Finishing up the loose ends on the Forthcoming Trains and amazingly the drum tracks were all done over the weekend. But I did add some more supportive vocals on three songs in the late hour and didn't wake my brother up. Score!
When working with Hugh McConnell, we have a time limit to get things done and this album is no exception. I recall when we did 30 it was done in three weeks as well, and Weather On The Nines, the 1994 album with him was done in 4 weeks. Pawnshops and 30 both took about three months to complete. Kind of sense of urgency to get this one done it seems but everything came together quite quickly. Also helps to have a back catalog of lyrics and songs to have as well.
Forthcoming Trains does have a direct link with the Paraphernalia since I used the Pearl Snare from that time on this recording. It sat gathering dust in the basement and after the Tyrus Reunion on Facebook, I managed to revive it to use on the new album. For the cymbals used, the old 12 inch K Splash returns from the dead as well as the other survivor of the bar band years the 16 inch Zildjian Rock Crash. the old Medium Thin Crash was sold off years ago and I found a replacement that I really didn't use much when I first got it. I believe that the 18 inch K Session Crash sounded more like the old Medium Thin than the latest Medium Thin Crash The old A Swish Ride (including rivets) was the main ride, I probably would have been better off with the Armand Ride, but on the recording I didn't substitute any other cymbals this time out, unlike changing over to RUDEs from the 2002 on 30. With the nostalgia out of the way, I'll end up using another cymbal lineup. Not sure which ones.
Drinking Again was a one take number, which is why it ends abruptly, and Martin playing the bass tag line ending. Light Years Away was about 20 to 25 although on the tape I made a smartassed comment about being the 40th take. The first version was a much faster version but doubt if we'll use that one. The last couple albums we overloaded on cover versions, most which didn't make the final lineup, this time I covered our catalog instead. It made better sense rediscovering and re-imagining the songs in a different arrangement. Come to think of it, How Hard It Is was done in one take too.
2033 will be the 50th anniversary of Town's Edge Rock, but I'll doubt if I'll be alive to see that special occasion. Why we keep bringing that record up? Because it was the first actual proper album of actual songs, not that So Much For That wasn't that, I was still trying to get a feel of this new found freedom of writing my own stuff, rather than the one take throw them out in the open songs of Big Crash Collection.
The only things that will remain will be this blog and a handful of albums that did get out there in the free market that nobody knows about. Or cares.
The story about Isabella losing her methadone in the pizza place on our last get together is a true story. I remember it well since I wasn't feeling all that great and needed to head to the bathroom for about 10 minutes, then having her crawling back on hands and knees making a scene about misplacing her stash while everybody looked at her with disbelief. Good to know she's still alive after all these years.
I'd love to return back to the great Northwest but I don't forsee that in the future.
I'm not buddy buddy with neither but I have great respect for Craig Erickson and Billy Lee Janey, the two best known musicians from Cedar Rapids. I've seen Erickson in Half Priced Books from time to time, he's usually stocking up on blues CDs. For up and coming folks Samantha Fish is the best blues guitar player I have seen and her stock keeps going up.
For myself, I'm not the wild Crash Meister as from the Paraphernalia days and even the first two decades of Route 66/Townedgers. When you're playing along to the finished guitar tracks you have anticipate where you're going to do the drum rolls and cymbals accents at and if I go too wild, I'll miss coming on the right beat and being off a step. When I do listen to the old bar band stuff I still wonder how the hell did I actually do those crazy rhythm drum roll and cymbal crashes.
Since January the Tyrus talk has died down. I'm open to suggestions about if they want to get together to do something but since it's spring and the weather is getting better to hang outside more often, and golf season is here, Russ is focusing his energies on the back 9. Mike is feeling better but we haven't done anything since 1992 and there's nothing on the horizon about getting back together again either. Time and age are against us. So basically it's the Townedgers for me.
I think everybody has neighbors from Hell and we got one next door, he's always shooting dirty looks from the other side of the fence, mostly at my brother and his car collection outside. Then again everybody hates the freak next door anyway.
My brother and me, we get along fine together and he's the biggest supporter of Townedgers Music by providing the room and tolerance for drum solos and oddball guitar work. He has become the ultimate Mountain Man, growing his hair out and regrowing his bushy beard. I don't think he'll get to Dusty Hill ZZ Top propositions, it don't bother me as much it does for Mom. Used to be she used to get on my case for long hair but since I'm becoming more bald anymore, I been more to Super Cuts than bro, simply of the fact that I look like Doc from Back To The Future if I do grow it out. I can't be the hippie anymore. But my brother can. Ain't generics wonderful? Wish I had his hair (although it's mostly gray which maybe I don't want it).
I am thinking of going to Arizona again this year and hanging at the usual haunts but I haven't even looked for plane fares this year, I'm thinking of St Louis if I don't want to fly this summer, I haven't been to The Chain Of Rocks bridge since 2009. It's time to return there.
Heath permitting.
R.S.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Drum Tracking On The New Album
And so we begin the next step in finishing Forthcoming Trains; the drum tracks and I managed to get through 11 songs, but feel a need to re do Drinking Again. Starting working around 1 and finished up before 6, not bad considering we're fighting the damn 4 track for a decent drum sound. But I do think that the majority of the songs it did come away fairly good.
