Owning a studio gave me access, but paying clients always came first, so I recorded during "off" hours (usually late at night), and rarely had the luxury of perfecting a performance or a mix. The recordings of songs on this blog were as good as we could get them given the time allotted, or as we used to say: "close enough for rock and roll".
To many musicians, the benchmark for great rock an roll recordings was the Beatles first album, which was recorded in one long day at EMI studios. The band was very "tight" having spent many nights performing live at the Cavern Club, so when it came time to record George Martin recalled, "It was a straightforward performance of their stage repertoire — a broadcast, more or less."
I attempted to replicate this method of recording, with a new line-up of the band "Eckey Thump" Teddy and I assembled in 1990. We rehearsed religiously, and played gigs around Los Angeles until we had achieved a level of tightness that I felt would qualify us to record "Beatles style".
At the same time I was winding down my partnership at the studio, and our Neve V series console was going to be "returned" to Siemens, so I "booked" the band for a full day of recording.
The resulting tracks from this session are mostly live and in the spirit of "what would the Beatles do?" or WWBD?
In the spirit of transparency, the recording of this song is actually a blend of two versions we recorded; an earlier version with french horn, and the mostly live WWBD version.
Teddy Zambetti's lyrics were often about love; requited, unrequited, obsessive, and in retrospect quite precocious: this song evokes a divorce with children, and Teddy wasn't even married...
Being in a band is like being in a polygamous marriage (but without the sex), and breaking up is hard to do. When we dissolved Eckey Thump in the early 90's, I was as sad as after a good love relationship gone bad.
Calling Out to Juliette
You told me I was lying
'bout my thoughts of you
You're reading the writing
Between the lines of the truth
The singing and the sighing
Pulled our hearts in tune
The feeding and the fighting
Ripping those memories in two
The seasons are hiding
The rain falling between the leaves
The echo so blinding
Calling out to Juliette
The children are growing
Without knowing you
Their questions unfolding
Daddy how come how soon
If I told you of my findings
Would I break the rules
You're stubborn as a diamond
Cutting the glass I see through
The seasons are hiding
The rain falling between the leaves
The echo so blinding
Calling out to Juliette
In a lullaby
I can close my eyes
And the sleep will come
Until the morning sun
In a lullaby
I could sing my lines
In a lullaby
I can sing to a distant hum
Your mother and your father
Broke the news to me
You're living with another
Somebody set me free
The seasons are hiding
The rain falling between the leaves
The echo so blinding
Calling out to Juliette
Britt Bacon: vocals
Helena Buscema: bgs
Teddy Zambetti: drums
Michael Parnell: bass
Richy Stano: guitars
Michael Lington: sax
Written by Britt Bacon and Teddy Zambetti
©1988
Source: 1/4" analogue tape 30ips
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