 Where's the sound? (notice tell-tale loose audio leads) Scribbles - My Recording Journal January thru March 2001
Having decided to record an album for the purest (some may say, the dumbest) of reasons: THE MUSIC, I began by roughing out the theme of the album & making decisions of what songs to record. A tip for anyone recording on a limited budget: Do not wait for the "muse" to strike when the red light in the studio is on. Magic can happen in the studio (as it did during the recording process of this album) but it is a good gameplan that allows the magic to happen & not the inspiration of working in a recording studio. The final part of the puzzle, before going into record, was the concept to contact different Nashville-based artists to add their vocal talents to the different tracks. April 2001:
Recording began with the track, "Careless Years". Danish import, Erik Hoeg, contributed vocals & accoustic guitar to the folky feel of this song. On drums, Dave Gehrke (Josh Rouse Band) took a couple of hours off from helping to run East Nashville's Slow Bar to lay down the basic tracks. Next day, I added some extra percussion & sound FX whilst Bucky Barrett (former lead guitarist for Roy Orbison) laid down a very tasteful bass line. The following week, I got Matt Walker, who plays in the Nashville Symphony, to come in & add a cello part which rounded everything out. May 2001: Back in the studio to record "4:30 In Memphis" sung by Ron LaSalle & "The Nearest Thing To Where I Wanted To Be" by Doug Hoekstra. Because of Dave's Slow Bar commitments, I brought in Rick Schell (Alison Morrisette, Kevin Gordon & Pin Monkey) to be the regular skins man for the sessions. He, in turn, put me in touch with Paul Slivka on bass. With old buddy, Steve Paxton, on keys this formed the basic rhythm section. After basic tracks were recorded, horns were added later that month with Danny Mancuso on sax & Jimmy Clark on trumpet (for the technically minded, I set 2 mics on each instrument slightly to the left & right to capture different timbres & to spread the stereo recordings hard left & right in the final mix. This provides a very wide sound without having to layer the horns except for one trumpet harmony overdub that Jimmy insisted on doing. No compression was added to these instruments either so the high end could cut thru on the final mix). Erik Hoeg came in to add an accoustic guitar to the "Nearest Thing" & Audrey Malone provided backing vocals on both songs. June 2001
June came & two more tracks were laid down, "New York Skyline"& "American Thunder". Joe Pagetta came in to do a great vocal on Skyline whilst American Thunder was left on the back burner until a suitable vocal could be added. The rhythm section was very HOT when we laid down these tracks & the album was definitely taking shape. July - August 2001
Having got half the conceived album done, it became necessary to switch studios due to Big Ears closing for a month's holiday. So it was off to Little Hollywood for some guitar overdubs on what we had so far & to add backing vocals & horns to "New York Skyline". Then, it was time to progress the project. I had spoken with local rock star, Duane Jarvis about contributing a track &, sure enough, we assembled the gang at Little Hollywood to lay down "Heaven Won't Wait" - a sort of 50's pastiche about boy/girl taking off in a Chevy Bel Aire. Duane obviously caught the mood of the song because he scribbled "croon" on his lyric sheet as a vocal approach. The band was really cooking & what was supposed to be Duane's guide vocal turned out to be the keeper. Joe Pagetta also came in to do the guide vocal on "Avenue A", a song about former child star, Bobby Driscoll. The only member of the team who couldn't make that session was Paul Slivka on bass because he had prior road commitments. His place was taken by Lance Martin, regular bassman with the John Conlee Band. September 2001
The month began back at Big Ears Studio with Joe Pagetta doing the final vocal on "Avenue A" & Ron LaSalle having a stab at "American Thunder" (which we both agreed, didn't really work). THEN came the terrible events of Sept.11th & everything went on hold. Sometimes the enormity of World Events can make one's own ambitions & aspirations seem very small & insignificant. October 2001
In the end, the only way to carry on is to CARRY ON. The month began with Jimmy Clark coming in to add tasteful trumpet parts to "Avenue A". Then Doug Hoekstra came in to provide the definitive vocal for "The Gown" - a song dedicated to my late mother. The backing tracks had been recorded sometime previously so we could concentrate on Doug's vocal interpretation. Later that month, the whole team assembled at Big Ears for one great session. First, we laid down "Chicago, Chicago" as a live band take: Rick on drums, Paul on bass, Steve on keys, myself on rhthym guitar & new addition Brent Petrek on lead. With Patton James in the vocal booth, we cut that sucker on the second take. Meanwhile, Tom Mason & Danny Mancuso had been patiently waiting for us to get to the next track, "Out There (On The Boardwalk)". Sometimes magic happens in the studio: Danny was there to lay down the sax solo & play on the outro. He added an ad lib on the intro which lifted the song to another level. Then Tom Mason, after contributing the lead vocal, played his accordian to add extra flavor. The song was arranged for a long fade but, when the rest of the music stopped, Tom kept playing an etheral tune somewhere between the melody of the song & "Amazing Grace". When I came to do the final mix, I faded the track down as planned but then brought it up again to capture the lonely accordian player walking off along the boardwalk before fading him into the distance. November 2001
So it was done! Ten tracks recorded over a period of seven months. Apart for some guitar overdubs & backing vocals on "American Thunder" courtesy of Tammy Foster, which were done at Aqua Studios. BUT, I felt the album needed ONE MORE TRACK, so I contacted Joe Pagetta & his lovely wife, Kathy. I had this song which was originally written as a folk song but had gone thru some radical arrangement changes. It had not been written as a duet but the combination of male & female voices was the icing on the cake of "Til It Hurts". As this was going to be the last full track to be recorded, I switched to Grapevine Studios to lay it down on good ol' 2" analog tape instead of ADAT. The team that I assembled consisted of Erik Hoeg on accoustic guitar, Lance Martin on bass & Bill Chasse on drums. Bill had only moved to Nashville that year having lived in New York & LA (where he played with David Bowie, amongst others). We cut the rhythm section with me doing guide vocals. I then went back in to add electric guitar overdubs & keyboards. The Joe & Kathy came in to do the final vocals & Joe contributed a great harmonica solo. Because the track had been recorded on analog, it was the last song to be recorded but the first one to be mixed. December 2001 - January 2002
With Christmas & my birthday coming up, I took the opportunity to throw an impromptu party to celebrate the completion of the project at the French Quarter in East Nashville. Most of the guys were able to make it & a good time was had by all. The only remaining problem was that there was no final vocal for "American Thunder". Against my better judgement, I was encouraged to do it myself by Joe & Dougie. SO, after the Christmas break, I went into Colemine Studios (where I had already decided to do the final track mixing)& laid down the final vocal. The rest of January was taken up with mixing & mastering before the project was committed to CD. February - Present 2002
After a whole year of planning, recording, mixing & mastering the project was finally finished. NOW THE WORK BEGINS. Apart from things like CD package design, the product has to be put out there for people to buy. THANK GOD for the Internet! Then there is the question of getting media interest & reviews as well as the all important radio airplay. So that's what I've been at for the past few months BUT THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER STORY - hope you enjoyed reading this one. |
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