I'm surprised on how fast this album has taken shape over the three weeks in March. It came fairly quickly by revisiting the old lyrics that I have stored up and rearranged some of the other tracks from other albums into a whole new version of the song. I didn't want to just do cover versions like we did on No Exit, with the exception of Knocking On Heaven's Door, I covered myself, even going back to 1979 on a drums only track and rearranged it with some new words and with the help of the capo that Diggy Kat got me a few years ago made it into something it wasn't back then. With myself strumming a few chords the lines of Seems To Me You Have Changed came into my mind and I started singing the original song How Hard It Is (to find that you're finally gone). The original version was done with some coffee cans and an cymbal that seen better days before I got a hold of it. It's not a final go on the album but so far what I heard it sounds worthy enough. Anyway I still have to deal with another 10 songs before we start chopping things down to a selection of 12 songs.
While Jack Orbit's name pops up on the original lyrics and credits of said song, Jack hasn't been in person in the makings of this album and Geoff Redding for the most part has played some electric guitar and some acoustic but it has been myself and Martin Daniels piecing things together. However while on a conference call with Jack, he did give his blessings and hopes he can hear the finished product too.
Some songs of that past I wanted badly to redo and Midnight Run was one of them. In 1985 the original version was on the R.Smith/Route 66 album and it was a fucking bitch to do a straight ahead 1/2 beat, instead of the usual 4/4. We tried to redo it for the 20 album but the guitars were too fast for the drums to catch up. This version is more true to the 1985 arrangement.
Another reworked version was Somewhere Between You And Me, which was the final song recorded and while the 1989 version had a straight reggae beat (or attempted to do that), this version is straight ahead acoustic rock and roll. It's much easier in this day and age to do acoustic rather than electric songs, I follow better on the drums on the recording the tracks afterward. Ever since A Long Time Forgotten, a lot of the Townedgers albums have gone more acoustic than electric, not by accident but rather by not having to deal with loud amps and trying to shout over the noise. Last years album 30, had the fewest acoustic numbers but still I did enough of them to give a bit of variety to the flow of the album. But even with the finished product I'm still tinkering with it to see if I can make it sound better. Or get valued opinions from Martin or Geoff or the producer at hand, in this case Hugh McConnell who I have worked with for over 20 years off and on.
There's variations in McConnell's production work then Richard Dennanbaugh or Brian Mullahan, but in Hugh's case when he works on a TE project he's cracking the whip to get it done, whereas Richard would be more of a laid back approach, or if I produce it, I tend to work until I either get bored and shelve it or in the case of Pawnshops For Olivia have a creative spark and finish the album in record time. I had to, I had to keep my mind off the GD floods that was commonplace that year, just like last year. But still if McConnell wasn't on my case getting it done, the other guys were.
Spring has arrived and I took time to go out to the Nature Center and count the trains that run through the area and seen 5 of them today, double than the last time I was out there. I gave myself the window of a week to do drum tracks and they're half done after one day. A good sign. Which leaves the rest of the time to either add some more backing vocals to the completed tracks. Once done, the next weekend will be mixing the songs for radio consumption and for my pleasure since the albums don't sell. I suppose if I was more outgoing rather being the introvert that I am, that the music would speak for itself more often than not.
But it takes forever to get the right take down pat, we rarely ever get a first take done although on the new album there are a couple songs that are first takes. If they're good enough they'll be on the album.
I'm also aware that being over 50 that my years of rock and roll are just about up. It's hard to write new songs when you really don't have the hunger like you used to have and believed that we could make a difference with rock and roll, but it's a hobby nowadays and don't pay the bills like a real job does. I don't forsee myself 10 years from now doing new songs, I don't think I'll have the capability to do that. What's a 63 year old dude going to write about that hasn't been written or played before. You can't write about high school girls without sounding creepy, so can't do that. But you can still write a song about love gone bad, or yet another train song or a song for the road or protest songs about Dick Cheney being a asshole that should drink his own fracked water. It's sad seeing the world that I used to know being drowned in spilled oil in your river or lake, watching honey bees being eliminated due to Monsanto poisons and week killers. And seeing fewer and fewer music stores to hang out.
But I still play music because I still have fun with it, just like hearing the results of a finished album. And so here we are again adding the drum tracks to the numbers and hoping that something will be played on the radio. If the stars align just right, the album will be out by the end of May maybe.
I'm surprised on how fast this album has taken shape over the three weeks in March. It came fairly quickly by revisiting the old lyrics that I have stored up and rearranged some of the other tracks from other albums into a whole new version of the song. I didn't want to just do cover versions like we did on No Exit, with the exception of Knocking On Heaven's Door, I covered myself, even going back to 1979 on a drums only track and rearranged it with some new words and with the help of the capo that Diggy Kat got me a few years ago made it into something it wasn't back then. With myself strumming a few chords the lines of Seems To Me You Have Changed came into my mind and I started singing the original song How Hard It Is (to find that you're finally gone). The original version was done with some coffee cans and an cymbal that seen better days before I got a hold of it. It's not a final go on the album but so far what I heard it sounds worthy enough. Anyway I still have to deal with another 10 songs before we start chopping things down to a selection of 12 songs.
While Jack Orbit's name pops up on the original lyrics and credits of said song, Jack hasn't been in person in the makings of this album and Geoff Redding for the most part has played some electric guitar and some acoustic but it has been myself and Martin Daniels piecing things together. However while on a conference call with Jack, he did give his blessings and hopes he can hear the finished product too.
