by N. Whitfield, B. Strong Copyright 1970 Jobete BMI
By 1970, the “Psychedelic Soul” movement was beginning to wane, leading producer Norman Whitfield and The Temptations to return to their ballad roots—but with a sophisticated, dream-like twist. This episode deconstructs the instrumental layers of “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” and explores the brilliant production of Whitfield, the legendary contribution of The Funk Brothers, and the heartbreaking reality behind the lyrics. This episode serves as a bittersweet tribute to a group at a crossroads, marking the final appearances of both Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.
Beyond the music, this episode explores the history of The Temptations during this recording session. As the classic lineup began to fracture, the song became a final curtain call for Eddie Kendricks’ ethereal falsetto and features Paul Williams’ single poignant line. Let’s celebrate the enduring legacy of a song that remains one of the most perfect three-minute stories ever committed to tape.
“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” by N. Whitfield, B. Strong Copyright 1970 Jobete BMI
TRANSCRIPT:
This is the I’m In Love With That Song podcast. Oh, it’s not your imagination, the I’m In Love With That Song podcast is back with another episode here on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m your host, Brad Page, and each edition of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we listen to it together, listening for all the little moments, those special touches that make it a great song. No musical skill or knowledge is required; all you need is a love for music and a little curiosity, and you’ll fit right in here.
We’ve covered The Temptations a couple of times on this show, and that’s because they’re probably my favorite Motown act. I mean, sure, it’s hard to argue with Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder is an outright genius. But both of them did their best work when they pursued their own vision outside of the Motown machine. But The Temptations were firmly rooted within the institution of Motown. In many ways, they exemplified the Motown sound, but they also pushed against those boundaries, especially with their work with producer Norman Whitfield. That’s my favorite era of The Temptations, and that’s the period we’re going to return to in this episode as we venture into the dreamlike landscape of “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”.
As I said, we’ve covered The Temptations a couple of times before with “I Can’t Get Next To You” back on episode 40 and “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” on episode 116. We went through a detailed history of the band on those shows, so I won’t cover the same ground here, but let’s review a few things just to get us up to speed.
The Temptations were a five-piece vocal group. Melvin Franklin held down the bottom end with his deep, rich voice. Eddie Kendricks glided along the top with his beautiful falsetto. Otis Williams and Paul Williams—and it’s really just a coincidence that they shared a last name because they weren’t related—they sat in the middle with their baritone voices, and David Ruffin would usually take the lead. This is the lineup that cut The Temptations’ early hits like “My Girl”, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”, “I Wish It Would Rain”—all of those classics.
But David Ruffin left the group in 1968 and was replaced by Dennis Edwards, who had sung with The Contours. Edwards had a grittier, more gospel-influenced voice, and with Edwards on board, The Temptations entered an edgier, more experimental phase led by producer Norman Whitfield. We discussed The Temptations’ relationship with Norman Whitfield and his songwriting partner Barrett Strong on those previous episodes that I mentioned, so if you want to dig into that, go back and listen to those episodes.
But Whitfield was the mastermind behind psychedelic soul. He was melding the sounds of psychedelic rock with the groove and feel of R&B. Sly Stone and George Clinton were exploring this sound too, but Whitfield had his own approach. With Whitfield at the helm, The Temptations laid down definitive psychedelic soul classics like “Ball Of Confusion”, “Cloud Nine”, “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”, and “Psychedelic Shack”. This is my favorite period for The Temptations.
But psychedelic soul was a short-lived fad, at least as far as Motown. By 1970, the novelty was wearing thin and Whitfield could see the audience interest was moving on. And The Temptations themselves, they were not huge fans of this direction; they preferred their old style. So, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” was a transitional song, an attempt to return to a somewhat more traditional Temptations-style ballad, but retain some of the psychedelic elements. No fuzz guitar, no wah-wah, but it retains the psychedelic sense of disorientation.
“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” was a song Whitfield and Strong had worked on before, but it had been put on the shelf. They dusted it off and began working out the basic tracks for The Temptations. We should also say that The Temptations themselves were not in a good place at this point. The band was fracturing and the classic lineup wouldn’t last much longer. But first, they had a hit to record.
The backing track was recorded in November 1970 at Golden World Studio B, which had been purchased by Motown in 1966. Whitfield brought in the legendary The Funk Brothers to lay down the foundation. The band included Eddie Willis and Dennis Coffey on guitars, Earl Van Dyke on keyboards, Andrew Smith on drums, Jack Ashford on marimba, Jack Brokensha on timpani, and on bass, Bob Babbitt. Most people assume James Jamerson played the bass as he was the man responsible for so many classic Motown bass lines. But studio logs confirm that it was Bob Babbitt who played the bass on this track.
The song begins with one of Motown’s most memorable guitar intros, played by Eddie Willis. The guitar is drenched in reverb which, in the context of the mix, the soundscape places it off in the distance.
[Instrumental Breakdown]
So we have Eddie Willis’s guitar in the right channel playing that main riff, and Dennis Coffey’s guitar is on the left playing some accent fills. Both guitars have a very clean tone; there’s no fuzz tones here. Bob Babbitt’s bass is dead center and then the strings are layered on top in the right channel along with that main guitar. Let’s play it again from the top.
[Music: Intro]
The Temptations come in with some harmonies.
[Music: Harmonies]
And you can also hear Jack Ashford on marimba sitting nicely in the mix. Let’s just hear a little of that along with the guitars.
[Music: Marimba and Guitars]
Okay, that brings us to the first verse where the drums will come in along with Eddie Kendricks and that incredible falsetto voice. We’ll explore all of this in a minute, but first, let’s just play through that first verse.
[Music: Verse 1]
All right, let’s unpack a few things here. First, let’s listen to the bass and drums laying down a patented Motown groove.
[Music: Bass and Drums]
Really nice reverb on the drums. Andrew Smith is just hitting the rim of his snare drum, not the drum head itself, to get that “tack” sound. Now let’s bring the rest of the instruments in and listen to the backing track without the vocals. The first thing that jumps out at me are those tasteful little guitar fills.
[Music: Instrumental backing track]
That’s a nice little touch; sounds like it’s a harp there. Listen to how the orchestration starts to build.
[Music: Orchestration building]
Now, let’s listen to Eddie Kendricks’ vocal. He’s singing it in a soft, ethereal way that perfectly matches the daydream-like vibe of the music. You can imagine him lost in his own thoughts. And let’s take a look at the lyrics, too, because they are inseparable from this vocal. The lyrics are so critical to this song.
“Each day through my window I watch her as she passes by. I say to myself, ‘You’re such a lucky guy.’ To have a girl like her is truly a dream come true. Out of all the fellows in the world, she belongs to you.”
Which all sounds innocent enough, except that we’re about to find out it’s all an illusion. But there’s a clue planted right there at the beginning: “Each day through my window.” He watches her pass by. He’s observing, but not interacting. We’ll learn more as the story progresses.
[Music: Verse 1 Vocals]
Let’s put all those pieces back together and hear the final mix.
[Music: Verse 1 Full Mix]
The group is going to harmonize on this one line: “To have a girl like her is truly a dream come true.”
[Music: Verse 1 Harmonies]
That takes us right into the chorus, which we’re going to take one line at a time.
“But it was just my imagination.”
Notice how the guitar part echoes the vocal melody there. And the next line: “Running away with me.” And the strings almost sound like they’re running away there. All right, let’s keep going.
“It was just my imagination running away with me.”
Again, the guitar echoes the vocal melody, but this time an octave higher. The chorus ends with the strings swelling up and Jack Brokensha comes in with the timpani drum. Now let’s hear that whole chorus start to finish.
[Music: Chorus]
The second verse begins with the group singing a single word, “So,” before Eddie Kendricks starts the verse.
[Music: Verse 2]
Okay, so that first verse was kind of sweet, this guy longing for this woman. But here, it starts to get a little obsessive. He’s building this whole fantasy with them having children and living in the country.
“Soon we’ll be married and raise a family. Oh yeah. A cozy little home out in the country, with two children, maybe three.”
And this verse concludes with the lines, “I tell you, I can visualize it all. This couldn’t be a dream, far too real it all seems.” And there’s some really beautiful harmony work from the group here.
[Music: Verse 2 Harmony/Outro]
And that leads into the second chorus, and let’s bring up the vocals on this one.
[Music: Chorus 2]
And that leads to a short instrumental break where the orchestration takes over.
[Music: Instrumental Break]
Now the next line is not sung by Eddie Kendricks; it’s sung by Paul Williams. It’s a short line: “Every night on my knees I pray.” It’s the only lead vocal in this song that’s not sung by Eddie Kendricks.
At the time, Paul Williams was in a bad spot. He was a serious alcoholic and suffering from sickle cell disease. These would be the last words he would ever sing with The Temptations. It’s kind of poignant.
“Dear Lord, hear my plea. Don’t ever let another take her love from me or I would surely die.”
Starting to get maybe a little creepy. “Don’t ever let another take her love from me or I would surely die.” And that leads right into one final verse.
[Music: Verse 3]
Taking a closer look at this verse, it’s purely orchestration. The drums and guitars have dropped out; the beat is handled by the timpani. And then we have the key line in the song that shatters the illusion: “In reality, she doesn’t even know me.” The way he delivers it is heartbreaking. And the rock instrumentation comes back in for the final chorus.
[Music: Final Chorus]
And one final ad-lib by Eddie Kendricks puts a button on the whole thing: “I never met her, but I can’t forget her.” We’ll let it play out through the fade.
[Music: Outro/Fade]
“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” by The Temptations.
By the time “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” came out, Eddie Kendricks had basically quit the band. He signed to Motown as a solo artist. This song would be the last Temptations single that Kendricks sang on. It was also the last single that Paul Williams sang on. By this time, his alcoholism and his sickle cell disease had really caught up to him. The Temptations had tried to cover for him, but eventually, he had to go. And things did not get better for Paul Williams. Tragically, he was found dead in his car from a gunshot wound in 1973. He was only 34 years old.
Eddie Kendricks did have a successful solo career. Unfortunately, after 30 years of smoking, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1991. He had one of his lungs removed to try to prevent the spread of the cancer, but he passed away on October 5th, 1992. He was 52. Melvin Franklin died in February 1995, and Dennis Edwards left us in February 2018. But Otis Williams, at the time of this recording, is still with us.
Thank you for tuning into this episode. The I’m In Love With That Song podcast will return with another new episode in about two weeks. All of our previous episodes are available on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. So if you missed any of them—and there are over 200 episodes now—you can go back and re-listen to any of them right there on the website. And make sure that you follow the show so that you never miss an episode.
If you’d like to help the show out, the best thing that you can do is to tell someone about it. Talk it up, share it with your friends and your family, because recommendations from listeners like you are the best advertising that a show like this could ever ask for. So, thank you. I will see you back here on the Pantheon Podcast Network for our next episode. Until then, let your imagination run away with you and go listen to some classic Temptations.
In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival accomplished the unthinkable: releasing three career-defining albums in a single year. At the heart of this creative explosion was “Green River,” a track that reached #2 on the charts and perfectly encapsulated the band’s “swamp rock” aesthetic. Let’s dive deep into the mastermind of John Fogerty, revealing how he his Rickenbacker and a solid-state Kustom amp to create the raw guitar tone that created an indelible riff. We also look at the locked-in rhythm section of Stu Cook and Doug Clifford and the driving force that Fogerty famously dubbed “chooglin’.”
Beyond the music, this episode uncovers the nostalgic and sociopolitical layers of the lyrics. While the song evokes the bayous of Louisiana, its true origins lie in Fogerty’s childhood memories of Putah Creek in California… and a lime-flavored soda pop. We’ll look at how the smoldering world of 1969—marked by the Vietnam War and recent political assassinations—crept into Fogerty’s writing, transforming a childhood reminiscence into a plea for a simpler time. Whether you are a recording nerd interested in the studio minutia, or a casual fan of great rock, this episode offers a comprehensive look at a timeless American masterpiece.
Words & Music by John Fogerty Copyright 1969 Jondora Music
TRANSCRIPT:
Come on home to the “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast, one of the Pantheon family of podcasts. My name is Brad Page and on each edition of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together, listening for all those special elements, those magic moments that make it a great song. We don’t get into music theory on this show; we focus on the arrangements, the performances, and the production that make the song work. So, you don’t need to be a musician to enjoy this show; this is a podcast for every music fan.
As we’ve done in our last couple of episodes, we’re revisiting a band that we featured on this show once before. It’s been about four years since we discussed Creedence Clearwater Revival—I can’t believe it was that long ago, actually. So, let’s return to this classic American band and explore how a group from San Francisco was able to capture the swamp rock atmosphere of the American Deep South. This is one of my favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival tracks; this is “Green River”.
[Audio Clip: “Green River”]
Back on that previous episode where we explored “Run Through the Jungle”—and if you haven’t heard that episode, go back and listen to it, it’s a good one—on that episode, we covered the early history of Creedence, so I’m not going to go over that again. We’ll pick things up in 1969. Many people consider 1969 to be the peak year for Creedence Clearwater Revival. In the span of this single year, the band released three career-defining albums: Bayou Country in January, Green River in August, and Willy and the Poor Boys in November.
John Fogerty, the mastermind behind Creedence, was always afraid that the audience would forget about the band if they weren’t inundating the airwaves with a steady stream of hit singles. “Green River” was the song that kicked off the album of the same name: side one, track one. It was released as a single in July ’69, a month before the album came out. It was written by John Fogerty and performed by Fogerty on lead guitar and lead vocal, his brother Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, Stu Cook on bass, and Doug Clifford on drums. It was recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, produced by John Fogerty and engineered by Russ Gary.
The song opens with John Fogerty’s electric guitar riff. An acoustic guitar joins about halfway through before the drums and the bass kick in. Okay, first, let’s not bury the lead. Let’s take a look at Fogerty’s guitar part. It’s the crux of the song. It’s based around an E7 chord, and you don’t need to know anything about the theory behind it. Just know that the key of E, it’s the ultimate guitar key, and Fogerty works it for all its worth, hanging on this chord for extended periods. Playing in E allows him to include an open-string drone, which is often referred to as a pedal tone. That’s a term originated by pipe organ players who would use their feet to hold down low notes using pedals. But in a more general sense, it refers to a note that’s held or repeated while other notes are played over the top. In this case, Fogerty plays a pattern of notes that slowly descends while the E is sustained underneath.
[Audio Clip: Guitar Riff]
You’ll notice that that guitar is placed primarily in the right channel, and his guitar tone is pretty raw. There’s almost a brittle edge to it. I wouldn’t call it a warm tone, which is what many guitarists go for. I would chalk up that tone mostly due to the guitar amp that was used. John Fogerty preferred amps made by the Kustom company—that’s Kustom with a K—specifically, the K200A model. Kustom amps are distinctive due to their Naugahyde tuck-and-roll upholstery. But what’s important to the sound here is that these were solid-state amplifiers, not amps that use tubes, which were and still are preferred by most guitarists over solid-state amps. Tube amps have a natural compression that happens when you hit them with a loud sound; it’s a very pleasing tone. Solid-state amplifiers don’t do that. They have a much faster transient response and respond instantly with a harder, uncompressed sound. That is where the sharp, raspy tone comes from.
Now, as to which guitar Fogerty was playing, I’ve seen conflicting reports. Some sources say it’s a Gibson Les Paul Custom or a Gibson ES-175. You can find photos of Fogerty playing both of those models during this time period. But Fogerty also played a Rickenbacker 325—that’s the same model that John Lennon used to play—and I think Fogerty himself has said that that was the guitar he used here. So, I’m going to take his word for it, and that sounds right to me.
As far as the acoustic guitar, that was a Gibson J-200, which I assume was played by his brother Tom Fogerty. The acoustic is recorded a little “boomy”, not a lot of high end, and is mixed towards the left channel, so each guitar has its own space in the mix. The acoustic guitar is also just hanging on that E chord.
[Audio Clip: Guitars together]
You can also hear there’s a tambourine overdubbed there. So, after establishing the riff by playing it a few times, they launch into the first verse.
