Hey all-- First off, a reminder that the SoundCloud option for originals is here:
https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs
Second off, your ol' Cousin Roswell and Uncle Butteford are wishing a Happy Goddarned Christmas to all a you!! Make it as atheistic, Judaic or BabyJesus-soaked as you want, we figure.... We like to treat it (literally as well as figuratively) as a build-your-own-holiday bar!
As to the tunes, though the Great Island Basement Workshop at the Harpswell Estate was off-line for a long, long, long while before, during and after the fancification project down there, the first delicate green sprouts of music have been followed by a burst of rockin' out. It also turns out that a couple formations of elves have been busy down in Baltimore working on some projects (more on that later), but the lil' devils also have managed to get some output out of Home Base.
This post consists of a couple tracks I wrote last year, and only managed to get last-minute acoustic versions posted. This year, the electric versions were equally rushed, but ended up closer to the intended target. I was down in Charm City a few weeks back, at which point we got Roady's drums recorded. I downloaded the e-tracks from him this past Saturday and then spent a good part of Sunday down in the cellar hammering out the details.
"Time for Christmas" remains sweet, wistful and chimey as ever. The Rickenbacker 12 string on the right does the heavy lifting, and that's the Gretsch over on the left and the Gibson J45 acoustic straight up the middle.
"Old Fashioned Christmas" is the next in my short line of boozy holiday songs, "old fashioned" in this case not being an adjective but a noun. The music-hall intro is old-timey, sure, but the rest is a roof-raiser and reminds me of our old Dillo/ Pourbillies days down Baltimore way, even it I don't know that my old self would've come up with as good a middle eight (1:47) as this ended up with. For completeness' sake, that's still the Gibson acoustic, with a Les Paul on the right and a Telecaster to the left. The P-bass on both songs, btw. (Turns out I do have one lyrical bit to dive back in and settle-- a bit about "Who needs a bar when they've got a jar and they're adding whatever you bring"-- and will get to that sooner or later...)
Merry/ Happy!
jhk for Your RK/BS Industries
"Time for Christmas": https://app.box.com/s/ttjzioccw17zqd74wh4r
"Old Fashioned Christmas": https://app.box.com/s/qq0rg9wa2g5pxwawqwkp
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
"Mary Mary" b/w "Wrung Out"
First, a reminder to teel free to head over to the SoundCloud. Once there, you can stream and possibly enjoy some originals-only RKBS material:
https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Now, as to the business at hand, the time's flown yet again-- everything accelerating in the wrong places and evaporating in the other wrong places. But to hell with it, after all: Here are some modernized, if still rough sounds for your ears. Both songs date back to the just-after-Honcho-band days in Baltimore, as I recall.
"Mary Mary" was definitely a '90s tune, the "Mary" in question actually being Mary Bono, widow of ol' Cher'in', furry-vest-sportin', Phil Spector-hangin', Palm Springs-mayorin' and terminally-skiin' Sonny. She looked like a little lost lamb during those House Clinton impeachment hearings, Mary did, and thought I'd encourage her to lose that crowd she was hanging with. Anyway, it was and is a pop song, to my understanding, and always a bit rootsy. This go-round it happily took on a little bit of a street party feel, once the overdriven Wurlitzer hit, and the congos, guiro and all that. Best version to date, so this one goes into the "win" column.
"Wrung Out" clearly lands a more on the "alterna-" side of things, but it was the '90s, after all. It's definitely a B-side, but it's fun to revisit and re-work things: hard-pan the drums right and left, take up some bass guitar, add those long-needed harmonies, work out the guitar parts and all that... Of course I had to leave Nicholas J. Pootle's guest vocals at around 2:12. Gettin' lazy about all the mixing and editing, I am, but also it warms my heart to here a little "woof" here, some squeaky toy over there, or a collar jangle when you least expect it.
Mary Mary: https://app.box.com/s/cw75d5eb4wpxxe3ythmr
Wrung Out: https://app.box.com/s/vxn1zbpiv249x6ph7nnu
https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Now, as to the business at hand, the time's flown yet again-- everything accelerating in the wrong places and evaporating in the other wrong places. But to hell with it, after all: Here are some modernized, if still rough sounds for your ears. Both songs date back to the just-after-Honcho-band days in Baltimore, as I recall.
"Mary Mary" was definitely a '90s tune, the "Mary" in question actually being Mary Bono, widow of ol' Cher'in', furry-vest-sportin', Phil Spector-hangin', Palm Springs-mayorin' and terminally-skiin' Sonny. She looked like a little lost lamb during those House Clinton impeachment hearings, Mary did, and thought I'd encourage her to lose that crowd she was hanging with. Anyway, it was and is a pop song, to my understanding, and always a bit rootsy. This go-round it happily took on a little bit of a street party feel, once the overdriven Wurlitzer hit, and the congos, guiro and all that. Best version to date, so this one goes into the "win" column.
"Wrung Out" clearly lands a more on the "alterna-" side of things, but it was the '90s, after all. It's definitely a B-side, but it's fun to revisit and re-work things: hard-pan the drums right and left, take up some bass guitar, add those long-needed harmonies, work out the guitar parts and all that... Of course I had to leave Nicholas J. Pootle's guest vocals at around 2:12. Gettin' lazy about all the mixing and editing, I am, but also it warms my heart to here a little "woof" here, some squeaky toy over there, or a collar jangle when you least expect it.
Mary Mary: https://app.box.com/s/cw75d5eb4wpxxe3ythmr
Wrung Out: https://app.box.com/s/vxn1zbpiv249x6ph7nnu
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Stackpole-Dillo '13: Small Faces/ Faces/ Humble Pie
Hey alls, and how time does fly! Summer's 2/3 over and I have not been to this here site in a long time. In part that's on account of some major renovations to the Designated Rock Zone at the Harpswell Estate. In part it's account of summer being here. In part it's on account of some travels hither and yon. It's hard to focus on the music/ site when your gear's all stowed, when the weather's fine and there's work and play to do outside, and when you're faraways on the road. In any event, we hopefully should be back on track...
To break the fast, here's a "3-fer" of holdovers from the 2013 Harpswell sessions with Johnny Stackpole and Paulie Cardillo. We've already lapped ourselves, having just played and recorded some stuff last month down in the NY metro area, so this is all long overdue, but it's good stuff and also thematically related, pulling on the strands of some of my recent-years faves: the extended (Small Faces) fambly.
"Song of a Baker" comes off the Small Faces psychedelic classic "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" from '68. Though I prefer their amped-up R&B offerings, the Small Faces rarely let you down, and it's impossibly fun to try and recreate the vibes of so many giants, especially the ever-underrated Ronnie Lane (bass)/ Kenny Jones (drums) rhythm section. Add on some of those vintage Ian MacLagan keys and try your best Stever Marriott yelp and what more could you ask for?
After Marriott split, Ronnie, Jonesy and Mac persevered, picked up Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood from the Jeff Beck group, dropped the "Small", and proceeded to put out some of the best live and studio music of the mid-70's as (the) Faces. This here is one of Ronnie Lane's cuts, Rod the Mod only singing a bit on the bridge section. Ronnie was a master of both the good-timey and the bittersweet, and "Debris" is one of the latter, from 1971's "A Nod is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse". Man, they could've released that LP with nothing but this song and their big hit "Stay With Me", and I'd still pay full fare.
The other former Small Face, Steve Marriott, ended up throwing in with some other gents and forming the quasi-supergroup Humble Pie in 1969 (Peter Frampton being the most famous of the other members). Especially after Frampton decamped in 1971, the Pie dealt in much harder arena-style boogie rock than the Faces' slop/ blooz/ rock/ heart-on-sleeve raveups. "30 Days in the Hole", released in '72, was maybe their biggest hit, and it gets to a lot of the overconsumption that would largely do Marriott in. Lordy, but it's a shouter! I had several runs at it, but it's just out of my range, and after each I just ended up woozy and frustrated. The vocal tracks on it are my closest approximation, so please accept my apologies, but I do hope you like the version.