Some songs of that past I wanted badly to redo and Midnight Run was one of them. In 1985 the original version was on the R.Smith/Route 66 album and it was a fucking bitch to do a straight ahead 1/2 beat, instead of the usual 4/4. We tried to redo it for the 20 album but the guitars were too fast for the drums to catch up. This version is more true to the 1985 arrangement.
Another reworked version was Somewhere Between You And Me, which was the final song recorded and while the 1989 version had a straight reggae beat (or attempted to do that), this version is straight ahead acoustic rock and roll. It's much easier in this day and age to do acoustic rather than electric songs, I follow better on the drums on the recording the tracks afterward. Ever since A Long Time Forgotten, a lot of the Townedgers albums have gone more acoustic than electric, not by accident but rather by not having to deal with loud amps and trying to shout over the noise. Last years album 30, had the fewest acoustic numbers but still I did enough of them to give a bit of variety to the flow of the album. But even with the finished product I'm still tinkering with it to see if I can make it sound better. Or get valued opinions from Martin or Geoff or the producer at hand, in this case Hugh McConnell who I have worked with for over 20 years off and on.
There's variations in McConnell's production work then Richard Dennanbaugh or Brian Mullahan, but in Hugh's case when he works on a TE project he's cracking the whip to get it done, whereas Richard would be more of a laid back approach, or if I produce it, I tend to work until I either get bored and shelve it or in the case of Pawnshops For Olivia have a creative spark and finish the album in record time. I had to, I had to keep my mind off the GD floods that was commonplace that year, just like last year. But still if McConnell wasn't on my case getting it done, the other guys were.
Spring has arrived and I took time to go out to the Nature Center and count the trains that run through the area and seen 5 of them today, double than the last time I was out there. I gave myself the window of a week to do drum tracks and they're half done after one day. A good sign. Which leaves the rest of the time to either add some more backing vocals to the completed tracks. Once done, the next weekend will be mixing the songs for radio consumption and for my pleasure since the albums don't sell. I suppose if I was more outgoing rather being the introvert that I am, that the music would speak for itself more often than not.
But it takes forever to get the right take down pat, we rarely ever get a first take done although on the new album there are a couple songs that are first takes. If they're good enough they'll be on the album.
I'm also aware that being over 50 that my years of rock and roll are just about up. It's hard to write new songs when you really don't have the hunger like you used to have and believed that we could make a difference with rock and roll, but it's a hobby nowadays and don't pay the bills like a real job does. I don't forsee myself 10 years from now doing new songs, I don't think I'll have the capability to do that. What's a 63 year old dude going to write about that hasn't been written or played before. You can't write about high school girls without sounding creepy, so can't do that. But you can still write a song about love gone bad, or yet another train song or a song for the road or protest songs about Dick Cheney being a asshole that should drink his own fracked water. It's sad seeing the world that I used to know being drowned in spilled oil in your river or lake, watching honey bees being eliminated due to Monsanto poisons and week killers. And seeing fewer and fewer music stores to hang out.
But I still play music because I still have fun with it, just like hearing the results of a finished album. And so here we are again adding the drum tracks to the numbers and hoping that something will be played on the radio. If the stars align just right, the album will be out by the end of May maybe.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Recording Session Saturday
I just got done finishing up another session and two more songs to add to the album for consideration. We have 19 songs to choose from but will get down to the necessary 12 for the album. We're just about done.
The first song I did was Home. It's basically a looking back at a life that hasn't been so fulfilling, noting of the time that I went out for baseball hoping to become a big star, but only end up striking out with the bases loaded. And then moving to playing songs nobody knows about in a empty bar and the last verse a summary of the way things go. I have too many demons in this life that rob the fun out of me and everything that goes wrong gets noted in some way. It's getting old, leave me alone I'm going home.
The other song dates back to 1979 and was a smart ass drum only number called How Hard It Is, and back then I gave co writing credits to my best friends Russ and Steve, even though they didn't contribute. This time out while Geoff was playing a guitar riff I started singing Seems to me you have changed and with a little revision and update from Martin we turned this into another sad song about begging a lover wronged to take another chance and of course the outcome would be that she moved on. I think I prefer the 1979 smart ass version myself.
Took a break in the afternoon to go do errands, and to the recycling center to get rid of some things, getting rid of a old beer clock sign that didn't work anymore. It used to be a nice beer sign but the clock quit working years ago and it was taking up space. To my amazement, I didn't run into many idiots going into Cedar Rapids. For the first time I went out to the Nature Center to hear two honking Canadian Geese making a racket and flying overhead of myself and Martin. In the chilly afternoon we sat and waited for trains that never came and while the sun was setting, the Geese that flew over our heads came back with about 10 more honking buddies, but fed up with lack of train watching, we took in a Mexican supper in Anamosa before coming back to the studio and listening to the playback and making notes here and there. Working with Hugh McConnell once again and in true fashion has managed to make the album get done. I recall we didn't take much time to do on 20, the last time he co produced. After 2 weeks, we got the songs done and now the second step in putting drums on them will be coming up in the next week. And then mixing it down and finishing it up before the end of April.
