Tag: Camera Obscura

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25 Feb: studio

SHERMAN
John – Wurlitzer, organ

A while back, Rob picked up a Wurlitzer, more or less simply because I had expressed a love of them and wanted to have one on my CD somewhere. Last night we finally used it. It has some rattle and buzz to it, so Rob taped the hinges on the back, and we stacked some phone books on top of it to minimize it as much as possible. The sustain pedal doesn’t work on 4 or 5 keys.

I love it. I want one. I thought I did already. The only keyboard that has the same effect on me is the Mellotron (or it’s American counterpart, the Chamberlin) but it’s sound is more specific and not something I would want to use on every song. But the Wurlitzer… what it does to any song is just amazing. Last night when we were done I sat down at it and played with it. I love the sound it makes, and it’s so easy to make it sound good with only very basic piano skills (which are what I have, at best).

I wanted to take it home right then. If there’s anyone rich who loves me please surprise me. That’s a Wurlitzer 200 electric piano.

Anyway, John did two different tracks, one with vibrato and one without, we opted for vibrato. He also added some organ bits on the chorus. We also did two little flourishes using a piano as an autoharp, basically, taking off the cover of the piano, I held the keys down for the chord and John would strum the strings of the piano with a pic.

Unfortunately, there was bad news for the night. Josh Joplin’s label is flying Rob up for the next two weeks to have him produce 2 or 3 tracks for Josh’s new record, and if they like them he’ll be doing the entire record, which will mean he’ll be in New York through March. I am genuinely glad, because I like Rob and Josh, and I think it’s great that the label is having him up to do it. But it also shoots me in the foot, which is no one’s fault. It means no recording for at least a month, and also throws the March 23 show into turmoil. Pete can’t play it so I was already talking with Michael Lorant about playing drums, which meant getting him up to speed. Now I also have to decide whether to do the show without a lead guitarist or find a replacement.

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7 Feb: studio

HEY, CALIFORNIA
me – electric guitar
Rob – electric guitar, bass

KING SHAM
Rob – electric guitar, piano
Me – cowbell

SHERMAN
me – acoustic guitar, vocals, melodica
Rob – bass

A good day in the studio, but a boring write up thereof…

For HEY, CALIFORNIA we did two electric guitar tracks, one of me playing a Les Paul gold top (Rob has a number of vintage guitars, all of which I covet), and then another of him on a Telecaster. This represents probably the first and only track on the CD that will feature any electric guitar from me. That used to bother me a bit, I felt as if I wasn’t participating enough in my own CD, but somewhere along the line, between expediency and realism I lost that blow to my ego. The songs are mine, all the vocals are mine, the majority of the acoustic work is mine, and Rob is doing his job as a producer, which is to bring the songs out in the studio. And, having read a lot of interviews, I’ve come to realize that this is a pretty common setup. I think what threw me initially was having been in the studio with a band, where the other parts I didn’t do were covered by other band members so this sense that the project isn’t your own never really comes up. Doing one solo, unless you happen to be a multi-instrumentalist, of which I am certainly not, means you HAVE to have this going on. I just never considered it, and didn’t realize it was pretty much THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE. It does give you an even larger respect for the work that a good producer does, because you realize how much of themselves is going into a project that for the most part will only bear their name in small print.

Somebody correct me if I’m mistaken.

KING SHAM had Rob playing a Strat through a Leslie, simply because I am constantly bugging him for that guitar sound from “Badge.” I am not a big Clapton fan, but I love that sound. Love. It. Couldn’t even explain why. Also, I played some cowbell, to the obvious Saturday Night Live jokes. It’s funny to see jokes become standard in the musician community. I suppose that makes it a musician meme, if I understand the concept correctly. I’ve watched precious little of that show over the past 5 years or so, but somehow I did stumble across that sketch (it’s the sketch involving the recording of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, which if you don’t know, features a cowbell through almost the entire song). I find that it has now taken it’s place alongside “Spinal Tap,” “the Rutles,” “That Thing You Do!” and “Tenacious D” episodes as THINGS YOU MUST BE ABLE TO REFERENCE WITH OTHER MUSICIANS. So, go up to a musician you know and tell him you want him to “explore the studio space with the cowbell” and see if they don’t get it immediately. If they don’t, tell them they better get it soon before the musician community shuns them.

For SHERMAN we did the acoustic guitar track and doubled it (one take each) and the lead vocal (one take). I did it sitting, for some reason, it seemed to feel right. I kept hoping the chair would creak a little more for atmosphere. I also played a brief melodica solo. It’s really horribly out of tune, I’m not even sure if I can take it somewhere to have it tuned, but we ran it through a tremolo effect which seemed to soften the tuning problem. And it works sort of out of tune anyway. Rob pieced together the bass track with his usual aplomb, always an impressive task and he’s generally learning how to play the track as he goes. Have I mentioned I am lucky to have him working on my stuff, here and with the band?

I also played him the new song I wrote last week, sans lyrics, which he liked, and also played what I had so far on the song that was in response to him and Pete challenging me to write a song that only has three chords. Which has so far been the hardest thing I have ever written. More on those later.

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22 January: studio

LITTLE PLUM
Allen Broyles – piano

HEY, CALIFORNIA
me – acoustic guitar

I can sense now that things are beginning to pick up in the studio, which is good. This project has certainly been a straggler at times, through no one’s fault. Just timing and finances. But with drum tracks ready on everything we’re starting to pick up the bits and pieces that are lingering around.

Allen Broyles plays with the Josh Joplin Group. I’ve met him a couple of times before, and I’m pretty sure I’ve met him even earlier back when I used to hang out with Uncle Green (band, not a relative). I’d never heard him play before (all the time I’ve known Josh I’ve never seen him with his band) and he is amazing. Based on no previous listens and relatively vague instructions he nailed the part in about two hours. Particularly impressive given that, unlike, say, guitar, it’s a lot harder to re-record just a section of a piano track, if the playing is more or less non-stop.

But, especially impressive because the “vague instructions” basically consisted of me trying to describe the mood I wanted like this… “Okay, pretend you’re playing piano in some dank German beer-hall, pre WWII. After the set you’ll be heading upstairs with an underage hooker. Don’t worry about how it sounds, because you’ll be dead soon anyway from either syphillis or tuberculosis. Which you aren’t even aware of because you’re too strung out on absinthe. Oh, and just outside some punk kid named Hitler is about to start a riot.”

I think he got it, though.

I did the acoustic guitar for HEY, CALIFORNIA in one take, after 5 or 6 brief false starts because I couldn’t nail the tempo for some reason. I’d play about 5 seconds and stop, knowing I was slippping woefully off. One punch-in at the end, and then through to the end of the song. Did a quick scratch vocal and then we called it a night.