More fine listeneables shortly!
jk out!
Song of a Baker (Small Faces): https://app.box.com/s/jtp1q4zx4dlnm2u3sm8b
Debris (Faces): https://app.box.com/s/xau1boyx20zo6np2iz1z
30 Days in the Hole (Humble Pie): https://app.box.com/s/0ych5k0qsa885mqffgph
To break the fast, here's a "3-fer" of holdovers from the 2013 Harpswell sessions with Johnny Stackpole and Paulie Cardillo. We've already lapped ourselves, having just played and recorded some stuff last month down in the NY metro area, so this is all long overdue, but it's good stuff and also thematically related, pulling on the strands of some of my recent-years faves: the extended (Small Faces) fambly.
"Song of a Baker" comes off the Small Faces psychedelic classic "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" from '68. Though I prefer their amped-up R&B offerings, the Small Faces rarely let you down, and it's impossibly fun to try and recreate the vibes of so many giants, especially the ever-underrated Ronnie Lane (bass)/ Kenny Jones (drums) rhythm section. Add on some of those vintage Ian MacLagan keys and try your best Stever Marriott yelp and what more could you ask for?
After Marriott split, Ronnie, Jonesy and Mac persevered, picked up Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood from the Jeff Beck group, dropped the "Small", and proceeded to put out some of the best live and studio music of the mid-70's as (the) Faces. This here is one of Ronnie Lane's cuts, Rod the Mod only singing a bit on the bridge section. Ronnie was a master of both the good-timey and the bittersweet, and "Debris" is one of the latter, from 1971's "A Nod is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse". Man, they could've released that LP with nothing but this song and their big hit "Stay With Me", and I'd still pay full fare.
The other former Small Face, Steve Marriott, ended up throwing in with some other gents and forming the quasi-supergroup Humble Pie in 1969 (Peter Frampton being the most famous of the other members). Especially after Frampton decamped in 1971, the Pie dealt in much harder arena-style boogie rock than the Faces' slop/ blooz/ rock/ heart-on-sleeve raveups. "30 Days in the Hole", released in '72, was maybe their biggest hit, and it gets to a lot of the overconsumption that would largely do Marriott in. Lordy, but it's a shouter! I had several runs at it, but it's just out of my range, and after each I just ended up woozy and frustrated. The vocal tracks on it are my closest approximation, so please accept my apologies, but I do hope you like the version.
More fine listeneables shortly!
jk out!
Song of a Baker (Small Faces): https://app.box.com/s/jtp1q4zx4dlnm2u3sm8b
Debris (Faces): https://app.box.com/s/xau1boyx20zo6np2iz1z
30 Days in the Hole (Humble Pie): https://app.box.com/s/0ych5k0qsa885mqffgph
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Stackpole-Dillo '13: Neil Young/ the Who
Continuing the windfall from last year's Stackpole-Cardillo-Keating quasi-Iona Prep Class-of-'85 reunion, here's a couple straight-up classic rock medium-deep album cuts for you:
First off, we heed the great unwritten Commandment: "Honor thy Neil Young", with a Crazy Horse-style take on "The Loner", originally off his first solo record and rocked up a bit more on "Live Rust": a solid end-of-the-'60s four-on-the-floor stomper and a good excuse to break out a double dropped D tuning and the tremolo pedal. Say no more!
Second off is "Naked Eye", a favorite Who song of mine since way back; specifically the "Who's Last" "farewell tour" era of '82. Having been raised in the post-Keith Moon era, we had to dig back through the "Hooligans" and "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy" compilations as jumping-off points to the rock operas and the classic LPs, and eventually the woolier "Odds and Sods" type scraps, one of which contained the original "Naked Eye" demo (with, I presume, Pete playing the drums). Despite the lack of a definitive release, though, the Who kept going back to this one, and in very consistent fashion. The '70 Isle of Wight version with Moonie on drums is not too different from the demo, nor is the '82 version with Kenny Jones and a generally much less chaotic (i.e., stiffer) band. I thought it was on the "Who's Last" release but having checked the internets, perhaps I had my high school version taped off a radio broadcast. Seems likely. But the song wouldn't have had much competition in being the standout track on a basically posthumous live album cash-in. Still, even in '82 the Who were totally bringing this song. Us three fellows? Probably less so. Still, it's closest you'll get to actually sitting with me and Stag and Dillo in that basement, working out the song, trying to stay on the same page and step out a bit without totally falling apart. So it's a loose version, and I'd say "in progress" but ain't nothing progressing. But why not document and beam it out there anyways? Root for the home team in their moment of need (2:45)! Wonder how their parents put up with all the same length and dynamics and noodling, only performed with less musical and editing ability!
jk
The Loner (Neil Young +/- Crazy Horse): https://app.box.com/s/p5kgbs5nntwsn8znkamx
Naked Eye (the Who): https://app.box.com/s/mu1i7u7lh2qlf4fg7e9z
First off, we heed the great unwritten Commandment: "Honor thy Neil Young", with a Crazy Horse-style take on "The Loner", originally off his first solo record and rocked up a bit more on "Live Rust": a solid end-of-the-'60s four-on-the-floor stomper and a good excuse to break out a double dropped D tuning and the tremolo pedal. Say no more!
Second off is "Naked Eye", a favorite Who song of mine since way back; specifically the "Who's Last" "farewell tour" era of '82. Having been raised in the post-Keith Moon era, we had to dig back through the "Hooligans" and "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy" compilations as jumping-off points to the rock operas and the classic LPs, and eventually the woolier "Odds and Sods" type scraps, one of which contained the original "Naked Eye" demo (with, I presume, Pete playing the drums). Despite the lack of a definitive release, though, the Who kept going back to this one, and in very consistent fashion. The '70 Isle of Wight version with Moonie on drums is not too different from the demo, nor is the '82 version with Kenny Jones and a generally much less chaotic (i.e., stiffer) band. I thought it was on the "Who's Last" release but having checked the internets, perhaps I had my high school version taped off a radio broadcast. Seems likely. But the song wouldn't have had much competition in being the standout track on a basically posthumous live album cash-in. Still, even in '82 the Who were totally bringing this song. Us three fellows? Probably less so. Still, it's closest you'll get to actually sitting with me and Stag and Dillo in that basement, working out the song, trying to stay on the same page and step out a bit without totally falling apart. So it's a loose version, and I'd say "in progress" but ain't nothing progressing. But why not document and beam it out there anyways? Root for the home team in their moment of need (2:45)! Wonder how their parents put up with all the same length and dynamics and noodling, only performed with less musical and editing ability!
jk
The Loner (Neil Young +/- Crazy Horse): https://app.box.com/s/p5kgbs5nntwsn8znkamx
Naked Eye (the Who): https://app.box.com/s/mu1i7u7lh2qlf4fg7e9z
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Stackpole-Dillo '13: Pink Floyd/ Mott the Hoople
Hey all-- I was hoping to get back to some original tunes, but we've got some Rock Zone renovations going on up at the Compound, so it's most expeditious to post this here batch of covers. Similar to the most recent back of Hoot tunes, these are LONG overdue anyway. They hold a warm and fuzzy place in my black heart, and it's an unbelievable pleasure to get 'em up for broader consumption.
