Music recordings backstory
Our music set song book, with lyrics and some with chords, many songs, and many pages, that we chose from when we got together to play. We would just go through and pick some to play.
Example pages from our song book, Baby Blue, Anticipation.Glory Days. We covered these, but cannot find the recordings.
Here are Dave’s writings on figuring out some songs cords, Pink Cadillac. Cocaine & Move it on over, such fun songs to do! In the latter years of our playing together, David would got into more rock n roll stuff. He liked to do ballads and stuff playing alone, when he just had his guitar, but when we got together we’d try stuff like BTO, and as mentioned rock songs.
David would play some on guitar, do some riffs, and write down the cords, he was determined to figure a song out. I would just lay down some drum beat, and usually it worked out.
On the day of playing music was planned, it was something we both looked forward too. Sometimes we would bicker about what to play once we got started, and then we would just laugh, and get going and have fun. We were always amazed how bands like the Rolling Stones remained together all these years! You want to play that song again? Are you kidding?, NO WAY!! LOL I don’t even want to play that!! LOL! Then we would talk about our lives and families between playing, and then get going and have a great time. The music sets were always part talk, part sing and play, and part laugh.
He we are in our last years of playing music, getting off to bad start, and not agree on what to play!
But, David and I had always felt the need to record our sessions, both to playback and learn from them , and also so the recordings can live on for all to see. Just like a diary of your life. Maybe at some point someone would like to read it. The same for recording our music sessions. While these are not all of our recordings, things get lost over the years since we recorded on different devices. We never had any specialty music recording equipment. The 1985 recording only was only surviving recording in past with mic into a cassette recorder.
Here is is the cassette tape from our 1985 sessions. It is unfortunate, could not find any of the older cassette tapes, going back further… and this is the only one survived, I had transferred to digital.
Up until the latter video camera recordings, just used this Mic into the computer to record straight to digital.
Here is the Mic we used, and whoever was singing would get the Mic aimed at them. Mostly would be aimed at both of us!
Straight line into computer from mic, and sound quality is not so great on some audio recordings, and no direct line in mixer to get the audio portion just right. The sound is what the mic captures, with no mixing. Whoever was singing got closer to the mic .
When we started playing again, the latter recordings 2009 and on, were recorded with either a standalone digital camera on tripod, and cell phones since cell phone was so easy. Also we both had our own mics, as you can see in the videos. and the overall sound of everything was captured on those devices.
We always did cover music, but often made it “our own sound “, or a bit different sometimes. For instance the “Kaw-Liga” song cover comes to mind, was our own version we created. As well as “25 or 6 till 4″ our own version, we didn’t have the big horns Chicago had, so we made it our own with our 2 piece band. We always found music we both liked “in the middle” so to speak to play. The drums were so loud, and sometimes overpowered the vocals.
David and I played music by ear mostly, although David taught himself to read chords and was quite a musician. David started playing guitar at a young age. David could play guitar, banjo, Bass, Ukulele. He learned keyboards later in life, and could learn and play about any musical instrument he wanted to. Even though I would tell him he was very talented as a singer and player, he was very modest about it. It was truly fascinating that he could remember so many lyrics! And if he wanted to play a new song, he would sit and work on it, and in no time have the guitar riffs an chords figured out! Then he’s say “I’m ready” or “lets roll”. And I would lay down a drum beat.
I had to print out a lot of the lyrics because I could not remember like he could. I could remember the more popular songs, but not all.
While I just had a one drum set. He would use a variety of guitars acoustic, and electric to get the sound he wanted. He would switch guitars between music sets often. As we got older, and his quality of life was not what it was, we stopped playing music.
Hope all enjoy the raw sounds of our little 2 Man band “Work In Progress” to share with all. And our recordings and story time. I have edited and worked with this for awhile, compiling our chronicles of music, when get up in the morning and write these stories before begin my day, so that all can see and hear by title and commentary as best I can remember, and as David and I both liked to say…..Enjoy!
You will be forever missed my brother, my friend
More notables…
Dave would get into it during the start of some our songs that he really felt into, he say “1,2,3,4!”
And sometimes David would just stop playing, and then I would stop, and he’d correct me. Either I was going to fast of tempo for him, or wrong lyrics in wrong order, and then he’d stop again and say “You are not listening!” or he’d say we did that verse already LOL! And then we would just laugh about it.
No to Neil Young!
I always wanted us to do some of Neils songs. David was like “No WAY!” and adamant about it! He said I will have to de-tune, or tune my guitars to lower weird cords!. He said Neil Young tuned his guitars to weird cords! Maybe one time or too, but do not have any recordings could find.
He stayed true to his words, and no Neil Songs were ever done since then!More notables-
Dabbled in harmonica
I (Mike) was into harmonica playing in some of our last years. The Beatles “Love me do” was fun to do, and did some others here and there. Had to really talk Dave into playing that, He was never into the love me love you and all that mid 60s Beatles songs. But he did like some of the later songs like “Christ you know it aint easy” known as the Ballad of John and Yoko. and “Jojo etc, when Beatles got out of the loves you yea yea yea phase. But cannot find any recordings of harmonica playing. There is mention by Dave on Lodi talking of me and my harmonica.
Were such fun times with my dear brother!