But for a hobby of sorts, the music isn't selling, just like 30 didn't sell either. It got airplay on Radio Buzz'd but the Radio Maierburg Records didn't get any sales, despite a meet and greet and and Q N A session on the After Dark special on Radio One. It's like that for a lot of bands out there, there's so much music and so little time and you basically are competing with over 100 years of recorded music as well. I haven't talked to Diggy about how the Songs That Made An Impact 2014 is faring. But I think he used the version of Cannery Row from the No Exit album rather than the better mixed version that appeared on 30. I wasn't impressed with how the song sounded when it came on the Impact 2014 version. I suppose if I lived out on the West Coast Diggy Kat would be setting fire to my butt to play some of the music showcases out there, here in Iowa, there's hardly any place to play. But since I continue to fight myself in the studio, doing take after take of songs that I either fuck up by playing the wrong chord or singing the wrong words that I haven't made myself available to the public during jam sessions. Plus having stage fright doesn't help either.
But I have good supporters in Geoff and Martin and Diggy Kat and they continue to help me through the crisis that is recording Forthcoming Trains. 30 plus years of doing this and it's still never easy to get through a song on the first take. The more you work on something, the more you mess up and the song takes a different turn. Knocking On Heaven's Door, there's such a resigned frustration that it does sound like I am knocking on heaven's door, even towards the end to which the ending gets fucked up and so we improvised and turn it into part of a song. Even if we had pro tools, I still fear we would be fighting everything just to get a suitable take.
I donno if there's any other band or musicians out there that have to fight everything just to conceive and make a good album that I have to do. Why do I continue to do this? Because I'm still a fan of this music and I still enjoy hearing the past efforts. I still hold out some kind of hope to be discovered down the line by some out of country fans who make it a pilgrimage to seek out the artist. After all that's the only thing left, I'm too old for the major labels and our music isn't for corporate radio. It's for the fans out there, even though I could count on them with one hand. I probably had a better chance playing in bar bands and playing Mustang Sally for the drunken crowd, even though I would have preferred our originals. You make good money still in this day and age playing Talk Dirty To Me or Taking Care Of Business but to myself it would feel like a job rather than fun.
But in the meantime, I'll continue to shape Forthcoming Trains into a type of album that I'd play on a daily basis. It's the only thing that keeps me going.
The first song I did was Home. It's basically a looking back at a life that hasn't been so fulfilling, noting of the time that I went out for baseball hoping to become a big star, but only end up striking out with the bases loaded. And then moving to playing songs nobody knows about in a empty bar and the last verse a summary of the way things go. I have too many demons in this life that rob the fun out of me and everything that goes wrong gets noted in some way. It's getting old, leave me alone I'm going home.
The other song dates back to 1979 and was a smart ass drum only number called How Hard It Is, and back then I gave co writing credits to my best friends Russ and Steve, even though they didn't contribute. This time out while Geoff was playing a guitar riff I started singing Seems to me you have changed and with a little revision and update from Martin we turned this into another sad song about begging a lover wronged to take another chance and of course the outcome would be that she moved on. I think I prefer the 1979 smart ass version myself.
Took a break in the afternoon to go do errands, and to the recycling center to get rid of some things, getting rid of a old beer clock sign that didn't work anymore. It used to be a nice beer sign but the clock quit working years ago and it was taking up space. To my amazement, I didn't run into many idiots going into Cedar Rapids. For the first time I went out to the Nature Center to hear two honking Canadian Geese making a racket and flying overhead of myself and Martin. In the chilly afternoon we sat and waited for trains that never came and while the sun was setting, the Geese that flew over our heads came back with about 10 more honking buddies, but fed up with lack of train watching, we took in a Mexican supper in Anamosa before coming back to the studio and listening to the playback and making notes here and there. Working with Hugh McConnell once again and in true fashion has managed to make the album get done. I recall we didn't take much time to do on 20, the last time he co produced. After 2 weeks, we got the songs done and now the second step in putting drums on them will be coming up in the next week. And then mixing it down and finishing it up before the end of April.
But for a hobby of sorts, the music isn't selling, just like 30 didn't sell either. It got airplay on Radio Buzz'd but the Radio Maierburg Records didn't get any sales, despite a meet and greet and and Q N A session on the After Dark special on Radio One. It's like that for a lot of bands out there, there's so much music and so little time and you basically are competing with over 100 years of recorded music as well. I haven't talked to Diggy about how the Songs That Made An Impact 2014 is faring. But I think he used the version of Cannery Row from the No Exit album rather than the better mixed version that appeared on 30. I wasn't impressed with how the song sounded when it came on the Impact 2014 version. I suppose if I lived out on the West Coast Diggy Kat would be setting fire to my butt to play some of the music showcases out there, here in Iowa, there's hardly any place to play. But since I continue to fight myself in the studio, doing take after take of songs that I either fuck up by playing the wrong chord or singing the wrong words that I haven't made myself available to the public during jam sessions. Plus having stage fright doesn't help either.
But I have good supporters in Geoff and Martin and Diggy Kat and they continue to help me through the crisis that is recording Forthcoming Trains. 30 plus years of doing this and it's still never easy to get through a song on the first take. The more you work on something, the more you mess up and the song takes a different turn. Knocking On Heaven's Door, there's such a resigned frustration that it does sound like I am knocking on heaven's door, even towards the end to which the ending gets fucked up and so we improvised and turn it into part of a song. Even if we had pro tools, I still fear we would be fighting everything just to get a suitable take.