Having gotten together with my old Iona Prep buddy John Stackpole each summer the past few years to do some playing and recording, and intermittently doing the same with our old buddy Dillo, and eventually getting Dillo to overdub bass on some Stackpole-Keating cuts, it was only a matter of time before we managed to get the three of us in a room to kick around the classic rock like it was 1985. That finally happened at the beginning of August 2013, and it was basically just like picking up where we left off, except we're all better players now, and able to work things out on a tad higher level. Needless to say, I could go on...
"Fearless" is a Pink Floyd cover from 1971's "Meddle" LP. For all the press and sales of "Dark Side..." through "The Wall", the afterlife of the Waters-less Floyd and the Floyd-less Roger Waters, and the rediscovery of the band's original, Syd Barret-driven lineup, this is the Floyd era for me: The feeling of collaboration instead of auteurship; the more open production; the stretch; the electric/ acoustic contrasts; the predominance of warmer, non-synth keyboards (piano, Hammond), and all that. Plus, the song itself is a certified Gilmour-driven classic.
Released at about the same moment in time was Mott the Hoople's "Brain Capers" album, from which comes the other cover here "Darkness, Darkness" (most recently also swampily covered by Robert Plant). Mott was a funny band, and has barely persisted in American popular knowledge. They came out of Birmingham in '69 and were hard rocking kings of the road in the UK for the next few years: huge concert draws, but their albums never quite got there. They basically broke up after their 4th LP (from which this cut comes) in 1971 but subsequently got a fresh lease on life from newly famous David Bowie, who convinced them to reunite, gave them "All the Young Dudes", and jumpstarted them on a hugely successful glam-rock run from '72-'74. Good lordy Mott are all-time faves of mine, and I'll swear to this day that half of their problem was that shitty, shitty name they picked.
Here's an internets-fueled wormhole for you: The song was written by Jesse Colin Young, years before his flower-power-fueled Youngbloods fame (by which I mean "Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now" fame). Funnily, "Get Together" was itself a cover, written by Dino Valenti (under his even cooler real name, Chet Powers) who was in and out and in (ah yes!: drugs, incarceration) San Francisco's psych-rock fixtures Quicksilver Messenger Service. Quicksilver's only real hit was (another HIT of) "Fresh Air", written by "Jesse Oris Farrow" (hint: same guy as Chet/ "Dino"!), but they did also manage to turn a Bo Diddley cover into an entire LP side: "Who Do You Love", "When...?", "Where...?" and so on. "Bo Diddley" of course was a stage name, for Otha Ellas Bates (later McDaniel), and on and on....
jk
Fearless: https://app.box.com/s/iciank7gxb36f9j9nfxn
Darkness, Darkness: https://app.box.com/s/vd6no0s9m38rk20vtzvl
Having gotten together with my old Iona Prep buddy John Stackpole each summer the past few years to do some playing and recording, and intermittently doing the same with our old buddy Dillo, and eventually getting Dillo to overdub bass on some Stackpole-Keating cuts, it was only a matter of time before we managed to get the three of us in a room to kick around the classic rock like it was 1985. That finally happened at the beginning of August 2013, and it was basically just like picking up where we left off, except we're all better players now, and able to work things out on a tad higher level. Needless to say, I could go on...
"Fearless" is a Pink Floyd cover from 1971's "Meddle" LP. For all the press and sales of "Dark Side..." through "The Wall", the afterlife of the Waters-less Floyd and the Floyd-less Roger Waters, and the rediscovery of the band's original, Syd Barret-driven lineup, this is the Floyd era for me: The feeling of collaboration instead of auteurship; the more open production; the stretch; the electric/ acoustic contrasts; the predominance of warmer, non-synth keyboards (piano, Hammond), and all that. Plus, the song itself is a certified Gilmour-driven classic.
Released at about the same moment in time was Mott the Hoople's "Brain Capers" album, from which comes the other cover here "Darkness, Darkness" (most recently also swampily covered by Robert Plant). Mott was a funny band, and has barely persisted in American popular knowledge. They came out of Birmingham in '69 and were hard rocking kings of the road in the UK for the next few years: huge concert draws, but their albums never quite got there. They basically broke up after their 4th LP (from which this cut comes) in 1971 but subsequently got a fresh lease on life from newly famous David Bowie, who convinced them to reunite, gave them "All the Young Dudes", and jumpstarted them on a hugely successful glam-rock run from '72-'74. Good lordy Mott are all-time faves of mine, and I'll swear to this day that half of their problem was that shitty, shitty name they picked.
Here's an internets-fueled wormhole for you: The song was written by Jesse Colin Young, years before his flower-power-fueled Youngbloods fame (by which I mean "Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now" fame). Funnily, "Get Together" was itself a cover, written by Dino Valenti (under his even cooler real name, Chet Powers) who was in and out and in (ah yes!: drugs, incarceration) San Francisco's psych-rock fixtures Quicksilver Messenger Service. Quicksilver's only real hit was (another HIT of) "Fresh Air", written by "Jesse Oris Farrow" (hint: same guy as Chet/ "Dino"!), but they did also manage to turn a Bo Diddley cover into an entire LP side: "Who Do You Love", "When...?", "Where...?" and so on. "Bo Diddley" of course was a stage name, for Otha Ellas Bates (later McDaniel), and on and on....
jk
Fearless: https://app.box.com/s/iciank7gxb36f9j9nfxn
Darkness, Darkness: https://app.box.com/s/vd6no0s9m38rk20vtzvl
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Harpswell Hootenanny '13, part 5: Neil Young b/w Freddy Fender
Wrapping up the electric-rock bounty from last spring's get-together, we've got two very different sounds for you. Both saw release in 1974 but they couldn't be more different: one jittery, foreboding and minor-key, the other swaying and sweet and major.
The dark side is represented both lyrically and musically by Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" off "On the Beach". It was a bleak time for Neil, still by all accounts reeling from the overdose deaths of bandmate Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry, and an ugly time in America as a whole, what with the long southeast Asian wars winding down, Nixon falling, the long post-WWII economic boom grinding to a halt and the brief bloom of 60's optimism on its deathbed. "Revolution Blues" is a wide-eyed plunge into paranoia, drugs, guns and cultism, straight out of the Manson-deranged corner of SoCal in which Neil was living at the time. Poisonous stuff... On this version, Paul B played the percussive guitar and took the lead, I played the rhythm guitar and overdubbed Wurlitzer, Dillo positively nailed the jumpy Rick Danko bassline and Roadkill drove the whole thing home.
"Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", on the other hand, is a warm throwback to 1962 (when the song was first released). It's one of those chestnuts that's been covered by many artists and, depending on when and where, various tones can dominate: country, soul, R&B, lounge jazz, and so on. My favorite version, on which our take is based, is off Freddy Fender's record "Before the Next Teardrop Falls". He has a nice soft, slow go at it, with a romantic Tejano croon. Our version is still positively calling out for a horn section but as it is, Paul B played the Wurlitzer, Roger played lead guitar, I played rhythm and some organ, and Dillo and Roadkill supplied their steady bass and drums.
jk
Revolution Blues: https://app.box.com/s/ttomoe18xi30e3py0l6r
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye: https://app.box.com/s/brwgssk3mu8swu9cn2cv
The dark side is represented both lyrically and musically by Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" off "On the Beach". It was a bleak time for Neil, still by all accounts reeling from the overdose deaths of bandmate Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry, and an ugly time in America as a whole, what with the long southeast Asian wars winding down, Nixon falling, the long post-WWII economic boom grinding to a halt and the brief bloom of 60's optimism on its deathbed. "Revolution Blues" is a wide-eyed plunge into paranoia, drugs, guns and cultism, straight out of the Manson-deranged corner of SoCal in which Neil was living at the time. Poisonous stuff... On this version, Paul B played the percussive guitar and took the lead, I played the rhythm guitar and overdubbed Wurlitzer, Dillo positively nailed the jumpy Rick Danko bassline and Roadkill drove the whole thing home.
"Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", on the other hand, is a warm throwback to 1962 (when the song was first released). It's one of those chestnuts that's been covered by many artists and, depending on when and where, various tones can dominate: country, soul, R&B, lounge jazz, and so on. My favorite version, on which our take is based, is off Freddy Fender's record "Before the Next Teardrop Falls". He has a nice soft, slow go at it, with a romantic Tejano croon. Our version is still positively calling out for a horn section but as it is, Paul B played the Wurlitzer, Roger played lead guitar, I played rhythm and some organ, and Dillo and Roadkill supplied their steady bass and drums.
jk
Revolution Blues: https://app.box.com/s/ttomoe18xi30e3py0l6r
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye: https://app.box.com/s/brwgssk3mu8swu9cn2cv
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Harpswell Hootenanny '13, part 4: Chuck Prophet b/w the Records
It's part of our charter that the Good Ship Hootenanny sometimes ply corners unbeknownst to most mortals. Maybe we don't go ocean-trench deep, but we do get at least county road obscure. Record geeks that we are, here's some stuff that we prefer to think should be a part of everybody's daily routine....
"Whole Lot More" comes courtesy of the unsung Chuck Prophet: Guitar slinger, smooth singer, bobbleheaded and tousled and bemused and small-shoed and FONKY! We're both huge CP fans, Paul B and I, and I'd a feeling this song would benefit from the Hoot treatment, since the time Dr. W and I were out west late in '12 for Paulie's surprise 40th. A fine time was had by all, yonder in the Outer Richmond, where the city falls into the the Pacific by Land's End and the Cliff House and Sutro Heights Park and all that jazz. The cocktail party was still rolling late into the evening at our buddy Leff's when, in the tiny downstairs kitchen, the acoustic gitboxes finally came out. Paulie played a version of this tune with his buddy "El Lefty Malo" and I made the mental note right there. A few months later in Harpswell Paul B helmed it, playing the straight rhythm guitar and taking the Prophetic lead vocal. Dillo and Roady bassed and drummed, and I played the tremolo guitar, etc . I guess Roger wasn't on this one. We kept missing out on his planned mandolin overdub, so I stepped up to that particular plate best I could.
"Starry Eyes" is a song that hung at my periphery for many years. Turns out it's a semi-lost power pop classic, released in '78 by the Records, out of the UK-- A real one-hit wonder situation, only without the hit. Anyways, my recollection is that about every time I heard the song, it seemed like the first time, and I'd wonder "Holy crap!--- Where has THIS song been all my life?!? Then, like a moth at the porchlight or a floater in the eye, it would be gone and out of mind. Fortunately, Dillo was sharp enough to bring this one to the table, and he played that great descending line and the bright Byrds-y parts on that fine Fender JazzMaster of his and sang most of it. I took up a Rickenbacker 6-string and some acoustics for the rhythm part and sang some. Bonanos shifted over to his typically clean and propulsive bass, getting up to his old tricks from the olden times-- One Way Dog for Roggie, that'd be, and Honcho for me and RK.
Hope you dig it.
jk
Whole Lot More: https://app.box.com/s/4xux21vumzftakv1juzm
Starry Eyes: https://app.box.com/s/2ngd8hpcqs53xx6fbmsj
"Whole Lot More" comes courtesy of the unsung Chuck Prophet: Guitar slinger, smooth singer, bobbleheaded and tousled and bemused and small-shoed and FONKY! We're both huge CP fans, Paul B and I, and I'd a feeling this song would benefit from the Hoot treatment, since the time Dr. W and I were out west late in '12 for Paulie's surprise 40th. A fine time was had by all, yonder in the Outer Richmond, where the city falls into the the Pacific by Land's End and the Cliff House and Sutro Heights Park and all that jazz. The cocktail party was still rolling late into the evening at our buddy Leff's when, in the tiny downstairs kitchen, the acoustic gitboxes finally came out. Paulie played a version of this tune with his buddy "El Lefty Malo" and I made the mental note right there. A few months later in Harpswell Paul B helmed it, playing the straight rhythm guitar and taking the Prophetic lead vocal. Dillo and Roady bassed and drummed, and I played the tremolo guitar, etc . I guess Roger wasn't on this one. We kept missing out on his planned mandolin overdub, so I stepped up to that particular plate best I could.
"Starry Eyes" is a song that hung at my periphery for many years. Turns out it's a semi-lost power pop classic, released in '78 by the Records, out of the UK-- A real one-hit wonder situation, only without the hit. Anyways, my recollection is that about every time I heard the song, it seemed like the first time, and I'd wonder "Holy crap!--- Where has THIS song been all my life?!? Then, like a moth at the porchlight or a floater in the eye, it would be gone and out of mind. Fortunately, Dillo was sharp enough to bring this one to the table, and he played that great descending line and the bright Byrds-y parts on that fine Fender JazzMaster of his and sang most of it. I took up a Rickenbacker 6-string and some acoustics for the rhythm part and sang some. Bonanos shifted over to his typically clean and propulsive bass, getting up to his old tricks from the olden times-- One Way Dog for Roggie, that'd be, and Honcho for me and RK.
Hope you dig it.
jk
Whole Lot More: https://app.box.com/s/4xux21vumzftakv1juzm
Starry Eyes: https://app.box.com/s/2ngd8hpcqs53xx6fbmsj
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Harpswell Hootenanny '13, part 3: Led Zeppelin b/w the Who
Continuing the bounty of Harpswell Hootenanny '13 with some classic rock from classic rockers:
A side is "Down By the Seaside" from Led Zeppelin's grand, (somehow) obscure and (to my ear) finest release, "Physical Graffitti" from 1975. (I think that rock criticism demands one use the term "sprawling" here, so insert here as need be). Who could say no to this particular deep cut? Paul B brought it to the Hoot-ers and locked the whole thing down with bubbly Wurlitzer 200a electronic piano. Roger and I played guitars (mine often tremoloed, plus the crappy solo, and his bright and fancy), and Roady and Dillo set the languid pace.
B side is "The Kids Are Alright" which came from the mod phase of the Who, ten long years prior to the Zep tune. This was another one where I got to sit back and watch the magic happen, particularly Roady and Dillo as the Moon/ Entwistle rhythm section. Paulie B appropriately took up a 6-string Rickenbacker while Roger played the other guitar (the Epiphone Sheraton semi-hollow, I believe) and sang. I added some harmonies and tambourine and acoustic guitar during production, as Pete Townsend and Kit Lambert would've wanted, and left it at that. We used to play this back in high school, me and Dillo and Stag and Maff and Andy, and it feels comfortable and ever so good to do it fair justice....
jk
Down by the Seaside: https://app.box.com/s/3ea2px10v4potv27ea6v
The Kids Are Alright: https://app.box.com/s/q049tlwyh2sj8aj2tb78
A side is "Down By the Seaside" from Led Zeppelin's grand, (somehow) obscure and (to my ear) finest release, "Physical Graffitti" from 1975. (I think that rock criticism demands one use the term "sprawling" here, so insert here as need be). Who could say no to this particular deep cut? Paul B brought it to the Hoot-ers and locked the whole thing down with bubbly Wurlitzer 200a electronic piano. Roger and I played guitars (mine often tremoloed, plus the crappy solo, and his bright and fancy), and Roady and Dillo set the languid pace.
