“Let the ride begin”
Ride painting by Robert S. Sallee, LaSalle’s father - features visual portrayals of every song on the album
No Robert LaSalle music was ever released until 2019. By the end of 2020, the artist self-released 200 songs from the previous decade and a half. As of February 2024, 2 persons are known to have streamed this album.
The Canon: RIDE>Lullaby>Night>Awaken
After multiple deals fell through and years of touring relentless dead-end gigs, the artist set out to get a publishing deal in Nashville. Preproduction and contracts began in 2010. The publishers (financiers) picked the most commercially viable songs from the 24-year-old’s extensive catalog. “Side A” would be pop songs and “Side B” would be the artist’s “art.”
2010 began with the death of a good friend, and tragedy upon tragedy followed the artist: tornado in Huntsville, AL; BP oil spill in New Orleans; devastating flood in Nashville. The night before recording was scheduled to begin on RIDE, the artist was mugged, which led to several head surgeries culminating in the artist’s left eye being removed.
In and out of hospitals, now homeless and couch-hopping, with chronic headaches and an addiction to the heavy pain pill regimen prescribed him, recording continued in Berry Hill and Music Row in Nashville. When the time came to record vocals, the artist could not sing. Searching the globe, in 2011 he eventually found a doctor in Atlanta who surgically removed vocal polyps from his throat which required months of silent healing and inspired the instrumental album See No, Say No, recorded alone in a cabin outside Atlanta.
When RIDE was finally completed, the financiers had lost interest in the album. One hundred copies of the album were printed on CDs and given away. In response to the utter disappointment of RIDE, and to try to inspire his collaborators, the artist wrote, recorded and released One More Lullaby entirely alone with no budget, playing every instrument. Neither album ever had the chance to fail, because no one ever heard the albums.
9 years after RIDE began, in 2019 the artist self-released RIDE online to no one. The artist never attempted to make pop music again.
PRODUCED BY: BOBBY HOLLAND & ROBERT LASALLE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: GARY KRAEN, NOAH GORDON & LESTER TURNER JR. FOR NEW MILLENNIUM MUSIC, LLC
RECORDED & MIXED BY: BOBBY HOLLAND
MASTERED BY: JIM DEMAIN AT YES MASTER
ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY: ROBERT LASALLE, EXCEPT “NOBODY NOWHERE” & “WHEREVER YOUR LOVE IS” WRITTEN BY MARK HARRIMAN & ROBERT LASALLE, “SEPIA TONE” WRITTEN BY BOB & NICK SALLEE (LASALLE & HIS DAD, THE PAINTER)
STRINGS ARRANGED BY TIM GROGAN & ROBERT LASALLE, CONDUCTED BY TIM GROGAN
ADDITIONAL RECORDING BY: KYLE MANNER AT OMNISOUND STUDIOS
RECORDED IN: NASHVILLE, TN AT OMNISOUND, THE BROWN OWL, QUAD, SOUTH STREET STUDIOS, SOUND STAGE/BIG STUDIOS & COUNTY Q
SECOND ENGINEER AT OMNISOUND: RORY ROSITAS
SECOND ENGINEER AT THE BROWN OWL: MARK “Z” ZELLMER
ADDITIONAL PIANO & VOCALS RECORDED IN: HUNTSVILLE, AL AT SOUND CELL STUDIOS
SONGS PUBLISHED BY: NMM TUNES / LASTALLION SONGS / LIZZIEROSE MUSIC
COVER ART BY: ROBERT SALLEE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: EVERETT WASHINGTON
ADDITIONAL ART, DESIGN & LAYOUT BY MEGAN KELLEY
Wherever Your Love Is
Riding south into the misty morning
I'm soaring, now I'm soaring
I'm gonna meet you at the new day dawning
Love's calling, I hear you calling
You're the fuel in my veins
As my heart races back to you
I wanna tell you that I love you
And I'll be there soon
Wherever your love is
That's where i'm going to be
Forever my heart is
Longing for you to be with me
I won't give in
There's no stopping this
I'm going wherever your love is
Fighting the sun out on the blue horizon
I'm flying, now I'm flying
My eyes are heavy but I won't pull over
I'm closer, getting closer
You're the words to the song
In my head singing back to me
I can feel you in the air
You're the ocean breeze
Wherever your love is
That's where i'm going to be
Forever my heart is
Longing for you to be with me
I won't give in
There's no stopping this
I'm going wherever your love is