I donno if there's any other band or musicians out there that have to fight everything just to conceive and make a good album that I have to do. Why do I continue to do this? Because I'm still a fan of this music and I still enjoy hearing the past efforts. I still hold out some kind of hope to be discovered down the line by some out of country fans who make it a pilgrimage to seek out the artist. After all that's the only thing left, I'm too old for the major labels and our music isn't for corporate radio. It's for the fans out there, even though I could count on them with one hand. I probably had a better chance playing in bar bands and playing Mustang Sally for the drunken crowd, even though I would have preferred our originals. You make good money still in this day and age playing Talk Dirty To Me or Taking Care Of Business but to myself it would feel like a job rather than fun.
But in the meantime, I'll continue to shape Forthcoming Trains into a type of album that I'd play on a daily basis. It's the only thing that keeps me going.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Walk A Thin Line
Spare me a loan on your time
Take me where you go
Whip out your key of theory
Show me what's in store
Now spare me no memory
When you speak for yourself
Don't take all day to tell me
Cause the world runs on a tilt
Why don't you walk a thin line
You can do it if you wanna try
Why don't you walk a thin line
Hold out a little longer
One more minute will kill you
Bear out all the guilt
The results will thrill you
It's the way that you feel babe
Not what you say or do
For all the bottled up feelings
In the long run, you'll be a fool
Why don't you walk a thin line
You can do it if you wanna try
Why don't you walk a thin line
And when you're dead and gone (Walk A Thin Line)
You'll be on your own (Walk A Thin Line)
All alone, all alone (Walk A Thin Line)
drive on.
(c) 1987 Townedger Music Emporium
Take me where you go
Whip out your key of theory
Show me what's in store
Now spare me no memory
When you speak for yourself
Don't take all day to tell me
Cause the world runs on a tilt
Why don't you walk a thin line
You can do it if you wanna try
Why don't you walk a thin line
Hold out a little longer
One more minute will kill you
Bear out all the guilt
The results will thrill you
It's the way that you feel babe
Not what you say or do
For all the bottled up feelings
In the long run, you'll be a fool
Why don't you walk a thin line
You can do it if you wanna try
Why don't you walk a thin line
And when you're dead and gone (Walk A Thin Line)
You'll be on your own (Walk A Thin Line)
All alone, all alone (Walk A Thin Line)
drive on.
(c) 1987 Townedger Music Emporium
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Recording Oncoming Trains and Life's failures
On Tuesday, I started work on the new album and managed to get four songs done. The next session it took me about 20 takes to do one song and then the next day managed to do another 25 takes of Light Years Away.
The problem of recording anymore nowadays and this takes the fun out of recording when you have to redo take after take due to the usual rules. I miss a chord here, miss pronounce a word there, or my voice would give out. Even got to a point that a case of flatulence was heard in the background so had to stop and redo that take all over again. Of course it didn't help that I was coming from Madison in a blizzard to start doing the fucking song a couple hours later. About the 40th time and take it was finally done.
It's been this way for 31 years. The constant fighting to get the arrangements right, the song right and everything else that might work but I fight a lotta recording demons, my fingers and brain and mouth can't get the signals right, I can't read the handwriting of the lyrics and all kinds of what goes wrong goes wrong comes into play. I tell myself this is supposed to be fun, I'm doing this because I love music and I love hearing my music on the stereo or on the radio whenever the net radio stations play it. People say I'm fighting a losing battle anyway, nobody buys the music, nobody listens to it and there's so much out there that you can listen to in the first place. I guess it goes all the way back to which I came out of the womb and into a world that hasn't accepted me in the first place.
I don't know if life has passed me by or I stayed too long in fantasyland to really do anything else in life. Whatever I have done I failed. I discovered football and wanted to be the star QB that lead the team to the state championship but ended up getting on the b to c to d squad and finally gave up on that. I tried out for little league baseball in the attempts to have fun and make a difference but unfortunly fate had other ideas. Either I struck out or walked, nice to know in life that I never got a base hit in baseball. And had a few baseballs go between my legs to a lose a game. Basketball same thing, couldn't hit free throws, couldn't play defense. My grade school girlfriend became a damn good basketball player, she could run circles around me in 5th grade. True to form, I quit that too in high school.
But perhaps the biggest failure was trying to be a good boyfriend and that didn't work either. The biggest mistakes in my life was in the year 1975 when I decided to try out for little league and see the year of shit begin with both grandparents that died and going to Michigan and falling head over heels over some younger girl that tended to fart about 5 times after she chased me around the yard. After 1976 I never saw her again. The other big mistake was Janice and letting her get to me over the years.
The 1980s were a joke, I dated nobody and when I did I was overbearing. I gave my heart away to the most undesirable girls I would come across. The ones that did find me attractive I blew them off, the girl in my Public Relations class that I saw at Kitty's and smiling at me and basically blew her off and watched her go home crying away. Thought I could find her and explain my actions but that never happened. There was Belinda, a good girl with a good heart.
In the 1990s I finally had a dating life and managed to date a good woman who had three boys but still thought a lot of me but after my appendix attack in 1996, she got too high maintenance and eventually went behind my back to date somebody for six weeks before deciding I was to go. And there was the psychopaths, the strip dancer from Denver, the snake lady of Spokane, the woman from the rainy state that was the inspiration of some of my greatest songs ever written and of course the brat, who may have been the most loving of all. We shared the good times, endured the bad and I'm sure she has found a more compatible guy that can keep up with her. I miss her, she was a part of writing a couple songs with me and will always be a part of me.
