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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:50:44 GMT -5
1. Am I Losin'
2. Cheatin'Woman
3. I'm a Country Boy
4. Made in the Shade
5. On the Hunt
6. Railroad Song
7. Saturday Night Special
8. Whiskey Rock-A-Roller
Midway through the recording of that album, some of the band members were getting into the bad habit of bringing their "friends" around to hang out. (Of course, I never have any friends so I'm not a problem!)
Kooper got real annoyed and I couldn't blame him. It was real brutal. Kooper probably did take off for a few days - but doing that record was the main reason he said he'd had enough.
I recall the studio did not produce a good drum sound and Kooper spent a lot of time trying to get it right. Sometimes it's aggravating to show up at a session and sit around for 4 hours while an engineer gets a bass drum sound.
One time Kooper he showed up a few hours late for a session only to find out that I'd taken it upon myself to change the bass drum sound. I'll admit that was a mistake! COUNTRY BOY may have a strange bass drum sound, thanks to me. At least I didn't bring any friends around.
We were on the road and Al Kooper sent us his mix. It wasn't what we wanted. Oh, why sugar coat it? We thought it was dreadful. The band hated the mix and some of the extra instruments that had been added. Roto-toms, in particular. So everybody in the band took down some notes, gave them to me and sent me out to California to help Kooper re-mix the entire album. I hated it but I sat there every day for a week. Like watching paint dry.
It's a lot more fun at home. No wonder there are so many home studios.
Peter Rudge's idea (For the album title) was "Nuthin Fancy"...
Q - Why was Allen credited with "trout voice" on Nuthin Fancy?
Allen did this voice that someone tagged as the 'trout voice'. I can imitate it but can't tell you what it sounds like...high-pitched with a certain Southern drawl. Hard to describe, but I use Allen's 'trout voice' to call my dog sometimes. He loves it - he jumps all over me when I do it. (Obviously, the 'trout voice' is something of Allen's that stuck with me thru the years.)
I don't know why Allen's credited with the 'trout voice' on the album because I don't think he ever did it on record...I could be wrong, though....I don't remember him ever doing it in a way that would LAST FOREVER.
If we should ever meet, make sure you ask me about it! I'll show it to you.
That album pretty much bombed when it came out. To me, it's still largely unfinished...a very rushed project...in and out in 30 days, literally.
On the back cover of that album (where Billy's flipping the bird), there's a dead gator (that's not in the photo) right off to the side of that path. The property owner had just shot it dead that morning! IN THE HEAD.
Q - It always surprised me that the record co. let the bird finger make the back cover!
Billy was SO SURPRISED. He HATED THAT. I'm serious.
Click images to see larger versions 
NUTHIN FANCY (Jan. '75) was written in the studio ... so that was a departure from Hell House. Actually, I'd have to say that after Nov.'74, we never went back there. We did some rehearsing in a warehouse/studio in downtown Jacksonville. I think that 'upgrading' was not really on our minds. We all had a lot of respect for what had been accomplished out there in the swamp. But the long ride out to Hell House just became inconvenient over time. We sort of ran out of time. Plus we developed that 'up-all-night' mentality. The folks who lived up-river from Hell House wouldn't have appreciated the noise at 3 AM. So we moved it in-doors. |
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:51:39 GMT -5
That's Kooper counting off SAT NIGHT SPECIAL.
The song was written weeks before we knew it would be in the movie. The song wasn't written about any particular experience that I'm aware of.
I was the FIRST one to ever hear the tune! I was showing the rest of the band what I'd written for the music and Ronnie was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. (His writing posture!)
While we were playing, Ronnie got up and walked over to me...cupped my ear with his hand and sung the first verse in my ear. That was a definite rush.
"Saturday Night Special" was recorded at least 6 months before the album NUTHIN FANCY was done.
Artimus wasn't even in the band yet - Leon & I auditioned Artimus one Summer day in '74 in Atlanta and were working up a three-piece version of SNS. (We were thinking about a change of drummers, though we hadn't done it yet.) Kooper stopped by and told us about the movie - we packed everything up, moved over to the studio and cut it...no vocals or other guitars. I used an echoplex (effect) that I'd just purchased....but never used it live.
Arty had a VW van which broke down TWO BLOCKS from the club. He literally carried his drums to the audition! Had to make several trips! Of course, by the time me & Leon got there, he'd already set up his drums - so we didn't hear about this until after the fact.
We played a few Skynyrd tunes - a real COOL version of I AIN'T THE ONE - very "fusion" oriented and 3-piece - I wish we'd recorded it. It was real sparse and airy.
Anyway, Kooper showed up and we decided to work up SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL on the spot. The next day the 3 of us went into record it. And the version on tape actually goes on for another 3-4 minutes - a very cool jam at the end. But no one can find the master tape.
