Kamilah Kashanie (KK): The Guinness Book of World Records… has recognized Bollywood lyricist Sameer Anjaan for writing a staggering 3,524 songs…

 

But deep in Tennessee… one man…might have everyone… beat… 

 

Jim Von Stein has been writing songs since he was nine years old… 

 

And the last few years… he’s written a song or two a day…. 

 

Everyday… 

 

Jason Von Stein: Dad, just so many songs have you written now?  

 

Jim Von Stein: I guess probably 8000. At least. 

 

KK: But almost nobody has ever heard them.

 

Jim VS It’s funny, at one point I made a deal with God. I said, ‘let me live long enough to write 200 songs’. Well, within a couple of years I was almost up on 200 songs. So I made another deal with God, you know? I said, ‘Let me write 10,000 songs’.

 

But, you know, then I felt like, Oh my goodness, now I got to really write a lot of songs. Because you don’t want to get there and God be mad at you when you get there.

 

KK: For our last episode of the season…what happens when fear is so paralyzing…that it stops you from following your dream?

 

It’s the StoryCorps Podcast from NPR. I’m Kamilah Kashanie.

 

<MUSIC STRUMMING>

 

KK: If you were looking around Jim Von Stein’s home… you’d see Mountains and valleys of songbooks… homemade cassette tapes… and cds… 

 

Every notebook… scrap of paper, or napkin … has lyrics on it.

 

Jim’s son, Jason, sat down to ask him some questions…

 

Jason VS What does it take to write a song and where do you start? 

 

Jim VS  I write one lyric line and before I’m done with it, the next line’s already a comin’. It could be as simple as someone saying something, and it inspires me. Boom. Next thing you know, I’m writing a song. The most I wrote in one year was 1556. 

 

One reason I never really told people I wrote that many songs because it does sound kind of off the wall, crazy that someone would. But it’s not something that I can even stop from happening. 

 

Jason VS And I wouldn’t believe you if I didn’t see it myself. But I’ve seen it. You literally write a song in the amount of time it takes to make a pot of coffee. 

 

Jim VS: You gotta have heart strings. And that’s why I write songs. I try to write not just about me or my life but everybody’s life. 

 

KK: Jim can write a song about basically anything… and he always starts with his imagination. 

Sometimes…he’d take a globe, spin it around…  and see where his finger would land… 

One time, it landed on the Mississippi River…. 

<JIM PLAYING WOMAN QUEEN RUN>

KK: Jim was a military kid, so he moved all over the country in the 60’s and 70’s.

 

But there was one consistent thing in his childhood… 

 

A love for music…

 

Jim VS My mom used to listen to people like Elvis and Patsy Cline, which really that touched my heart, for those lyrics. Those stories hit me, you know?

 

And my dad, he barely played on a guitar. He played three chords. And I think one of them was wrong. 

 

But every once in a while, he drank a little, and he’d drink, he’d get that guitar out and play, you know? And he loved to play the song ‘The Old Shep’, because I cried like a baby. Me and my brother. I still cry when I hear that song. 

 

<Play Red Foley’s ‘Old Shep’>

 

The dog does these wonderful things throughout that boy’s life. And then the boy becomes a young man. And of course, naturally, the dog passed on. And ‘cause at that time, I’m nine years old. So I’ve never been in love with a girl or any of that stuff. All I knew was real dog love, you know? 

 

That song inspired me so much to believe that you could take a whole lifetime of somebody or a dog and have it done in a three minute song. That made me want to be a songwriter. 

 

KK: Even as a little kid, Jim knew what his calling was. And when he was nine years old, he grabbed a #2 pencil, and started writing…

 

Jim VS: But I was writing stupid things like, Well, ‘me baby’s sweet, baby washed my feet’. But I knew if I kept doing it, eventually I would have more experiences through life you know, And I would get better. As long as I kept doing it. 

 

Of course, when I was 13, I wanted to get a guitar, and my dad said ‘You’re not going to have that noise maker around here’, you know? 

 

So I never thought about playing a guitar till 30. 

 

But that made me become a lyricist for sure, because that was the only way I could connect to music, you know? It was through lyrics, still telling stories. 

 

KK: In ninth grade, Jim would always walk around with his songbook in his hand… which believe it or not, wasn’t winning him any popularity contests… 

Jim VS: And then somebody stole my book with about 100 songs in it when I was, I think, in the ninth grade and threw it away. And that kinda just made me wanna quit for a little while.

KK: Eventually he started writing again… but he never tried playing music professionally. 

