Billy K.

Let's not forget "Roll away the Stone"!

We talked about solo projects......now how about guest sessions? Did any of the guys make appearances on other peoples' recordings?

I didn't know that McCarl had a solo release. Dave's of course is great.....though different than what I normally listen to. Had one of the Fotomaker albums on cassette, but the tape stretched :(......... Haven't heard any of the Boxer tracks yet....... Got the Bryson group CD, but misplaced it. Bought the Olympics album, specially do get the theme song, to use as an introduction when I was DJ-ing....getting EC as part of that was a bonus......

This is good.

In the December issue of "Guitar Player" magazine, Paul Sidoti was picked one of "5 Hot Guitarists Who Are Nashville's Best-Kept Secrets".......only three paragraphs on Paul, but certainly better than what other magazines would do. And yes, they did mention that he played with Eric and the 'berries!!

All the best to you two! Congratulations!!

I hear some Brian Wilson in there.....

Special Thanks to Elena Pischchikova, one of the top female singers in Belarus, for passing this link along to me.... This is from the 10/10 broadcast of Russia's "Voice"......Russian singer Aleksandr "Sasha" Panaiotov singing "All By Myself" https://vk.com/video38357499_456239062?list=f6b440e1718295527b

Probably so, Matt. Contrived, and a really poor lineup. Title track is disappointing.....I was hoping for more in a Carl/Randy Bachman composition than this. "Some of Your Love" is really lame. The introduction(tight harmonies) saved "School Days"----but was there truly an actual reason to re-make that song? "Love You" should have been treated as a Brian solo album, and not as an actual Beach Boys release. I have kind of a love/hate relation with that album.....some of the songs fall way short.....but on the other hand, some excellent ideas on it. Beach Boys '85 is more enjoyable, and a mostly solid release. I have not heard "Summer in Paradise" all the way through, just bits and pieces. "Bells of Paris" really doesn't do anything for me, and neither does "Anna Lee the Healer".

An "Angel" connection here...there was a guy in my music theory class named Kimble Auerbacher, who played drums for Angel. He was on the "Foxes" movie soundtrack recordings, but not sure if he did any other things for them.

I subscribe to it, and got my copy yesterday. What is odd is that monthly music magazines tend to be "ahead of the curve" and send them a couple of weeks before the start of the month. Needless to say, got it and thoroughly enjoyed the article. Certainly some things I would never have guessed......like the defined roles for the two drummers.........and the issues in mixing/editing. This is highly recommended reading for all EC fans!

Yes, at Target, you can get a "Scratch and Sniff" I-pod cover.......OK, it's watermelon........but a step in the right direction! http://www.target.com/p/agent-18-scratch-and-sniff-2/-/A-17328554

Actually, I had been toying around this this idea of sampling the guitar riff of one song, and doing a bit of "narrative" over it....just for fun.... :)

And yes, the acoustics are crap at that facility, and don't do the guys' sound any justice....

AnneNR, some singer mentioned the potato chip thing during an interview.....Can't say for sure, but I think it may have been Mariah Carey....

OK, this is a sticky issue, especially since many of us are not fond of rappers....and they get some samples from the oddest places("Munsters" them, Iron Butterfly, Lynn Anderson, Joe Coker, etc.).....but just curious if any of our band's stuff got sampled. Most of us know that one of Eric's solo tunes got sampled.......but as far as anything from the band's catalog??

Not to get off-topic, but I did read the story of how "Vehicle" got recorded, since you mentioned it. Particularly about the guitar parts. Jim Peterik had some problems during the sessions. First, he had a problem with his guitar, so borrowed another one from the bandmates. Then, they had a follow-up session with a different engineer, who accidentally erased 13 seconds from that track. They did some convoluted way of re-recording to replace it. Finally, there was an additional fuzz guitar part that was played in unison with the horns. You can't tell that it's there, unless you are specifically looking for it.......but it does give the brass a different tone.

