Shads extra guitar/percussion pre - overdubbing

[Moderne]

Thank you, Rob. I really enjoyed reading your recollections of the rehearsal etc. tapes. Hank's solo in "I Love You So" off Me and My Shadows is a good example of the bouncing down/superimposition you described.

Clive

[Arpeggio]

Thanks Clive,
Listening to so much and not being able to make notes it was difficult to remember everything after the event. Still - now lots of us will be listening closely to those 1960 - 62 recordings all over again in great detail. Definitely not a bad thing!

Bests...Rob

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi Rob. What a great read, all fascinating stuff, and as you say it will get us all listening again to the early recordings. Thank you for a great post.
Regards Geoff.

[abstamaria]

Thank you, Rob.

All the way from Manila,
Andy

[Mark Burton]

Nice one Rob.

The FBI rhythm part has always perplexed me until now as there's clearly a second guitar in the mix in the pre multitrack era

good work - great post

regards
MArk.

[Arpeggio]

Hi Geoff - thanks (& thanks to everyone else who has replied). I can't share the recordings with anyone (as I genuinely don't have copies -'sob') - but it's good to be able to at least make as much as the info available subject to what I could recall. Oh we just love it all don't we? All of this 'new' old information. 50 years or not...we love it all!!

Cheers!

Rob

[StuartD]

HI

AS always Rob, fascinating.

Thanks very much

Regards

Stuart

[BobGreg]

Rob,

Many thanks for your superb exposition of the recording sessions made all those years ago. It's really fascinating how those early experiments at such a high risk of failure were so ground breaking.

Clearly there is so much material arround that will now never be shared and will disappear forever. At least you've been able to share some of that with the members of this site.

That's why this site is so important - shared information with friends on a theme we are all are so passionate over!

[Arpeggio]

Thanks again everyone. It really is a pleasure to be able to share some of this information. Maybe when my good friend has retired (& I also have more time) then I could almost 'camp out' at his house and make detailed notes about these recordings - I would love to do that - but that will be at least two years down the line. As it is - there is so much material (& it's already several months since my last visit!) that I can't remember everything that I heard last time even! Some titles / sessions / incidents stick in the mind more than others. For example there's one instance where (following a break) Norrie Paramor brings a take to a halt (his voice good - naturedly booming out from the tannoy) because there appears to be no bass guitar. He politely asks Jet if he was actually playing. Hank, Bruce and Cliff can be heard saying that yes, Jet was playing - so maybe there's a technical fault. Then Jet can be heard uttering one of his priceless: "Oh my Gawd.....bleedin' hell!!!" Then he is heard to say apologetically "Er.....sorry Norrie. Sorry everyone. I forgot to switch my bleedin' bass amp back on again.Sorry!" Cliff lets out an exasperated sigh and then rebukes Jet - but everyone else is falling about giggling and laughing. Even Norrie chuckles and then tells Jet that he really would like just a little more bass in the mix! The next take - which follows immediately is perfect. The thing is....I can't recall exactly which Cliff track it was!

This may surprise some people - or maybe not. Any false starts or breakdowns were very rarely as a result of any mistakes by Bruce, Jet or Tony (& later Brian). Occasionally (but not often) Cliff would make mistakes with the lyrics or have to cough etc (again, not very often). Most mistakes came from Hank. However - it has to be said that he was simply (at that point) a wonderfully fluid and inventive / spontaneous player. His solos and breaks were seldom identical - he was obviously continually improvising and experimenting with different sounds / tones (within the context of any pre - planning rehearsal for the overall structure of a particular track) all of the time. Marvellous - but with the focus on the lead there was also more scope for him to make mistakes. Hank certainly wasn't 'staid' and didn't simply 'play safe' as it were. So, yes he fluffed quite a lot - but his exciting playing was what gave these performances a real bite and edginess. Superb!

Best wishes to all....Rob

[ecca]

Good stuff.