We finished all recordings tonight- working today from 1Pm- 9Pm non stop. This cd project has turned out to be such a collaboration, that Michael and i have just about split the duties! it's been a lot of fun... AND a lot of hard work!
We still have to 'fly in' some 'slide' and 'pops staples' type guitar tracks from George Bryan; which he played/recorded in Omaha and emailed to me today- and then Michael will begin mixing and fixing and mastering, once back in Virginia.I knew that Michael was an excellent keyboard player and singer BUT did not know he was a former percussionist! [the man never ceases to amaze me] In addition to playing the piano track on STACKOLEE he played all the percussion [cardboard boxes, congas, tambourine]- we decided not to put any bass on it. We both did piano tracks for the song, but i decided to use his track, as it has a very James Booker feel. It sounds very old school New Orleans. i did the lead vocal and backing vocals.
we also changed boxes & used my flip flop as a beater [instead of the spatula] which made for a fatter sounding 'bass drum' - some of this stuff definitely has a 'parade feel to it
Michael added some kick ass B3 pedal bass lines- organ- and all the percussion- to WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN- on which i played piano, did lead vocal and several backing vocal tracks/as did Michael- sounds like the Blackwood Brothers [or as I dubbed it "the Backwoods Brothers"]- our Southern Baptist roots are showing
DELIA- which i had done piano tracks/vocals on in Rayville as a potential solo track took on a whole new trip- i did an alternate take with a click track to guide the eventual guitar-then take it out- but Michael added organ and we finally decided to pull out most of the piano- and slowly ease it back in- we took the 'guide track' drums out- and M added a lot of Celtic sounding percussion- i did a huge but distant sounding choir- and we will eventually add george's guitar parts- this will definitely be a production number- well, it already IS. BUT there are several: SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD; AMAZING GRACE- and the 2 above mentioned songs but also there are quite a few totally solo songs: st. james infirmary; st. louis blues; careless love; black is the color of my true love's hair; scarborough fair; she moved through the fair; [and] silver dagger [although we will be adding guitar to it] - [and] hard times come again no more [Michael on piano me on vocal] - We got a LOT done in 4 long sessions. traditional blues, folk, and gospel songs done in possibly unconventional ways- but in ways that felt totally "right" to us. we shared the duties in the box/percussion and hammond bass pedal departments
it has been an absolute joy AGAIN, as it always is, to work with Michael- his talent and creativity are inspirational- his insight and input is always "spot on"- he's not afraid to try my crazy approaches to recording- and he always hears the material w/a different ear- which often makes for interesting turns of events- taking it to a totally different place than from where it was originally planned. PLUS, he's a total work horse like i am... work work work... go go go... we're like camels that cross deserts without water... more updates to come.
all fotos [c]2010 doug duffey
[c]2010 DOUG DUFFEY
