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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:15:19 GMT -5
Original Release 1993 1. Good Lovins Hard to Find 2. One Thing 3. Can't Take That Away 4. Best Things in Life 5. The Last Rebel 6. Outta Hell in My Dodge 7. Kiss Your Freedom Goodbye 8. South of Heaven 9. Love Don't Always Come Easy 10.Born to Run I liked the record...a LOT better than the 1991 album. It helped that we all got along with the producer, Barry Beckett. Dowd might be the other band members' hero...Beckett is mine. All in all, I thought that version of the band was pretty good. Those songs were good live tunes on stage. BORN TO RUN is way under-rated. Johnny was really on the verge of doing some fine vocals. Then someone decided to do an unplugged album. Ok. I'll stop here. Last thing...even Rolling Stone gave this album a good review. And that magazine, in general, hates us. Q - I was wondering if you have played a 12-string?On "The Last Rebel", I played a slide solo on a 12 string...also a rhythm guitar part on "Love Don't Always Come Easy." I'm a huge Byrds fan. Their first 5-6 albums are some of my favorite music ever. But there's not much use for a 12 string in the kind of music I play. AND...they're a bitch to re-string!
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:16:04 GMT -5
That guitar part, I don't mind saying, is a work of art & inspiration. What you hear was done on the original take on the basic track...no overdubs. Actually, the take we did BEFORE the one that made it on the record is probably the better solo. Both were quite chilling.
The guitar was my trusted, custom made, whale blue Paul Reed Smith....now played by my son, David, in Florida. A great guitar...though Paul was upset when I immediately had it refretted with larger frets and took out the pickups and installed EMG's. I did hundreds of shows with that guitar. The amplifier I used on that session, I believe, was a Soldano...or a Rivera. Can't recall. The "sound" was in the guitar....the amp only provided some beef.
I usually don't brag on myself, but that slide solo is the eeriest thing I've ever heard...and it's a 'first-taker', too. NOT overdubbed.
When I heard that solo played back the next day, I trembled. It was my statement...my obit. It's THAT kind of stuff. It's got 'bye bye' written all over it. You can see that last rebel fading into the fog. I want it played at my wake. It's quite unsettling!
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:16:34 GMT -5
Billy blew my mind apart when he DOUBLED his piano solo to ONE THING exactly note for note. Mind boggling.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:17:46 GMT -5
Q - Around the time you were recording The Last Rebel, you wrote......
"But... anything and everything we do in the future hinges totally on how these recording dates go. I think we've got one tune that stands a chance of being the "SWEET HOME ALABAMA" of the 90's, But we'll see."
Could you tell us what song you were talking about?
I must have been crazy at the time. The song I was referring to was KISS YOUR FREEDOM GOODBYE. I may have been premature about tooting my own horn...the song didn't turn out like I thought it should. There's actually a demo version floating around that was done 3 years before the album version...it's not too bad. The guitar parts are pretty cool.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:18:38 GMT -5
Q - I'm a huge dodge enthusiast and always wondered who in the band owned a dodge at the time? Or was it just part of the lyrics?
Randall had an old Dodge truck and he came up with the tune.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 13:19:49 GMT -5
Q - Could you tell us about the song "Born To Run"? Who came up with which parts...etc. It reminds me of the way "Free bird" is when it starts off slow and then progresses into a hard kickin' finish. GREAT SONG!
I really like that tune. I don't know the exact inspiration for it but I can tell you that Lacy Van Zant and one of his truck-driving stories was the inspiration for me writing the bridge. I had sat down with him for an hour or so (you never sat with Lacy for under an hour!) and he was telling me some stories. It was always easy to tell where Ronnie got his story-telling abilities.
I was laying in bed one night and had the bridge come to me in a flash. Jumped up, grabbed a pen & paper, and finished it. We'd been working on that tune for a week and just didn't know where to take it musically. When the bridge was inserted, the rest fell into place. The finale to that tune is quite spectacular. Randall's parts are just a fine piece of inspired playing.
We originally had that song ready for the 1991 album, but Tom Dowd didn't like it.
Q - Do I hear dropped D tuning in BORN TO RUN?
I think I'm the only one playing in 'dropped D' ... just the bottom string.
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