[Audio Clip: First Verse]
So, that first verse really sets the tone for where we’re going here. “Well, take me back down where the cool water flows, let me remember the things that I love.” So, it’s about a yearning for a return to a place and a time long past. And then he reminisces about some of these things: stopping at the log where the catfish bite, walking along the river road at night, and those barefoot girls dancing in the moonlight.
So, it’s a trip down memory lane, but it’s more than that. You might say it’s a longing for a more innocent time. That line about the dancing barefoot girls is interesting because it sort of speaks to an early sexual awareness, just starting to discover those feelings right before things get complicated. I think that’s a key element of this song: the desire for a life less complicated.
[Audio Clip: Verse continues]
You’ll notice the vocals have that classic slap-back echo on them, right out of the Sun Records playbook, like an old Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis record. Another interesting note for you recording studio nerds out there: John Fogerty is singing into a Shure SM56 microphone. That was a relatively inexpensive mic; essentially, it’s a Shure SM57 but with an integrated pistol-grip stand mount. These are decent microphones for recording snare drums and guitar amps, but almost never used in the studio to record lead vocals. This mic was chosen by engineer Russ Gary, but why he chose this particular mic, I don’t really know. He said that this was the only time he ever used this mic for Fogerty’s vocal, so it was definitely an oddball choice. But it works.
With the second verse, you can imagine Fogerty reminiscing about his favorite swimming hole.
[Audio Clip: Second Verse]
There’s a nice little doubled guitar part that’s added in there. So, that verse is the first mention of Green River. There is no actual place named Green River, at least not as articulated in this song. One of Fogerty’s tendencies as a songwriter—you could call it a quirk or a stroke of genius, depending on how you look at it—but he was always evoking the sights and sounds of the South: New Orleans, the Mississippi River, the bayou. But Fogerty was a California boy, born and raised. He might have made you envision someplace in the South, but his actual childhood memory here is of Putah Creek near the town of Winters, California.
So, where did the name Green River come from? Well, Putah Creek doesn’t exactly sound as charming as Green River, and it’s not as easy to sing. So, Fogerty looked back to another childhood memory, this one of drinking one of his favorite beverages. Richard C. Jones, who owned a sweet shop, created Green River, a lime-flavored soft drink or soda pop, in Davenport, Iowa, in 1916. In 1919, he sold the formula to a Chicago brewing company who would switch to making soda during Prohibition. Eventually, other bottlers began to sell the flavor, but by the 1990s, it had all but disappeared. Though you can still buy bottles of Green River today, you’ll have to seek it out.
That verse is followed by one of those guitar and vocal moments that is so uniquely a John Fogerty signature. Then that leads us right into a short guitar solo.
[Audio Clip: Guitar Solo]
We haven’t really talked about the other guys in the band, so let’s touch on them for a moment. Doug Clifford on drums and Stu Cook on bass in particular were the engine that drives this track forward. Neither of them is playing anything complex, and neither is Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, but they are all locked in together. At the center of the Creedence Clearwater Revival sound is that rhythm that’s often described as “chooglin'”. Fogerty wrote a song called “Keep On Chooglin’”; he may have invented that term, I don’t know. It’s hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it, and you’ll hear it on virtually every Creedence track. Let’s hear this rhythm section “choogle.”
[Audio Clip: Isolated Rhythm Section]
And that brings us to the final verse. A little bit of a shift in lyrical tone here. Let’s listen to the vocal track first.
[Audio Clip: Isolated Vocals]
All right, let’s look at these lyrics a little closer. First, he mentions Cody’s Camp. This was an actual place, a cabin near Putah Creek that was supposedly owned by a relative of Buffalo Bill Cody. Then he sings about flat-car riders and cross-tie walkers. These are men traveling by train unlawfully—what they used to call hoboes. Here we have Fogerty as a young boy among the drifters and the outsiders. And then Old Cody Junior must be the guy who owns that cabin, takes young John aside and warns him, “You’re going to find the world is smoldering, and if you get lost, come on home to Green River.”
The shadow of the grown-up world is creeping into this childhood memory. And thinking back to 1969, when this song was released, the Vietnam War was raging, and it was only a year out from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. The world was indeed smoldering. And really, looking around at our world now, when is the world ever not smoldering? But he ends the song with the plea or the reassurance that if you get lost, come on home to Green River. Now, let’s hear that final verse.
[Audio Clip: Final Verse and Outro]
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Green River”.
“Green River” climbed the charts and reached number two. It was poised to hit number one, but it was kept out of the number one spot by “Sugar, Sugar”, a bubblegum pop song by a fake band, The Archies. Oh, the indignities! Creedence has the distinction of being the band with the most songs to reach number two without ever having a number one chart-topper. The Green River album also featured “Bad Moon Rising”, another hit that reached number two. It’s interesting to compare these two songs because while “Bad Moon Rising” juxtaposes some pretty dark lyrics with a really jaunty up-tempo beat, “Green River” sounds dark and moody even though its lyrics are more upbeat. But these are the quirks that make the music of CCR so memorable and endlessly fascinating, and it’s why these songs still stand out today.
Hope you enjoyed this episode. The “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast will return with another new episode in just about two weeks. All of our previous episodes are available on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, so if you missed any of them—and there are over 200 episodes now—or you just want to re-listen to an episode, you’ll find them all right there. And make sure you follow the show so that you never miss an episode.
Thanks for coming along for the ride; I really appreciate it. If you want to help the show out, the best thing you can do is to tell someone about it. Talk it up, share it with your friends and family, because recommendations from people like you are the best advertising I could ever ask for. So, thank you. I will meet you back here on the Pantheon Podcast Network for our next episode. Until then, get back down where the cool water flows, watch out for those barefoot girls dancing in the moonlight… and come on home to Green River.
Words & Music by Lonesome Dave Peverett Copyright 1975 Kohaw Music o/b/o Knee Trembler Music (ASCAP) c/o The Bicycle Music Company
In this episode, we’ll explore the story and sonic architecture behind Foghat’s 1975 arena rock anthem, “Fool for the City“. Tracing the band’s roots back to British blues rockers Savoy Brown, we dive into how Foghat solidified their heavy boogie sound and retreated to a remote studio in Vermont to record their breakthrough platinum album. And we’ll take a tour through the song’s isolated instrumental tracks, uncovering the characteristically dry 1970’s drum mix, producer Nick Jameson’s funky bass contributions, the one-of-a-kind voice of Lonesome Dave Peverett, and Rod Price’s classic guitar work.
Words & Music by Lonesome Dave Peverett Copyright 1975 Kohaw Music o/b/o Knee Trembler Music (ASCAP) c/o The Bicycle Music Company
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello once again, and welcome back to the “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast, beamed directly into your earholes courtesy of the Pantheon Podcast Network. As always, I’m your host, Brad Page, and each edition of this podcast, I pick a song from my library of favorites, and we explore it together, trying to get a better understanding of what makes a song work. Why do I love this song? We limit the technical jargon here and keep the music theory to a minimum. This is a show for anyone who loves music. You don’t have to be a musical expert to enjoy this show.
On this episode, we’ll continue our exploration of bands that have been featured on this podcast once before, as we revisit Foghat, one of the bands that defined the sound of 1970s arena rock. This time, we’re going straight to their most popular studio album and digging into the title cut. That’s right– this is Foghat with “Fool for the City”.
Back on episode 78, we explored Foghat’s take on “Honey Hush”. I did a quick overview of their career on that show, but it’s been a while, so let’s go over those details again.
By the mid to late 1960s, it seemed like London was overrun by young British musicians obsessed with American blues; Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin’ Wolf… these British kids couldn’t get enough of this music, whether it was Delta Blues or Chicago Blues or anything in between. Sure, there was an element of fetishization about it, but these kids genuinely loved this music, and they appreciated it a lot more than American white kids did at this time.
One of the premier British blues bands was Savoy Brown, led by guitarist Kim Simmons. Savoy Brown seemed to churn through members, but for a time, the band settled around six members. Along with Simmons were Chris Youlden on vocals, Bob Hall on piano, Tony Stevens on bass, Roger Earl on drums, and Lonesome Dave Peverett on rhythm guitar and occasional vocals.
This lineup of Savoy Brown released a handful of albums: Blue Matter and A Step Further both came out in 1969, and then Raw Sienna in 1970. At that point, Chris Youlden and Bob Hall had left the band, and Lonesome Dave took over the lead vocals for their next album Looking In.
After that album, Lonesome Dave Peverett, Roger Earl, and Tony Stevens all left the band to start their own group. Simmons was pushing the band in a jazzier direction, while the rest of the guys wanted to pursue a heavier boogie sound. “Boogie” was a straightforward, visceral sound, with the swing of the blues melded with the aggression of rock. Things came to a head in December 1970, when Simmons fired Stevens and put additional demands on Peverett and Earl. They decided to quit, and the three of them got together to start their own group.
What they needed now was a new lead guitarist, and they found just the guy in Rod Price. Price had been playing with Black Cat Bones, and his brilliant slide guitar playing earned him the nickname the bottle. His addition to the band transformed their sound. His searing slide guitar leads delivered the sound that gave the band its heavy edge. So, the band had their lead guitarist and their sound nailed down. Now all they needed was a name. It was Peverett who provided Foghat.
The name Foghat was a meaningless word that Peverett made up during a game of Scrabble he played with his brother when they were kids. I guess the word stuck around, but it literally doesn’t mean anything.
The band met with quite a few record labels but found no takers until they met with Albert Grossman, who signed them to his Bearsville record label. Soon, they would relocate to New York.
They released their first album, self-titled, in 1972. It was produced by Dave Edmunds and featured their version of Muddy Waters’ “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, which became a staple of their live shows. It set the template for the Foghat sound. Take a classic blues tune, ramp it up, crank up the guitars, and belt out the vocals in Lonesome Dave’s distinctive style.
Three more albums followed, and though a big hit eluded them, the band built an audience, focusing on the US, growing a fan base through relentless touring. But that pace was grueling, and it took its toll. By 1975, Tony Stevens had enough and left the band. Now they were missing a bass player just as they were about to record their most ambitious album to date.
Nick Jameson had produced their previous album, Rock and Roll Outlaws, and he was lined up to produce this new record. Rather than audition a bunch of new bass players, the band turned to Nick Jameson and asked him to play bass on the album. Nick was a guitarist and a keyboard player, but not an experienced bass player, but he took on the job and became their de facto bassist for this new album.
The band decided to decamp to a small studio in Vermont called Suntreader. Located in Sharon, Vermont, it was about as removed from the city as you could get. This allowed the band to focus on the music, but you gotta wonder how that influenced this title cut.
“Fool for the City” was written by Dave Peverett. It’s performed by Peverett on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Rod Price on lead and slide guitar, Roger Earl on drums, and Nick Jameson on bass. It was produced by Jameson.
The song begins with a quick flam, probably on a floor tom, and then we’re into the opening riff.
The first thing I notice on this track is that the drums are pretty dry. I’m not really hearing any reverb. That’s pretty standard for a 1970s recording. It wasn’t until the 1980s that they started putting tons of reverb on the drums to the point where the drum sounds got kind of ridiculous, at least in my opinion. But this dry drum sound is pretty typical of the 1970s. Let’s bring up the drums and listen to that for a bit.
Now let’s go back and play the intro through to the first verse.
That first verse pretty much lays out the thesis for this song. Not a lot of subtext here. “The country sure is pretty, but I’ll leave it all behind.” Let’s bring up that vocal track by Lonesome Dave Peverett.
There’s the chorus, classic gang vocals on the chorus there, and definitely plenty of reverb on the vocals. Let’s bring that up in the mix.
Now, before they start the second verse, there’s a short bit with some harmonized guitar parts. Let’s bring that forward a bit.
I like that because it serves as a transition from the chorus to the verse, and it gives you something new to keep things fresh.
Let’s go back and hear just the instrumental track for the verse to hear what’s going on underneath the vocals.
And back to the chorus.
And that brings us to the bridge. There are two distinct parts to the bridge. Let’s tackle the first part.
First, we’ll hear the instrumental track without the vocals. Like most of the song, there are at least two guitars panned left and right, but in this section, there’s another guitar in there right in the middle. It sounds like there’s some phasing or flanging on that guitar as well.
Okay, let’s hear that with the vocals now.
The vocals are doubled there. Another thing that I’m noticing is that the vocals are mixed pretty low throughout this song. Sometimes the guitars almost drown them out. Dave Peverett has a great voice, but Foghat was definitely a guitar band.
Let’s move on to the second part of the bridge, and things get funky here. It was Nick Jameson who came up with this idea, and it really adds a whole new element to the song.
All right, let’s dissect this part. First, let’s just hear Dave’s vocal. It’s pretty much a spoken word part.
And now the instrumental parts. Some interesting things happening here. There’s an acoustic guitar playing that country blues riff. It’s the first time we’ve heard an acoustic guitar in this song. And Nick Jameson is playing some slap bass that’s kind of a counterpart to that acoustic guitar. I like the way those two play off of each other. And then there are some electric guitars that come up in the left and right channel, both with an envelope filter or auto-wah effect on them. It’s a very specific kind of sound. All these parts work together in a pretty interesting way. Let’s hear all of that.
And that leads right into a guitar solo, giving Rod Price a moment to shine. Rod was mostly known for his slide playing, but he’s not using any slide here.
Now, listen to how Rod Price incorporates some of the vocal melody into his solo here. And they’ve also added some backing vocals, but they’re doing something different than what they do during the other choruses. It’s all kind of clever.
And that leads right into a reprise of the bridge.
This time around, Lonesome Dave uses more of his singing voice than the spoken word. Let’s hear that in the final mix and listen to Jameson’s funky bass part here.
That time around, there’s no acoustic guitar part there, which leaves room for Jameson’s bass to really jump out of the mix. And notice how the band builds up out of that section into these final choruses. It’s a really nice way to create some excitement leading into the finale.
As Dave Peverett ad-libs his vocals over the top, Nick Jameson’s bass and Roger Earl’s drums get a little more frantic, busier, driving the song to its conclusion.
And now Rod Price has overdubbed some more guitar licks, adding even more energy to the track.
Foghat –“Fool for the City”
Besides the title cut, the album also includes “Slow Ride”, their biggest hit. The album would become their first platinum album. And in 1977, they released their live album, Foghat Live, which would become their biggest-selling album.
But by 1979, trends changed and new sounds were capturing the attention of the general public, and Foghat fell out of fashion. They continued to release albums into the 1980s with diminishing returns.
Rod Price left the band in 1980, and they continued on for a while with a guitarist named Erik Cartwright, but they eventually split around 1984. There were a number of reunions with various lineups, but I don’t think anything captured the highlights of their 1970s peak.
Lonesome Dave Peverett, one of the most distinctive singers of his era, died in February 2000 from kidney cancer. He was 56. Rod Price was living in Wilton, New Hampshire, not far from where I lived, when he suffered a heart attack and fell down a flight of stairs. He was 57.
But at the time of this recording, Nick Jameson and Roger Earl are still with us, and Earl still tours with a version of Foghat.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast. I will be back in two weeks with another new episode. If for some unexplainable reason you just can’t bear to wait two weeks, you can relisten to all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com.
You can support the show by going to oldglory.com and buying some merch from your favorite artists. They even have a Fool for the City T-shirt that you can buy. And if you use our discount code, lovethatsong, you’ll save 15% and you’ll be helping to support this show. That’s oldglory.com with the discount code, lovethatsong.
Thank you for being part of this show here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, where fans belong. Now let’s turn up the volume and crank up “Fool for the City” by Foghat.
RESOURCES & LINKS:
Foghat: Visit their Official Website for current tour dates, official merchandise, and their latest music releases.
Savoy Brown: The Official Savoy Brown Website features news and details on founder Kim Simmonds’ autobiography, which chronicles his six-decade journey in blues-rock.
Muddy Waters: The Muddy Waters Foundation is dedicated to preserving the history of the blues and supporting emerging blues musicians.
Howlin’ Wolf: The Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Site offers detailed biographical insights, rare photographs, and stories covering his incredible life and legacy.
