THE MAKING OF...
Dig It
After recording Lead Foot Lucy, I had the privilege of attending three really cool concerts over the summer - Velvet Revolver, Van Halen (x2), and Rush. These concerts motivated me to write a couple of new tunes and I wanted to get these out ASAP. Tim Randolph was in town in late June and recorded some great guitar solos over Dig It and Save It For Later, and I worked up a short instrumental - congradjoofahkeenlaeshunz - and burned some three-song EP CDs, Dig It.
I actually began Save It For Later (an English Beat cover) back in 2003 for inclusion on Lead Foot Lucy, but I didn't like where it was heading, so I scrapped everything. I began re-working that idea in May 2004 with more of a "jazz" feel, and it turned out better. In June 2004, I recorded the basic tracks for Dig It - definitely influenced by some of the harder rock songs that I had seen performed live during the summer. After Tim pumped out guitar solos for both of those, I was able to finish up congradjoofahkeenlaeshunz in August 2004.
I was considering setting these tunes aside for another "full-length" CD, but why subject people to 40-plus minutes of pain? I figure just a few of my songs are easier to take at one sitting.
CD ARTWORK
Dig It
congradjoofahkeenlaeshunz
Save It For Later*
1 -Dig It
probably the hardest rocking song I've recorded… definitely has a "Velvet Revolver-vibe" thing going on with it… Tim Randolph put down both solos on the first or second take - amazing playing again… the lyrics refer to people who get on your nerves by just about always being happy, but when things go wrong, they go overboard on the drama… the chorus lyrics were supposed to be "You dig the hole yourself and fall in", but the line was one syllable too long… couldn't figure out how to end the song, so I just cranked the reverb and stopped play on the Fostex… Tim thought the drum beat sounded like My Sharona by The Knack… oh well… LYRICS
GEAR--I used two guitars for the main guitar tracks (left and right) - my Kramer Neptune and my ESP Tel Aviv (each doubled)… I tripled the bass track with my PBass, Jazz bass, and EBMM 316 guitar (octaves)… Tim played the middle solo and the outro solo on my black Wolfgang… no keyboards anywhere on here… drums courtesy of Boss… I tuned down a whole step for the verse sections (D G C F A D), with the chorus at regular E-E tuning… four tracks of my vocals… 15 total tracks…
2 -congradjoofahkeenlaeshunz
after wrapping up Dig It and Save It For Later and deciding to burn another EP CD, I figured I needed another track - preferably a short instrumental… I monkeyed around on my Yamaha keyboard and came up with this… has a great rhythm track and I got to use my new Italia Mondial guitar with the piezo pickup… the organ solo in the middle was a first- or second-take effort and I wasn't planning on leaving it on there, but it grew on me after listening to it a few times… I also recorded a version of this tune with a real guitar solo, so that may see the light of day in the future… the end of this song gets weird with some obnoxious strumming on the Mondial, which was me screwing around, but I decided to leave it on there… sometimes "weird" needs to stay… and don't ask about the title…
GEAR--mostly keyboard tracks on this tune… 10 total keyboard tracks, inlcuding the wild organ solo, all from my Yamaha PSR… the Boss drum tracks (left and right) are each tripled… the two guitar tracks are both from my Italia Mondial, passive and piezo (E-bow on the piezo track)… 18 total tracks…
3 -Save It For Later*
a royal pain in the ass! first off, I've always loved this song and intended to do a cover of it for a while… I began laying down tracks for it in mid-2003 for inclusion on Lead Foot Lucy, but it wasn't happening… I got as far as the drum tracks, basic guitar tracks, and about four tracks worth of vocals… that version of the song was quite literal - too literal - and it was missing any "Smithtone-vibe", if such a thing exists… I erased everything and Tim Randolph and I worked up a cover of Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy (which also had a false start) for Lucy… I do wish, however, I would have kept a copy of my original attempt of Save It For Later - oh well… the version you hear here is definitely different than the original - kind of a jazz version of the song… my intention all along was for Tim to play the solo and he did a bang-up job, although I wasn't too sure about one of the notes he played in the final version… he convinced me it was kosher, so I left it on there… after listening to it a few more times, he was right - as usual… also included on my 2005 BULLSHAT! two-disc release… LYRICS
GEAR--the two main guitar tracks (left and right) are both from my Gibson Les Paul Special… the bass track is actually made up of four bounced tracks - two from my Jazz bass, one from my PBass, and one from my Epiphone Dot (octaves)… two keyboard tracks played on the Yamaha… I bounced three vocal tracks to make up the main vocals… Tim played the awesome solo on my Charlie Christian guitar… drums courtesy of Boss… 14 total tracks…
* written by The English Beat 1982
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