B side is "The Kids Are Alright" which came from the mod phase of the Who, ten long years prior to the Zep tune. This was another one where I got to sit back and watch the magic happen, particularly Roady and Dillo as the Moon/ Entwistle rhythm section. Paulie B appropriately took up a 6-string Rickenbacker while Roger played the other guitar (the Epiphone Sheraton semi-hollow, I believe) and sang. I added some harmonies and tambourine and acoustic guitar during production, as Pete Townsend and Kit Lambert would've wanted, and left it at that. We used to play this back in high school, me and Dillo and Stag and Maff and Andy, and it feels comfortable and ever so good to do it fair justice....
jk
Down by the Seaside: https://app.box.com/s/3ea2px10v4potv27ea6v
The Kids Are Alright: https://app.box.com/s/q049tlwyh2sj8aj2tb78
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Harpswell Hootenanny '13, part 2: The Clash b/w Nick Lowe
Rule #1 = More Clash. Dunno why this even comes up, as it's easy enough to remember and always, always provides satisfying results. Probably it doesn't get much more fun than an unexpected suggestion such as this one (from Paul B) of "Rudie Can't Fail". The "London Calling" album is of course bramble-thick with hits, of which "Rudie" might be the most freewheeling and good-timey. For this one, the Pauls B and C manned the guitars, Roger took up the bass and Mikey thwacked on the drums, while I happily stood by and took it all in. Vocals were courtesy of Paul B and Roggie. I imposed myself with a couple overdubs, but the original 4-pc recording was a winner from the get-go. And then Paul B, I believe, suggested the nonsensical hootin' and hollerin' part at the end, which really makes the whole cake.
Rule #2 = More Nick Lowe. Duh. As with the above, how I ever drop the ball on this one is totally beyond me. That man's catalog is overflowing with what you need: Catchy. Rockin'. Sly. Broken-hearted. Hilarious. Hornrimmed and often pompadoured? Sure. Check, check and freakin' check, throughout the ups and downs of his catalog since the Carter Administration. On this one, Dillo laid down that bopping bass line, Mikey drummed, and I played guitar along with Paul B, who we had to shanghai at the last minute. It was one of those that almost didn't make the cut, even afterwards, and one of the rarities that some overdubbing in the lab really brought some life to. Especially the baritone guitar. I figure if a song doesn't respond to that lovin' instrument, not much is gonna help it.
jk
Rudie Can't Fail: https://app.box.com/s/jvgy32gab7hx065dpg80
Heart of the City: https://app.box.com/s/u4on55rjuskmzz2l7lmd
Rule #2 = More Nick Lowe. Duh. As with the above, how I ever drop the ball on this one is totally beyond me. That man's catalog is overflowing with what you need: Catchy. Rockin'. Sly. Broken-hearted. Hilarious. Hornrimmed and often pompadoured? Sure. Check, check and freakin' check, throughout the ups and downs of his catalog since the Carter Administration. On this one, Dillo laid down that bopping bass line, Mikey drummed, and I played guitar along with Paul B, who we had to shanghai at the last minute. It was one of those that almost didn't make the cut, even afterwards, and one of the rarities that some overdubbing in the lab really brought some life to. Especially the baritone guitar. I figure if a song doesn't respond to that lovin' instrument, not much is gonna help it.
jk
Rudie Can't Fail: https://app.box.com/s/jvgy32gab7hx065dpg80
Heart of the City: https://app.box.com/s/u4on55rjuskmzz2l7lmd
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Harpswell Hootenanny '13 Part 1: David Bowie b/w Jackson Browne
Maybe we should just change the title of this here blog to "Better Late Than Never"', as finally, finally we get around to Hootenanny '13. I'm not sure what we might manage to shake together in Baltimore this year, but last spring we were here in Harpswell and in fine form, the full Hoot lineup to date, that is: Roadkill (Baltimore), Paul B (San Fran), Paul C (Chapel Hill), and Roger (Northampton).
Might as well start this series off with two great tastes that, well, I don't know how in the real world they'd ever have much to do with one another. Ummm, aside from the recreational accoutrements of choice, I suppose, if you know what I mean....
First up is David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream", which beat out "Queen Bitch" and a few others by a nose in the Hootenanny Songs to Cover polling. Off 1972's legendary "Ziggy Stardust...", it's a crystal distillation of glam-era Bowie if there ever were one, with all the oblique lyrics and hook-y choruses and operatic swells the kids loved to boo-gie to.... the inimitably dry rhythm section of the inimitably named Trevor Bolder (bass) and Woody Woodmansey (drums)... thanks ever and always to Mick Ronson, that delicious guitar crunch. Roggie stepped way up to the plate to sing this one, an excellent development I'd not at all foreseen.
Serving as a sherbet-like palate cooler, then, is Jackson Browne's (or Danny Kortchmar's, actually) "Shaky Town" off the equally genre-defining "Running On Empty" record, from the far end of the 70's. I admit that this one was all my suggestion, being a sucker for a well-done trucker tune, but the gents locked in hugely and came out sounding like LA session guys to me: Paul B on the Wurlitzer and Roger on the tasteful lead guitar, and Roady and Dillo anchoring the whole thing. A real dream come true, after all the years of hearing it on vinyl and 8-track and cassette and bits and bytes.
Moonage Daydream: https://app.box.com/s/ndvtgnq0n3phl4n7x9ib
Shaky Town: https://app.box.com/s/ou7g6ffb14v2tllnw3ex
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Buttsteak!
Here's looking at the big upcoming weekend back in Charm City, '89-ers and everyone else! This is about what it sounded like in 2009, for the 20th Reunion:
Lorraine (Bad Manners): https://app.box.com/s/jqv3goztr3i2975naxgc
You Dirty Rat (Scruffy the Cat): https://app.box.com/s/gbcp4nsfikfde6ypb4ns
Take the Skinheads Bowling (Camper van Beethoven): https://app.box.com/s/arl1mlke0i5pbpanymv6
Punk Rock Girl (Dead Milkmen): https://app.box.com/s/22htrbdr223g7lzeonxh
Lost Weekend (Beat Farmers): https://app.box.com/s/s07pjfl3godbpz1pu2zr
Just Like Heaven (the Cure): https://app.box.com/s/lppcw1fquyrl62jwjgfy
You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC): https://app.box.com/s/tzaackjqq02ns9gdxdjo
I'm the Man (Joe Jackson): https://app.box.com/s/3vlgv47zgsx261h8eddn
Here Comes Your Man (Pixies): https://app.box.com/s/ch9vlnc4ikrgzh4ad46o
Knocking on Heaven's Door: https://app.box.com/s/y5yffgcs17620gcrdau0
Lorraine (Bad Manners): https://app.box.com/s/jqv3goztr3i2975naxgc
You Dirty Rat (Scruffy the Cat): https://app.box.com/s/gbcp4nsfikfde6ypb4ns
Take the Skinheads Bowling (Camper van Beethoven): https://app.box.com/s/arl1mlke0i5pbpanymv6
Punk Rock Girl (Dead Milkmen): https://app.box.com/s/22htrbdr223g7lzeonxh
Lost Weekend (Beat Farmers): https://app.box.com/s/s07pjfl3godbpz1pu2zr
Just Like Heaven (the Cure): https://app.box.com/s/lppcw1fquyrl62jwjgfy
You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC): https://app.box.com/s/tzaackjqq02ns9gdxdjo
I'm the Man (Joe Jackson): https://app.box.com/s/3vlgv47zgsx261h8eddn
Here Comes Your Man (Pixies): https://app.box.com/s/ch9vlnc4ikrgzh4ad46o
Knocking on Heaven's Door: https://app.box.com/s/y5yffgcs17620gcrdau0
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Dillo speed round '14: "See You Again" b/w "Let the Tears Dry"
So at the tail end of last year's Harpswell Hootenanny (which is at long last next up in the queue to post), after everybody had fled or the turnstiles, Mr. Dillo and took to the basement in the morning before he had to fly out of the Portland Int'l Jetport. Having listened to a fair amount of garage-pop lately (the Reigning Sound, Gentleman Jesse and such), I'd had vague ideas for a couple of pop-rock songs in the slow cooker, so we started with a few chords and a hummed "blah-blah-blah". Within an hour or so, we'd not only knocked together a bit more melody, some verse/ chorus/ bridge structure and some dynamics, but also gotten guitar and drum tracks committed to "tape". Now everything's been relatively purtied up and patched up now. Sure, the B-side might regain life with some alteration to the lyrics but I'm OK with the A-side as it stands. Plus, we recorded an instrumental of Dillo's that will emerge like a butterfly someday. All in all, a good morning's work!