 

His fear got the best of him… 

 

KK: Jim met his wife, Becky, right out of high school. They got married…and he started working at a shipyard.

 

Jason was born in 1982… and that Christmas Becky bought Jim his first guitar… 

 

He could finally put music to the songs he’d been writing… 

Jim: I was playing with a few other guys… we were playing cover songs at the time… And one of my friends said, Well, you write songs, why don’t you write one? So I wrote one and I played it that night for him, and he goes, ‘That stinks’. [laughs] And I’m like, what you set me up? 

And he said, ‘No, you just write another one.’ And the second one I actually wrote, they actually liked that song…

Course after that, then I started writing more often because of it. 

 

KK: He started using all his free time to write songs… and he carried a four track recorder with him everywhere he went, so he could start getting them down…

 

He would sometimes use his own life and family for inspiration.

 

Jason VS You worked at the shipyard for many years and they would send you out to San Francisco. And I remember when you came back, there was something different, like, you really missed us… a lot. 

 

And I remember you came back and you wrote this song, ‘Always Missing You’, that was 1988. And then we did a recording of that for Mom.

 

<PLAY ALWAYS MISSING YOU>

Jason VS She heard it and she started crying. 

 

I was like, five…little me singing that song with you. 

 

KK: Jason grew up surrounded by his father’s music… and he loved hearing it… But that was one of the few times they sang together.

 

Just like his father… Jason’s fear held him back. 

 

Even when Jim bought him his first guitar when he was eight years old… Jason never touched it… 

 

Jason VS I never played music growing up because I was, like, nervous of that. And we already had the best musician in our house. 

 

When you were writing those songs, those were number one hits, just we’re in an apartment complex and nobody hears it.

 

Like, you didn’t go to any school to learn this. You know, I’ve never seen you go take classes. You just did it. 

 

Jason VS Why didn’t you want to play your songs out ever, Dad?

 

Jim VS I knew I wasn’t a bad songwriter, but I didn’t think I was a good singer in any way, and I didn’t think I was a great guitar player by any means either. That’s kind of kept me from going out there. 

 

I was trying to find other people to sing my songs. But then I found out that when you do, other people take the liberty of… doing their own thing to your song. 

 

And I wanted my songs to fall or stand on their own, you know? But as far as going out and playing, it was more a fear than anything. 

 

KK: In 2004, Jim was asked to play at a music festival, opening up for another musician… but he was terrified of being on stage by himself… in front of a large crowd.

 

Jason VS First time you ever played out in public. You’re, like, hiding behind your songbook. You hired musician friends and gave them the money. And you can see you sitting behind all these other musicians.

 

Jim VS When they introduced me, I just waved over. So all the crowd saw was my hand.

 

KK: He spent the whole show hiding behind his music stand.

 

And after that… Jim only performed in front of an audience a few other times.

 

At first, it was the fear stopping him… but then…

 

It became something else…

 

Jason VS: When did you first realize you were sick, Dad? 

 

KK: After the break… Jim faces the possibility of never singing or playing music again…

 

Stay with us.

 

<STRUMMING>

 

KK: As Jim approached middle age… his pile of songs kept getting bigger… and he was still balancing a full time job. 

 

After he left the shipyard, he started working in heating and air…

 

Jim VS When you install air conditioning systems you crawl under houses and there’s generally 18 inches of height, so you’re crawling on your elbows. So when you do, you’re kicking up dust and there’s mildews and molds and all kinds of poisons. So I knew, that, you know, it was going to catch up to me. 

 

KK: By the early 2000’s, he started having trouble breathing…

 

And it kept getting worse. Over time, even basic things started becoming a struggle… like picking up a guitar… let alone singing. 

 

Jim VS Well, they told me I had severe emphysema. Real severe emphysema. There was a doctor and she came in and she said, ‘Here’s a picture of your lung.’ And they were coal black. 

 

They told me, you know, that I had an expiration date.

 

Jason, I knew what was up. I’m not a fool.

 

You know, I’m only breathing in, you know, three fifths, capacity in both lungs. 

 

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I can barely walk across the room without losing my air. It’s like you’re going underwater and you’re trying to catch your breath, that’s what it feels like all the time. 

 

But I’m still breathing. That’s what matters. 

 

KK: In November of 2016, Jim came down with a near fatal case of pneumonia…

 

Jason didn’t know whether or not his dad was going to come out of the hospital.