Won't spend one more night
Without you by my side
Not another chance I'll miss
To be wherever your love is
Wherever your love is
That's where i'm going to be
Forever my heart is
Longing for you to be with me
I won't give in
There's no stopping this
I'm going wherever your love is
Tonight
You're on the phone
In a little place you call home
Fretting about
Every little thing you've done
You tell me now
You got no place to go
I tell you, girl
You don't have to be alone
Tonight I'll lay beside you
I'll make it all alright
Tonight you are all mine, girl
Tonight you are all mine
Tonight you're mine
I feel for you
For your heart and nothing more
I'm here for you
Knocking at your door
Talk about it
Tell me if you want
Don't fret about it
I won't do you wrong
Tonight I'll lay beside you
I'll make it all alright
Tonight you are all mine, girl
Tonight you are all mine
Tonight you're mine
Tonight you're heart is mine
Oh, tonight, your heart is mine
(Tonight I'm here for you)
Tonight, every little thing's alright
Tonight I'll lay beside you
I'll make it all alright
Tonight you are all mine, girl
Tonight you are all mine
Tonight you're mine
Love Found Me
Something in my heart wasn't right
I packed my bags and I caught a ride
I didn't know what I would find
But I left on a whim, and I knew why
It was never about where I was going to
It was all for this love that I never knew
I travelled aimlessly for miles all alone
Then I finally turned back and headed home
Maybe that was destined to be
'Cause, baby, that's where love found me
You were all around me but I travelled the world just to find true love
Baby, you found me, now I have your love and I'll never give up
I found all the places where your love could be
But I could only find my true destiny
When love found me
Before I knew your love was mine
Every second seemed a waste of my time
When left up to the hands of fate
Love is never too far away
It was never about where I was going to
It was all for this love that i never knew
I traveled aimlessly for miles all alone
But destiny could not be provoked
When love seemed like a distant dream
Baby that's when love found me
You were all around me but I travelled the world just to find true love
Baby, you found me, now I have your love and I'll never give up
I found all the places where your love could be
But I could only find my true destiny
When love found me
Now I'm right back here at home
Now I'll never be all alone
Now I'm right where I'm meant to be
Well I found my destiny
When love found me
You were all around me but I travelled the world just to find true love
Baby, you found me, now I have your love and I'll never give up
I found all the places where your love could be
But I could only find my true destiny
When love found me
LaSalle & Bobby Holland listen to playback - Holland engineered, coproduced, mixed & played on much of the album - photo by Caroline Sallee, LaSalle’s sister
Years after completing RIDE, Everett Washington took the photos for the 100 printed CDs
Nobody Nowhere
Why start over, start all over again
There's a reason I'm still feeling like this
I can't stop you leaving me for someone new
But there will always be a place in my heart for you
I won't ask you where you're going, and no matter what you do
If you walk out of the door I'll leave it open for you
Why you want to lose a love you'll never find again?
You can't tell me this is how you really want it all to end
Nobody nowhere
Can give you love like mine
No matter where you're going
True love is hard to find
You can leave me for someone new
But nobody nowhere loves no one like I love you
I don't know what to say right now, I won't say a word
I know this love, I guess I don't know how it works
I don't know where you're going, and I don't know what you'll find
I don't know why you're leaving, I know what you left behind
Nobody nowhere
Can give you love like mine
No matter where you're going
True love is hard to find
You can leave me for someone new
But nobody nowhere loves no one like I love you
Our love is true love
I'll be here for you love always… I'll be waiting
You can find new love
Someday when you're through
I'll be waiting… I'll be waiting...