Lonesome Dave Peverett: His Concord Music Publishing profile highlights his massive impact as the founding member of Foghat and the writer behind defining hits like “Slow Ride” and “Fool For The City”.
Nick Jameson: His Discogs Profile outlines his eclectic and prolific career as a producer, engineer, voice actor, and multi-instrumentalist.
Rod Price obituary: https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/rod-price-530402.html
Record Labels & Studios:
Bearsville Records: You can explore the ongoing legacy of Albert Grossman’s iconic label and its artists at the Bearsville Center. For a complete visual history of their original album art, catalog numbers, and tracklists, the Bearsville Discogs page is an invaluable database.
Suntreader Studios: The Suntreader Studios Discogs page catalogs the various releases cut at this remote Sharon, Vermont location, including Foghat’s platinum milestone.
Merchandise Sponsor:oldglory.com (Use code Lovethatsong for 15% off)
"Life Is A Carnival" Words & Music by Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm & Rick Danko copyright 1971 WC Music Corp and Canaan Music, Inc. All rights administered by WC Music Corp
By 1971, The Band was one of the most influential forces in rock music, having steered the genre away from psychedelic excess toward a more rustic, roots-based sound. However, the recording of their fourth album, Cahoots, was a period of high tension within the group. Despite these fractures, the album’s opening track, “Life is a Carnival,” stands out as a masterpiece of groove and atmosphere, drawing on Robertson’s real-life experiences working in a traveling circus to paint a vivid picture of life as a relentless “hustle.”
Let’s dive inside the track to examine the individual elements that make it work: the interplay between Levon Helm’s “behind the beat” drumming, Rick Danko’s fretless bass, Robbie Robertson’s funky guitar work, and the “calliope” atmosphere created by Garth Hudson’s Lowrey organ. And a major highlight is Allen Toussaint’s contribution; the New Orleans legend’s horn arrangements were written specifically to weave around Robertson’s existing guitar solo, resulting in a rhythmic conversation that remains irresistible decades later. This episode is a tribute not just to a great song, but to the enduring legacy of five musicians who changed the landscape of American music.
“Life Is A Carnival” Words & Music by Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm & Rick Danko copyright 1971 WC Music Corp and Canaan Music, Inc. All rights administered by WC Music Corp
TRANSCRIPT:
Take a load off, because it’s time for another episode of the I’m in Love with That Song podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, coming to you courtesy of the Pantheon Podcast Network, where fans belong. Each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we take a look at it together as we try to get a better understanding of what makes a song work. We’ll dig into all those little elements, those small decisions and choices that add up to making a great song. No musical knowledge or experience is required here; we don’t get too technical. This podcast is for anyone who loves music and is curious about what makes a song great.
This time around, we’re revisiting one of the most important bands that came out of the late 1960s, and they had a huge impact on the direction of rock music. We’re talking about The Band. We’ve covered The Band once before—that was way back on Episode 17, with a song from their second album. This time, we’ll explore a song from their fourth album, released in 1971. This is a great song called “Life is a Carnival.”
(Music: “Life is a Carnival” by The Band)
In the late 1950s, a singer named Ronnie Hawkins had a backing band called The Hawks. The Hawks included four Canadians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson both on keyboards, and one American: a drummer named Levon Helm. Hawkins built up quite a following in the Ontario area, but eventually, The Hawks outgrew working with Ronnie and split off on their own. In 1965, Bob Dylan hired them to be his band for his 1965-66 tours, and suddenly, The Hawks were thrust into the big time. They became known as simply The Band, and after working with Dylan on what became known as The Basement Tapes, they got their own record deal and released their first album, Music from Big Pink.
(Music: “The Weight” by The Band)
To say that that album was influential would be a huge understatement. It changed the landscape, the whole direction of rock music. Suddenly, the trippy excesses of psychedelic rock were out, and the rustic, return-to-roots sound that The Band exemplified became the hot new thing. But by the turn of the 1970s, the pressure of their own myth was clearly having an effect. When they recorded their first album in 1968, they were as tight as a band could get, practically telepathic in their musical communication—it was a shared communal experience. But when they headed into the studio to make their fourth album, Cahoots, in 1971, their brotherhood was being fractured by fame, substance abuse, and creative stagnation.
Probably the biggest casualty by this time was pianist and singer Richard Manuel. On their first album, he was a key ingredient of their creative stew, contributing a number of that record’s best tracks. But by the fourth album, his creative output had evaporated; he contributed no new material for this album. Drummer and singer Levon Helm’s creative input had also diminished, though he did remain their primary vocalist. That left Robbie Robertson as the driving force for getting this new album together. So then, of course, that imbalance of songwriting led to resentment from the other members. From his perspective, Robertson felt abandoned by the others and forced into taking the role of the leader. And the rest of the band, particularly Levon Helm, would become bitter about the songwriting credits and the lack of royalty payments that followed.
The studio situation just made things worse. Albert Grossman, the band’s manager and also founder of the Bearsville record label, had built Bearsville Sound Studios in Woodstock, New York. It was designed to be a state-of-the-art studio, but when The Band entered it in 1971, the studio wasn’t finished yet, and there were a lot of technical issues that just hadn’t been fixed. And the band were used to working in more natural environments. This new studio felt sterile to them—too bright, too cold. And the album that resulted, Cahoots, is often described as sounding muddy and murky.
Cahoots isn’t a concept or thematic album by design, but there is a thread that runs through the record. Maybe unintentionally, but it’s there. Most of the songs deal with obsolescence: the vanishing of trades and traditions, the extinction of animals like the buffalo and the bald eagle. You could pretty easily extrapolate these themes as representing The Band itself at this time. But we’re still talking about The Band here; even at their lowest points, they were still capable of brilliance. There are a few moments like these on the album, especially the song that opens the record, “Life is a Carnival.”
Interestingly, “Life is a Carnival” is the only song on the album where band members besides Robertson share credit. The song is credited to Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson. It features Levon Helm on drums, Rick Danko on fretless bass, Robbie Robertson on guitar, Richard Manuel on piano, and Garth Hudson on a Lowrey organ. The vocals are delivered by both Rick Danko and Levon Helm. The track opens with a single kick drum hit, then the bass, guitar, and the drums and percussion come in for four measures.
(Music: Intro to “Life is a Carnival”)
Okay, a couple of things here. First, I’m hearing a lot of noise in the left channel. I imagine you can hear it too, even on this podcast MP3 file. Now, I’m using the original CD of this album released in 2000 for this breakdown. This album was remixed and remastered in 2021, but I didn’t want to use that version because it’s significantly different than the original album, and I just wanted to stick with the original mix for better or worse. I did go back and listen to my vinyl copy of this album, and other than the typical surface noise from an old record, I didn’t really hear as much noise on the vinyl as I do on this CD. So I don’t know if this is something unique to this particular copy of the CD, but there’s definitely some distracting noise in that left channel. I could run some software to clean it up, but I’m not going to do that; I don’t want to mess with the original track. So we’ll leave it, noise and all.
Okay, so now let’s go back and listen to this intro, this time just the drums and the bass. This is quite a funky little groove that Levon and Rick are laying down. Remember that Rick is playing a fretless bass—it’s actually an Ampeg AMUB-1. We discussed these bases a little bit a few episodes ago on Episode 200 about the history of the electric bass. Let’s hear that intro.
(Music: Isolated bass and drums)
And now, let’s bring up Robbie Robertson’s guitar to see what he’s playing in counterpoint to that groove. Notice how Robbie’s guitar has a tremolo effect on it.
(Music: Isolated guitar with tremolo)
All right, now let’s put that back together and we’ll listen to the first four measures of this intro.
(Music: Reassembled intro)
And here, starting with the next measure, the horns come in. And from my money, the horns are the most exciting part of this song. They were arranged by Allen Toussaint, an absolute legend. Based in New Orleans, Allen Toussaint produced literally hundreds of recordings. He wrote a number of classic songs, he’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2013. There’s a street named after him in New Orleans; he even had his own postage stamp issued last year. His horn arrangement on this track is so great.
(Music: Intro with horn section)
A couple more things to note here: the stereo placement of the horns—some on the left, some on the right—really accentuates the way the different horns bounce off of each other in a funky conversation. Also, notice that there’s an acoustic guitar that’s been added, somewhat low in the mix, adding another percussive rhythm.
(Music: Intro with acoustic guitar detail)
That brings us to the first verse, where the vocals come in. The song is sung as a duet between Rick Danko, taking the high parts, and Levon Helm, with Richard Manuel providing backup on the choruses.
(Music: Verse 1 vocals)
That leads us into the second part of the verse and a couple of my favorite lines in the song. It’s a great example of how Robbie Robertson’s songwriting could really paint a visual picture. First, let’s bring up the vocals.
(Music: Verse 1 continued vocals)
You can really picture this guy peddling watches on the street. That’s the hustle, right? The hustle of this carnival called life. Let’s hear that verse in the final mix.
(Music: Verse 1 final mix)
And that brings us to the first chorus. Garth Hudson’s Lowrey organ is heard more prominently here.
(Music: Chorus 1)
The intro riff returns here for a few measures.
(Music: Interlude)
Here comes the second verse, which tells of a man with “a jinx in the third degree” from dealing with people “he can’t see”. This is the most enigmatic line in the song; there’s a few ways you could interpret that. One thing we should probably mention here is that Robbie Robertson actually spent time working in a carnival. When he was 14, he worked at a traveling circus and freak show outside of Toronto. I think the things he saw and experienced there were life lessons that he carried with him—a certain perspective on human nature, which I think informs this song.
(Music: Verse 2)
Before we move on, I want to go back and listen to that verse without the vocals, just to appreciate this performance. Everything about it is great. Levon Helm’s drums are played perfectly laid-back, behind the beat. He’s avoiding the typical clichés and playing around the beat. Rick Danko’s also playing bits that slide around the beat, often avoiding the ‘one’ and playing in between the beats. Robbie Robertson’s laying down an acoustic guitar track that almost functions more as a percussion instrument than a melodic one. And then there’s those horns: sharp, rhythmic stabs bouncing off of each other and the rest of the band. The playing between Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and that brass section creates this push-pull rhythm that is absolutely irresistible.
(Music: Instrumental track of Verse 2)
And the last half of this verse really gets to the crux of the song. “We’re all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world; the street is a sideshow, from the peddler to the corner girl. Life is a carnival, it’s in the book. Life is a carnival, take another look.”
(Music: Verse 2 conclusion and Chorus)
Next up is a guitar solo from Robbie Robertson. And what I love about this solo is the way it bobs and weaves around the other parts. But it wasn’t constructed that way; the solo was actually recorded before the brass section was arranged and recorded. Allen Toussaint received a rough mix of the song with the guitar solo already there and wrote the horn parts around the existing solo. Listen to how all of these parts—the solo, the rhythm section, and the horns—interact with each other.
(Music: Guitar solo with horn interaction)
And that brings us to a reprise of the line about the guy hawking watches before one final chorus. But before we get there, I want to listen to just the rhythm section one more time, especially to Rick Danko on fretless bass.
(Music: Rhythm section isolated)
Let’s bring the other instruments back in.
(Music: Instrumental build-up)
All right, now let’s go back, add the vocals back in, and listen to the final mix. This time, listen for Robertson’s funky guitar part and how Garth Hudson’s organ recreates the atmosphere of a circus calliope on the chorus.
(Music: Final Verse and Chorus)
And they’re going to ride out on this great groove into the fade.
(Music: Fade out)
“Life is a Carnival” by The Band.
When Cahoots was released in September 1971, it met with reviews that ranged from mediocre to downright hostile. That was something The Band wasn’t used to; they’d been critical darlings up until that point. The reaction stung, so much so that it would be four years before they released another album of new material. They followed Cahoots with a live album, Rock of Ages, that featured a horn section all arranged by Allen Toussaint. And then, an album of all cover songs called Moondog Matinee. They didn’t release an album of new original songs until Northern Lights-Southern Cross in 1975. By 1978, they called it quits and celebrated with The Last Waltz. They would later reform, but without Robbie Robertson.
All the members of The Band are gone now. Richard Manuel took his own life in March 1986. After a gig in Florida, he hung himself in the hotel bathroom. He was 42 years old.
Rick Danko passed away from heart failure at his home in December 1999. He was 55.
Levon Helm survived a bout with throat cancer in the 1990s that left him unable to sing for years. Eventually, he started singing again in 2004, but it was never really the same. The cancer returned, and after years of a valiant fight, Levon Helm died in April 2012. He was 71.
Robbie Robertson died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles from prostate cancer.
And the last surviving member, Garth Hudson, died in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York, on January 21, 2025. He was 87 years old.
The music lives on, though—that’s a cliché to say, but it’s true. They were one of the most influential groups ever, whether people realize it or not, and that music continues to inspire and influence artists upcoming today.
Thanks for checking out this edition of the I’m in Love with That Song podcast. New episodes of this show come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so stay tuned for more. You can catch up on or revisit any of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. Keep up with us on Facebook—just look for the I’m in Love with That Song podcast, you’ll find us there—or send email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com.
You can support the show by going to oldglory.com and buying a t-shirt or some band merch. Use our discount code “lovethatsong” to get 15% off.
And please, share the show with the other music lovers in your life—your friends, your family. Please spread the word about this podcast, because that’s what keeps us going.
On behalf of everyone here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. And remember– life is a carnival.
The Band: A Musical History (Comprehensive Fan Site) theband.hiof.no – An extensive archive of the group’s history, including Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks and their work with Bob Dylan.
“So What’cha Want” - Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP). “Gratitude” - Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch & Tom Cushman Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP) and PolyGram International Music Publishing, Inc.
The Beastie Boys’ trajectory is one of the most unique in music history, moving from underground punk, to the “frat-rap” superstardom of Licensed to Ill, to socially-conscious stars of both hip-hop and alternative rock. In this episode, we explore the pivotal moment when the band faced an artistic crisis following the commercial failure of Paul’s Boutique. Severing ties with Def Jam and moving to Los Angeles, the trio—Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock—found absolute creative freedom in their own L.A. studio. With the help of Mario Caldato Jr. and Money Mark, they began to blend their hip-hop roots with live funk, punk, and rock, resulting in the 1992 triumph, Check Your Head.
We’ll do a track-by-track breakdown of “So What’cha Want” and “Gratitude,” revealing the secrets behind their signature sounds. We’ll see how the Hammond organ and distorted karaoke vocals created the atmosphere of “So What’cha Want,” and how Adam Yauch’s (MCA) spiritual journey influenced the heavy, fuzz-drenched riff of “Gratitude.” The episode concludes with a poignant look at the band’s legacy following Yauch’s passing in 2012, celebrating a group that proved innovation often comes from looking back at your roots while moving fearlessly forward.
“So What’cha Want” – Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP).
“Gratitude” – Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch & Tom Cushman Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP) and PolyGram International Music Publishing, Inc.
TRANSCRIPT:
You have found your way to the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, one of the many shows in the Pantheon family of podcasts. My name is Brad Page, and on each edition of the show, I pick a song and we examine it together, exploring the twists and turns that make it a great song. I want this show to be accessible to everyone, so we don’t get super technical or get deep into music theory. This is a show for anyone who loves music.
Now, I usually keep the personal stuff to a minimum on this show, but my wife, Heidi, has a birthday coming up this month—June of 2026. I’m not going to tell you how old she is, that wouldn’t be polite, but suffice to say it’s a milestone birthday. So, I thought this time we’ll tackle one of her favorite bands—and I like these guys, too. And few bands in history have had the trajectory of these guys; from punks to party-boy rappers to socially conscious artists, and along the way, absolute innovators in the use of sampling and video. This time out, we’re taking a look at the Beastie Boys, and not one, but two great songs: “So What’cha Want” and “Gratitude.”
