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Blue Christmas
12.17.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Blue Christmas
If I sound blue it’s because I was. I think that actually works.
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Thumpety Thump Thump
12.14.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Thumpety Thump Thump
My ‘edgy’ take on Frosty the Snowman. If I were to pick a favorite version of this song I would choose the Cocteau Twins’ because you can hear Elizabeth Frazer’s smile when she sings Frosty’s name with a lilt. I didn’t have much to add to a straight up rendition of the song sooo….
It was an experiment. It certainly isn’t my domain, but I had fun making myself feel patently ridiculous. One time back in the day while sporting a Smithsian pompadour someone once chanted “Ice, Ice Baby”. It was inappropriate then, but I am somewhere in that neighborhood with this one, now.
My best part was my little edit wherein Frosty rolls up alongside the cop… I thought that set the mood nicely, and I had to do that line a few times ’cause I got the giggles. I would have learned a lot more if I had taken the time to make my own samples. I did some processing but I relied on public domain samples for the intro and bridge (how lame of me), but I don’t really care enough to bother making my own. When all is said and done I honestly think I did a better job than I imagined possible.
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Pretty Paper for Lyle
12.13.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Pretty Paper for Lyle
This one goes out to my father-in-law. Pretty Paper was ritten by Willie Nelson and first sung by Roy Orbison. It just seems tailor made for dedicating to the man who became my best buddy while building the house and who I appreciate so much. The only thing we could agree on to listen to while building the house were oldies from his ipod… and a little bit of She & Him (which sounds like oldies from his ipod). It was great because I love all the croony, sentimental, songwriting embodied in this song and on most of the tracks he totes around with him.
With any luck I will score Lyle and his saxy saxophone for a number or two in the near future.
In the meantime, get better Lyle, and Merry Christmas.
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Tamara Does Christmas Wrapping
12.12.11 | Permalink | | 2 CommentsTamara sings and I am on board for accompaniment with this cover of the Waitresses’ 1982 Christmas ode to singletons written decades before Bridget Jones ever encountered a reindeer jumper at the turkey curry buffet.
This song is pretty much Christmas time’s version of R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it (I feel fine)”. I had the best time on Sunday collaborating with Tamara on this one. She has always LOVED this song and it was a lot of fun to put together with her. We laughed so hard trying to get all the nuances of this almost spoken word piece to work lyrically because while we are both fast talkers, the waitresses blow through this number.It was really wonderful to not be in charge of the vocal push of the song. I got to try out the Auto Funk pedal on my second rhythm guitar and I made an homage to the bridge which I cut out in the intro guitar riff. I love the bridge but it just made sense to simplify. I think this is also the first time I have EVER whistled on a song. It sounded a lot better than keyboard horns and I didn’t want to add funky synths so whistle it is. This song took three hours to pull together. I was amazed that even though I was not being picky or perfectionist I couldn’t lay down the tracks very swiftly. The vocal tracks took a long time too because of all the phrasing. T did a really nice job getting it all to work, and I learned quite a bit about how to process a vocal delivery that is so rapid fire.
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Merle Haggard Christmas!
12.11.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Merle Haggard Christmas!
I love my wife so much, among the many amazing contributions to my life are her Christmas albums. It is a fascinating thing to see how your record collections merge when you commit to life together. Without her there would be no Dolly & Kenny Christmas, there wouldn’t be a She & Him Christmas, and I would have never discovered the joys of Merle Haggard. His Christmas album is spectacular. This little chestnut came on as Tamara was wrapping Christmas presents and I didn’t even finish listening to the song before bolting for my guitar to pick out the chords and record this one. Thank you dear for the many little ways you brighten my life and with each new way that the line between you and me blurs, I feel bettered by it. Merry Christmas.
I spent about an hour and a half figuring out the song and making the recording. My high points are the little background vocals by Tami, the rising Liverpool lick towards the end that I repeat twice, and the fact that I picked the right key for the song allowing me to sing low, then wail on the finish to the best of my ability. This one would be fun with a live band. My big gripe would be some timing flubs with some accent strums on rhythm guitar.