 

Jim VS: I remember you asked me what, uh, were, uh, my regrets… Did I have any…. And I told you I regretted that I didn’t go out and play my music so people could hear it. You know, here I’ve written all these songs, yet nobody’s ever heard ‘em because I didn’t go out and play ‘em. 

 

KK: Jason felt helpless, because he didn’t know if his dad would make it out of the hospital… 

 

So he made a decision.

 

Jim VS You stopped everything you were doing, and learned songs of mine, which amazed me because some of them are difficult. You learned every one of them. And I didn’t realize it until you started playing them.

 

KK: Jason picked up a guitar that had been building up dust…  one he had never really played… 

 

And he started learning his Dad’s songs… One by one…

 

He’d play back Jim’s old recordings on repeat for hours a day… until he started getting them down…

 

And then… he hit up every open mic, every cafe with a stage, every music joint that would book him… and he shared his dad’s songs… for anyone and everyone who would listen…

 

Jim VS: Why did you decide to do it? I mean… 

 

Jason VS Because your songs deserve to be heard. You can’t spend your entire life. Devoting yourself to something. And then nobody hears that and nobody recognizes that. That’s not okay. You’re Salvador Dali of songwriting. Okay? This isn’t normal. What you’ve accomplished, what you’ve done. You’ve done more than anybody has ever given you credit for.

 

Jim VS I was amazed how great you were doing it. You just get better every time you play them. 

 

Jason VS We played one show together once. It was late summer and it was awesome to finally be able to play with you. But I remember you telling me, ‘Jason, you need to do the singing.’ You’re telling me under your breath that you can’t breathe and you can’t sing and you can’t do this, you know? And we’re trying to, like, not make a scene of that for the audience. 

 

Jim VS The crowd.. You could tell they were a little stressed. And I made a joke that I didn’t want them betting on what side of the chair I’d fall off of. So they laughed and that kind of made it okay. 

 

Jason VS Yeah. I probably noticed, you know, how bad it was at that show. 

 

Jason VS You know. They gave you a sticker when you went to the hospital for the first time for this, and I took that sticker and I put it inside my guitar case. So every time I open that case, I’m reminded of why I’m going out there and doing this. 

 

JIM VS I mean, every time I see you, I get chills. 

 

You know, I wish I could be there live to see it, but I feel like I’m there. 

 

KK: When COVID hit… it was too dangerous for Jim to leave the house… let alone go watch Jason play.

 

But Jason still made sure his dad could hear him.. 

 

Every single show he sets up a livestream for his dad… so he could see it all… 

 

<MUSIC/LIVESTREAM RECORDING OF SHOW AND JASON TALKING ABOUT HIS DAD>

 

Jason VS The thought of playing music is terrifying. But by the time I started going out and playing your music, and you hearing that from home negates any fears that I have.

 

This is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had. We’re telling our story. I’m telling your story, you know, which is my story. So it means a lot more. 

<MUSIC STRUMMING FADE-OUT>

 

Jim VS I am basically three years past the expiration date on me that the doctor gave me, which, you know, I kind of figured that was going to be the case because, you know, I’m not a typical person. I’m a 78 where everybody else is a 45 record. I run at that speed. I always have. 

 

You can’t change some things. You know, that’s part of life.

 

You got so much time in your hourglass and it’s how you use it. And that’s up to you. 

 

Jason VS How do you want to be remembered, Dad? 

 

Jim VS I Just hope they think I was a decent, honest, good guy

 

But as far as me, I’d rather be remembered for the songs… 

 

Long after I’m dead and gone, and people forgot who I was… If those songs are any good, they’ll still mean something to those people, and they won’t even know who wrote it. It’ll still mean something. The song has its own life. 

 

Jason VS It’s a beautiful thing about music. 

 

JIM VS And you actually play those songs just like I wrote them. You are the voice for my songs.

 

<FADE OUT TO MUSIC AND CREDITS>

 

KK: That’s all for this episode and this season of the StoryCorps podcast. 

 

It was produced by Eleanor Vassili, who is our Lead Producer, and edited by Jarrod Sport, who is our Senior Producer. Max Jungreis is Our Associate Producer. Our technical director is Jarrett Floyd, who also composed our theme song. Our fact-checker is Erica Anderson. And Jasmyn Morris is our Story Consultant. Special thanks to Will Davis.

 

To see what music we used in the episode… go to StoryCorps – dot – org… where you can also check out original artwork created for this season by artist Lyne Lucien.

 

For the StoryCorps podcast, I’m Kamilah Kashanie. Catch you next season.