Music Review - On an Island

Breezin’ to the music of Charlie Imes

By
Libby Belle

San Diego singer/songwriter Charlie Imes has captured the easy, breezy spirit
of laid-back Southern California living on his new CD, On An Island. 

Imes
and the Hodad Surf Club Band will perform at BonitaFest, a street festival
in Bonita, on September 27th (see our calendar section for details).  He
also ventured out to East County to entertain guests at a La Mesa picnic for
Barack Obama supporters in July (photo).

Recently written up in the Reader, La Jolla Light and Del Mar
Times, Imes celebrated his success with a CD launch party at (where
else?) the Barefoot Bar on Mission Bay.

Born in Texas, Imes migrated to Southern California with his parents at the
age of five, landing in Los Angeles, where he grew up listening to the music
of his parents and older siblings:  “Everything from The Beatles,
Nat King Cole, Led Zeppelin, Louis Armstrong, John Denver, Black Sabbath, Bing
Crosby, James Taylor, Jethro Tull, Doc Severinson, Jim Croce and everything
in between.  I loved it all,” he wrote in his MySpace blog. 

Later, he played in high school bands and other locales.  “I’d
play down at the beach, around campfires…wherever,” he recalled.
Imes moved to Arizona for a couple of years, but soon found that sand alone
wasn’t enough.  Homesick for the beach, he wrote Summer Days,
then  packed up and headed back to California – this time winding
up in San Diego.  He played in coffee houses, job-hopped and became a
political organizer before returning to his first love, music.

The lyrics of On An Island, the CD’s signature tune, reflect
a time when Imes felt dissatisfied with his job and his life:  “I
can only tolerate just so much of taking orders, before I give in and forget
it all and go where there’s sea for borders.”  

Imes worked on several political campaigns and organized DemocracyFest, a
national conference of progressive activists in San Diego.  He lined up
top-flight musical talent as entertainment, making key connections in the music
industry including San Diego Music Award winner Jeff Berkley (Berkley Hart,
Citizen Band), who co-produced the On An Island CD.  Imes co-wrote
the CD’s Morning Birds with Grammy award-winner Laurence Juber
(Paul McCartney’s Wings). The CD also includes cameo appearances by singer/songwriter
Cindy Lee Berryhill,, jazz trumpet virtuoso Gilbert Castellanos, and Deadline
Friday guitarist Mike Spurgat.  In addition, comic star James Adomian
provides impersonations of  President George W. Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney in a playful political poke titled, Worst Presnadent Ever.

Imes’ passion
for politics locally is legendary. (Friends still rib him for making traveling
companions miss a plane home while trying to “convert” a conservative
staffer in a Washington D.C. bar.)   He once strummed songs on his
guitar to accompany peace protesters serenading on a beach outside the Hotel
Coronado during a Bush presidential visit.

Imes survived cancer and a second near-death medical crisis.  After his
doctor told him to cut out stress, he gave up other work and politics, deciding
to devote himself to his music.  

His music incorporates elements of pop, rock, jazz and folk, evoking comparison
to Jimmy Buffet or Jim Croce.  While most of his music is light-hearted
and free-spirited, some works reflect a more contemplative point of view—and
some rocks along life’s road.   The Test of Time was
written as a tribute for his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  One
Man Parade by James Taylor became Imes' "œwalking song" that he'd sing while walking his dog, Jake. It became a farewell commemoration after “the best damn dog a guy who ever have” died while Imes was recording his CD.

The most devastating loss, however, was the sudden death in May of a brother
who provided a life-long source of musical inspiration. “We had talked
about playing this music together someday,” reflected Imes, who dedicated
the CD to his brother, Rod. “In the next life, we will.”

Meanwhile, Imes invites listeners to “pour your favorite beverage of
relaxation” and “enjoy these tunes in the spirit in which they
were written and recorded.”

Listen to selections of Imes’ music here or
at his website.
Imes’ CD, On An Island,  is available at Amazon, iTunes,
CD Baby and at his website.

Libby Belle is a Southern California-based writer, rabble-rouser and music
aficionado who savors visits to San Diego beaches and East County mountains
in her spare time.