Nobody nowhere
Can give you love like mine
No matter where you're going
True love is hard to find
You can leave me for someone new
But nobody nowhere loves no one like I love you
The artist performs “Can’t Give You Up” live with Rae Hering in Hunstville, AL 2015
Can’t Give You Up
I fall in love with you every day
I still pretend that you feel the same way
It's gone but I can't let go
For better or for worse
I'm numb, but still feel the pain
I'm in love I'll always feel this way
I'm dumb, for letting go
I'm a fool for a broken love
I can't give you up
When I fall in love I expect to stay
I thought it'd always be this way
With you, and only you
There's no one else in this world I couldn't lose
I'm numb, but still feel the pain
I'm in love I'll always feel this way
I'm dumb, for letting go
I'm a fool for a broken love
I can't give you up
My heart's still hanging on a thread
Still stuck on the last words that you said
You said true love can never die
I'll be hanging here the rest of my life
I'm numb, but still feel the pain
I'm in love I'll always feel this way
I'm dumb, for letting go
I'm a fool for a broken love
I can't give you up
Love, Pt 2
Some kind of love
An angry love
With a wary heart
Any kind of love, but desperate love
Some kind of heart
Some kind of soul
That begs for more
Any kind of soul, but a lonely soul
Some kind of love
Gets me through this
Some kind of love
Gets me through
Some kind of love
All my love
Was a wasted arrow
It was all in vein, heartless and narrow
Some kind of love
Gets me through this
Some kind of love
Gets me through
Gets me through and through
It was only one love
True love is endless
For love, I’d give it all up
I’d do it all again for some kind of love
Some kind of love
I’m begging for you
Some kind of love
The same kind I showed you
Some kind of love, Same kind I showed you
Some kind of love, Somehow it gets me through
(Never gonna lose my love
Any kind of love
I’d give it all up
And still have it ‘cause I’m)
Robert S. Sallee, the artist’s father, cowrote & played piano on “Sepia Tone”
Sepia Tone
In a world of sepia tone
A man walks all alone
Stepping in between the lines that he's traced
He walks with pen and ink
He doesn't have to think
Until his dull vacant world is erased
He won't recognize
This brand new scene
Until he unlocks all the passion that he dreams
In his mind
He holds a key
To all the colors in his heart he finally sees
In a world of black and white
He reaches deep inside
And finds his heart in the same place where he left it
And with an artists touch
He pulls out a brush
He paints a scene where in his past
He had only sketched it
He won't recognize
This brand new scene
Until he unlocks all the passion that he dreams
In his mind
He holds a key
To all the colors in his heart he finally sees
Over the fields of grey
He paints a clear blue day
And as the sun begins to rise, the colors show
He knows it's not a dream
Because he finally sees
The end of a world of sepia tone
Now he'll recognize
This brand new scene
As he unlocks all the passion that he dreams
In his mind
He holds a key
To all the colors in his heart he finally sees
In his hand he holds
The key to every stroke
As he paints himself a brand new road back home
Robert LaSalle, Kyle Manner & Matt Ross mid-Ride
One-shot music video directed by Aaron Thomas 2014
Thank You for the Moment of Clarity
You came with me, you left with someone else
You left me here all by myself
And I thank you, thank you for carrying me
For the moment of clarity
What the hell is love and why should wait?
When the open road stares back at me
You dropped me off and watched me fall to my knees
Now I'm getting back up on my own feet
I won't wait anymore
Gonna ride, ride the open road
You won the battle, won't wait to win the war
I'm gonna live to live and nothing more
I'll only carry with me what I need
No one else will ever carry me
Don't need you to take my fall
I'm gonna go back where I belong
Where the sky never touches the ground
Where I will never turn back around
I won't wait anymore
Gonna ride, ride the open road
I'm not gonna wait for the sake of winning
I'm gonna live for the sake of living
The way you left me, I was next to nothing
I know what I need, I don't need your loving
I'm gonna leave you forever, every
Time you see me, you'll wish you'd never
Left your true love all alone
I'm gonna ride, ride the open road
Thank you for the moment of clarity
I won't wait anymore
Bobby Holland & LaSalle mid-ride - Holland engineered, coproduced, mixed & played on much of the album
You Got My Wheels Turning
There was no piano in gym class
As you ran so hard and fast
Throwing footballs in the grass
Don't tell me I'm lucky
Had your eye on girls and money
I had mine on something that would last
This roundabout got my wheels turning
You're down and out, i'm still here working
You got my wheels turning
Way back when ya were too cool for Grissom
In high school I'd pretend ya
Were the fool that you are now
You had ladies, now you have bastard babies
I'm still doing the same thing
Round and round
This roundabout got my wheels turning
You're down and out, i'm still here working
And round and round till my gears are burning
I'll take a bow, it appears that I'm not worthless
You got my wheels turning
I don't have pity on you now
That you're not pretty
Oh, this song has been with me all along,
did you miss me?