The story of the Beastie Boys begins in New York City in 1979 with a punk band called The Young Aborigines, which included a drummer named Mike Diamond and a young woman, Kate Schellenbach, on percussion. They banged around New York City playing in the underground scene to moderate success. A friend of theirs, Adam Yauch, was learning to play bass and he would show up at their rehearsals just to hang out. When The Young Aborigines’ bass player left in 1981, Adam Yauch joined the band as his replacement. Mike Diamond also moved to the front as vocalist, and Kate Schellenbach became the drummer, and the band rebranded themselves as the Beastie Boys.
Not long after renaming themselves Beastie Boys, their guitar player left, and he was replaced by Adam Horovitz. They also grew enamored of the new sound of hip-hop and rap coming out of the city, and they started integrating more and more of that sound into what they were doing. That resulted in the release of their single in 1983 called “Cooky Puss,” which is essentially a novelty song.
[Music: “Cooky Puss“]
And the move towards hip-hop meant a bigger reliance on drum machines. That, and their new “frat-rap” image, didn’t leave much room for Kate Schellenbach, and she was squeezed out of the group. But that established the Beastie Boys trio that would go on to bigger and better things: Mike Diamond, or Mike D; Adam Yauch, who picked up the moniker MCA; and Adam, Ad-Rock, Horovitz.
By 1984, the trio had hooked up with two names who would play a big part in launching them into stardom: Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, the men behind Def Jam Records. Working with Rick Rubin in his NYU dorm room throughout 1986, they crafted their debut album, Licensed to Ill, released in November 1986. It was a smash hit. It was the first rap album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, and it held that spot for seven weeks. It was one of Columbia Records’ fastest-selling debut albums.
But that success brought with it some issues to grapple with. First, looking back on it today, it does raise some eyebrows when you consider that the first number-one rap album was made by some affluent white kids. You can’t get around it; there certainly are elements of cultural appropriation and white privilege that have to be wrestled with. And then there were unintended consequences at the time that had an effect on the band. Their frat-rap image was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but a big part of their audience took it more seriously. Sure, it might have been ironic misogyny, but it was misogyny nonetheless, and that really started bothering the three of them.
Eventually, the relationship between the Beastie Boys and Rubin and Simmons soured, and they severed ties with them and the record label and moved to Los Angeles. They signed a new contract with Capitol Records with the hopes of growing past their obnoxious image. They began working with the production team known as The Dust Brothers on what would become Paul’s Boutique, their second album and an absolute masterpiece of the genre.
[Music: “Shake Your Rump“]
This was in the days before legal restrictions on sampling and copyright enforcement, and it was an absolute free-for-all for the Beasties and The Dust Brothers. This album is incredibly dense with samples—some authorized, many not. It’s a mind-blowing technical achievement, and it’s considered by many to be the absolute peak of sample-based production.
[Music: “Hey Ladies“]
Unfortunately, the album was a commercial failure—a flop. The record company was not happy, and after a series of high-profile lawsuits that resulted in restraints and high costs for clearing samples, it meant that densely layered samples in productions like Paul’s Boutique were just no longer legally or financially viable. So, the Beastie Boys faced an existential and artistic crisis. And after the commercial failure of Paul’s Boutique, it seemed like Capitol Records couldn’t care less about the Beastie Boys. At first, that was depressing, but the guys discovered that the label’s lack of interest actually gave them almost complete creative freedom.
Without unlimited samples to rely on, the Beastie Boys reverted back to their roots and focused on playing their instruments. They built their own little studio in L.A. and brought in Mario Caldato Jr. as their engineer and producer. The band would spend many an afternoon record shopping and crate digging with Caldato, and then they’d spend all night listening to those records, soaking in the grooves and the rhythms of James Brown, Sly Stone, The Meters, and many others. They would jam for hours, putting those late-night listening sessions into action. And the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when they were joined by Mark Ramos Nishita, known as Money Mark, whose clavinet and Hammond organ playing added whole new textures to their jams.
The combination of their performances with selectively, carefully chosen samples resulted in their third album, Check Your Head, released on April 21, 1991. It was a genre-defying mix of hip-hop, alternative rock, and funk. The album generated five big singles and sold double-platinum. It was a commercial and critical triumph and resurrected the Beastie Boys’ career.
We’re going to take a closer look at two songs from this album, which represent both of their approaches to their sound and production: on one, their judicious use of sampling technology, and on the other, their proficiency at creating killer tracks using their own instruments. First, we’ll take a look at track seven on the album, “So What’cha Want,” a song built off a sample from a 1973 song, “I’ve Been Watching You,” by a Chicago band called Southside Movement.
[Music: “I’ve Been Watching You“]
They originally planned to use a sample of this song’s groove, probably something like this:
[Music: Clean groove loop]
But after working on it for a while, they decided to ditch the sample and recreate the groove with their own instruments. So most of what you’re hearing is the Beastie Boys’ own performance. The song opens with some noise and maybe some studio chatter. Then Money Mark kicks things off with some Hammond organ licks played through a Leslie rotating speaker; that’s what gives the organ its shimmering, watery sound.
That leads right into the first verse. Each of the Beastie Boys takes a turn at the mic, starting with Ad-Rock handling the first four lines. Another one of the interesting things about this track was the way the vocals were recorded. Rather than use your typical expensive studio mics, they recorded their vocals using cheap karaoke microphones. These mics were lo-fi, and they drove them far into the red, creating a heavily distorted sound that really accentuated their aggressive vocal delivery. Let’s isolate Ad-Rock’s vocal take to hear just how trashy these vocals sound—and I mean trashy in the best possible way.
Mike D takes the mic for the next four lines. And then MCA steps up to the mic for the last four lines before the chorus. There’s a couple of driving chords underneath there—I’m assuming that’s a heavily distorted organ. That takes us into the first chorus, which is led by Ad-Rock with MCA and Mike D backing him up.
Couple of things on this next section: Ad-Rock has overdubbed a nasty little guitar part. There’s nothing fancy here; this is all attitude. Then there’s a vocal sample—this is a Biz Markie line sampled from the song “Just Rhymin’ with Biz” by Big Daddy Kane. So let’s hear that section.
And that brings us to the next verse. Mike D starts us off this time. Before we continue with the verses, let’s focus on the instrumentation for a minute. Let’s start with Mike D’s drums. These drums sound like they were recorded pretty simply—I’m guessing just a few mics—but they sound big and aggressive. Now let’s hear the bass and the guitar together. Both of these tracks, guitar and bass, are heavily overdriven, distorted.
All right, let’s pick up that verse where MCA comes in. You probably noticed that Ad-Rock has added something a little extra to his guitar part there. Let’s get back to the verse as Ad-Rock takes over the mic. The next lines are back to Mike D. Let’s hear a bit of his vocal track. That squeal there is actually from the guitar. After that short break, we hear the Biz Markie sample one more time.
Let’s go back and bring up the organ part. And you can also hear another part in there, kind of a drone or pedal tone that swells up—it might even be played backwards. I’m not sure, but that’s always an effective way to get that kind of sound. After that comes a short section where they’re mixing in some of their own samples. Let’s just hear that sample track for a second.
All right, let’s pick it back up. And that will take us into another verse, starting with MCA. And here comes Ad-Rock. And one more verse from Mike D. And then we get one final verse from MCA, which has my favorite line in the song: “I’m as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce.” It’s pretty good. Let’s hear MCA’s vocal.
There’s another instrumental section here. This time let’s bring up Money Mark’s Hammond organ again.
That’s the Beastie Boys with “So What’cha Want.” But we’re not done yet. Let’s pause for a quick breather here and then we’ll be right back with more Beastie Boys.
Let’s take a look at another track from the same album, Check Your Head. Track number four on this album is a song called “Gratitude.” It was released as a single in October of 1992, and it was primarily targeted at modern rock or alternative rock radio. And it’s one of the best examples of the Beastie Boys playing as a band. There’s no significant samples; it’s not based on any pre-existing track. It’s just the boys showing that they can rock hard.
Lyrically, the song shows the band’s move towards more socially conscious themes. The lyrics were inspired by Buddhist philosophy: mindfulness, being present, and the daily practice of gratitude. MCA, Adam Yauch, was a practicing Buddhist by this time. So, though the song is actually sung by Ad-Rock, Adam Horovitz, I would bet that MCA was a driving force behind this song. His bass playing is certainly a driving force in this track. It’s the lynchpin; it’s the riff that carries this song forward and sonically overwhelms this track in a good way. The song begins with the sound of what I think is a detuned bass before that fuzzed-out bass part kicks off.
At the core of that bass sound is a fuzz box. There seems to be a little bit of debate around which fuzz pedal he used. If the video for the song is to be believed, MCA is playing a Fender Precision Bass—and for everything you ever wanted to know about the Fender P-Bass, go back a few episodes and listen to our special episode dedicated to that specific instrument. In the video, he’s playing a Precision with a pick through a Univox Super-Fuzz pedal. Most people seem to think that’s right, but I’ve seen other people say that they’ve had better luck duplicating that sound using other pedals. But either way, this is one of the gnarliest bass tones you are ever going to hear.
I love the crack of that snare drum there. Once again, Mike D is playing a simple but rock-solid drumbeat, with the drums miked up and recorded to sound very live. Let’s listen to his drum track for a bit. Let’s back it up and play it through to the first verse. You’ll also hear some conga drums on this song; those were played by James Bradley Jr.
Okay, so Ad-Rock comes in with his guitar and his vocal on the first verse. First, let’s hear that guitar part. And now let’s hear Ad-Rock’s vocal. “Good times gone and you miss them / What’s gone wrong in your system?” He’s double-tracked his vocals here.
Ad-Rock is going to play what is basically a two-note guitar solo. Can’t get much simpler than that, but you add that wah-wah pedal in and it’s pretty funky. Second verse—there’s only two verses in this song—and this one has the line that really cuts to the chase: “What you think that the world owes you?” and that’s followed by “What’s going to set you free? Look inside and you’ll see.” Let’s hear that vocal track.
The guitar is going to lay out for the rest of the song, and Money Mark’s going to take over on the organ. But first, let’s hear a little of those congas. All right, let’s go back to the final mix. Now here comes an organ break by Money Mark. Let’s solo that organ part for a little bit. Now let’s go back and hear that in the final mix, and then we’ll play it through to the end of the song. And there’s some cowbell in there now, too.
“Gratitude” by the Beastie Boys.
After the success of Check Your Head, the band had a long run of commercial success and critical acclaim. The follow-up album, Ill Communication, sold even better and contained one of their biggest songs, “Sabotage.” More albums followed, as did their social activism. Adam Yauch in particular was deeply committed to his causes, including human rights and Tibetan freedom.
But in 2009, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. He fought the good fight but lost his battle with cancer on May 4, 2012. He was 47 years old. Mike D and Ad-Rock confirmed the end of the Beastie Boys and have stated unequivocally that they would never perform or record as the Beastie Boys again out of respect for their fallen bandmate.
But as we’ve said so often on this show, all of this music is still out there, still there to be appreciated and discovered. It’s up to us to keep the music alive.
As for Kate Schellenbach, though she got the short end of the stick when she was squeezed out of the band, she became the drummer for Luscious Jackson, who the Beastie Boys would sign to their label. So they did her right in the end.
I want to thank you for taking part in this episode and for joining me to wish a happy birthday to my wife, Heidi, who’s really the one that makes this whole show possible. I’ll be back here in two weeks with another new episode. Remember to subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. And if you’d like to catch up on any of our previous episodes, they can all be found on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. Keep in touch with me and your fellow listeners on our Facebook page—just search for the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, you’ll find us there. Or you can send an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com. We are part of the Pantheon Podcast Network, home to a ton of other music-related podcasts, so be sure to check out some of the other shows. That is it for this episode. Happy birthday, Heidi, and I will see the rest of you next time.
On this episode, we continue our journey from last year through the history of Stax Records, the iconic label that defined Southern Soul music, as I play some of my favorite Stax tracks from 1964 to 1966.
Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T & The MG’s, Albert King, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd… they’re all here on some of the greatest singles ever released. Let’s dig in, shall we?
TRANSCRIPT:
The night time is the right time for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, coming to ya on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m Brad Page, host of the show, and on this special edition of the podcast, we’re going to continue our look at Stax Records and some of my personal favorite records released by Stax– this time, from 1964 through 1966.
Last year, back on Episode 163, we looked back at the beginning of Stax Records, when Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton opened their first studio, then called “Satellite”, in 1959, eventually moving to 926 East McLemore Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, and changing their name to Stax Records.
Back on that previous episode, I played a bunch of my favorite Stax tracks from those early years, 1959 to 1963. If you haven’t heard that episode, you might want to go back and listen to it, though you don’t necessarily have to. I’ll try to catch you up on who’s who and what’s what as we pick up the story here at Stax in 1964.
Stax got off to a fine start in January 1964 with the release of another Rufus Thomas classic with “Dog” in the title. This time it was “Can Your Monkey Do The Dog?” It’s hard to top that title.
Rufus returned in April with a duet with his daughter, Carla Thomas. The A-side was a track called “That’s Really Some Good”, but my favorite is actually the B-side; it’s their version of the Ray Charles hit, “The Nighttime Is The Right Time”.
Otis Redding released a handful of singles in 1964. My personal favorites came right at the end of 1964 with a killer A and B side, pairing with one of his all-time classics on the A-side” “That’s How Strong My Love Is”.
And you flip that record over and on the B-side is another great Otis Redding track, “Mister Pitiful”.
In March 1965, Stax released a single called “A Place Nobody Can Find”. Though it was not much of a hit, it was a momentous occasion, as it was the first stack single released by Sam & Dave, the duo that would go on to have some of the biggest hits in Stax history. Sam and Dave were brought to Stax by their partnership with Atlantic Records. They had released six or seven singles for other labels without much success, and their first Stax single didn’t make many waves either. But big things were on the horizon, and it would all begin here with “A Place No One Can Find”.
Another momentous occasion for Stax in ‘65 was the arrival of Al Bell. Al Bell wasn’t a musician, a singer, or a songwriter; he came on board as the head of promotion, but he would go on to become a key figure in Stax history. Soon, he would become Vice President of Stax, and by 1972, he would own the company.
Booker T and the MGs, besides being the core Stax studio band and backing musicians, continued to release instrumental albums. In April 1965, they released their biggest hit since “Green Onions”, a track called “Boot-leg”. A few things make this one notable: It’s the first MG’s track to feature Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass—he had replaced Lewos Steinberg; and though it bears his name, Booker T doesn’t even play on this track. The keyboards were actually played by Isaac Hayes.
May ‘65 saw the release of “Candy” by The Astors, written by Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes. It was The Astors biggest hit, largely forgotten now, but I think it’s a perfect little confection blending R&B and b with pop.
In August 1965, Otis Redding released a little song he wrote called “Respect”. Of course, Aretha Franklin would release her version a couple years later and totally make it her own. But Otis wrote it, and his original version is pretty damn good, too.
As I said, this is just me picking some of my favorite Stax singles. It’s not a definitive list, these are just songs that I really like. Case in point, this next track: it was not a hit or an important track for Stax, I just like it. It’s another one by The Astors– this one’s called “In The Twilight Zone”.
In November 1965, we were gifted with the first of Sam and Dave’s true classics. Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, the songwriting team that would go on to write many iconic tracks, this was their first big hit for Sam & Dave. It’s the brilliant “You Don’t Know Like I Know”. Dave sings the first verse and they both trade lines on the second verse. It’s well known that Sam and Dave didn’t really like each other very much, but man, they knew how to work a tune.
1966 was a big year for Stax. In February, Otis Redding released his version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”, putting his own spin on it. It was Steve Cropper’s idea to cover the Song. Otis had never even heard the song before. What you’re hearing here was done in just a couple of takes; it’s just an inspired go for it performance.
March 8 saw the release of the first Stax single by Eddie Floyd. The song was called “Things Get Better”, and it was inspired by an advertising slogan for Coca-Cola, “Things go better with Coke”. You know, when you’re a songwriter, you take inspiration anywhere you can find it. “Things Get Better” wasn’t a big hit for Eddie Floyd, but it was a start.
One of the overlooked gems from Stax is this track by Ruby Johnson. “I’ll Run Your Hurt Away” was written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes. It was a moderate hit on the R&B chart at the time, but inexplicably, it’s faded into obscurity. But Ruby turns in a fantastic vocal performance, just listen to her phrasing on this track.
