a midi track imported from Musescore, instead of "live" audio. I found the first verse from 2013 in a "snippets" file I keep to write down short phrases and ideas in, seemed to fit with the fresh parts I was working on. I don't write up most of my secular songs as scores, but have this one; email me for the PDF sheet music or lead sheet. |
Words, Music and Web Site content ©1988-2025 Jeffrey Brent Clifton
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