jk
See You Again: https://app.box.com/s/ssb7xqxl7yll9jbm95e2
Let the Tears Dry: https://app.box.com/s/2fulepyzh2wu4uxzlfny
jk
See You Again: https://app.box.com/s/ssb7xqxl7yll9jbm95e2
Let the Tears Dry: https://app.box.com/s/2fulepyzh2wu4uxzlfny
Thursday, March 27, 2014
RKBS 8 wrap-up: "Still Holding You"
Well, I finally found and fixed up one last leftover from the RKBS sessions that commenced, lo, over a year ago. There was a persistent hole in the solo area that it turns out was just the size of a baritone guitar and my nifty new Hummingbird tremolo pedal. I also hadn't had much chance to play my fake gospel piano bits in a while, and the pedal steel had been totally gathering dust, so it was fun song to put together, especially so because it moves on a stately pace well suited to my limited musical fleetness.
The song dates to the tail end of our temporary East Douglas, MA relocation about 10 years back, and is a typical rumination on the swirl of separation and togetherness that life'll deal you. Listening to it now, I can detect a Steve Earle feel to it but, irregahdless, it's been a fave for a while.
Still Holding You: https://app.box.com/s/hzhygbw0zjkmse9ev23t
The song dates to the tail end of our temporary East Douglas, MA relocation about 10 years back, and is a typical rumination on the swirl of separation and togetherness that life'll deal you. Listening to it now, I can detect a Steve Earle feel to it but, irregahdless, it's been a fave for a while.
Still Holding You: https://app.box.com/s/hzhygbw0zjkmse9ev23t
Monday, March 17, 2014
Happy St. Pat's! Rum and whiskey, covered.
Midwinter as it still seems (around 15 degrees this morning up in Harpswell Holler), St. Patrick's Day has done sneaked up on us! Granted, I don't count down the days or plan out excursions on the town for it nowadays but, in heed of my parents and in honor of our Old Brooklyn Irish-American roots, I do pay attention. As skeptical of the fake aspects of this holiday as any other, I'm still happy to set down for a Guinness or a whiskey if you're offering. I'd love nothing better than to see a crack band of pickers, pipers and fiddlers do their thing. In a few weeks, stocked up on holiday surplus from the market, I'll be living large on good corned beef and all that sterotypical immigrant fare.
Last year I tried to knock out these covers and get them posted, but only half succeeded. So the cover of the Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey" (off their murky debut "Red Roses for Me") is a re-post. And yesterday I was able to roll out a quick version of "The Old Black Rum", from St' Johns, Newfoundland's favorite sons, Great Big Sea. They've certainly put out some E-Z Cheeze in their day but when they get it right, they can indeed nail it. On this one, I was gonna bring up a tom-tom drum and fake some bodhran for percussion, as I did on the Pogues song, but Miss Oonagh, knowing well how they'd do it in Nova Scotia, sorted through the fine silver and selected a solid pair of spoons.
jk
"The Old Black Rum" (Great Big Sea): https://app.box.com/s/05vio0l9wglu6ts7ryg7
"Streams of Whiskey (the Pogues): https://app.box.com/s/ej5sbpdj5r6in4crwqy7
Last year I tried to knock out these covers and get them posted, but only half succeeded. So the cover of the Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey" (off their murky debut "Red Roses for Me") is a re-post. And yesterday I was able to roll out a quick version of "The Old Black Rum", from St' Johns, Newfoundland's favorite sons, Great Big Sea. They've certainly put out some E-Z Cheeze in their day but when they get it right, they can indeed nail it. On this one, I was gonna bring up a tom-tom drum and fake some bodhran for percussion, as I did on the Pogues song, but Miss Oonagh, knowing well how they'd do it in Nova Scotia, sorted through the fine silver and selected a solid pair of spoons.
jk
"The Old Black Rum" (Great Big Sea): https://app.box.com/s/05vio0l9wglu6ts7ryg7
"Streams of Whiskey (the Pogues): https://app.box.com/s/ej5sbpdj5r6in4crwqy7
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Roadkill Buttsteak 8 Covers: "In the City" b/w "Panic"
Not much to report about these two covers. When you want to hear how a Rickenbacker sounds, you go to one of the wells. For me? Probably that's Charlie Chesterman, most hours of the day. If you're feeling foundational, it's Harrison and Lennon. For old-school classic, McGuinn or Petty. And if your mind's on the '77-'86 era, it's Paul Weller and Johnny Marr, hands down, case closed. So enjoy the parenthetical...
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
In the City (the Jam): https://app.box.com/s/fcyrjjwpvpxxlh4l5uvs
Panic (the Smiths) https://app.box.com/s/37i4csmguoepmutu5tax
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
In the City (the Jam): https://app.box.com/s/fcyrjjwpvpxxlh4l5uvs
Panic (the Smiths) https://app.box.com/s/37i4csmguoepmutu5tax
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Roadkill Buttsteak 8: "St. Mary, Star of the Sea" b/w "June"
History repeats. Or, as they say, it rhymes. Once as rhyming tragedy, once as rhyming farce, I suppose. Well, if the two songs of this post are history (to me and a couple others anyway), I think they are more the rhyming persistence-in-the-face-of-life variety, but you be the judge...
Starting with the latter being firster, "June" goes farther back, to the Dillo band and even earlier. I wrote it sitting in the bare, tall living room of my old, dark apartment on North Calvert St. ('96-ish) on a busy, dull intersection towards the edge of Charles Village (or Upper Charles Village as they probably market it nowadays). I was trying to learn how to write songs and of course listening to a lot of Jayhawks and such roots rock (as evah, kid!) and that influence definitely shows. I've decided over the years that I missed the mark just a bit, by talking around things rather than addressing them directly, Granted, the whole thing definitely was intended to be more painting than writing-- I was aiming for something impressionistic that it never quite arrived at. I guess I'm saying that if I had it to do over again I'd tackle things differently from a lyrical perspective but I still do love the song after all these years and do I keep taking it out for periodic spins. Thelonius Monk I ain't, but with every go-round I think the song gets a bit closer to the intended destination.
The '96 version was moody and muddy, done on a 4-track with a capo-ed Ovation acoustic, some mediocre, but sparse and clean electric guitar, punchy and "unplugged" sounding drums, and harmonica. Shortly thereafter, the Dillo band rocked it out live on a bunch of occasions and captured a nice, driving recording at one of our two forays to Invisible Sound Studios out in Greektown. At that time it was Johnny Marsh singing and playing rhythm, Goff on lead, Mike on the drums and me on a great short-scale Gibson EB bass that Dave Nachodsky handed to me. When Paul B came on board to play bass, it only got better. RK and I took another stab around six years ago, which may yet be remixed. For the current recording, it was again me and Mike in the engine room, followed by a few too many layers of Wurlitzer and organ and guitarmonies and general interference.
St. Mary, Star of the Sea (the church) is right up the block from our old house in Federal Hill, me and Goff and Johnny Rock. Standing on top of Riverside between Clement and Gittings, it was a useful late night navigational aid in the 'hood. Post-bar or post-work or post-rehearsal, you could stop in front and look up at the steeple on one side and then down the hill towards the outer harbor and the great red neon sign of the Domino Sugar plant out in Locust Point, and think how well that scruffy town could clean up when it wanted to. So, yeah, St. Mary, Star of the Sea (the song) is a tribute to the losers and boozers and them trying to get up and over.