March ‘66 also brought us one of the best Sam & Dave tracks. David Porter was in the bathroom, and Isaac Hayes was tired of waiting for him to finish his business… he yelled, “Get a move on”, and Porter yelled back, “Hold on, I’m coming!”. And that, believe it or not, was the birth of one of the greatest R&B songs.
Albert King was one of the great blues guitarists. He was left-handed and played a right- handed Gibson Flying V with the strings upside-down, so the high strings were on top. He played fierce, fiery solos that inspired generations of guitar players, in particular, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Albert King had been making records since 1953, but largely at the insistence of Estelle Axton, Albert King cut his first single for Stax in April 1966, and it became one of his most popular tunes: “Laundromat Blues”.
Skipping ahead to July 1966, Carla Thomas returned to the charts with a hit called Baby, B-A-B-Y”. Written by Hayes and Porter, it originally had a groove better suited for Sam & Dave, but Booker T. Rearranged it to fit Carla’s style, and I think it turned out to be one of her best singles.
Also in July came one of the all-time great R&B songs. Recorded by Eddie Floyd and written by Floyd and Steve Cropper. It’s “Knock On Wood”. What more do I need to say?
Albert King was back at Stax with another song that would become one of his all-time classics– a song that would be covered many times in the future, including a version by Gary Moore in 1990 that also featured a guest appearance by Albert King. But this is the original version from August 1966, It’s Albert King with “Oh, Pretty Woman”.
And Otis Redding was still on a roll at Stax. In September, he released “Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song), another big hit.
And in November, Stax released my favorite Otis Redding track, “Try A Little Tenderness”. The song had been around for years, both Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had recorded versions of it. Isaac Hayes initially arranged it, with contributions by drummer Al Jackson Jr. and Booker T. Everybody contributed, but it was really Otis Redding’s vision. He owned it. It’s his masterpiece.
November also included the release of Albert King’s third major contribution, his version of “Crosscut Saw”, another blues classic that would be covered multiple times, including by Eric Clapton. Here’s Albert King with his version of “Crosscut Saw”.
And two Christmas songs came out in November to close out 1966 for Stax: Carla Thomas had “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. No, not the Mariah Carey Song, this is a melancholy ballad that was originally released in 1963 as the B-side to “Gee Whiz, it’s Christmas”. This time they reissued it as an A-side.
And Booker T. And the MGs had their version of “Jingle Bells” with a great guitar solo by Steve Cropper.
And we’ll wrap up this episode there. We’ll pick up with 1967 sometime next year.
In the meantime, go seek out some of these records, and if you really want to splurge, pick up one of the massive box sets. There are three of them. Most of the facts and figures in this episode come from the fabulous book included in the box sets written by Rob Bowman; some of the best researched and written material you’re ever going to find on Stax. Highly recommended, and of course, I thank Rob for his scholarly work.
Of course, there’s a great Stax documentary on HBO that I’ve mentioned before, released last year, that is well worth watching.
As always, new episodes of this podcast come out twice a month, right here on the Pantheon network, so I’ll see you in about two weeks. All of our past episodes, including the previous episode on Stax, are available on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. or just look for them in your favorite Podcast app.
Please, if you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about it, because your word of mouth and recommendations by people like you, are the best ways for podcasts like this one to grow and thrive. So thanks for supporting the show, and for listening to this episode on some of my favorite tracks from Stax.
Words & Music by Rick Neilsen Copyright 1979 Screen Gems-EMI Music and Adult Music
What happens when a record label shelves a band’s most ambitious studio work to capitalize on a surprise live hit? On this episode, we explore this unique moment in rock history and analyze “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick — the title track of the album that sat on a shelf for nine months while Cheap Trick at Budokan conquered the world. We’ll step through the song’s complex architecture, revealing how Rick Nielsen combined lyrics of paranoia with a hard-rocking guitar riff and a heavily orchestrated, at times “horror-movie” vibe.
The episode goes beyond the surface, isolating the tricky guitar melodies, the pre-chorus drama, and the disorienting shift in time signatures. You will gain a new appreciation for the technical prowess of Robin Zander’s vocals, Tom Petersson’s 12-string bass, and Bun E. Carlos’s Moon-esque drumming. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or a newcomer to the “hardest working band in show business,” this episode illustrates why “Dream Police” remains an inescapable classic and a testament to the band’s survival and creativity.
Words & Music by Rick Neilsen Copyright 1979 Screen Gems-EMI Music and Adult Music
TRANSCRIPT:
The smallest bones in your body are in your middle ear. Referred to as the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup—those are some pretty rock and roll names– these three bones are the first bones in your body to fully ossify; they’re done developing by the time you’re born, and they never grow any bigger. Each of these bones is tiny– smaller than a grain of rice; you could fit all of them on the tip of your finger. But from these tiniest of bones comes a whole universe of creativity and imagination.
This is the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, and I’m your host Brad Page. We’re here on the Pantheon Media Network, and on each edition of this show, I pick a favorite song and we dive into it together, exploring all the nuances, the little moments, and special elements that turn a good song into a great one. If you’re not a musician or you don’t know anything about music theory, don’t worry about it, because we don’t get too technical on this show. All you need is a love for music and a little bit of curiosity, and you’ll fit right in here.
On this episode, we’re heading back to 1979, when one of the all-time great bands was at the top of their game. Cheap Trick were coming off the smash hit live At Budokan album, which they followed up with an album that pushed their sound forward. Stick around as we explore the title cut from this album. This is Cheap Trick with “Dream Police”.
[Music plays]
We’ve discussed Cheap Trick a couple of times before on this show, including an overview of their early career leading up to the At Budokan album. On that show, I was joined by Brian Kramp from the Rock and/or Roll podcast, who wrote the definitive book on Cheap Trick’s history. That book is called This Band Has No Past: How Cheap Trick Became Cheap Trick, and if you don’t have it, go get it—it is a great book. And go back and listen to that episode if you haven’t heard it; it’ll catch you up on the origin of Cheap Trick.
So, I’m not going to cover that same ground here. We’ll pick up the story after the release of the At Budokan album, and that’s a pretty famous story all in itself. Cheap Trick were struggling to break through to the masses in the U.S., but they had managed to gain rock star status in Japan. A live album was recorded during their 1978 tour of Japan, and it was intended as a Japanese-only release. But American radio stations started playing it, and word of this killer import-only live album caught on. Epic Records realized that if they released it in the U.S., they could have a hit on their hands—which they certainly did. When that album came out in the U.S. in February 1979, Cheap Trick At Budokan would eventually sell over three million copies.
Which was great, except for one thing: Cheap Trick had already recorded their next studio album, and it was ready to be released when the record company decided to put it back on the shelf and release the live album globally instead. So the new album, the band’s most ambitious record to date, sat unreleased for at least nine months.
This new album was produced by Tom Werman and engineered by Gary Ladinsky. Along with band members Robin Zander on lead vocals and guitar, Rick Nielsen on lead guitar and occasional vocals, Tom Petersson on bass, and Bun E. Carlos on drums, the band was augmented by some additional studio musicians, most notably Jai Winding, who added keyboards and also helped with the string arrangements. The addition of strings on this album really expanded the sound of this album, but there was another technical decision that contributed to this album’s sound. This was one of the first handful of recordings to be made with the 3M Digital Audio Mastering system, a system that offered 32 tracks of digital recording.
The song that opens the album, side one, track one, would also give the album its name: “Dream Police”. The song was written by Rick Nielsen and performed by Nielsen on guitar, mandocello, and vocals; Robin Zander on lead vocals and probably some rhythm guitar; Bun E. Carlos on drums; and Tom Petersson on 12-string bass.[1] Also appearing on the track are Jai Winding on piano and organ, and producer Tom Werman and engineer Gary Ladinsky also chip in with some background vocals.
The song kicks off with two flams on the snare drum, and we’re off and running.
[Music plays]
The track is already sonically full right from the start, but it’s still just guitars, bass, and drums, and the strings. Before we get any further, let’s just take a minute to look at the parts. Along with the drums, there are two guitar parts panned left and right.
[Music plays]
Then there’s the string parts, which are very dramatic. These are not lush, gentle, romantic strings; there’s a lot of energy and power in this string arrangement.
[Music plays]
And then, underneath it all, is Tom Petersson’s bass part, played on his trademark 12-string bass, which is such a part of the Cheap Trick sound. It blends in with the final mix so it doesn’t necessarily stand out any different than a standard bass part, but when you hear it in isolation, then you can really hear all of those strings ringing out and what it adds to the overall sound and feel of the track.
[Music plays]
We will take a closer look at all of these parts as we go through the song, but for now, let’s move on. The song begins with the chorus, though that’s not exactly a rarity; it is a little less common for a rock song to lead off with the chorus.
[Music plays]
That leads immediately into the first verse. And I think what really makes these verses work, besides the great vocal by Robin Zander, is the combination of the organ, which sounds straight out of a horror movie, and Tom Petersson’s bass part. That 12-string bass really delivers something special here
[Music plays]
The guitar basically lays out most of the verse and just adds some accent chords. Let’s go back and listen to those two parts I mentioned before. First, the organ:
[Music plays]
And here’s the bass part:
[Music plays]
The next section—let’s call that the pre-chorus—perfectly builds the drama into the chorus. Let’s break this down bit by bit.
[Music plays]
First, notice how on the second half of that line, “They’re looking for me,” Petersson doubles the vocal melody on his bass.
[Music plays]
Next, all the instruments and the vocals, they all hit the same syncopated beats together.
[Music plays]
Let’s bring up the drums a little bit in the mix here.
[Music plays]
And another nice little touch is how Rick Nielsen is sliding down out of each of those chord hits. Let’s hear that.
[Music plays]
All right, let’s move on to the next bit. Both the guitar and the bass are playing a nice little descending riff there.
[Music plays]
Okay, let’s keep going. And let’s hear Bun E. Carlos one more time with that drum fill that leads us into the chorus.
[Music plays]
All right, now that we’ve heard that all chopped up, let’s go back and play through the whole pre-chorus into the chorus.
[Music plays]
Let’s look at the vocals on the chorus. Sounds to me like Robin Zander has double-tracked his main vocal, with what I assume is Rick, Tom Werman, and Gary Ladinsky providing the falsetto backing vocals.
[Music plays]
And that brings us to the second verse. And this time, let’s bring up Robin Zander’s vocal first.
[Music plays]
Okay, now let’s hear the final mix of that verse.
[Music plays]
Bun E. Carlos plays some nice drum fills coming out of that verse, so let’s hear that for a second.
[Music plays]
And that brings us to another pre-chorus and chorus. Let’s focus on the vocals again.
[Music plays]
And now we’ve reached the bridge, which is a spoken word part by Rick Nielsen. Let’s just hear his vocal.
[Music plays]
And now we’ll listen to it in context.
[Music plays]
And then there’s a really short guitar solo. It’s nothing flashy, just Rick playing this almost woozy melody; it’s a little disorienting, almost like waking up from a dream.
[Music plays]
That little string part there really adds a lot. And that takes us into one final pre-chorus.
[Music plays]
Now, they’re going to stretch out this last line as the song builds. The bass will hold down the root note while Rick Nielsen’s guitar will climb—slowly at first, then faster. They’re just wringing every bit of drama out of this one chord.
[Music plays]
And we’ve reached a new section of the song, a heavily orchestrated part. All the instruments—the drums, the bass, the guitar, and the strings—each have a different part to play. And to make it even more disorienting, the time signature will shift: two measures of four beats, and then one measure of three beats. And that pattern will continue through this section: two measures of 4/4, one measure of 3/4. Let’s break it down starting with the drums. Bun E. Carlos is playing a part that reminds me of Keith Moon, though not as manic—of course, no one was as manic as Keith Moon.
[Music plays]
Next, let’s hear Rick Nielsen’s guitar. He’s playing these crazy arpeggiated chords; they’re almost dissonant in places, which just adds to the disorientation along with those shifting time signatures.
[Music plays]
In contrast, the bass is playing steady, rapidly picking one note at a time, slowly climbing until he hits a plateau alternating between two notes.
[Music plays]
And finally, the strings are playing an intense cinematic part building to their own crescendo.
[Music plays]
Now let’s hear all of that together as it builds until it finally explodes into the last choruses.
[Music plays]
You can hear some handclaps overdubbed here.
[Music plays]
“Dream Police” – Cheap Trick
Though the At Budokan album would remain Cheap Trick’s best-selling album, Dream Police was their biggest studio album. The song “Dream Police” is maybe the perfect example of Rick Nielsen’s one-of-a-kind songwriting: combining a lyric of nightmare and paranoia with a guitar riff that just rocks hard and orchestration that makes the song a cinematic anthem.
A lot has happened since 1979, but Cheap Trick is still making records and touring consistently. They remain one of the hardest-working bands in the business. And though Bun E. Carlos is no longer a member of the band, all four of the original members are still alive and well at the time of this recording. Cheap Trick are true survivors in every sense of the word.
“Dream Police” is one of those songs that’s just ingrained in my life. I was in high school when it came out, and the song was inescapable. A few years later, when I bought my first car—a second-hand Plymouth Satellite Sebring—it had an old eight-track player in it, so I went out and bought a bunch of second-hand eight-tracks to play in the car. I probably owned maybe six albums on eight-track, but one of them was Dream Police.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the I’m in Love with that Song podcast. Don’t forget to follow the show so that you never miss an episode. New episodes come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so there’ll be another episode coming your way soon. And there’s over 200 previous episodes of this show; if you missed any of them, you can find them all on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. I always like to hear your thoughts. You can communicate with us on Facebook—just look for the I’m in Love with that Song podcast there—or send an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com.
It always helps if you leave a positive review wherever you listen to this show, so thanks for that. But the best thing you can do to support us is to tell someone about the show, recommend it to your friends or family. A good word from listeners like you, that is priceless.
I’ll be back here on the Pantheon Podcast Network with a new episode soon. Until then, watch out for the dream police. Sleep tight…
We talk a lot about Mixing on this podcast, but we’ve never explained what that actually means– until now. Join me and my guest, recording engineer & producer Drew Townson, as we look at the differences between “recording”, “mixing” and “mastering”. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the decisions made in the studio, the challenges faced, and why you can’t really “fix it in the mix”.
Drew Townson in the studio, Newbury Sound, Boston, 1990
TRANSCRIPT:
Greetings, and welcome to another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, coming to you on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
A while ago, I got an email from a listener who said that we talk a lot about mixing the show, but we have never really explained what mixing is, or how mixing differs from recording. So, let’s do that.
And if we’re going to talk about recording and mixing, I can think of no better person to discuss it with than my old friend Drew Townson. Drew is a brilliant guitarist and songwriter, but he’s also been a professional recording engineer, a studio owner, and a producer. And he’s got the best ears of anyone I know. So I invited Drew to come on and talk with me about recording and mixing, and we touch on producing and mastering as well.
This conversation is a little more technical than we usually get on this show, but not by much. And I think you can all follow along, whether you’re a musician or not. So, let’s take a peek at the inner workings of the recording studio.
Here’s my conversation with Drew Townson.
Brad Page: Well, Drew Townson, thank you so much for joining me on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast to talk about the art of mixing, I think, first, just kind of give a general explanation to our listeners, who may or may not be familiar with, what exactly is mixing? When we talk about mixing, what are we doing?
Drew Townson: Well, you know, I’ve been listening to a lot of Miles Davis lately, and Miles Davis was a jazz musician back in the 1950s and 60s. And when those kind of groups went in the studio to record, they recorded live. And what I mean by live is, their band stood in the studio and all of them played the song together. And that’s how records were made.
The Beatles would go in the studio, stand just like they did on stage, and play their songs, and the studio would record it. And that started to change in the 60s, to where you could record parts of songs, because they had a new invention called multi-track recording, which is, as you and your listeners already know, is being able to record multiple tracks, not necessarily at the same time. You could record, like, the drum track, and then you could add the bass guitar track and then you could add the guitar track, et cetera. And so the need for mixing these tracks back to make them sound like a live performance again was a big deal. Like, learning how to mix became a thing you had to do.
