Friday, February 03, 2017

The Dog Days of Winter

Okay, so long-time readers are doubtless aware that I have been spending my Golden Years in an attempt to digitize every loud noise I have ever made.

To that end, I was recently -- i.e., Wednesday night -- in a sophisticated recording studio transferring some basic instrumental tracks (sans vocals) of songs by my 70s band The Hounds.

Those were recently re-discovered 4-track tapes unheard by anybody, let alone me, for decades, and given the vagaries of time (and the crappy tape stock from those years) it's a wonder any of them survived. But to my delighted surprise, they did (some occasional drop-out notwithstanding).

And here's my favorite.

Ladies and gentlemen, please rock out to -- "Do It."




The rhythm guitar on the right channel is by the song's author (and my old college chum) Tony Forte; all the other guitars, including the solo, are by some asshole whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels. The drums are by another old college colleague, Robert Albiston, and the bass is by total pro and fellow Jersey boy John Faison, who was way too good for us. It's a little sloppy in parts, but I think it sounds pretty cool nonetheless.

I should add that while the instrumental track is, as you can hear, deliberately Stones-ish, the vocals on the finished version (which I won't burden you with) sounded extremely Jefferson Airplane-like. Which, I can assure you, made for an interesting stylistic synthesis, if not perhaps interesting enough to have gotten the band signed.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This actually really rocks!
A good vocal line wouldn't hurt....

pete said...

two thumbs up!

ESciGuy said...

Steve,

I was across the hall, taping a special, and just had to stop in.

Am I hearing echos of "All Down the Line"? Jimmy Page would like a word with you ;-)

As a non-critic, in all seriousness, I would love to hear the vocal track.

Bobby B.

steve simels said...

Thanks, BB -- if we find a good quality copy of the vocal version, I'll post it.

ESciGuy said...

Do It, Again? http://www.vevo.com/watch/the-kinks/do-it-again/USQX91401440

guilala-san said...

i can see the Stones sound in the guitars. the way the 2 mesh together, sounds like it was influenced by the tune "Happy" more than just a little bit. what intrigues me is how youre saying the vocals would be Jefferson Airplane-ish. if youre talking "three fifths of a mile in ten seconds" ok, then I really wanna hear em. could be the icing on the cake, or could be the sound of an enormous slide whistle wailing in the sunset. depends on the talent of the vocalists involved.

PS- this song really ROCKS, unlike anything the Stones did after "sticky fingers". and I only heard the first 47 seconds. wanna hear the rest when the vocals are included. Really. Please!!

steve simels said...

Guilala-san:

Thanks for the kind words -- have I good quality version of the one with the vocals; will post it next week (when I'm back at my home computer).