Sometimes in life you don't get the girl in the end, nor do you settle down and get married and bring children in the world so you can teach them values of life and maybe get them to learn an instrument and start a band. But as I go through these recording sessions it appears to me that I would be the weakest link and probably would be replaced. A rocker at heart but get on stage with guitar in hand and I will fuck it up be it the words or the music. It has happened time and time again.
Which is why when I play live I play behind the drums. I don't know what happened in this life that I wanted to be a rockstar but ended up sounding like a dork everytime I took the lead on songs. Or do a station ID and sound like a dork. I feel like giving it all up. I'll never be the guy that plays live and gets all kinds of nookie at the end of show. As a drummer I did get a phone number from a girl but she gave her numbers all out to everybody in the band and I was the one not into the joke.
For the most part Geoff and Martin has been the most supportive guys that I have ever known. Most everybody would have been out the door after the first blowup but bless their hearts they stayed through the 80 takes of Light Years Away and telling me things will be all right. But we're all fighting a losing battle, fighting outdated recording equipment that fucks up the tape after a while, or having the new technology's hard drive go out and they can't repair it. I think I'm more inclined just to stick to the more safe songs of the back catalog just to complete Forthcoming Trains but I'm stubborn enough to finish it, and knowing it won't sell but at least I have something new to listen to.
The Big Crash Collection over and done with, the three albums served their purpose. So it's on to Forthcoming Trains, I promised Diggy Kat, my A&R director that I'd would finish it for him to spotlight on his radio show. The album so far is acoustic but we'll be working on the electric stuff in the next couple weeks. We're looking to get this completed in about 3 weeks. That is if I don't take a shotgun to myself by then.
I am hoping for things to get better.
The problem of recording anymore nowadays and this takes the fun out of recording when you have to redo take after take due to the usual rules. I miss a chord here, miss pronounce a word there, or my voice would give out. Even got to a point that a case of flatulence was heard in the background so had to stop and redo that take all over again. Of course it didn't help that I was coming from Madison in a blizzard to start doing the fucking song a couple hours later. About the 40th time and take it was finally done.
It's been this way for 31 years. The constant fighting to get the arrangements right, the song right and everything else that might work but I fight a lotta recording demons, my fingers and brain and mouth can't get the signals right, I can't read the handwriting of the lyrics and all kinds of what goes wrong goes wrong comes into play. I tell myself this is supposed to be fun, I'm doing this because I love music and I love hearing my music on the stereo or on the radio whenever the net radio stations play it. People say I'm fighting a losing battle anyway, nobody buys the music, nobody listens to it and there's so much out there that you can listen to in the first place. I guess it goes all the way back to which I came out of the womb and into a world that hasn't accepted me in the first place.
I don't know if life has passed me by or I stayed too long in fantasyland to really do anything else in life. Whatever I have done I failed. I discovered football and wanted to be the star QB that lead the team to the state championship but ended up getting on the b to c to d squad and finally gave up on that. I tried out for little league baseball in the attempts to have fun and make a difference but unfortunly fate had other ideas. Either I struck out or walked, nice to know in life that I never got a base hit in baseball. And had a few baseballs go between my legs to a lose a game. Basketball same thing, couldn't hit free throws, couldn't play defense. My grade school girlfriend became a damn good basketball player, she could run circles around me in 5th grade. True to form, I quit that too in high school.
But perhaps the biggest failure was trying to be a good boyfriend and that didn't work either. The biggest mistakes in my life was in the year 1975 when I decided to try out for little league and see the year of shit begin with both grandparents that died and going to Michigan and falling head over heels over some younger girl that tended to fart about 5 times after she chased me around the yard. After 1976 I never saw her again. The other big mistake was Janice and letting her get to me over the years.
The 1980s were a joke, I dated nobody and when I did I was overbearing. I gave my heart away to the most undesirable girls I would come across. The ones that did find me attractive I blew them off, the girl in my Public Relations class that I saw at Kitty's and smiling at me and basically blew her off and watched her go home crying away. Thought I could find her and explain my actions but that never happened. There was Belinda, a good girl with a good heart.
In the 1990s I finally had a dating life and managed to date a good woman who had three boys but still thought a lot of me but after my appendix attack in 1996, she got too high maintenance and eventually went behind my back to date somebody for six weeks before deciding I was to go. And there was the psychopaths, the strip dancer from Denver, the snake lady of Spokane, the woman from the rainy state that was the inspiration of some of my greatest songs ever written and of course the brat, who may have been the most loving of all. We shared the good times, endured the bad and I'm sure she has found a more compatible guy that can keep up with her. I miss her, she was a part of writing a couple songs with me and will always be a part of me.
Sometimes in life you don't get the girl in the end, nor do you settle down and get married and bring children in the world so you can teach them values of life and maybe get them to learn an instrument and start a band. But as I go through these recording sessions it appears to me that I would be the weakest link and probably would be replaced. A rocker at heart but get on stage with guitar in hand and I will fuck it up be it the words or the music. It has happened time and time again.
Which is why when I play live I play behind the drums. I don't know what happened in this life that I wanted to be a rockstar but ended up sounding like a dork everytime I took the lead on songs. Or do a station ID and sound like a dork. I feel like giving it all up. I'll never be the guy that plays live and gets all kinds of nookie at the end of show. As a drummer I did get a phone number from a girl but she gave her numbers all out to everybody in the band and I was the one not into the joke.