JK
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Pics:
Box Links:
June: https://app.box.com/s/24ellye4qahihklwdlte
St. Mary, Star of the Sea: https://app.box.com/s/4zt73bfj5ix70on9ngmj
Starting with the latter being firster, "June" goes farther back, to the Dillo band and even earlier. I wrote it sitting in the bare, tall living room of my old, dark apartment on North Calvert St. ('96-ish) on a busy, dull intersection towards the edge of Charles Village (or Upper Charles Village as they probably market it nowadays). I was trying to learn how to write songs and of course listening to a lot of Jayhawks and such roots rock (as evah, kid!) and that influence definitely shows. I've decided over the years that I missed the mark just a bit, by talking around things rather than addressing them directly, Granted, the whole thing definitely was intended to be more painting than writing-- I was aiming for something impressionistic that it never quite arrived at. I guess I'm saying that if I had it to do over again I'd tackle things differently from a lyrical perspective but I still do love the song after all these years and do I keep taking it out for periodic spins. Thelonius Monk I ain't, but with every go-round I think the song gets a bit closer to the intended destination.
The '96 version was moody and muddy, done on a 4-track with a capo-ed Ovation acoustic, some mediocre, but sparse and clean electric guitar, punchy and "unplugged" sounding drums, and harmonica. Shortly thereafter, the Dillo band rocked it out live on a bunch of occasions and captured a nice, driving recording at one of our two forays to Invisible Sound Studios out in Greektown. At that time it was Johnny Marsh singing and playing rhythm, Goff on lead, Mike on the drums and me on a great short-scale Gibson EB bass that Dave Nachodsky handed to me. When Paul B came on board to play bass, it only got better. RK and I took another stab around six years ago, which may yet be remixed. For the current recording, it was again me and Mike in the engine room, followed by a few too many layers of Wurlitzer and organ and guitarmonies and general interference.
St. Mary, Star of the Sea (the church) is right up the block from our old house in Federal Hill, me and Goff and Johnny Rock. Standing on top of Riverside between Clement and Gittings, it was a useful late night navigational aid in the 'hood. Post-bar or post-work or post-rehearsal, you could stop in front and look up at the steeple on one side and then down the hill towards the outer harbor and the great red neon sign of the Domino Sugar plant out in Locust Point, and think how well that scruffy town could clean up when it wanted to. So, yeah, St. Mary, Star of the Sea (the song) is a tribute to the losers and boozers and them trying to get up and over.
JK
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Pics:
Box Links:
June: https://app.box.com/s/24ellye4qahihklwdlte
St. Mary, Star of the Sea: https://app.box.com/s/4zt73bfj5ix70on9ngmj
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Roadkill Buttsteak 8: "Evergreen" b/w "Hamburg Nights"
Hey Wintry Compatriots--
A couple more originals for you, courtesy of Mikey and me... First up is "Evergreen", which is seasonally appropriate at the very least, and a genteel and wistful number to boot. If you're concerned that I've not channeled the Band and '72-era Dead (via the Crowes) lately, well, this'll cure what ails you. Otherwise, it might be Kryptonite to you, in which case boo-hoo!
Second up is "Hamburg Nights", a.k.a. "Astrid & Stu". It's (duh) a little tribute to Astrid Kirchherr and her poor, doomed Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe. Her photos of the lads and their bohemian (small "b", that is) running partners (bassist Klaus Voorman et al) from '60-62 are unbelievably evocative and you should open a new tab to look at some, right now.... Anyway, late post-war Germany must have been a heck of a place, no place more so than the grimy red-light district (Reeperbahn) of a gritty port city (Hamburg), and the period probably warrants some more mining for future compositions... Anyway, as to this one, we tried to give it that woozy circus-y, oom-pa-pa feel, and if you like a squeaky bass drum pedal, then this is the song for you! I confess that for some reason the little bridge section that comes in at 2:04 is one of the favorite things I've ever written. Dunno. Some days are one way and some days the other.
I'll close this entry on a major 6th.
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Evergreen: https://app.box.com/s/rgxjsf5nxrf5rmu16bym
Hamburg Nights: https://app.box.com/s/updymw52z8nmiz2k0ipt
A couple more originals for you, courtesy of Mikey and me... First up is "Evergreen", which is seasonally appropriate at the very least, and a genteel and wistful number to boot. If you're concerned that I've not channeled the Band and '72-era Dead (via the Crowes) lately, well, this'll cure what ails you. Otherwise, it might be Kryptonite to you, in which case boo-hoo!
Second up is "Hamburg Nights", a.k.a. "Astrid & Stu". It's (duh) a little tribute to Astrid Kirchherr and her poor, doomed Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe. Her photos of the lads and their bohemian (small "b", that is) running partners (bassist Klaus Voorman et al) from '60-62 are unbelievably evocative and you should open a new tab to look at some, right now.... Anyway, late post-war Germany must have been a heck of a place, no place more so than the grimy red-light district (Reeperbahn) of a gritty port city (Hamburg), and the period probably warrants some more mining for future compositions... Anyway, as to this one, we tried to give it that woozy circus-y, oom-pa-pa feel, and if you like a squeaky bass drum pedal, then this is the song for you! I confess that for some reason the little bridge section that comes in at 2:04 is one of the favorite things I've ever written. Dunno. Some days are one way and some days the other.
I'll close this entry on a major 6th.
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Evergreen: https://app.box.com/s/rgxjsf5nxrf5rmu16bym
Hamburg Nights: https://app.box.com/s/updymw52z8nmiz2k0ipt
Monday, February 10, 2014
Roadkill Buttsteak 8: "Corrupt = Heartbroken" b/w "Losing Light"
Hey all--
Back to the well, same as last time, for these ones. "Corrupt..." features our comrade Paul R. Cardillo on the bass, again participating via correspondence course. I guess I'll drop some change in the Feelies' jar on this one (and by default the Velvets'), though we didn't have the time or instrumental ability to stretch out the arrangements as much as Hoboken's beloved sons and daughter would have. We did try and keep it short and garage-y, and I suspect it might provide one heck of a liver barn-burner should that occasion ever arise.
"Losing Light" might've started out with warm sentiments but, as I lived with the song before recording it, I realized that there was definitely potential to go dark on it. So the statement around which the song was conceived ("Though I'm losing light, I'm gonna drive all night to you") turned from promise to threat as the narrator crossed into creepy, somewhat psychotic territory. The mood was certainly helped by RK's tom-tom beat (with some slap-back delay added during production) and cymbal washes, by the tremelo-and-reverbed open-tuned guitar, topped off with some guitar feedback and spacious piano. My take, anyways.
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Cut and Paste:
Corrupt = Heartbroken: https://app.box.com/s/pjhgpd2logo85p1lv0p3
Losing Light: https://app.box.com/s/aq9m68ligocqq87yjdsz
Corrupt = Heartbroken:
Losing Light:
Back to the well, same as last time, for these ones. "Corrupt..." features our comrade Paul R. Cardillo on the bass, again participating via correspondence course. I guess I'll drop some change in the Feelies' jar on this one (and by default the Velvets'), though we didn't have the time or instrumental ability to stretch out the arrangements as much as Hoboken's beloved sons and daughter would have. We did try and keep it short and garage-y, and I suspect it might provide one heck of a liver barn-burner should that occasion ever arise.
