New Monday #84
Happy Monday, campers!
Actor Robert Redford died. I have a Robert Redford audio story. But first...
Sonny Curtis died yesterday at 88. He was a member of The Crickets (as in Buddy Holly) as a guitarist, joining them in 1958 and becoming their lead singer after Holly’s death.
Sonny Curtis
Mr. Curtis was also an accomplished songwriter. This forms the basis for the ultimate rock ’n’ roll trivia question:
What do I Fought the Law and The Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme (Love is All Around) have in common?
Both songs were written by Sonny Curtis.
Here’s Bobby Fuller’s demo of I Fought the Law, recorded in his home studio, Fuller himself doing the engineering. This single version sounds like a three-track recording to me—drums, bass, and a rhythm guitar to the right, vocals in the middle, lead guitar and really wet harmony vocals to the left.
Regarding the Mary Tyler Moore Theme, here’s Sonny Curtis playing it, and the backstory of how it was selected for the show. And that’s him singing on the TV version, through seven seasons and countless reruns.
Robbing Redford
It was the 90s. An acquaintance of mine was a major Studio Cat in New York City. One morning I met him at his apartment, in a swanky building in the West 50s, to go to breakfast. Me, him, and his assistant, who we will call Chuck, all went to the mailroom. In Studio Cat’s mailbox was a cardboard box addressed to Robert Redford, who also lived in the building. Studio Cat, being Studio Cat, opened it up and it turned out to be a Christmas gift for Robert Redford—a nutcracker and a bag of pistachios. There was a card. Well, screw that and let’s not worry about felony stealing someone's mail, thought Studio Cat, let’s take the box with us.
So we did.
At a diner, we had breakfast and ate all of Robert Redford’s pistachios. I had some, which makes me an accessory to whatever the crime might have been. And then Studio Cat, who was nothing if not imaginative, looked at the nutcracker and announced to Chuck: “Chuck, this would make a good gift for my girlfriend. Buy some more pistachios, rewrap the whole thing and I’ll give it to her next week.”
True story. Email me with your guess as to the real identity of Studio Cat. I am sure a bunch of you already know who it is.
On a plane in 1975: Part 1
My musical DNA was rewritten when I was 12 years old, flying home from a family trip to Italy on a plane. Some of you might remember the stereo headphones they gave you on planes back then. They weren’t electronic; they were pneumatic. There was a tiny speaker in the armrest. You plugged one end of your headset into it, and the sound travelled down hollow plastic tubes to your ears. Think of a stereo stethoscope. It sounded like ass, but the summer of 1975 had amazing music. 1975 is one of the great years for popular music.
I listened to a Billboard top hits for June 1975 playlist throughout the flight. Six hours of the same thing over and over again. I can recall the patter of the DJ between the songs.
I wasn’t yet playing guitar—I was farting around on the trombone and that’s pretty much what it sounded like because I sucked—but this stuff grabbed me. The music I heard is still some of my favorite, but more than that, my thinking and hearing were oriented towards great songs, songs with melodies and harmonies and hooks and grooves.
Sister Golden Hair
A number one hit for America, this is a killer song and recording. Written and sung by Gerry Beckley, it was produced by George Martin, engineered by Geoff Emerick, and recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito. A ton of great records were cut there. It was a very innovative studio, not just technically but... socially. It had a house at which artists could stay, and the whole place was 70s excess in abundance, with hot tubs, waterbeds, and let’s party and make a record vibe. Um... it had a nitrous oxide gas system installed with fresh tanks delivered like clockwork. They pulled the system once someone asphyxiated from it. Sex and drugs and rock and roll? That’s the Record Plant Sausalito. Read about it here.
ANYWAY... Listen to this:
Sister Golden Hair
There’s a bunch of production techniques I want you to listen for. Often, parts are cut in mono, and then a delay is put on it and panned wide. You can recognize this because the sound seems to move from right to left, or left to right, depending on which way the delay is panned. But also, often parts are doubled, played twice and panned, and that can sound a lot like a part with a delay. What you have to do is listen for differences from one side to the other. Most often, those differences can be heard at breaks or transitions in the song.
Squint down and answer the questions:
1) Panning on the drums?
2) Lead vocal. Is it doubled or is that a delay?
3) How many acoustic guitar parts? 1 with a delay? 2? 3 including a 12-string? Or is it a 6-string capo’d up?
4) How many electric rhythm guitar parts?
5) How many lap steel (slide) guitar parts?
6) Background vocals - mono or stereo?
Fun thing to hear: on YouTube, listen at 3:05 to clearly hear someone count “One Two Three Four” to cue in the ending of the song. I can’t hear this on the Apple Music version. Different master? Different mix?
I’ll give you my full breakdown next week.
Hard to believe, with what is on the charts today, that Sister Golden Hair was a #1 hit, but it was 1975 and that was a magic year.
Kill Me (in the Garden)
Stumbled across this: A wonderful song by Hayley Williams, done acoustically, live. Cool, bluesy melody, thoughtful, poetic lyrics. A nice, simple recording.
Here’s an interesting thing to try: listen to it while watching it. Then close your eyes and listen. Hear a difference?
Her new album, 'Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, is a really interesting record.
A Lesson
I came across some things on an audio engineering group page on Facebook, and SO MUCH INFORMATION WAS WRONG!
This week I ran into some things regarding saturation (aka adding harmonic distortion). I’ve written a lot on this topic, but what I wrote for you all this week is different, focusing on using saturation in a very analog console type manner.
That’s it for this week. A little history, some ear training, some new music, and a how-to. A pretty good start to the week.
Warm regards,
Luke