Charles Cornelius Tyler

Hi folks,

This site acts as a personal archive of my work. So you'll find my best recordings here as well as some pretty crappy ones. The earliest recordings here were made on simple cassette decks, others were made on mobile phones, some are live recordings made at various gigs over the years, a handful were made in small recording studios, but most of the more recent ones were made at home on a Zoom portable studio, which itself is now rather ancient!

If you like a song and want to download it, click on 'Full song info' for that song and you will see the download link. You can also read the lyrics and any background information on the songs that I may have added.

All my music is available for free - enjoy :)

cheers,

Charles

I am really a solo artist for the most part. However I have played in bands occasionally.

When I lived in Mendocino, California - and that was from 1980 - 1984 - I was involved with a couple of bands, the Art Rock band Da-Da mainly - and another occasional band called the C Sharps.

I still play live from time to time - to select audiences :)

I have always listened to a pretty wide spectrum of music ... for example I like Cole Porter, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), Harry Nilsson, Paul Simon, Tom Lehrer, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, James Taylor, Ray Davies, Joni Mitchell, the Incredible String Band, Donovan, Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, Bob Marley... and.... and....

I liked the festival scene in the UK and Amsterdam in the 70s and caught acts like Gong, Steve Hillage, Here and Now, the Pink Fairies, Kevin Ayers and the Whole World, the Soft Machine and others - this was the 'psychedelic' period of my life :) I played at a couple of the festivals myself - notably at the Meigan Fayre in Wales in 1975. Daevid Allen was an inspiration - the Gong album "You" was a highlight of the time.

I also loved Elvis and Roy Orbison, all kinds of country music, The Who and the Stones, The Band, West Coast rock - Byrds, Eagles, Poco, Little Feat, Flying Burrito Brothers, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead. And I love the traditional music of the British Isles and Ireland - the Celtic folk tradition - The Chieftains, Planxty, Ralph McTell, Roy Harper, Nick Drake, Pentangle, Fairport Convention, John Martyn, Richard Thompson ... too many names to mention.

I have always liked well-crafted pop like the Bee Gees - Fleetwood Mac - Elton John - Kate Bush - Joan Armatrading - The Police - Sting - U2 - Dido - Radiohead - Coldplay... so many new bands now that I don't even try to keep up. I just hear what I hear - often what friends recommend - I like K.D Lang, 'ethnic' and 'chill' stuff, African and South American music, rap, Indian ragas etc. - and I have always loved Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Miles Davis and did I mention Cole Porter? And I love a lot of classical music too... naturally

I have waves of enthusiasm for certain musical styles. A few years ago I got pretty excited about the Indonesian style known as Dangdut - which is a blend of Arabic, Indian, Reggae, Hip-Hop and local Indo-Malay street music. It deserves a wider global audience. Check it out. It is one of the reasons I love Indonesia. The hypnotic sound of the Gamelan and the seductive smell of clove cigarettes are others :)

The older I get the less the distance in time or place or style between different pieces of music matters.......

Right now I am enjoying Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler's album - "Neck and Neck". It's a sheer delight!!

I mainly play a Washburn D 30 steel string guitar and an Eko of considerable vintage. I also occasionally play piano, electric keyboards and harmonica...

My recent home recordings have been made on something called a 'Zoom'. Nice and easy to use :)

Anything else? Well - um - I hope some of my songs survive for a little while after I am gone. Ars longa - vita brevis and all that. Don't all artists hope the same for their work? Then again perhaps all moments are eternal.. and perhaps time is not real at all... and in the end, as someone said, trying to achieve fame and immortality is like scratching your name on an ice cube on a hot day... when the sun finally expands and fries this little planet... well, what was it all for?

:)

Ha ha! Enjoy the days we have, I say! And be kind to each other - and to the planet.