For the most part Geoff and Martin has been the most supportive guys that I have ever known. Most everybody would have been out the door after the first blowup but bless their hearts they stayed through the 80 takes of Light Years Away and telling me things will be all right. But we're all fighting a losing battle, fighting outdated recording equipment that fucks up the tape after a while, or having the new technology's hard drive go out and they can't repair it. I think I'm more inclined just to stick to the more safe songs of the back catalog just to complete Forthcoming Trains but I'm stubborn enough to finish it, and knowing it won't sell but at least I have something new to listen to.
The Big Crash Collection over and done with, the three albums served their purpose. So it's on to Forthcoming Trains, I promised Diggy Kat, my A&R director that I'd would finish it for him to spotlight on his radio show. The album so far is acoustic but we'll be working on the electric stuff in the next couple weeks. We're looking to get this completed in about 3 weeks. That is if I don't take a shotgun to myself by then.
I am hoping for things to get better.
Saturday, 1 March 2014
The Big Crash Collection
This month brings full circle of the early years back in print. In 1980 I bought a Zickos drumset in order to record music and between that and So Much For That, I recorded a bunch of reel to reels that were edited down to cassette tape with the highlights of the songs that stood out. While So Much For That and anything else later (Except Every Hour On The Hour which I cannot find the tapes to) have made it to CD form, the three albums have not. But after spending yet another snowed in weekend, I decided to finally mix and put the three albums out on CD this month. Subtitled the Zickos Collection, (in tribute to my long gone drum set) the three albums are known as R. Smith Tonight, The Power Of Positive Thinking and Bizarre Behavior.
I have no intention of issuing the pre 1980s stuff on CD, they are too rough and better versions were done later but I love the power of the drums on these recordings. Plus they're fun to listen to as I try to do one take versions of songs, red light running and hoping that they sound good.
The albums themselves:
Rodney Smith Tonight! (MHS-24027) 1980
1. Medley (13:36)
It's Me Tonight
That Girl I'm Gonna Make Her Mine If It Takes All Night
I Want To Get Closerthanthis With You
2. The Will Of Me 7:11
3. Who Asking Questions 4:22
4. Black Wind 4:02
5. Out Of Gas 4:35
6. Drums On Fire 5:55
7. Movin On To Better Things (Smith/Willard) 3:23
8. Ain't It Oblivious 3:42
9. Takin' For A Ride 4:28
Produced By Rodney Smith
Recorded at Maier Studio Summer 1980
Recorded by R.Smith, Mel Strobie and Ken Miller
All other songs written by Rodney Smith except where noted.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING (1981) MRK-24129
1. Who Sez 3:33
2. Heart Of Ice (Smith/Gray) 5:04
3. The Power Of Positive Thinking (Smith/Glarington) 2:53
4. Out And Out 2:20
5. All Night Dancing 4:20
6. Reggae Rock 4:05
7. Down The Road Blues 4:21
8. Who What Where And Why 5:42
9. Champagne Bottles In The Cupboard (Smith/Orbit/Glarington) 4:11
10. Jazztime 1:55
11. Fool For Thinking (Smith/Evans) 3:23
12. Same Old Thing 1:35
All songs written by R.Smith except where noted
Recorded at Maier Studio June 25-27 1981
Recorded by Mel Strobie, Gene Littell and Ken Miller
Produced by Rodney Smith and Mel Strobie
BIZARRE BEHAVIOR (1982) MRK 24130
1. Living After Midnight 3:28
2. Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can 4:10
3. Trans Elusive Express (Smith/Orbit/Miller/Glarington) 5:28
4. Victim Of Circumstances 1:55
5. In A Trance 5:15
6. Sidewalk Sale Woman (Smith/Swearingen) 3:13
7. Rock That! 1:27
8. Fade Away 2:10
9. Thunderfoot 3:40
10. Roll A Rock 4:25
11. Diesel Breath 1:55
12. Bizarre Behavior 2:00
13. Heart Of Stone 4:00
14. How Can You Say That I Loved You When You Knew I Was A Liar 4:20
15. Goodbye Freelance Dream (Smith/Glarington) 2:40
16. Telling All 3:52
Songs written by R.Smith except where noted
Recorded July 1982, Maier Studios
Recorded by Ken Miller, Gene Littell and Perry Langhurst
Produced By Neil Fulbright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reissue Credits:
For the most part, all selections were used from the original dubbed cassette copies that were found in the Radio Maierburg music archives and with the exception of Same Old Thing were EQed in the way they were recorded. Granted, some of the selections were found via the Rodney Smith's Greatest Hits (MRK 24175) cassette and that tape had a higher quality tape which brought out the more brighter sounds. The tape master used of Same Old Thing, the source copy wasn't that great to begin with and the reel to reel wasn't much better but we compressed it to make it sound better. The more rougher mix that you hear are from the original reel to reel mixed to an old outdated Realistic player which did a fine job at the beginning but later in the 80 it recorded music much faster and when transcribed to other cassette players the sound dragged more. The four track used to record and mix, has brought things up to speed.
All sections features myself playing guitar and drums and on a rare occasion Harmonica. Ron Glarington, who co wrote a few songs, arranged the songs There was some numbers included by Paraphernalia and Russ Swearingen played bass on a couple of instrumentals but were not included. There was were some omissions of songs off the cassette (Hit Me (hit a wet towel), Mr Questionmark, Shine On, Anger, Wide Turn Blues, Four O Clock Sunrise, In Search Of The Girl Of My Dreams, Pizza Inferior) that would have hampered the flow of the album so they were left off. Good intentions really at that time but really have dated very badly over the years.