Brad Page: Right. As you said, back in the original times, the mixing was literally done by, you know, if it was time for the trumpet solo, the trumpet player would step closer to the mic and then when he was done, he would step back, and it was… there was no such thing as “mixing” the way we think of mixing today. As technology went on, it’s a whole different world, where you start to have the ability to record different instruments on different parts of the tape.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: So you know, if the bass player made a mistake, well, you could go back and fix the bass part without having to re-record all the rest of the parts all over again.
Drew Townson: Exactly.
Brad Page: But then at the end of it, all those pieces have to be put together in a way that makes sense.
Drew Townson: Sounds real.
Brad Page: It sounds real.
Drew Townson: Yeah, yeah, right. Well, you know, if somebody in Miles Davis’s band hit a clam at like, you know, 20 minutes into the song– stop the tape, rewind, let’s record it again, we have to start the song again. You know, that’s what it was like. The whole band had to play the song over again if somebody made a mistake.
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: And so that was what they were trying to get rid of with this kind of mixing and multi-track recording. So what they started doing was they’d record the drums on a track, they’d record the bass on a track, then they’d record the trumpet on a track. So if the trumpet made a mistake, he’d just fix his mistake on his track and that wouldn’t affect what would happen to the bass and the drums.
Brad Page: So recording and mixing, they go together, but they’re two different things. Maybe talk about how you think of those two things, the recording part of it and then the mixing part of it. Because mixing comes after you’ve recorded all of your tracks.
Drew Townson: Right, right. So basically I was a very recording-oriented engineer, which means that all my tracks had to be– you have to have a good microphone, you have to have a good saxophone or whatever your instrument is, and you have to play well. And so, basically, my job was to do, to get the band to record the best possible version of the song. And if you do that, and a good recording engineer knows the right microphones, where to put them, you can have people record at the same time. See, that’s one myth: you can still have people Recording together at the same time. And their instruments all still go on separate tracks.
Brad Page: Right. And you can argue that that’s still the best way to do it, right? Because of the interplay.
Drew Townson: You know, what that did was that allowed bands to go in the studio, play the music of the track, but not have a vocal. And the singer was, you know, the singer sits in the control room of the studio, smoking a cigarette, while the band is in the main room recording the track. And then later, you can add the vocal track, and it has its own track. And if there’s a mistake, you fix it, whatever. So it’s a way of recording each instrument separately and giving it its own most personal attention. Get that great vocal track, get that great bass track. Uninhibited by anything else. You just play until it’s right.
Brad Page: I think of it as kind of like a cooking analogy. When you’ve got a recipe, there’s two sections to the recipe, right? There’s the ingredients, and that’s the recording side of it…
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: …you know, one cup of drums, a teaspoon of guitar, those kind of things, Right?
Drew Townson: Exactly. Yeah.
Brad Page: And then the instructions– you know, “beat the sugar and the eggs until they’re foamy” or whatever. That’s the mixing part of it. Right? So, the ingredients is, that’s when you’re recording the individual tracks and you’re getting them together. And the mixing part is when you’re actually combining these things in the proper way, and they each have their own kind of unique elements to it.
Drew Townson: That’s right.
Brad Page: And the reality is, if the ingredients that you’re starting with are no good, then the finished product is going to stink.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: No matter how good the mixing, the combining part of it is.
Drew Townson: Oh, right, right. You can be the world’s best engineer. But if you’re working with a bad, you know, with a low-quality band or artist or whatever, you know, you can’t save it.
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: You can’t fix it in the mix. “Fixing it in the mix” is a myth that does not happen. It really doesn’t.
Brad Page: That’s kind of an in-joke that you hear engineers and producers say all the time, oh, “just fix it in the mix”. But you, you know, there’s only much you can do. It’s garbage in, garbage out.
Drew Townson: Right, exactly. So now you’ve got a reel of tape, okay. You’ve recorded a song on a reel of tape. 20 years ago, that tape had 24 tracks on it. Now it’s digital and there is no limit to the number of tracks that you can record.
Brad Page: There’s literally no limit. You could have, you know, 300 tracks.
Drew Townson: There’s literally no limit to how many tracks you can record. And sometimes you go and see– and it’s like the simplest stupid song and it’ll have like, you know, 100 tracks or something. And it’s, I think it’s more than you need. But that’s just my opinion on that. Yeah, so you’ve got the performance of the song all on different tracks. And people need to know this, too: When you’re recording like a rock band with drums and bass and guitar and vocals, it’s not one track of drum set– it’s one track of kick drum, then the next track is the snare drum, then the next track is the hi-hat, and the next track is the cymbals. And so, it’s not just like drums mixed with bass mixed with guitar; it’s drums mixed with drums, and then guitar mixed with guitar. You know, you do that, you hone each sound. That’s before you actually do the mix. You go into every track, and you work on that sound to make it sound the best it can be.
And to do that, you use something called an equalizer, which I’m sure you guys know what that is” treble, bass, middle, right? So every mixing board has an equalizer on every track, so you can get the best possible sound of that track. And you might want to add a reverb or a delay or an effect or something like that. And those are all easily done when you’re mixing.
That’s, those are mixing techniques. You may say, you know, I want that lyric right there to echo a couple times. And then you can, while you’re mixing, you add the echo to the lyric.
So that’s what all the mixing is. It’s all combining the instruments to make the song sound correct. Again, it has to sound right. You’ve got drums, bass, guitars, whatever, vocals, and then any effects that you want to use.
And you know, I don’t want to get into a whole discussion of effects, because there’s a lot of that. And one of the things that I’m really good at was an effect called Compression. It’s a volume limiting effect that takes the loud parts and makes them quieter, and makes the quiet parts louder. And that’s what compression does. And so, when you hear a vocal on a record, nine times out of nine, it’s compressed. If you notice when, you listen to a record, all the instruments on the record are essentially the same volume, and they stay the same volume, they don’t change. That’s part of the mixing technique.
You basically have to rebuild the band playing the song, right? You get the drums, bass guitars, everybody’s playing, and then you’ll add like the vocal track in, then you can add some reverb or some effects or whatever, and that completes the song. And then what we used to do was, when we would do that mix, you have to mix to stereo, right, because you’ve got, what, 24 mono tracks and you’re making a stereo mix. So, we would mix onto a stereo tape recorder and that would be our finished mix, would be the stereo mix of the 24 track song.
Brad Page: So you’ve got a machine with a tape on it… or these days, it would all be digital, but however many tracks you’ve got, let’s say 24, you are essentially mixing those down to a final product, which is two tracks: a left channel and a right channel. Yeah, that would be a separate tape machine back in the day. Of course, it’s all digital now, but the essential idea is the same.
Drew Townson: Yeah. You know, there are things about modern technology I like, and things I don’t like. But one of the things I really love about modern technology is that you can make that mix, and then you can copy it. You know, you can make many, many copies of it. And then if you decide, oh, you know, that one vocal little part right there, you can actually go in and tweak– not after it’s already printed onto a CD or anything like that, obviously– but while it’s still in the mixing process, basically, even if you’re done with a mix, you can recreate it. That’s one thing that the digital does, it, will recreate your exact mix. Like every single thing you do gets remembered by the computer. And so you can bring that up anytime you. Five years from now, I can play that mix back and it’ll sound exactly like the way I mixed it.
Brad Page: Yes. Now we’re starting to talk a little bit about automation, which is basically the software in the computer can track the movement of the virtual knob, so as you turn something up or down, the bass or treble up or down or whatever, that movement of that knob can be remembered and saved into the program so that it’s reproducible. So, like, you said, you can pull that mix up, that song, five years from now, and if you don’t remember all the little tweaks you did, that’s okay because they’re all saved within that file.
Drew Townson: They’re all saved. Let me tell you a funny story: There was a company in Great Britain called SSL– Solid State Logic. They build the world’s best mixing consoles. And a “console” is a mixer, it’s a big board, right? With lots of knobs and stuff on it. And they invented “Recall” many years ago.
They actually started out by programming church organs to be able, like if the organist died, there was nobody to take their place. In England, in the 70s, the old lady who had been playing the church organ for, you know, 30 years dies because she’s 85 years old now and nobody could take her place. So this company, SSL, learned how to, “Okay, come on in, Doris, and play all your songs, and we’ll record them into the memory of the organ.” So they built these organs that could remember what you played, and play it back. That’s how they started with church organs in England. It’s funny, isn’t it?
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So let’s talk about maybe some examples of mixing. Some, you know, when you think of like, just a great mix, who do you think of?
Drew Townson: You know, there’s certain producers I like, and George Martin happens to be one of them. And I’m not necessarily talking about the Beatles either. Like, after the Beatles, he continued his career and he was a really good engineer.
Brad Page: Sure, yeah. Besides the Beatles, he produced Jeff Beck; the “Blow By Blow” album, which is my favorite Jeff Beck record.
Drew Townson: That Jeff Beck “Blow By Blow” album is one of my favorite George Martin records. I mean, it is such a good record. It’s such a good record.
And here’s another guy that I’m really a big fan of. Bob Clear Mountain.
Brad Page: Mhm.
Drew Townson: And Bob Clearmountain, he produced Roxy Music’s “Avalon”, which I think is one of the best-sounding records ever made in the history of music.
Brad Page: Amen.
Drew Townson: It really is.
Drew Townson: That was Bob Clearmountain who did Roxy Music “Avalon”. That’s one of the best-sounding records you’ll ever hear. Despite the fact you can’t understand any of the vocals. You know, I tend to like records where you can’t understand the vocals. I don’t know why that is, but like, I love the first three, four REM albums, and I hate everything they did after that. And I realized the first three or four ones was when you couldn’t understand a word he was singing!
Brad Page: Let’s talk about some of the tracks that you’ve worked on, and maybe use those as some examples of some mixing challenges, or what you were going for and how you were able to get to the end result that you wanted.
Drew Townson: Well, I think a good one to start with might be The Nines. They’re called Muck And The Mires now. Evan Shore, from Muck And The Mires. I recorded one of his earlier albums and the first, the opening track is “I Can’t Keep a Secret”. And that is just straight ahead, two guitars, bass, drums, rock band playing live in the studio. And they were just rocking out. It was so good. But one thing you’ll notice is the drums, all the sounds are pristine. I mean the drums sound incredible. And you know that, that took some time and some doing. There’s a woman drummer, really good drummer.
And one of the problems that we had was the two-track stereo tape machine that we normally mix to was broken. And here’s just a little bit of 101 information for you: in the world of analog recording, tape recording, the faster the tape goes and the wider the tape is, the better the sound quality. So I had this 30 inches-per-second, half-inch wide stereo tape deck, made in Germany by Studer. I don’t know if it was Germany or Switzerland or wherever Studer is made… Made in Europe somewhere. Gorgeous machine. Went twice as fast as a lot of machines, and the tape was twice as wide as other machines. And that machine sounded stellar.
So I’m mixing this record, and that machine is broken and it’s time to do the mix. And we had this old quarter-inch wide Otari tape machine there that I just pulled out of the closet, and you know, 15 inches per second was the fastest speed.
Brad Page: It’s half the speed of what you wanted.
Drew Townson: It was half the speed and half the width of the tape that I wanted. And so I was just listening to that CD this morning– and it sounds friggin’ great, man! I forgot how good that machine ended up sounding at half speed, half width or whatever.
Drew Townson: You know, that’s what most people did mix to. I was lucky. I worked in a studio Nebury Sound in Boston, which had the half-inch Studer machine to mix to. Most studios didn’t have that nice, those were very expensive machines. And when I say expensive, let’s talk by today’s standards, that stereo recorder in 1988 would have sold for about $32,000.
Brad Page: They were not inexpensive devices to own and maintain.
Drew Townson: No, that’s the thing. It was broken that day that I needed it. And we got it fixed and it cost, you know, like a bunch of money to get it fixed.
Brad Page: What other things did you work on that would stand out as maybe some challenges you had to face?
Drew Townson: Some of my challenges were performers that made a mistake, or hit a flat note or a sharp note or whatever. So you’re listening to this song, and you’re hearing there’s a goof in there. You’d have to try to fix that. And the only way to fix it is to either play the bass yourself or call that bass player to come back in and rerecord that part. I mean, that’s what I did sometimes, was re-record stuff as opposed to trying to fix it in the mix. Because as we all know, “fixing it in the mix” is not a real thing. You know, you can’t really fix stuff in the mix. You can make it sound better. You can make it sound better, but you can’t fix it, you know?
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: You know, my specialty was the band would say, “Hey, Drew, we want to record with you.” “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Come in the studio.” And they’d come in, they’d set up and they just play and we would record it. That’s what I did a good portion of my life. Live in the studio, recording and then remixed by me later. So, you know, that’s one thing I always liked, was the live recording. Because even when you mix, you know, you’re not going to lose that live feel; that always, that sticks with it.
Brad Page: And that’s important.
Drew Townson: Yeah, it really is. We used to do these blues records that were on a label in New Orleans. And then the guy from the label would come up to our studio in Boston and, you know, he’d stay in Boston for a few weeks, and the artist would stay in Boston for a few weeks, and we’d bring him in the studio and they just set up their gear and play. Like it was just a gig. They just play their stuff, and I would put the microphones up, and I would record every instrument onto its own track and then remix it. But they wouldn’t be doing, like, separate recording. They would just play together all at the same time.
Brad Page: That sounds a lot more simple than it really is. I mean, there’s a skill to capturing that, right? Because you are trying to capture the sense of a performance.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: And the energy of a performance.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: And knowing when the take is right.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: And then being able to translate that to the final product, the final mix, if you will; it sounds easier than it really is. There’s a whole skill there that you have to master.
Here’s a track that Drew recorded with blues Legend Luther Guitar Jr. Johnson, in 1994, recorded live in the studio. There are a lot of instruments on this song, but notice where each instrument is placed in the stereo spectrum so that each instrument has its own space to occupy. They blend together to create that massive sound of a big band. But if you listen for each instrument, the bass or the horns or the piano, for example, you can easily find them. Capturing the energy and fire of the live band that was part of the recording process; making sure that each instrument blended in but also retained its individual place, that was done during the mixing process.
Here’s Luther Guitar, Jr. Johnson with “Walking With You Baby”.
Drew Townson: Let me tell you something: the most important thing in the studio, in recording, is knowing what mic to use and where to put it. And it’s not the same as your live mics. Studio mics are studio mics, and they start about $1,000 or so for one microphone, and it goes up from there. You can easily spend 20 Grand on a good studio mic. And so, you have to know where to put those mics to capture the sound. Otherwise, forget it, you’re not going to accomplish anything.
Brad Page: And so what are some examples of choices that you would make for microphones? Just to give people an idea of what’s the thought process…
Drew Townson: Sure. Well, these days, most drummers prefer a microphone called an AKG D112. And the D112 is a newer mic, and it was invented to capture super low frequencies. I mean, it captures frequencies below what you want. So I never liked that mic because I always thought it sounded real flabby and tubby. So I use the AKG D12E for the kick drum. It has the most punch, it has a little bit of the click that you’re looking for. You know, everybody wants that like little snap on the top of the kick. If you can find one, they’re cheap nowadays, you can probably get one for like a hundred bucks. And that’s a really good kick drum mic. And then, like a snare drum mic, hat is where you do use like a Shure SM57, because the way that mike is tuned is really good for a snare drum– but not for other stuff, you know, in the studio.
Brad Page: Right, right. And these are the kind of choices that a recording engineer has to make up front.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: And even choosing, you know, you would choose different mics for vocals, but you would choose maybe one mic for a female voice and another mic for a male voice. So these are all, they’re tools of the trade. Think about microphones as being tools, and each tool has its applications and where it’s appropriate and not appropriate.
Drew Townson: The AKG C12 is the best female mic. Look up that and see how much that mic will cost you to buy now. I’m going to say 12 Grand, minimum.
And then there’s one called the Neumann U47 and the Neumann U67. Those are German microphones. Those are really great for guys.