"Losing Light" might've started out with warm sentiments but, as I lived with the song before recording it, I realized that there was definitely potential to go dark on it. So the statement around which the song was conceived ("Though I'm losing light, I'm gonna drive all night to you") turned from promise to threat as the narrator crossed into creepy, somewhat psychotic territory. The mood was certainly helped by RK's tom-tom beat (with some slap-back delay added during production) and cymbal washes, by the tremelo-and-reverbed open-tuned guitar, topped off with some guitar feedback and spacious piano. My take, anyways.
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Cut and Paste:
Corrupt = Heartbroken: https://app.box.com/s/pjhgpd2logo85p1lv0p3
Losing Light: https://app.box.com/s/aq9m68ligocqq87yjdsz
Corrupt = Heartbroken:
Losing Light:
Monday, February 3, 2014
Roadkill Buttsteak (and Dillo) 8: "Dust" b/w "The Cruel Seas"
Hey gang--
What the?.... It's actual original RKBS rock-style music on the RKBS site! Plus special guest! These songs have been getting done (i.e., sitting around mostly) for over a year, goddarnit, so let's get to the point.
For these and the remainder of the bunch, Mikey made a visit up to the Harpswell Estate in Dec '12 (!?), at which point we ran through things real fast, like, and laid down the guitar and drum tracks as we usually do. Then we beamed the electonical files down to Paul R. Cardillo's forested hideout down in the outskirts of Chapel Hill, NC, whereupon Paulie applied the secret sauce of low-end goodness. Back came those bass files to me, and I put the rest of the garbage on top. That's when the mostly-lying-fallow business commenced in earnest, punctuated by many small mixing sessions, a.k.a. rearranging the deck chairs.
Some of the set has been posted to the SoundCloud page for a bit, so these might not be fresh-picked for all of you, listening public, but I believe they're new to the RKBS site, so off you go! Make up your own story about these here cuts, and let me know if anything comes up on your Spot-the-Influence-o-Meters. We were shooting for a couple general aural goals that I think we got kinda/ sorta near, and I have my own theories as to the wordy parts...
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
Cut and Paste into your browser:
Dust: https://app.box.com/s/zhsl1is68jm5qb5v0ukv
The Cruel Seas: https://app.box.com/s/5oalcrfx2qcp4xog1dkd
Or stream/ download:
Dust:
The Cruel Seas:
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Woodpile 3: "Oh! The Southlands!" b/w "I Was Just Thinking..."
Hey all! Hot on the heels of another super hush-hush (aside from the volume, that is) pre-Homecoming Buttsteak & the Haggises 5 convocation down in Charm City, here's another couple acoustical numbers to soothe aching ears and warm wintry hearts.
"Oh! The Southlands!", written a few years back, is a tribute not only to the Southlands, but also to the Northlands. Tricksy, how I did that, huh? I just felt that, maybe on account of the often anemic musical culture we run, the northern parts don't receive the musical love as the southern ones. And when there is a regional hit, you might get something like Dick Curless' "Tombstone Every Mile", singing about ice and snow. So it's been a small goal of mine to make my periodic contribution to resolving the north-south imbalance, losing battle though it shall ever be. The intro to this one is a rip-off of vintage music-hall Kinks, far as I'm concerned, and the rest is a straight-up country rocker material.
"I Was Just Thinking...." is one of the first songs I'd written, way back in '95 or so. From the sound of the original, I still had quite a bit of Hawaii-via-Austin, TX's Poi Dog Pondering sunny folk-pop in my system, and was more immediately lifting from Uncle Tupelo's beautiful, loping instrumental "Sandusky", off their fine acoustic "March 16-20, 1992" record. In the big picture, this version strays hardly at all from my original 4-track version, other than being cleaner, sporting more abundant and snazzier instrumentation, and having a clearer sense of self. It burbles along like many of my acoustic "ensemble" efforts do-- a sea of plunking from which little snippets float to the surface now and again. I'm working on that...
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs
Cut/ paste:
"Oh! The Southlands!": https://app.box.com/s/jd1yi8tjpzah9ktc91oa
"I Was Just Thinking...": https://app.box.com/s/iuie6kd0d6c8wt7g76l7
Stream:
"Oh! The Southlands!", written a few years back, is a tribute not only to the Southlands, but also to the Northlands. Tricksy, how I did that, huh? I just felt that, maybe on account of the often anemic musical culture we run, the northern parts don't receive the musical love as the southern ones. And when there is a regional hit, you might get something like Dick Curless' "Tombstone Every Mile", singing about ice and snow. So it's been a small goal of mine to make my periodic contribution to resolving the north-south imbalance, losing battle though it shall ever be. The intro to this one is a rip-off of vintage music-hall Kinks, far as I'm concerned, and the rest is a straight-up country rocker material.
"I Was Just Thinking...." is one of the first songs I'd written, way back in '95 or so. From the sound of the original, I still had quite a bit of Hawaii-via-Austin, TX's Poi Dog Pondering sunny folk-pop in my system, and was more immediately lifting from Uncle Tupelo's beautiful, loping instrumental "Sandusky", off their fine acoustic "March 16-20, 1992" record. In the big picture, this version strays hardly at all from my original 4-track version, other than being cleaner, sporting more abundant and snazzier instrumentation, and having a clearer sense of self. It burbles along like many of my acoustic "ensemble" efforts do-- a sea of plunking from which little snippets float to the surface now and again. I'm working on that...
jk
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs
Cut/ paste:
"Oh! The Southlands!": https://app.box.com/s/jd1yi8tjpzah9ktc91oa
"I Was Just Thinking...": https://app.box.com/s/iuie6kd0d6c8wt7g76l7
Stream:
Monday, January 6, 2014
Woodpile 3: "Traverse City Blues" b/w "Old Grey Dog"
Well, belated Happy 2014 for anybody on the receiving end. If you're somehow feeling bereft of the warm fuzzies of Christmastime, do check out the last post for this year's holiday tunes. Or just beat back the dark and snow and/ or deep freeze and/ or weird super-thaw with some other nwoody classics...
Also, briefly and clerically:
1. The SoundCloud page remains an OK option for streaming pleasure: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
2. Subscribe/ follow either here or there and we can dispense with your email getting spammed.
Anyhoo....
First off, "Traverse City Blues" is not a blues at all. More of a Neil Young lift that dates back to the Baltimore days. It was a rocked-up electric favorite of the Honcho band, and has been a go-to hootenanny-type acoustic picker as well in the years since. What you have here is a stab at the latter.
Second off, the titular "Old Grey Dog" is not a dog at all, but a Greyhound bus. The song is your basic escapist tribute to Chicago, and to following the Heileman's Old Style Beer signs from bar to bar down the long, straight avenues.
JK
Cut-and-past these links:
Traverse City Blues: https://app.box.com/s/uckkgipenigykex3czu3
Old Grey Dog: https://app.box.com/s/9y9tvz7cg7uapliv9xxg
Stream here:
Also, briefly and clerically:
1. The SoundCloud page remains an OK option for streaming pleasure: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs/
2. Subscribe/ follow either here or there and we can dispense with your email getting spammed.
Anyhoo....
First off, "Traverse City Blues" is not a blues at all. More of a Neil Young lift that dates back to the Baltimore days. It was a rocked-up electric favorite of the Honcho band, and has been a go-to hootenanny-type acoustic picker as well in the years since. What you have here is a stab at the latter.
Second off, the titular "Old Grey Dog" is not a dog at all, but a Greyhound bus. The song is your basic escapist tribute to Chicago, and to following the Heileman's Old Style Beer signs from bar to bar down the long, straight avenues.
JK
Cut-and-past these links:
Traverse City Blues: https://app.box.com/s/uckkgipenigykex3czu3
Old Grey Dog: https://app.box.com/s/9y9tvz7cg7uapliv9xxg
Stream here:
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