A.J. CHRISTOPHER/JIM CHRISTOPHER

“The R & R Project”

SIDE ONE

“Praseodymium” A.J. - bass, guitar

Jim - Keyboards, drums

“Miracles” A.J. - vocals, bass, lead guitar

Jim - rhythm guitar, keyboards, drums

“The Blame” A.J. - fretless bass, drums

Jim - Vocals, keyboards

“She Needs Your Love” A.J. - bass, drums, backing vocals

Jim - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards

“Stranger” A.J. - vocals, keyboards

Jim - piano, guitars, vocals

“The War Suite” A.J. - keyboards, bass, drums

Jim - piano, guitars, vocals

“Short Time Love” A.J. - bass, drums, backing vocals

Jim - keyboards, guitars, lead vocals

SIDE TWO

“Razor’s Edge” A.J. - lead vocals, guitars, keyboards

Jim - bass, drums, backing vocals

“Hitchhiker” A.J. - lead vocals, bass, drums

Jim - backing vocals, keyboards, guitars

“Oh Michelle” A.J. - bass, guitar

Jim - vocals, keyboards, drums, woodwinds

“Cross-examination” A.J. - Keyboards, drums, bass

Jim - vocals, guitar

“Illusion” A.J. - vocals, guitar, drums

Jim - bass, keyboards

“Diane” A.J. - guitar, drums

Jim - vocals, keyboards, bass

“Felecia” A.J. - bass, drums, backing vocals

Jim - lead vocals, keyboards, guitars

SIDE THREE

“Confirmation” A.J. - lead vocals, guitar, bass

Jim - backing vocals, drums, keyboards

“Won’t Give You Up” A.J. - vocals, bass, drums

Jim - keyboards, guitar

“Somebody’s Mind” A.J. - guitar, bass, backing vocals

Jim - lead vocals, keyboards, drums

“Why Don’t We” A.J. - vocals, guitar, bass

Jim - keyboards, drums

“I Love Her/I Need Her” A.J. - vocals, keyboards, guitar

Jim - bass, drums

“Reunion” A.J. - bass, drums

Jim - vocals, guitars, keyboards

“Maybe I Love You” A.J. - guitar, drums

Jim - vocals, keyboards, bass

SIDE FOUR

“Close Your Eyes” A.J. - vocals, guitar, bass, drums

Jim - vocals, keyboards, percussion, acoustic guitar

All songs written by A.J. Christopher and Jim Christopher

Produced by Jim Christopher

Engineered by A.J. Christopher (what a love feast)

Recorded at CRASH PAD THREE, Brentwood, CA

Special thanks to Larry Christopher, Corwin, Mike, Lee, Jason, Rex, Scott, Wainright, Leah and Mac Christopher, Kathryn H, Microfiche, The Los Angeles Lakers (STILL!!!!!! Even without Kurt Rambis or Magic Johnson), Paul, and of course, Karen.

Basses by Fender. Drums by Tama. Cymbals by Paiste. Attitude by ours truly. Jim plays Les Paul and Yamaha guitars. A.J. plays Fender Stratocasters. Keyboards by New England Digital, Yamaha, Roland, and Steinway and Sons.

If we forgot to mention you, our apologies. Buy you a beer?

Practice safe sex

Never be afraid to sweat

Fight the good fight

SIDE FIVE

“All I Ask Of You” A.J. - bass, guitar, drums

Jim - vocals, keyboards

“Here We Go Again” A.J. - vocals, guitar, drums, spoken word

Jim - vocals, bass, keyboards

“Ghosts” A.J. - Keyboards

Jim - piano, vocals

“Cry To Me” A.J. - bass, drums, vocals

Jim - vocals, keyboards, guitar

“Apostrophes and Answers” A.J. - keyboards, drums, bass

Jim - vocals, piano

“Critic’s Choice” A.J. - keyboards, drums

Jim - vocals, piano

“Before Tomorrow Comes” A.J. - bass, guitar, backing vocals

Jim - keyboards, drums, lead vocals

SIDE SIX

“Focus” A.J. - vocals, guitar, bass

Jim - keyboards, drums

“Complete Control” A.J. - lead vocals, keyboards, drums

Jim - backing vocals, guitars, bass

“Segovia” A.J. - guitar

“Jasmine” Jim - piano

“The Cynic” A.J. - vocals, guitar, drums

Jim - keyboards, bass

“Mystery To Me” A.J. - vocals, guitar, drums

Jim - keyboards, bass

“Runaway/Thought” A.J. - drums, guitar

Jim - vocals, keyboards, bass

From the liner notes to The R & & Project (Vinyl Edition). Reprinted with permission.

