Dennis Diken called me earlier this month, he was in town for a Smithereens gig, and before he left I'd Shanghaied him into a tracking session in S.F. Those tapes, featuring Pete Straus, Chuck Prophet, and little old me, Otis von Redding, were good enough to take to Hoboken to overdub. I figured one day of goofing around on this stuff would give me the idea whether or not I had something.
Gene got a haircut, first of all. It looks OK, much more new wave than last fall's lack of haircut, and when I met up with him at the Path train to Jersey, he was wearing his shorts. I was wearing cutoffs, but they were much shorter, and Gene asked if I'd put on some long pants.
Once we got into the studio, Gene put the tapes on the machine and checked the calibration tones from my other session. Of course he didn't want to tweak the little controls and do it right, since he's a lazy new wave dude from North Carolina. Being an uptight control freak, I sat in Gene's new chair and gave him some grief, so he knelt down by the machine made it appear that he did make the adjustments, but who really knows except Geno. Meanwhile, I noticed that on the previous session in S.F. that the engineer didn't manage to write the start times of the takes on these tapes, but did remember to write his first and last name on every track sheet.
We started with an edit on "Unkind." Gene loves an opportunity to psyche me out by repeating my instructions in reverse or some other mindfuck stuff. The thing about Gene is I never know when he's serious or when he's goofing, since both are equally useful as far as the music goes. It's because he used to bake bread in Old Salem town. And also because he used to play bass, but then switched to guitar thinking it was more fun. You just never know, do ya?
OK, so I went into auto-pilot on "Unkind." Acoustic guitar. Just put it on, we'll erase it later, it'll give me a handicap. I'll think I have less space left sonically. Shakers, tambourine, then electric piano, then that horrible half broken mellotron, then B-3, then vocals. Gene records not unlike the way I do, he gets one microphone/limiter in his head, and uses it on everything. It's actually a really bad idea, like inbreeding. Every instrument gets the signature sound of the mic, whatever response deficiencies or whatever, and it gets magnified with every overdub. I didn't make a stink, because this Neumann CMV-3 was damn ugly but it did sound OK, although I'm not thoroughly convinced it sounds better than his U-47 on my voice.
"Glory Days" was next on the reel, so we continued overdubbing for two hours, but on the wrong take. Oh well, it worked out better, in fact, since "the keeper" take 2 was too fast despite the lack of mistakes. I didn't have my 12 string acoustic or a working piano, which are essential to the tune. Someone broke the piano at the studio, which is a blessing, since it was all fucked up anyway, and I don't mean just out of tune. Jolly Roger Studio has plenty of toys and instruments, and Gene, so no complaints, but they could use a new piano and a few more music stands. And a burger stand downstairs for the regular clients.
"Glory Days" needed a thick lead guitar sound, but Gene wouldn't let me use his Les Paul this time. I knew it was in the building somewhere, but he insisted it wasn't around, and assured me Roger's Guild was just as good. I had no choice but to comply, so we did that bit and Gene even played one note that I apparently wasn't understanding the true meaning of.
We paused for a dinner break. It's 95F but I'm not thinking and ordering hot soup. Before getting back to work, Gene wanted to watch a segment from the show COPS. We're both sweating for different reasons.
Last was "Get It Good," Gene's fave, maybe since it's a dumbed-down raucous screamer rock tune. This earned me the von Redding title, although I know I'm right in line behind Pete Cetera waiting for a soul handshake. At least I'm not switching to jazz or writing musicals...or unleashing 200 page books of my poems. Good God! Snatch it back, cv! Bring it home!
I overstayed my welcome until 2 AM and then forgot to bring tapes for rough mixes, so I coerced Gene into using a client's master for my roughs. I went back to Manhattan in preparation for the Syracuse trip.