Don't tell me I'm born with it
You don't know how hard that I work for this
While you're down and out lying on the ground
I'll catch you on the other side, round and round
Pride is illusive
By the wayside, we're both losing
Round and round, round and round
But my wheels keep turning
Don't tell me you're hurting
You can't see beyond the surface
But my wheels keep turning
This roundabout got my wheels turning
You're down and out, i'm still here working
And round and round till my gears are burning
I'll take a bow, it appears that I'm not worthless
You got my wheels turning
Side B of RIDE mirrors Abbey Rd. stringing songs together with interludes
Now We’re Writing History
We were young and foolish friends
Didn't think that we'd amount to much
The world was so much smaller then
But now that it's a part of us
We set out to prove them wrong
We made it this far somehow
It's time we gotta move along
Through uncharted waters
Now we conquer all our fears
Now we dry up all our tears
As we unveil the mystery
Now we're writing history
The future isn't etched in stone
You know that it is happening when
We make our mark with flesh and bone
As we guide our maker's pen
I bid you farewell, old friend
This river is a flowing loud
I'll see you at the other end
As we head out to the ocean
Now we conquer all our fears
Now we dry up all our tears
As we unveil the mystery
Now we're writing history
Through the Westward Winds
We built our ship with flesh and bone
We hung our flag and filled the hold
We toasted to the best of friends
And set out through the westward winds
Our sails flew high above the blue
We rightfully cast our luck into
A veil of vibrant summer’s breeze
We were the masters of the seas
There you are, and here I am
Won’t you take my word for all it’s worth
We’ll see dry land again
Set your sights through the westward winds
Many years we spent our days
Sailing smooth blue brazen waves, but
All good fortune woefully fades
We blindly cast our luck away
Those cold still nights foresaw no sun
With no more corn and no more rum
The seas were calm, with no more wind, but
We will see dry land again
Here I am, and there you are
On the other side of the wreckage
There’s a place for us to start
There you are, and here I am
Won’t you take my word for all it’s worth
We’ll see dry land again
Set your sights through the westward winds
Half asleep and half awake
Our vessel clashes atop the waves
As I make my way down to you
White water breaks out of the blue
The sky burns bright, the thunder pounds
As lightning strikes our main sail down
When the bow breaks, her cradle is the wind
Until we see dry land again
Now hold your breath, and don’t look back
This ship’s goin’ down into the black
Now hold your head above the waves
We may have cast our luck away, but
Set your sights on the east horizon
Storm will perish, sun will rise
Many miles we’ll slowly drift, but
We will see dry land again
Here I am, and there you are
On the other side of the wreckage
There’s a place for us to start
There you are, and here I am
Won’t you take my word for all it’s worth
We’ll see dry land again
Set your sights through the westward winds
RIP my friend BEN TRUSSELL
For the Good of the Game
The tears are settled now,
they're all just ripples in your wake
Your loss has been the cause of so much pain
There's a clear blue sky you're missing,
and I’m missing you the same
But not a second that we're missing is in vain
You're too good for this old town,
and I told you not to stay
My words are coming back on me today
If there's purpose in this world,
I guess you finally found your place
Well it's all for the good of the game
You're more than just the music to my ears
You're more than all those songs I’ll never hear
Resting with the best of them, with all who have been
You are my friend, you are my friend
Since the clock is still a ticking,
I’ll keep sticking to what you say
I know all good things must someday meet their fate
If it's better to burn out than to ever fade away
I guess you know you got your 60 of fame
Maybe you are crazy but your life is not a waste
We'll move along, I sing this song now in your name
The cards' still on the table,
I’m still stepping up to play
‘Cause it's all for the good of the game
You're more than just the music to my ears
You're more than all those songs I’ll never hear
Resting with the best of them, with all who have been
You are my friend, you are my friend
From the taverns to the docks,
there's a big old empty space
No one here could ever take your place
But I’ll play a song without you now
On this old empty stage
It's all for the good of the game
You're more than just the music to my ears
You're more than all those songs I’ll never hear
Resting with the best of them, with all who have been
You are my friend, you are my friend