Or like Linda Ronstadt always used the AKG414. So, we tend to think of AKGs as more female mics and the Neumann’s as more male-oriented mics. But that’s, that’s an important thing to know, right?
Brad Page: As an engineer, these are the things you’ve got to know your tools.
Drew Townson: Right? Right. Here’s what you do. You get the singer in the studio; your first time working with that singer, you put three, four, five microphones in front of him, let him sing, and you listen to each mic and you go, “Wow, that’s the one right there”. You can tell by the sound, you know which one is going to be. And you have to do stuff like that. You can’t just pull up some junk mic and say, “Okay, let’s do the vocal track”. You can’t do that. You’ve got to really listen. You have to.
The number one thing you have to do as a recording engineer is use your ears, not your eyes. That’s one thing the digital guys have not figured out. All the digital engineers, they look at their screen and what they see is what they do.
I used to– actually, this is true, Brad, and it’s kind of silly, but we used to put tape over the meters of the outboard gear in the studio. We would literally cover up the meter with a piece of tape, so you couldn’t see the level that was going into it or coming out of it.
And you know what– I love doing that. Because you’re using your ears only; you know, try to do a mix without your eyes. That’s my recommendation for anybody who’s doing this now is try to do a mix with your ears only.
I did a record a few years ago by a Boston band that was at the time called Girls, Guns and Glory. I forget what they’re called now, they have a different name now. But we did that the first day in the studio; we took masking tape and we covered up every friggin’ meter in the studio because I didn’t want to see any of it. I wanted to hear it only.
Brad Page: Mhm.
Drew Townson: And the record sounds friggin’ great. It’s a great-sounding record.
Well this band, Girls, Guns and Glory, had gotten a small record deal. I think they got about $15,000 to do the record, which was nothing at the time, but it was still enough to, you know, I spend a week in their rehearsal space with them before the record started and the record came out incredible.
But you have to know what to do. Like when you record a drum kit. Does it sound like a recorded kit when you first record it? Probably not. It probably sounds pretty bad. You know, it’s, it’s, that’s what you have to learn is, when you record something, how do you make it sound even better? And that’s hard. That takes some years, that takes time.
Then I have a record I did on the Rounder label by Mickey Honeycutt, and it’s called “Soul Deep”. And she had been a junkie and the whole nine, had lived on the street and everything. And she was in recovery at the time. We did this record in 1989 and it has, her band was Sugar Ray and the Blue Tones, which was a great band from Providence that I had also produced their album at that time. And then we had horns and the whole nine. So this was a big, you know, full-blown blues band with saxophones, trumpets, the whole nine. And we did that record live too, including her vocals.
And one of the things that we couldn’t stop her from doing in this studio was smoking. Like at that time, even back then, we didn’t allow smoking in the studio. But she was a chain smoker and man, she just smoked through like two or three packs while we were recording. It was funny, but she was great. And she has, you can hear, I hear the cigarettes in her voice… but maybe you can, maybe you can’t.
Brad Page: What are the challenges, as a mix engineer, when you’ve got that many instruments, because you don’t want things to step on each other, you want each one to kind of occupy its own space, right? How do you approach that kind of challenge?
Drew Townson: That is a great question. That is a truly great question. And my answer is– I didn’t. I wasn’t really that aware of that kind of stuff until probably around 1990 or so, early 90s. I worked with a producer, Daniel Rey, who produced, he produced the Ramones. And he was producing a record, and I was engineering, and he told me to record that guitar.
So there was a guy out there, you know, with an electric guitar. And so I did, I recorded it and Daniel Rey stopped me, he said, “No, that’s not how you record guitar.” And then he went to the equalizer and he rolled off all the low end out of the guitar, and then said, “That’s the sound. That’s the sound you want.” And I said, “Why?” He goes, “Because the bass and the kick need to fill the bottom and really punch. And you’ve got to get that guitar basically out of there.”
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: And I was like, “Wow, man, I never knew that”. You know, that was a really big thing for me to learn.
Brad Page: Yeah.
Drew Townson: And as years went on, I learned how to do that. And there isn’t much low end that you use. You take out a lot of bass out of all the instruments except the bass and the kick, and the toms and stuff.
Brad Page: Here’s a song Drew recorded with the legendary Boston guitar player Ronnie Earl and his band the Broadcasters. This track also features guest guitarist Duke Robillard. It’s another fairly large band. You’ve got bass, drums, two guitars, organs and a horn section. But listen to how each instrument is clearly discernible. They don’t step on each other or cover each other up. You can clearly hear each part. Even the two guitars are distinct from each other. That’s what we’re talking about here. This is Ronnie Earle and the Broadcasters with the instrumental “Backstroke”.
Drew Townson: So on January 1st, Y2K, I recorded an album with a band from Salem called the Vic Morrows. And you know, like anything else, I forgot all about it, you know, over the years. And this past summer, the leader of the Vic Morrows who still– I guess they still play out once in a while, they still are friends and they still play out once in a while– he said, “Drew, we put this out on CD back in 1990. I want it to come out on vinyl this time. I want to re-release the album on vinyl.” And I said, “Okay man, give it to me, I will get it ready for you.” And, you know, mastering a record for vinyl is completely different than mastering for CD. And, so, I spent hours remastering this record by the Vic Morrows, and it sounds in friggin’ incredible. It really does.
Brad Page: You led us to the mouth of a pretty big rathole when you were talking about “mastering”. And I don’t really want to go down that rathole, but that’s kind of the third piece, right, where you have the recording, you have the mixing, and then you have what is called “mastering”. And if you could just kind of sum up for the listeners what is mastering, and what is different about mastering than the recording or the mixing piece of it, if you could?
Drew Townson: Okay, sure. First off, if you’re going to do mastering, you have to have really good ears. If you have any issues with your hearing at all, you cannot be a mastering engineer. You have to have perfect hearing to be a mastering engineer. And that’s what I’m doing now, much more than before, is mastering. I like mastering because you’re taking, you know, sometimes it was recorded by somebody else. You know, very often mastering engineers are different guys, because in an ideal world, you don’t want the same guy recording, mixing and mastering your stuff. You know, you want different ears to get involved.
And so what mastering is, is essentially taking those final track mixes and putting them on CD or record or whatever the, whatever the final format is. You have to prepare the tracks for that format. And it’s, there’s something to it, it’s not just, “Let me just track this up.” No, you have to know what you’re doing. So, you have to EQ and compress and all that stuff. And it’s a whole nother level of, after the mix is done. We don’t have to get into it, but…
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah, but it is a really specific specialty and there’s not a lot of people that. do it.
Drew Townson: There are many fewer people doing mastering than anything else.
Brad Page: Right, right.
Drew Townson: And with the resurgence of vinyl, and I should say, you know, I still have a really nice record collection, and I listen to it every day. You know, with the resurgence of vinyl, mastering has started to grow again. Because, you know, when records were gone, there weren’t nearly as many mastering engineers. Because mastering, that’s one thing. Like, if you were going to not master for something, it would be CD that you would not master for. Vinyl is more specific. You know, tape is all those things are more, they have a sound of their own that you have to deal with.
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: You know, vinyl has a sound that you have to compensate for, basically.
Brad Page: Yeah. Limitations that are different than a CD, that it’s different from a cassette tape or an eight-track or whatever it was at the time.
Drew Townson: Right.
Drew Townson: Producing– Let’s talk about what that is for a second.
Brad Page: Sure.
Drew Townson: Producing is telling the musicians, you know, help them play the song or help them develop the song. You know, if the song needs a backup vocal here, or a chorus goes too long, or not long enough, or it needs a bridge or… you know, you’re actually working with the song itself. That’s what a producer does, is develop the song.
So I produced the Vic Morrows album. And what that means is, I didn’t just sit there twiddling knobs. I actually play guitar on the record. You know, I was part of the making of the music. And I really like the way the record came out. I really do.
Brad Page: Yeah. A producer, it’s somewhat analogous to a director of a film. But not exactly.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: Not exactly…
Drew Townson: Not exactly.
Brad Page: …but a producer, you know, it’s a big picture thing.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: Whereas the recording engineer is more in the weeds, right? Like the director of a film will say, “Okay, I want a wide shot here and a close up here.” But it’s the director of photography and the cameraman who figure out, “Okay, what lens do I use and how do I light the scene?” The director doesn’t typically get involved in that level of detail.
Drew Townson: Exactly.
Brad Page: He’s stepped back and looking at the big picture. And that’s kind of what a producer does versus a recording engineer.
Drew Townson: Right.
Brad Page: A producer can help to choose the songs that end up on the record. You know, you might record 20 songs, but only 12 of them are going to end up on the album. And the producer helps to figure out what are the best, you know, help to choose the song. Like you said before, is going to help in the arrangements. Like “I think this song needs a better intro” or, you know, “What you have as the chorus would be a better verse. Why don’t you use that as the verse and then write something new for the chorus.”
Drew Townson: Or as often happens, they’ll have a chorus, then they’ll have a verse and then they’ll have another part of the song which sounds as good as another. It could be a whole nother song.
Brad Page: Uh-huh.
Drew Townson: You know that chorus right there, that extra chorus that you have in this song, is another song. So let’s drop it out of this song and let’s build a whole nother song around that chorus.
Brad Page: Right.
Drew Townson: I mean, I would meet, I would get together with a band up to two weeks before we go in the studio, and I’d start going to their rehearsals with them. You know, every night, I’d go to their rehearsals and we just sit there going through every song.
Brad Page: And that kind of work that you’re talking there, that’s what you’d call “pre-production”, right?
Drew Townson: That’s pre-production. Right.
Brad Page: Before you even get in the studio, a smart producer, a smart band would do that work so that you’re not wasting time in the studio and burning money.
Drew Townson: Exactly.
Brad Page: Anything else you want to add or wrap up with?
Drew Townson: The most important thing for any– I’m not going to say “engineer”, because I’m going to use the word “recordist”, because I wasn’t even really an engineer… before me, like, the 1960’s is when guys that worked at Abbey Road and whatever, like those guys were actual sound engineers. They had gone to school for engineering and all that.
So I’m not saying an engineer, I’m saying recordist: you need to make sure the tracks are good. Do all your hard work recording the tracks, getting the tracks to sound good. Because if the tracks don’t sound great, forget it, you’re done already. That’s my biggest number one bit of advice. Yeah, mixing is great, but recording is even greater.
Brad Page: Yeah. Again, when it comes to mixing, if somebody just hands you a bunch of poorly recorded tracks, you can only do so much. You know, if somebody hands you a bunch of really well-recorded, really well-balanced tracks, the mix gets so much easier, right? It almost mixes itself.
Drew Townson: If you’ve got tracks that are good, it almost mixes itself. That is very true. It almost mixes– It doesn’t quite mix itself, but it almost makes it itself. It needs you for, like that last 10% or whatever, you know?
Brad Page: Right, right.
Drew Townson: Yeah, but it really does. It’s amazing when you, you know, when you’re recording a band. This is one of the things I used to do. I’d be in the studio, I’d be recording a band; push up the faders and get it to sound like a band where I’m sitting. Get it to sound like I’ve got the best seat in the house, and I’m just, you know, listening to the band playing. That’s the best thing you can do, is just really capture it, you know?
Brad Page: Yeah.
Brad Page: Drew Townson, thank you so much for joining me on this episode for this conversation. This has been a lot of fun. I could talk for another hour.
Drew Townson: Me too.
Brad Page: But I think we’ve given people a good idea of what a recording engineer does, what mixing is, what producing is, all of those kind of things. I hope this answers some questions that people may have had and were afraid to ask.
Drew Townson: Yeah, like producing is more musical, mixing is more technical. Just make it simple like that, you know?
Brad Page: Yeah. Well, this has been great. Thank you so much, Drew. I love you, man.
Drew Townson: Love you too, buddy. Great, great talking to you.
Brad Page: Thanks to Drew Townson for joining us for this episode. It’s always great to catch up with an old friend, and I hope that this gave you some insight into the recording process and the thinking behind what goes into a mix. And I hope you enjoyed listening to some of those great records that Drew worked on.
I’ll be back again in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, you can catch up with all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. You can also find all of our shows on your favorite podcast app, whether it’s Apple, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, Google, Pandora, PocketCasts, we’re available on all of them.
Support this show by going to oldglory.com and buying a T-shirt or some merch from your favorite bands. They’ve got a ton of stuff on their site, and if you use our discount code LoveThatSong, you’ll get 15% off and you’ll help to support this show. That’s oldglory.com, discount code LoveThatSong.
And don’t forget to tell a friend about this show. Your word-of-mouth support is worth a lot. So thank you.
On behalf of everyone here on Pantheon, I thank you for listening, and I’ll see you next time here on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast.
Let’s close out this episode with one last track that Drew worked on. This is from an album that Drew recorded and produced for The Fathoms. They’re a Surf Rock band out of Boston, and this is one of my favorite records that Drew worked on. Recorded in his studio back in 2007, and just listen to how good this recording is! Enjoy and I’ll see you back here next time.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Drew Townson: https://soundcloud.com/drew-townson
George Martin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Martin
Wilson Pickett, a name synonymous with soul music, has a catalog filled with timeless classics. From “In the Midnight Hour” to “Mustang Sally,” his influence on the genre is undeniable. But in this episode, we focus on one of his lesser-discussed yet equally powerful–and damn funky– tracks, “Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number 9 (Parts 1 & 2)“. This song is a testament to Pickett’s versatility and the genius of Gamble & Huff and the production team at Sigma Sound.
“Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 (Parts 1 & 2)” (Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff) Copyright 1970
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TRANSCRIPT:
Okay, all you midnight movers and night owls, the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast is back with another episode, right here on the Pantheon Podcast Network. My name is Brad Page, and I’m the host of this here show, where we take a look at a different song each episode and explore the performance and production choices that turn a good song into a great one. Don’t worry if you’re not a musician or you don’t know anything about music theory, because none of that is required here. We don’t get too technical. We just try to open up our ears and listen.
On this edition of the podcast, we’re going to revisit one of my favorite soul singers, a real legit legend: Wilson Pickett, and a little bit of psychedelic soul with a song called “Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number Nine”.
We spent some time with Wilson Pickett back on Episode 96 of this podcast, where we explored the song “99 And A Half Won’t Do”. So I’m not going to go over this same ground again. You can go back and listen to that episode if you want that info. But quick review: Wilson Pickett was born in Alabama in March 1941. His first taste of success came with The Falcons when he sang lead on their hit “I Found A Love”. But he soon departed The Falcons, eventually landing at Atlantic Records and cut some classic singles down at Stax Records’ Studio in Memphis– a handful of the greatest R&B singles ever recorded. “In The Midnight Hour”, “634-5789”, “99 And A Half Won’t Do”. And then after that, he had an even more remarkable run down at Fame studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, cutting absolutely legendary tracks like “Land of a Thousand Dances”, “Funky Broadway”, “Soul Dance Number Three”, and of course, “Mustang Sally”.
Pickett also began exploring material outside of straightforward R&B. He was particularly good at taking rock songs and adapting them to fit his style. One of the first and best of these covers was his version of “Hey Jude” by the Beatles.
Playing guitar on that session was a brilliant young guitarist named Duane Allman. In fact, it was Duane who suggested Wilson cover “Hey Jude”. When Eric Clapton heard Duane’s playing on “Hey Jude”, it instantly caught his attention. It was the first time he had heard of Duane Allman.
About a year later, Clapton would invite Duane to play on the Derek and the Dominoes sessions, making history. But that’s a subject for another podcast.
Over the ensuing years, Pickett would cover more rock songs, including “Born To Be Wild”, “Groovin’”, “Hey Joe”, a killer version of “Fire and Water”, originally by Free. He even had a hit with a cover of “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies.
But back in 1970, Wilson’s creative burst at Muscle Shoals eventually ran its course. So Atlantic Records moved him up to Philadelphia to work with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the hot new writer-producer duo working out of Sigma Sound. The result was the album “Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia”, which probably as an album, opposed to singles, it’s probably my favorite Wilson Pickett album.
