Cora Jones, A Christmas Ballad

In the early 1990’s, Neal spent a lot of time on outdoor adventures with his close friends Eric and Libby McDonald at their house in rural Wisconsin.

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It was a beautiful, idyllic time that stunningly and sadly was broken by the kidnapping and murder of a 12-year old local girl, Cora Jones. The community was devastated by this awful event and Neal was particularly affected to think such horror could randomly come to this special place he loved to visit. He was moved to write Cora Jones as a tribute to her and what he learned about her short life.

Adapting the vocal melody from one of his favorite songs, The Byrds version of Woody Guthrie’s depression-era ballad “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” , Neal recorded the song in 1998 at Studio City in Van Nuys, CA with Jim Scott producing, Greg Leisz playing bass and pedal steel, Don Heffington on drums and John Ginty on piano. On the outro of the song, the musicians drift into the beautiful Christmas melody of “Silent Night” and right before the session was complete, Jim Scott had the last minute idea to call in his friend, renowned opera singer Juliana Gondek, to sing over that melody. She battled thru Los Angeles traffic for a few hours, walked in to the studio and stunned all with her vocal in one take, capping off an emotional and incredible day of recording for Neal, on what he considered one of his greatest songs.

This newly mixed version was completed by Jim Scott in the summer of 2022 from the original analog master tape.

CREDITS
Produced, recorded and mixed by Jim Scott
Drums: Don Heffington
Piano: John Ginty
Bass and pedal steel: Greg Leisz
Vocal, guitar and lyrics: Neal Casal
Additional vocal: Juliana Gondek