Back to December 2012. My birthday that day had already been special after receiving the gift of studio time at a major recording studio. But my day was far from over. I had been invited by my friend and former bandmate Victor to meet up for birthday drinks at the Culver Hotel. Victor and I share birthdays and have celebrated ours together in the past. It had been a while since we'd seen each other.
I got there as most people were leaving but to my pleasant surprise another former bandmate of ours was also there - Jon! I hadn't seen Jon in years either since he moved back east. I had been in a few bands with both of these guys. The last one together being The Lula Stream, which to this day is the band that deeply broke my heart when we broke up.
I don't believe in coincidences, but it took me a few days for it to dawn on me. How interesting was it that I'd unexpectedly run into two former bandmates right after I offered studio time? Not just any two bandmates, but musicians I admired and absolutely trusted.
My session was set for January 4, 2013 in Studio A at Hensons. I was nervous, anxious and excited as hell. We wouldn't be starting until that afternoon, but of course something like this could never go smoothly, right? That morning I hear from Victor. He can't do the session.
F***!!! I have no drummer.
For the next few hours it was a mad scramble trying to find someone to replace him. I mean someone who would work for free! The one thing I was counting on with Vic was I knew I could trust his timing. It's my biggest musical pet peeve - you can do all the fancy crap in the world on your instrument - flames could shoot from your fingers - but if you can't play to a click? As far as I'm concerned you're completely useless. (Kids, always practice to a metronome. You'll thank me later.)
I had friends who had friends willing to fill in for Victor. Even Jon, who was still on for the session, knew someone. But I was flying blind. I was up sh*t creek without a drummer. I needed to know whoever was coming in, had good timing. I decided to go with Jon's guy. I trusted Jon so I figured anyone he brought in had to be pretty good. Right? Right?
My latest music production project and the one I am learning the most from. In December 2012, I was given the ultimate birthday gift. It was something I had dreamed of getting since I was a tween - studio time at a professional recording studio.
Yes, that is an odd gift for a 12 year old to wish for. But at that age I had decided I wanted to be a music producer. I didn't want to be the famous singer or in a successful band (those fantasies would rise and die later), I wanted to be that guy (there were virtually NO female music producers back then) in the studio, putting everything together. Deciding which echo effect goes where. What instruments should be together. Somehow at that age I understood the role of a music producer and I knew deep down that's what I wanted to do.
So 30 plus years later, I am back to focusing on making that 12 year old's dreams come true. Imagine how floored I was when my co-worker arranged with the manager and head engineer at Henson's Recording Studio to let me record there for one day! I'm almost collapse to the floor and cried. Most amazing gift ever.
My session was set for January 2013. I had to decide which of the songs I had written throughout my lifetime was going to get the full blown audio day spa treatment. It came down to what was currently my favorite among the songs I've ever written, a song called "Girlcrush (Won't You Come Home)" and "Dark Rotary"
"Dark Rotary" didn't even have an official title until long after it had been written. But, duh, in the chorus I repeat the line "Heads will roll" so the name of the song was staring me in the face. I posted "Dark Rotary" on SoundCloud along with several other original tunes I had written but for some reason this particular song seemed to inspire the most listens. As much as I love "Girlcrush," more people were connecting with the other song - so "Dark Rotary" won out.
I had taken the demo of the song off SoundCloud since I was going to be recording a true professional version. Today I put the demo back on the site as a way to demonstrate the evolution of the song from home demo to professional recording. And also to document what lessons I've learned along the way.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The power of keeping a positive attitude. I’m happy to say my guitar issue was resolved with everyone winning. That’s what I hoped for and kept in mind during this. So, I got the guitar I wanted. The store kept its sale and didn’t get a return. We’re all happy.
Things were looking bleak this morning when I called the salesman and told him I wanted to return the guitar. He said since it was a special order, store policy is no returns or refunds on special orders. Sure enough, that’s written clearly on the back of my receipt.
