We all agree that we get the best results when we leave Paul to himself. Many engineers are that way. But I can't believe I've allowed myself to be so rushed...I was never a one-take-wonder! Anyway before handing off the big dual-processor mac to Paul, I plug in the pod and my strat and had a last shot to improve on the solo. I finally got a take that picked up the whole song, but I don't expect anybody to like it. I'm finding it quite stressful making this album but it's probably because there was already a residue of stress in me.
I was born in 1946, they say September 11 but no one knows exactly - I was taken in by some French Nuns who yearned to find me a nice catholic home. Two nuns were talking and one said " We have a patient who just lost a child and it looks like she might adopt" They brought me right away - all dalled up - but the woman said she was still grieving and sent us away. But the nuns came back the next day with another orphan, but she would not see them. The nuns returned a third time with another child and the woman relented, she said "l'll adopt... but I want you to bring me back the first one" (just trying out the intro for one of the tunes on the upcoming CD, Overqualified for the Blues) The song is the true story of how I was adopted.
Thank you, dear Fred, for being patient while I put together this album. I know you've been announcing its release since 2001.
I wanted to do this at my leisure and while I was grabbing a breath, a year went by. I started out recording at home, with basically the same equipment we used to record the final album in Paul Benedict's basement studio. Ah, to enjoy the wonders of being able to go through and edit the music in a safe, non-destructive environment. I guess everybody does this now, but it was a wonder for me, who's first professional session was on an Ampex 3-track at RCA's Montreal studio in 1964.
I go to pick up my old Strat and I notice i'm having trouble holding down the strings with my left hand. My nails have grown out to the edge of the finger so you can't press down on the guitar strings. That's a true sign that you have not been keeping music at the forefront of you consciousness.
It's so typical of this whole project that the moment I have a little time to play with the tracks some more that they're being taken away from me to be mixed. So I still want to fix some guitar parts but I haven't been playing in weeks - and my nail work needs to be done pronto. Like the day we started the sessions and I had this weird rash on my thumb - nothing serious, just enough to make me want to use a pick instead of playing finger-style. Then the day sheduled for some vocal overdubs, which we only used one, I wake up with a nasty cold - laryngitis even! On the third take of Ghost, my voice got very rough - I attribute it to a chanelling attempt from that damn ghost. This song has a new groove that came to the surface when I played it a few times with Lance Anderson and Terry Wilkins.