Strangely enough, I eat potato chips. This gets salt in the part of my throat that gargling salt water doesn't reach. Then have my tea. Up in the Pacific Northwest, we not only have pollen problems, but also mold in many places, due to being cool and damp. So, a bit of a "double whammy" when it comes to respiratory issues.

One of the reasons why I feel comfortable, when buying CDs directly from the artists themselves.

They could also have done a "scratch" vocal, on the basic track, but isolated......even though the vocal take was not perfect, it was there to get the feel of the track. Then overdub the lead vocal over. But sometimes, that "scratch" or "reference" vocal ends up being the "keeper". Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" is a good example. Likewise, there could also be a "reference" guitar track to hold things together. Then add the different "textures" and "colors". "Stairway to Heaven" is a good example, of Jimmy Page doing this, then overdubbing different tonal qualities. (Was "Last Dance" done that way, per chance?) Can't nail what they exactly did on the intro to "Drivin' Around". It would be difficult to go from a-capella, and then go right into the drums. A number of things they could have done.......had just one voice to hold it together live(then dub the rest later)? Or have the vocal intro recorded separately, then segue between the two tapes?? And lack of isolation also worked on certain Beatles tunes. George Martin was able to work the "bleed through" to his advantage. Especially with Lennon's vs. Harrison's guitars. It's pretty much a "given" that the horns and strings were overdubbed later.....it was like that then, and it's like that now....... As far as more mikes on drums, yes, you can get more control on the sound.....but there is always the possibility of "phase cancellation" if they are not angled correctly.

In this day and age of crap music, the absence of a new Billy Joel album seems to be a bit more conspicuous. When was the last one? 20 years ago? A bit ironic, since he used to have one out, roughly every 18 months, without fail. As a writer myself, I go through periods of "writer's block" too, but manage to come out of it. I can't fathom this not happening to Joel. Some people will suggest getting a collaborator, to get him back on track. But this is a guy that appeared to have a "singular vision" and rarely collaborates on writing songs with anyone else. On the other hand, his former drummer, Liberty DeVitto, filed a lawsuit, contending that he had actually written parts of Joel's songs---but just not credited for them. Spouses/relationships? Yes, Joel got divorced from Christy Brinkley....married Katie Lee.....divorced her.....and then recently got married to some lady named Alexis last year. You can't make failed relationships the culprit here, either.....one of Bob Dylan's best works was "Blood on the Tracks" which came out of his breakup of his marriage. And part of Taylor Swift's success comes from songs inspired by her ex-boyfriends. Elton John, at one time, dissed Joel for drinking too much. But he still managed to play well, for one thing and put on a good show, sober or not. And not to compare apples and oranges, John Lennon wrote some of his best material while intoxicated, as did Jimmy Page and many others. Age has almost nothing to do with it, either. Elton still manages to come up with new material all the time. Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney continue to put out new albums, as did Bowie, until his death. Is there something we missed, because it wasn't played(or played minimally) on the radio. Nope. The last Joel-related studio album was a classical one, where he had another piano player(Richard Joo)play some Joel classical compositions. The last "real" Joel album was "River of Dreams"(1993). What exactly IS it that is preventing Joel from putting out new material? It's a bit puzzling to see this go for so long. Anyone have any insight??

Yes, you are correct, AnneNR, there were drugs around in the 1940s, without question......but (1)use was not as widespread(and also not as well publicized), and (2) the combinations/amounts of drugs used was more, later on.

I was wondering, when seeing the time, how they could stretch it out....but they managed to do it with some integrity.

It's kind of a "Catch-22" when it comes to "Go All the Way".....the compression was indeed part of the sound we remember. Could we find a "happy medium" and get something with less compression and more clarity? It's certainly within the realm of possibility, using today's technology. Perhaps some EQ adjustments? Or a very very small reduction in echo, too, along with a remix. Speaking of symphony orchestras, we in the USA generally tend to record it wrong. Much rather listen to classical orchestras recorded in Europe or Japan, because they seem to know what works appropriately.