For me it wasn’t about getting back the money. It was getting the right guitar. That’s all I wanted. So after nearly blowing a gasket talking to the salesman over the phone this morning, I calmed down and agreed to meet with the manager to see if we could work something that would make everyone happy.
Then by some miracle the salesman decided to check their computer inventory for the guitar I wanted. Low and behold there were two in California. One of them was in his store. He was as shocked as I was. Maybe more because he had been checking their inventory on my behalf and no guitar. Suddenly…bling!
I was able to do an exchange and voila, I got to take my new baby home. Playing it in store even the salesman could tell the difference - me and this guitar just fit. And as lovely, great sounding and nearly identical looking as the other one was…we just didn’t.
There’s a life lesson somewhere in there, I think…
One is smaller and thinner. And that's the one I wanted. I do not like bulky guitars.
Here's the problem. I had been going to music stores for the better part of a year, playing the smaller/thinner model. I fell in love with it. It was going to be the next guitar I purchased. I needed a new acoustic steel string since I sold my old one.
When I went to the music store to purchase it in April it was gone. It had been sold. I was heartbroken. I had just played it again not a month or two before. So, instead of taking my money across the street to another music store to see if they had one, I did what the salesman suggested. He said I could put a deposit down and when they got in another batch of these, he'd call me.
Later I found out that next batch wouldn't arrive until early June. I was okay with that. I wasn't in a rush. I had waited this long to get it. Then as early June came and went, he called me again and said they wouldn't get them in until July 23rd.
JULY 23rd! That date is going to be the death of me. I thought well this will ease the pain of not being able to get Comic Con tix for that date. I had no problem waiting.
This Monday the salesman calls me. The guitar is here! He said he badgered and cursed out the manufacturer so they made one for me to send to the store early. (Not sure if I'm completely buying that story)
I go to pick it up. I try it out at the store to make sure I still like it. It feels bulkier than I remember. I convince myself that maybe my memory was faulty. I pay balance and take it home. While registering the guitar online, I finally discover that the company makes two models that LOOK ALMOST EXACTLY ALIKE! Except one was smaller and thinner. In fact the model number is almost exactly alike - one is the 000CXE (fatty) the other 00CXAE (supermodel).
I hadn't known this when I did my original research. I got what I thought was the right model number off the internet and confirmed it with the salesman to order it. Now the problem is, as great as this guitar sounds, I know I'm going to hate playing it because it's bulky. IT'S STILL NOT THE GUITAR I WANT!
I emailed salesman and asked if there was anyway we could do an exchange for the thinner model. He gets back to me and says none are available anywhere across the country and won't be until Feb/March 2012. By then I could do a trade in and get .25 on the dollar for the one I bought. Of course he doesn't mention their store has a 45 day refund policy if the customer is not satisfied.
I tried convincing myself I'd be okay with the guitar. It really seems like a minor thing, right? But I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and it took me about 20 of those to really figure out what I like and don't like in a guitar. In fact, this same thing happened to me in 1988. I want in to a store to buy a thin acoustic, but since it was slightly out of my price range, rather than walk out, I let the saleman talk me into the cheaper bulky one.
As great as that guitar sounded, I grew to not like playing it. As it got older, the more it stayed in it's case. It's the one I sold and would be replacing with this one.
I really can't let that happen again, as minor as it may seems. I'll own a guitar I'm going to grow to hate. The music store will have a better chance selling it and getting the best price than I ever will. And I'm trying to decide if it was a punk move for the salesman not to tell me about the return policy in order to keep his commission.
I can't believe I forgot one. This is especially troublesome to me since the original was by one of my all time favorite bands:
"Black Magic Woman" by Santana" I'm admittedly not the biggest Santana fan. I'm not a fan of excessive guitar solos...or any kind of instrument solos for that matter. I like songs. I like when they have a beginning, middle and an end. I like music that serves the purpose of telling the story or emotion the lyrics are trying to convey. So if a solo or extended musical sequence does that in a song, I'm all for it. But if they're just there to show what a great musician you are...dude, I get it. I usually get it within the first few notes. Please stop.