For most of February, I worked with my original producer Mel Strobie on reviewing tracks. Since he played a role in recording most of these albums I felt that he should be included on the reissues. We both attempt to preserve, as best as we could, the sound and performance of these albums. But tape usually ages over time, and there's some drop out of sound and other wow and flutter issues.
The Big Crash Collection, while uneven and ragged at is gets, these three albums do show the transgression of novices attempted rock stars into something more compatible and bridges the gap between the past and the latest album 30. A history lesson.
But I still get a kick out of hearing those wild drum solos though ;-)
I have no intention of issuing the pre 1980s stuff on CD, they are too rough and better versions were done later but I love the power of the drums on these recordings. Plus they're fun to listen to as I try to do one take versions of songs, red light running and hoping that they sound good.
The albums themselves:
Rodney Smith Tonight! (MHS-24027) 1980
1. Medley (13:36)
It's Me Tonight
That Girl I'm Gonna Make Her Mine If It Takes All Night
I Want To Get Closerthanthis With You
2. The Will Of Me 7:11
3. Who Asking Questions 4:22
4. Black Wind 4:02
5. Out Of Gas 4:35
6. Drums On Fire 5:55
7. Movin On To Better Things (Smith/Willard) 3:23
8. Ain't It Oblivious 3:42
9. Takin' For A Ride 4:28
Produced By Rodney Smith
Recorded at Maier Studio Summer 1980
Recorded by R.Smith, Mel Strobie and Ken Miller
All other songs written by Rodney Smith except where noted.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING (1981) MRK-24129
1. Who Sez 3:33
2. Heart Of Ice (Smith/Gray) 5:04
3. The Power Of Positive Thinking (Smith/Glarington) 2:53
4. Out And Out 2:20
5. All Night Dancing 4:20
6. Reggae Rock 4:05
7. Down The Road Blues 4:21
8. Who What Where And Why 5:42
9. Champagne Bottles In The Cupboard (Smith/Orbit/Glarington) 4:11
10. Jazztime 1:55
11. Fool For Thinking (Smith/Evans) 3:23
12. Same Old Thing 1:35
All songs written by R.Smith except where noted
Recorded at Maier Studio June 25-27 1981
Recorded by Mel Strobie, Gene Littell and Ken Miller
Produced by Rodney Smith and Mel Strobie
BIZARRE BEHAVIOR (1982) MRK 24130
1. Living After Midnight 3:28
2. Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can 4:10
3. Trans Elusive Express (Smith/Orbit/Miller/Glarington) 5:28
4. Victim Of Circumstances 1:55
5. In A Trance 5:15
6. Sidewalk Sale Woman (Smith/Swearingen) 3:13
7. Rock That! 1:27
8. Fade Away 2:10
9. Thunderfoot 3:40
10. Roll A Rock 4:25
11. Diesel Breath 1:55
12. Bizarre Behavior 2:00
13. Heart Of Stone 4:00
14. How Can You Say That I Loved You When You Knew I Was A Liar 4:20
15. Goodbye Freelance Dream (Smith/Glarington) 2:40
16. Telling All 3:52
Songs written by R.Smith except where noted
Recorded July 1982, Maier Studios
Recorded by Ken Miller, Gene Littell and Perry Langhurst
Produced By Neil Fulbright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reissue Credits:
For the most part, all selections were used from the original dubbed cassette copies that were found in the Radio Maierburg music archives and with the exception of Same Old Thing were EQed in the way they were recorded. Granted, some of the selections were found via the Rodney Smith's Greatest Hits (MRK 24175) cassette and that tape had a higher quality tape which brought out the more brighter sounds. The tape master used of Same Old Thing, the source copy wasn't that great to begin with and the reel to reel wasn't much better but we compressed it to make it sound better. The more rougher mix that you hear are from the original reel to reel mixed to an old outdated Realistic player which did a fine job at the beginning but later in the 80 it recorded music much faster and when transcribed to other cassette players the sound dragged more. The four track used to record and mix, has brought things up to speed.
All sections features myself playing guitar and drums and on a rare occasion Harmonica. Ron Glarington, who co wrote a few songs, arranged the songs There was some numbers included by Paraphernalia and Russ Swearingen played bass on a couple of instrumentals but were not included. There was were some omissions of songs off the cassette (Hit Me (hit a wet towel), Mr Questionmark, Shine On, Anger, Wide Turn Blues, Four O Clock Sunrise, In Search Of The Girl Of My Dreams, Pizza Inferior) that would have hampered the flow of the album so they were left off. Good intentions really at that time but really have dated very badly over the years.
For most of February, I worked with my original producer Mel Strobie on reviewing tracks. Since he played a role in recording most of these albums I felt that he should be included on the reissues. We both attempt to preserve, as best as we could, the sound and performance of these albums. But tape usually ages over time, and there's some drop out of sound and other wow and flutter issues.
The Big Crash Collection, while uneven and ragged at is gets, these three albums do show the transgression of novices attempted rock stars into something more compatible and bridges the gap between the past and the latest album 30. A history lesson.
But I still get a kick out of hearing those wild drum solos though ;-)
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