The first single from the album was “Oh Michelle”, because it sounded like a single. Adult radio picked up “Won’t Give You Up”, “Reunion”, and “Before Tomorrow Comes”. Album rock radio picked up “Razor’s Edge”, “Cry To Me”, “Felecia”, “All I Ask Of You”, “Complete Control”, and “Mystery To Me”. Within two weeks of it’s release 33% of the album was getting regular air play. It was virtually unprecedented.

A video was shot of “Oh Michelle” using a live audience in a nightclub on the Sunset Strip. Mtv picked it up for its rotation, and the song shot up the top forty. A concert swing was announced: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Seattle, Cincinnati, Detroit, Montreal, New York City, The Meadowlands, Memphis, Orlando, New Orleans, Dallas, Boulder, San Diego, and Los Angeles again. Sixteen shows in nine weeks.

Jim Christopher was never busier in his life. On a Monday, auditions for the “R & R Project Tour” were held. A drummer (Phil Gondanson), a guitarist/keyboardist (Carrie Fallon), a bassist (John Kilinger), a horn section (Gil Kidder, Norm Miller, Lorraine James, and Nazz Gleason), and a keyboardist/percussionist (Billy McCall) were all hired over the course of the day. All could sing.

On Tuesday the “R & R Project” contracted with road show technician and good friend Scott David to set up a full road show. Rehearsals began for the tour in A.J.’s gym. After rehearsal Jim and A.J. dragged the entire band to the bar on Montana avenue.

On Wednesday Jim met with Jason, Lee, Rex, and Paul to discuss Blue Shift’s seventh album, “Ask Us Again”. The arguments lasted several hours over what material to record, but this was nothing unusual. Paul acted as mediator of course, while Jason rejected some of Lee’s material as being out of his vocal range, while some of Jim’s was rejected as being too much in the vein of the work he did with A.J. Rex never entered the discussion, simply opting to play whatever music was placed in front of him.

At about four p.m. the argument over material ended and twelve songs were picked out. Four more were selected as reserves for the B-sides of singles. Everyone drove to Jim’s home studio to begin work on the first song, with Paul engineering and Jim producing. The first song was a Lee Emanuel composition called “Wake Up Amy”; it was rehearsed and recorded in four hours, with Lee on keyboards and backing vocals, Jason on bass and lead vocals, Jim on guitar, and Rex on drums.

At ten p.m. Jim met Karen at the bar. They played darts; Karen throwing normally while Jim threw left-handed. As Jim was not ambidextrous the match was quite close, although Jim finally won, four games to three, an hour later. When they left, they drove to Karen’s home in Redondo Beach. Although both were tired, Jim from his schedule and Karen from a hard work week and a recent lack of sleep, they had sex three times during the course of the night. Jim had trouble sleeping in the unfamiliar house, and Karen couldn’t sleep with another body in the house; not even someone as familiar and as welcome as Jim. Karen got a total of three hours sleep, Jim a bit less.

On Thursday the “R & R Project” band worked in the morning on the first half-hour of the show they were putting together, with staging and lighting. After breaking for lunch they worked on the second half-hour, finally breaking at seven p.m. with the first hour of the show passable but not good enough for either Jim or A.J. A.J. cleared out his gym to experiment, and Jim went home to lay down guitar tracks for the next Blue Shift song. He fell asleep in his studio at one a.m.

The ensuing days continued in the same fashion - the “R & R Project”, Blue Shift, drinking, seeing Karen, and occasional sleep. Both music projects came to full realization in eight weeks; the “R & R Project’s” show was refined and polished to a length of 2 3/4 hours, and the Blue Shift album contained thirteen tracks upon completion.