"Black Magic Woman" is one of those songs in which the remake has completely obliterated the general public's knowledge of the original. Of course, most people don't have public knowledge of Fleetwood Mac before 1975. In the late 60s they were a blues band led by one of the greatest guitarist of that era, Peter Green. He wrote this song, eventually went insane, and pretty much left music altogether to the benefit of Santana fans around the world.
Here's the original. Had Peter Green not gone nuts you would hear his name mentioned with the likes of Clapton, Hendrix and, well, Carlos Santana.
I was sitting around the other night thinking of Hall & Oates. Yes, that Hall & Oates. The duo (or group) from the 70s and 80s that carried the mantled of Blue Eyed Soul through that era, continuing what the Righteous Brothers had wrought in the 60s. Hey, I'm not afraid to admit I love me some Hall & Oates.
I've always thought their remake of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" was really quite great. Which lead me to thinking about other great remakes. Which lead me to thinking of compiling a list of other great remakes. I don't know. My brain needs something to do right now.
So here's my list. Great songs. Great remakes. At least according to me. Accordingly:
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye
Here's a remake that many may not realize is a remake. Sometimes the remake can outshine the original so much that most people forget the original ever existed. In this case the original you've forgotten was by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. But I don't think Smokey is crying too much. He's written a number of classic songs by many artists that no doubt keep him warm at night.
BTW Marvin Gaye's version of "Grapevine" happens to be one of those songs I've heard so many times over my lifetime, I really don't need to hear it again. And I love Marvin Gaye. But, please, this song and "Sexual Healing," as great as they are, can be given a rest as far as I'm concerned.
"You've Lost That Loving Feeling" Hall & Oates
Blasphemy! They've simplified the Phil Spector's Wall of Sound sound! But in a good way. Really good cover of a legendary song. Plus, it's Hall & Oates. Need I say more?
"Pretty Woman" Van Halen
Do we dare declare the 80s the decade of the great remake? Nah. But here's another example that happens to be from that era. Van Halen took Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" and did a stellar job rocking it out a bit.
My gosh, I don't think I've seen this video in 25 years. Warning: It takes 90 seconds before the song really starts, and those 90 seconds are kind of creepy. But when it kicks in it's a nostalgic trip back to the David Lee Roth era of Van Halen. That band was fun and at the top of it's game. Eddie VH was the guitar god of the 80s!
"Blue Bayou" Linda Ronstadt
As a kid growing up in the 70s certain songs seemed everywhere. "Hotel California" by the Eagles, "Best of My Love" by the Eagles... hell, anything by the Eagles. This song was everywhere too. But for good reason. It's a great cover of Roy Orbinson's classic hit from the 50s. Linda was one of the top singers of the 70s and it's a shame nowadays you wouldn't even know it. I don't know how much Love Linda gets anymore, but if it's as little as I think it is, it's a sad oversight.
"Crying" KD Lang
Roy Orbinson for the trifecta! He's bowling a turkey, I tell you! Or if you're a singer and want to cover a song, go full Orbinson. His songs seem to lend themselves to good remakes. But what I appreciate about this remake is, well, KD was one of the great voices of the mid to late 80s. Simply amazing. Simply beautiful. And in picking this song she was able to fix one glaring problem on the original - the last note Roy sings on the song is horribly off key.
"Groovy Kind of Love" Phil Collins
I'm gonna switch it up here. I admit, this Phil Collins' hit from the non-hit movie "Buster" was a guilty pleasure of mine back in 1988. I had no idea until almost two decades later that the song was a remake. Doh, why wouldn't that dawn on me about a song with the word "groovy" in the title?
And as I type, I was going to totally credit the original version of this song to The Mindbenders. Which I was totally stoked about because once I discovered their so very 60s sounding version, I fell in love and kicked Phil Collins' version to the curb. But it seems that's not the case. The original version was recorded in 1965 by Diane & Annita (never heard of them either) and has been remade many times ever since. Maybe because songwriters Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager heavily based it on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi. Who knew? And who said cheesy pop songs can't be classy!