That album featured two hits, “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You”, which hit number two on the R&B chart, and “Engine Number nine”, which made it to number three.
“Engine Number Nine”, officially titled “Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number Nine (Parts 1 & 2)”, two developed out of a jam session at Sigma Sound. Wilson was encouraging the band to find the right groove, a heavy one. They cut one take, clocking in at about three and a half minutes. Then they did it again with the final version running six minutes and 25 seconds. To release it on a 45 revolutions-per-minute seven inch single, they had to split it in two– hence the part one and part two of the title.
The band in Philly included Bobby Eli, Norman Harris and Roland Chambers, all on guitars, Tom Bell on organ, Eugene Dozier and Lenny Pakula on piano, Ronnie Baker on bass, Vince Montana on vibes and percussion, Earl Young on drums, and Sam Reed and his horn section on horns. The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
The song kicks off with a snare drum fill. Then the bass comes in, along with some percussion. There’s quite a few different percussion elements used in this song. Right here we’re hearing a cowbell and a shaker, primarily in the right channel. And now here comes the main riff.
Okay, there’s actually a lot going on here. Just looking at the percussion by itself, you’ve got the drums, cowbell, some other kind of drum in there– could be a conga or a timbale, doesn’t really sound like either of those to me. Could just be a tom, I’m not sure.
And then there’s this kind of wacky sound made by something called a “vibraslap”. It’s a strange looking contraption, a metal rod that’s kind of bent in the shape of the letter “R”, with a wooden ball at one end and what looks like a wood cowbell at the other end, with some metal pins in it that rattle when it vibrates. It’s hard to describe, just go look it up on the internet if you want to see what it looks like. But the vibraslap kind of sounds like a rattlesnake. You’ll hear it in all kinds of songs. Everything from “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith to “Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake, and “Crazy Train” by Ozzy. You’ll hear the vibraslap all through this track.
Then there’s the bass. At least two guitars, one clean tone, one totally fuzzed out. And, I believe, an electric piano in the left channel, duplicating the bass part.
There’s this nasty, crashing, scratchy sound that occurs occasionally. That’s the fuzz tone guitar doing that part.
So, after a couple of measures of that setting the groove, Wilson comes in with the vocal.
The groove is gonna shift a little bit here. And I especially like these guitar parts.
Let’s go back, drop the vocals out, and just listen to what the band is doing, because I think they’re playing great here.
Next, we get a whacked-out guitar solo from Bobby Eli. Guitar sounds don’t get any nastier than this. If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say he’s using a Univox Super Fuzz pedal to get that sound. It’s like an ice pick in your eardrum– In a good way.
Once again, I want to go back. This time, I just want to hear the bass and the drums.
Let’s bring everyone back in. Listen to Bobby Eli’s guitar here. And here’s a vintage Wilson Pickett scream for you.
The clean guitar comes forward in the mix here. I’m not sure if it’s Norman Harris or Roland Chambers who played this part. They change up the groove again. And the shaker returns.
Notice how they add an echo to the snare drum.
You’ve also got an organ in the left channel now. Bobby Eli’s guitar is just screeching, it’s feeding back all over the place. It’s pretty wild.
Let’s bring up the drums in the mix now. They’re going to break it down to just the drums and that fuzz tone guitar.
Slowly building it back up.
And now a break for just the drums and percussion.
This guitar part is actually two guitars, the clean one and the fuzz tone guitar bouncing back and forth, playing off of each other like it was one part. Listen to that big echo on the snare drum again.
Wilson Pickett – “Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number Nine (Parts 1 & 2)”
This would be the only album Wilson recorded in Philadelphia. He would return to Muscle Shoals for one more album for Atlantic Records, then he signed with RCA Records for a while, and then EMI, and even Motown.
But like many soul, funk, and R&Bartists, he got left behind when Disco became the hot new thing, and his career never really recovered, not in any commercial sense. Though he kept on working. He survived personal struggles with addiction and some pretty violent behavior as a result.
He released one final album– call it a comeback album if you want– in 1999, called “It’s Harder Now”. On January 19, 2006, at the age of 64, Wilson died from a heart attack. It was little Richard who delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
Wilson’s voice didn’t quite have the primal scream of James Brown, or the tenderness and depth of emotion as Otis Redding, but when matched with the right material– and more often than not, he was matched with the perfect material– Wilson Pickett was unbeatable. Has anyone recorded a better song than “In The Midnight Hour”? As good as sure, but better? I haven’t heard it. Wilson Pickett has at least a half a dozen songs in his catalog that are stone cold classics. In my opinion, he’s earned his place among the greats.
Thanks for tuning in to the Pantheon Podcast Network and listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. As always, new episodes of this show come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll see you back here in just over two weeks.
If you’d like to catch up on our previous episode on Wilson Pickett, you’ll find it on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, along with over 150 episodes on many other songs, all hand selected with care by me.
If you’d like to support the show, go buy a t-shirt at oldglory.com and use our promo code lovethatsong. Save a few bucks.
And please tell a friend about this show, because recommendations from smart, sophisticated listeners like you really are the number one thing that helps us grow.
So thanks again for listening to this episode on Wilson Pickett and “Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number Nine”.
P. McCartney, L. McCartney - Copyright 1974 MPL Communications Ltd.
We celebrate the 201st installment of the podcast by revisiting one of our first subjects– the legendary Paul McCartney and his band Wings, with the non-album single “Junior’s Farm.”
Released in November 1974, this track developed during McCartney’s escape to a Nashville farm during a tumultuous time in his life, following the breakup of The Beatles. Join us as we explore the song’s origins, the dynamic lineup of Wings during this period, and the memorable guitar work of Jimmy McCulloch, who made his mark with this track. We’ll dissect the song’s unique structure, the production choices, and the whimsical lyrics that embody McCartney’s signature style. This episode is a deep dive into a classic that showcases the artistry and evolution of one of music’s most beloved figures.
Low life, high life, oh, let’s go down to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and we are here on the Pantheon Podcast Network– where fans belong– with another edition of the show where I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together.
For those of you keeping count, this is episode 201– the 201st episode of this podcast. Some of you have been with us since the very first episode, and you may remember that on our first show, episode one, we covered a song by Paul McCartney. It was a non-album track; actually, it was a B-Side. Well, here we are, exactly 200 episodes later, so I thought it would be nice to return to McCartney and another of his non-album tracks. This one was released as a single in November 1974; this is Paul McCartney and Wings with “Junior’s Farm”.
The seeds that would eventually develop into this song sprouted back in 1970, during the breakup of the Beatles. It’s a very contentious period for everyone involved; lots of business meetings with lawyers, and McCartney couldn’t wait for those meetings to end so he could escape to his farm in Scotland.
Cut to 1974, when McCartney and the current lineup of Wings, decamped to Nashville, Tennessee. They were invited to stay at a farm owned by Curly Putman, a Nashville songwriter. He was most famous for writing “Green Green Grass of Home”. Putman’s nickname just happened to be “Junior”.
The band’s visit to Tennessee was primarily to rehearse, but Buddy Killen, who had arranged their visit, also happened to own a studio called “Sound Shop”. So, of course, the band eventually ended up at that studio.
They would work up a handful of songs at Sound Shop, including a track called “Junior’s Farm”, which was actually the last song that they laid down at that studio. The band had been rehearsing the track out at the farm, so when they hit the studio, they were ready to record it more or less live.
This was an interesting period for Wings. The previous album, “Band On The Run”, had been recorded as a trio: Paul and Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine. But by this time, they had recruited two new members.
The first new addition was a 20-year-old Scottish guitarist named Jimmy McCulloch. Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch was something of a child prodigy. He started performing professionally when he was 14, and in 1969, when he was just 16, he joined Thunderclap Newman. They had a number one hit in England with “Something In The Air”, a track produced by Pete Townsend of The Who.
After that band split, Jimmy worked on a number of projects and did session work for John Entwistle and Harry Nilsson, and eventually joined the band Stone The Crows. He met Paul McCartney in August of 1973.
Paul’s brother Mike McCartney, better known as Mike McGear, was recording a solo album, and Paul had agreed to produce it. He did more than just produce it, though. He co-wrote most of the songs, and it’s almost a stealth Wings album as Paul, Linda and Denny play on every song… and Jimmy McCulloch was invited to play on the album too. Essentially, it was Jimmy’s audition for Wings, and by May of 1974, Jimmy became a member of Wings.
The next task was to find a new drummer. Paul let the word get out that he was looking for a new drummer, and after his office was deluged with over 400 phone calls, Paul narrowed the list down to 52 drummers who were invited to audition. And out of all those auditions, five finalists were selected. And in the end, a drummer named Geoff Britton was selected.
Geoff was from London, and he had played in a band called East Of Eden, and then with the Wild Angels. One of the songs he jammed on with Paul, Linda, Denny and Jimmy as part of his audition was an early version of “Junior’s Farm”, though it didn’t have a title yet. Like Jimmy, Geoff Britton became a member of Wings in May 1974.
\And this was the lineup that arrived at Curly Putman’s Farm in June of that summer. Along with Geoff Britton on drums and Jimmy McCulloch on guitar, “Junior’s Farm” features Denny Laine on guitar and backing vocals, Linda McCartney on percussion, Fender Rhodes electric piano and backing vocals, and Paul McCartney on bass and lead vocal. The song was written by Paul and Linda McCartney, and produced by Paul. It was released on November 1, 1974 on Apple Records. This would be McCartney’s final release on Apple.
The song begins with an intro featuring harmonized guitar leads by Jimmy McCulloch and Denny Laine. The core parts of the song had been worked out for a while, but the intro and outro were late additions to the song. They came up with this intro just prior to entering the studio to start recording. Let’s hear just those guitars.
And that brings us into the main groove of the song, which makes up the verse section. You can hear McCartney interject a couple of “Ha”s in there. Before we get to the verse, let’s back that up again.
That is the first of many tasty guitar parts that Jimmy McCulloch adds to this song. This was Jimmy’s debut as Wings’ new guitar player, and he comes out of the gate firing on all cylinders here. Great guitar work by Jimmy all through this song. Jimmy McCulloch is one of my favorite guitar players, so we’re gonna pay attention to his playing throughout this track.
One of the interesting choices in the production of this song is the use of that phasing effect on the vocals throughout the song. That effect is also applied to the guitar at times, too.
That effect was not part of the original recording or the initial mixes done in Nashville. When McCartney returned to England, he made several more attempts to remix the song with various engineers, but he wasn’t happy with any of those mixes. Eventually, in October ‘74, McCartney let an engineer named Alan O’Duffy have a crack at mixing it. And one of the things O’Duffy added was that phasing effect. And this was the mix that finally met McCartney’s approval. That phasing effect particularly stands out on the chorus.
This song has always seemed to have somewhat of an unusual structure, to me anyway. There are two verses, then the first chorus, and then a guitar solo. Then there are two more verses, two more choruses, a repeat of the intro, then two more verses; one is a repeat of the first verse; two final choruses, and the outro. But it always seemed to me that this guitar solo comes awfully early in the song. I would have expected it to come much later, but here it is, and it is a great guitar solo. It feels improvised. It was clearly done in one take; it’s a little rough around the edges, but it is so well-structured. It flows perfectly, and it’s melodic enough that you could sing it. It’s everything I want in a guitar solo. First, let’s hear the guitar track.
Now let’s hear that in context. And I always loved how McCartney calls out Jimmy by name before he starts to solo.
You get the feeling Paul was happy to show off his hot new guitar player.
That brings us to the third and fourth verses. The lyrics to the song don’t really mean anything. The chorus is just about McCartney’s desire to get out of the city and escape to his farm. The verses don’t really make any sense… they’re not supposed to. McCartney has written a number of songs filled with oddly impressionistic lyrics, and this is one of them. There’s the poker man, the Eskimo, and the sea lion from the first two verses. This time around, we hear about Parliament, the President. He also references Ollie Hardy– if you remember Laurel and Hardy, the comedy team who were around from the 1920s to the 1950s– and he mentions something about Hardy buying a Gee-Gee who jumped the fence. Gee-Gee is apparently British slang for a race horse.
Let’s bring up the vocals for these two verses.
That brings us back to the chorus. So let’s listen to that, and again, notice that phasing effect on the vocals.
They repeat the chorus again here. That leads into a repeat of the introduction. The first time around, we listened to just the guitars, so this time let’s hear what the bass and the drums are doing during this part.
Let’s hear the final mix, and notice how that phasing effect is applied to the guitars here.
McCartney’s adding in those “Ha”s again.
Let’s back out the vocals and listen to just the instrumental tracks. For this verse, Denny Laine’s guitar and Linda’s electric piano are primarily in the left channel, while Jimmy McCulloch’s guitar is leaned to the right, and it’s mixed quite a bit higher.
With the vocals in place, there’s one new verse, and then a repeat of the first verse, but this time with harmony vocals added.
Let’s hear just the vocals on that last verse and leading into the chorus.
And that closes out the body of the song and brings us into the outro– completely new part. This was a brand-new section that McCartney came up with in the studio as they recorded it. It was not worked out in advance.
They start to play a few notes of the intro– this time Paul doubles it on his bass– but then they hold a note and shift down to E minor in a dramatically different feel.
Okay, let’s examine a few things here, starting with the guitar part under this section.
And let’s listen to McCartney’s vocal here. This is his most intense vocal performance of the whole song. But before he lays into it, there’s a little bit of studio chatter that was left on the tape. Let’s hear all of that.
And Jimmy McCulloch gets in a few more nice bits before the song plays out. So let’s hear his guitar part.
Let’s put all those pieces back together and listen to the outro in full.
Wings – “Junior’s Farm”.
This lineup of Wings didn’t last long. After recording a handful of tracks in Tennessee, the band returned to England. The McCartneys headed to their High Park Farm in Scotland, where Paul could write some new songs. In late August, the band reconvened at Abbey Road to film a live-in-the-studio performance. Paul had a vision of releasing this as a television special that he wanted to call “One Hand Clapping”. But that footage remained unreleased until 2024.
The band began recording some new material in England in the fall, and then flew to New Orleans to work on what would become the “Venus And Mars” album. But after only a week, it was decided that Geoff Briton just wasn’t the right fit, and he was dismissed in January 1975… his tenure in Wings having lasted seven months.
Jimmy McCulloch was always a mercurial presence in the band; he was young, he was brash, and when he was under the influence of one substance or another, he could be pretty tough to deal with. But he was a brilliant player and a valuable contributor, so McCartney put up with it. But eventually it just became too much, and Jimmy was let go from Wings in August of 1977.
Jimmy would go on to join the reformed Small Faces, but that didn’t last long. There was a short-lived attempt to put a band together with Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy, but that fell apart quickly. He recorded one album with The Dukes, which had some promise… but on September 27, 1979, Jimmy McCulloch died from heart failure due to morphine and alcohol poisoning. He was just 26 years old.
Jimmy’s name never appears on the list of top guitarists from the 1970’s, but he’s always on my list of favorites. He could always be relied upon to deliver a concise, tasteful, memorable guitar solo. “Junior’s Farm” is a perfect example of that. I love Jimmy McCulloch’s playing.
Thanks for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I used a few different resources to put this episode together, including an article in Mix Magazine by Barbara Schultz, and especially the fantastic book “The McCartney Legacy, Volume 2” by Alan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair. Gotta give them all credit for their hard work, and I highly recommend that book for any hardcore McCartney fan.
New episodes of this show come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll meet you back here in about two weeks. If you’d like to support the show, you can head over to oldglory.com and buy yourself a T-shirt or some band merch. They have stuff in stock from all your favorite artists, including plenty of Beatles and McCartney stuff. So place an order and use our discount code “LoveThatSong” to save 15%. That’s oldglory.com, discount code LoveThatSong, save 15%, and you’ll be helping to support this show. So thanks.
You can communicate with us on Facebook, just search for the “I’m In Love With That Song podcast”, you’ll find us. Or email us at lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com.
Share this episode with your friends and family and help spread the word. I’ll see you back here next time. Now, let’s all head down to “Junior’s Farm” — everybody tag along. Take me down, Jimmy!
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