i just can't describe the experiences i have had this week. the conversations between takes and at lunch have been ,,,, well, all musical. stpories were shared between all the guys alot like my band and i sitting around tsalking shop. but, instead of, for example "hey remember that gig we did in the flats" or about the bar owner in youngstown, it would be about van morrison or the eagles. joe was telling us a story about keith moon. nothing dirty just crazy. he would drive cars into swimming pools or hotel lobbies. he just didn't care. they were talking about one particular producer, i forget the name. but joe had made 52 records with him. joe vitale might have 50 or 100 gold/platinum records, but, that's just the omnes with awards. he has made hundreds and hundreds of records throughout his career. buk was telling me about a guitar he bought ( he bought one online while i was down here!) and sold some vintage vox speakers. anyway. the stories that go around. one time with joe walsh they were all bored on tour and made crazy videos. joe is one of the most talented, legendary, nicest, sweetest, straight forward, family men you would ever meet. he's a rock star but a regular guy. he told me sometimes the band he would be working with is bickering (and i mean world famous artists) and they would turn to him looking for him to take sides, and joe would just say (and i'm paraphrasing), just shut up and let's record the song! one night he played a drum fill with the eagles and glen frey said i'll give you $100 to do that again, but it was because he knew henley would get mad. i don't want to tell any stories that i'm not supposed to, because i was taken in confidence on many of them, and i don't want any of the guys i am working with to thinik ill of me. but when joe vitale was involved, and he was a younger, crazy italiam rocker, the stories are funny and crazy. just like his book. i really suggest buying a copy. he is so funny and the stories are so crazy. like the time joe walsh and he wanted adjoining rooms, but the hotel didn't get it right, so they cut a hole in the wall with a chain saw!!!! you see, they traveled with a chain saw. they had a road case for it and everything. joe has been on evbery tonight show, leno, lettermen, arsinio show that ever was.
david santos has worked with and record with a long long list too. john fogerty, winonna, neville brothers. i mean i can't even rememver all the ones. and to see him record the parts,,,,, he's like buk. he is a killer killer player. if a part is simple, that's what he plays, but that is not the limit of his skill. he brought an upright bass yesterday because it might, and i mean might be used on a track., he played it like an old jazz pro.... which he is. he's doing a demonstration jazz gig coming up for a bass manufacturer.. oh, and speaking of jazz. joe vitale... i knew he played keyboards and flute in addition to drums. and i knew he was a great keyboard player, but the other day, he sat down at the piano and dave was on upright bass, and joe p[layed jazz piano that blew me away. i am such a lucky guy to be recording with these guys.
buk,,,,, well, what can be said. he is brilliant. a genius. he is the talk of the town and the first call master session player here. everybody wants him. not everybody gets him. his time is limited and he picks and chooses with whom he wants. and he chose to invite me to work with him. what an honor. and let me tell you. it's not just reputation. it is talent. lasdt night we did a song that was a cool song, but i wrote it like a white bread ritchie cunningham. he thought about it for days, couldn't come up with something to make it sound cool. yesterday, it came to him in a dream. it is now not a beatley thing, it is a reggae/metal thing. and it sounds great.
something else i should say. this was pointed out to me by one of the guys. sessions down here for making records go in three hour segments. when the session is over, it's over. if it' ain't right, the players usually just say "oh, that's great. it's fine just the way it is". but not this session. there have been several songs that after a few hours, they are still searching for the right way to get the song across. case in point, i wrote this song called the magnolia tree on highway 7. they played it like anyone would play it. didn't please them. tried a different tempo. different style. nothing. then david asked joe what groove do you guys to on teach your children ( a csn song, you know it). well of course joe is the drummer for csn. so they tried that. it worked. then the tommy said let's move it down a step in key and it improved a lot. joe (the engineer) said go one more 1/2 step down. and boom. there it was. they, dare i say we,,,, worked on that song for like 8 hours until it was right. then tommy said i was singing it too agressively. he said don't sing it like agrressive guy, sing it like sleepy guy, like right before you go to sleep. so, i went into the booth, yawned a few times, turned the lights down, sand it really really soft ( i would have neevr thought of this) and click. there it was.
they have helped on every aspect of the process. one part that is especially thrilling is the lyrical help. not only do these guys have a great sense of drama for a song, but,,, and i hate to seem like a small time guy (which i am) but, joe helped on lyrics on more than one song. you know what that means? there will be songs on this record that i share a song writing credit with joe vitale. here's a guy who co-wrote so many great hits and my name will be right next to his. what an honor.
sorry i am dithering on again.
yesterday we got two songs done. we are up to ten. we hope to do two more today.
did i mention, the equipment that is being used for this record is unbelieveable. you might not think it makes a difference, but plug 6 mics into a 10,00 dollar set of preamps and then plug them into a bank of vintage neve preamps and even i hear the difference. the preamps for mics alone are many times that amount. they are outfitted like the best studios in this town. i mean from what the guys say ( an they7 know) this studio is one of the best in town. i am in a twilight zone. but it is really happening. i'm here. the two songs yesterday really rounded out the recording. there is a little bit of everything. and they are all done very well. the last recording done in what they call 16 bit recording, this one is many times that,,,not really sure but i think it's 56 bit. what this means is the resolution si much muich greater. imagine taking a picture with a disposable camera from the grocery store. now take the same picture on a camera that is used for the life magazine cover that costs 40,000 dollars. would you expect the resolution to be greater? the colors to be more vivid? the depth of intensity? yes you would. and it is. just the yard stick mix, (that means just push all the faders up, without really eq' ing it or doing compressions or any final mixing thing, just push the faders all up and listen.... it is amazing the difference ( to me) between this one and the last one, finally home. rick delima the engineer for the last one, was an amazing cat. he got performances out of me that would hgave never happened, so i am not dissing that recording or anythinhg like that. he was an amazing cat, but because of the equipment in buks studio, the quality of recording i think is great. rick delima i love you and your studio as well though. i hope to work with him again sometime. forgive me that i am tryting to be politialcally correct, i just don't want to say anything bad about the last studio. it was an affordable and great studio. this one, though, because of equipment alone is a world class studio. and not to mention buk has ten more years under his belt making reocrdings. last time, he hadn't worked with keith urband yet, he hadn't graced the recordings of all those rascal flatts records, worked with the producers that are now fawninbg over him, and he is ten years older and wiser. but let me point something out. buk was a greater guitar player than i by the time he reached the age of,,,, i don't know,,,, 8? 10?
anyway i better get to work and polish offf some lyrics. this doesnt happen to me every day and i must make the best of it
here is something i had no idea would happen. but i have seen it in front of my eyes. here is the lesson. you can neevr tell. first of all i never have any idea which song tom will picj to do next. he picked songs that i thought to myself, oh no, not that one, it sucks. it's one of the lesser songs i brought here. but hten it turns out to be one of the best songs. and some song you thought would be great, didn't get picked. some somg that was to be an easy chip shot, takes all day. you just never can tell. but i can tell one thing. if we start a song, by the time it is done, it will be great.
so, on to the last day of full band recording., after this it is over dubs.
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