"Superman" REM
I first heard this song on a Superman themed TV series that shall remain nameless. Oh, okay, it was the 90s and it was "Lois & Clark." Yes, I watched the show religiously. I stand by my nerdom.
What I didn't know back in the 90s was that this song was a remake. Originally done in the 60s by the band The Clique, the two versions don't sound to far off from each other - except REM manages to give the song a little more life. On a sad note, if you watch the scene from "Lois & Clark" on DVD or streaming online in which this song was used, you'll notice a different song in it's place. I guess they couldn't get the sync rights to the music. Which is too bad because the song they replaced it with suuuuucks!
"Guess I'm Dumb" The Wondermints
This is perhaps a song that only has interest to me. But it's one of my all time favorite songs. Actually written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, which he recorded in 1965 with then session musician, sometime touring Beach Boy, pre-Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell as a solo record. 45 rpm, baby.
What I love about the Wondermints' take is while the Brian Wilson/Glen Campbell version is very much in the vain of Brian's sound during 1965 (think "California Girls") the Wondermints took the song and re-imagined it as Brian may have recorded in a year later in 1966. Their version could easily be an outtake from the seminal Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds."
Sadly, I can't find a clip of the Wondermints version on the internet. That ain't right!
Hey, whatta ya know? Found it! Ok, I uploaded it to soundcloud.
"Got to Get You Into My Life" Earth, Wind & Fire
It's not often you best the Beatles with their own songs. It's not ever you best the Beatles with their own songs! But if I were to pick one "fluke" this would be it. It really is better than the original. The Beatles wrote "Got to Get You Into My Life" but there's just something wholly unsatisfying about their recording. It's like they needed to finish up the album and didn't have time to fully realize the potential of this song.
But the Beatles failure is EW&F's benefit. Their version from the universally panned 70s film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was a sparkling gem shining amongst the rubble.
"Come Together" Aerosmith
Another gem in the rubble of the Sgt. Pepper 70s movie fiasco. The Steves' Tyler and Perry give the Beatles "Come Together" a fantastic spin. While it won't topple the original the way Earth, Wind & Fire does with "Got To Get You Into My Life," it is a really good cover. Aerosmith would live to see better (and no doubt cleaner) days in the decades to come. And Steve Tyler would go on to become a judge on American Idol...and still manage not to seem like a total sell out. Genius.
"Mr. Roboto" Jeffster
And last and probably least, I really couldn't finish this post without including the world's greatest fictional cover band. From the TV show "Chuck" I bring you JEFFSTER!
Really, I had a difficult time picking which of their cover songs done on the show to pick for it's horrible awesomeness. Their first appearance singing Toto's "Africa"? Their hilarious version of Salt N Pepa's "Push It" performed in a maternity ward? However, nothing, I say nothing, could beat the epic-ness of their version of "Mr. Roboto." The guns, the gowns, the knives, the wedding cake, the bride, the groom, the machine gun toting parachuting Marine airborne squad, Morgan Fairchild, Bruce Boxlietner, Chevy Chase, Scott Bakula, the roman candles and the sprinklers! E P I C !
Sadly the embed request on this video has been dismantled by YouTube but you can click here Mr. Roboto by Jeffster to see all the fun
Carol Kaye was a member of The Wrecking Crew, a group of Los Angeles studio musicians who played on just about every hit song from in the 1960s. They were the West Coast counterpart to Detroit's/Motown's Funk Bros. The most amazing thing, Carol was the only female musician amongst this group of pros.
Yes, you've most likely never heard her name, but you've heard her bass. Anytime you hear "These Boots Were Made For Walking," "Good Vibrations," "I"m A Believer" and "River Deep, Mountain High." And it that weren't impressive enough, she's also credited with playing guitar on Ritchie Valens "La Bamba" and The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." Sick.
To read more about Carol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Kaye or http://www.carolkaye.com/
Carole Kaye rocking the bass and GoGo boots. Epitome of coolness.