| Ray Conniff – Touch Me in the Morning Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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According to Elaine Woo, who wrote a biobit for Michael Masser (LA Times July 16, 2015), "Touch Me in the Morning" was written in remembrance of his former marriage. Masser had an idylic life before he went and followed his muse; for some reason, his marriage dissolved after he decided to leave his successful career as a stockbroker to become a songwriter. "Born in Chicago on March 24, 1941, he grew up in a Jewish family with parents who wanted him to become a lawyer. An obedient son, he attended law school at the University of Illinois and became a successful stockbroker and theatrical agent in New York. He had what he described as a "seemingly perfect life," with a wife, two children and a farm in Vermont, but he was unhappy. At the urging of a friend, he went to a psychiatrist and said that what he really wanted to do was write music. "He said, 'What's the problem with that?' I told him that didn't go over well in my family," Masser recalled in the Chicago Sun-Times. "He listened, took my money and said, 'Here's a note of permission to write music. That's all you need to clear your conscience.' " At 30, Masser started to write music, even though he had no formal training beyond piano lessons in high school. He sent a song to music publisher Lou Levy, who forwarded it to Johnny Mercer, the Oscar-winning lyricist-composer. Mercer liked it enough that when Masser's marriage broke up, he offered the aspiring songwriter temporary lodging in his guest house in Los Angeles. "The biggest thing I got from Johnny was, 'Don't rush a song,' " Masser recalled in the Palm Springs Desert Sun in 2002. After talking his way into Motown's offices, Masser spent two years working with Ross on "Touch Me in the Morning," which he said was partly inspired by the end of his marriage.... |
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