Ronnie & the rest of the guys drove up from Jax a couple of days later and laid down their parts. And that's the story.
MANY people have commented to me, over the years, that this tune is one the best mixed songs they've ever heard. Thank Al Kooper for that. He has the gift of "ears."
I can't recall ever performing that tune until the NUTHIN FANCY tour, Spring '75. Though Sharon Lawrence says she has a version on tape from a show where Bob Burns played drums on it.
Hand guns were made for killin'.
They ain't no good for nothin' else.
And if you like to drink your whiskey...
You might even SHOOT yo-self.
We're not opposed to having guns to protect ourselves.
We just don't like being held up at gunpoint.
There wasn't any method to our madness, with regards to songwriting. It's possible to hold opposite views on just about everything. Depends on the day of the week, the weather, what you had for breakfast, etc.
The multi-track tape is missing... Saturday Night Special goes on for another 2-3 minutes...a space jam between myself, Leon & Artimus. At the end of that tape, there's a song called 'Cottonmouth Country'. It was never finished but no one can seem to locate the master tape.
Artimus didn't join the band officially til 6 months after SNS was recorded.
The Who's "Bargain" (1971) was a MAJOR influence on me. I stole some of those licks and stuck them in "Saturday Night Special." Townshend IS the quint-essential rock n roll guitarist. Because he plays rhythm guitar...he gets it.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:52:12 GMT -5
ON THE HUNT was Allen Collins taking my WORKIN FOR MCA riff, slowing it down, and making a new tune out of it. I was flattered. Until I joined the band, I don't think the band had ever written a song in the key of B before.
The band (in their first real rehearsal with Artimus) wrote that song during a week when I was pre-occupied with a nervous breakdown! Or close to it. I just didn't show up that week. BAD WEEK, I can tell you. Just stressed out...never fully recovered!
Anyway, by the time it got to the studio, I tried to come up with a 3rd guitar part. It wasn't needed. So I didn't play on that track on the album. Gary's solo on that is one of his finest...but I have to admit, I really liked all of the solos he played back then. Well thought-out melodies.
Q - Ed, who played those E B D chords in ON THE HUNT during the chorus? They like slide them once during the 1rst, twice in the 2nd and 3 times in the last one? Is that Gary doing that with his hands or Allen with his vibrato? It's very clever who ever thought of doing that.
That's Allen's. That song was so good that I couldn't find a part to play in it. Artimus & Leon AT THEIR FINEST, especially going into that last verse. OH MAMA!!!
Q - What did you do when it came time to play "On the Hunt" live, just turn down your amp or leave the stage?
I doubled Allen's part.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:52:53 GMT -5
Q - When Ronnie introduces the song "Made in the Shade", by saying when I was young 'un they use to teach me to play music like this here", who's that coughing in the background?
That's Allen Collins with the smokers' hack!
As I recall, Ronnie wrote that song while taking a shower that day. One of the few songs written by LS credited to just Ronnie.
We did play "Made In The Shade" a couple of times with Rossington trying to play a mandolin and Collins on acoustic guitar. It was pretty bad and sure put a kink in an otherwise rockin' set. It had to go. [/b][/size]
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:53:26 GMT -5
Seems to me Ronnie and Allen had written this song the day before we recorded it. It was written around the same time as RAILROAD SONG...at a hotel we were staying in Atlanta, January 1975. We were there the whole month, writing and recording the album. It was our FIRST time as far as doing it ALL away from the cabin (Hell House) and NOT trying the material out on stage. VERY OUT OF OUR ELEMENT. I don't think ANY of us were happy about it.
The solo on "Am I Losin" is me - played on my '64 Gibson SG. For the first part of that solo, I used the neck pickup with the tone control all the way off. Unfortunately, you can hear where I switch to the bridge pickup. It was really "off the cuff" and, to my ears, has quite a few holes. It was a first-taker. It WAS VERY spontaneous, so I decided to leave it as-is. I should've thought about it more, but just wanted to get it done and leave it. We were short on time and I thought what I had was just ok. No one told me to change it. I don't play perfect stuff...I just try and get a good tone and a good vibe. I'm a big supporter of the spontaneous! Be it right or wrong.
The first part of that solo is my homage to Toy Caldwell.
Toward the end of my solo, I overdubbed a Strat part (Kooper's idea) where I sort of mimic the opening of SHA.
I played a Fender Strat through a Fender Twin Reverb for most of that song. The solo is on my Gibson SG through a Marshall (the tone control on the neck pickup is all the way off).
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:53:58 GMT -5
All I can recall about that tune is my regret on not suggesting some kind of drum fill in that LONG SILENCE. As I've said, a lot of stuff on that record was really unfinished. That song certainly is.
Billy started the idea for "Whiskey". Billy came to the studio that day with a piano part that was fairly complicated. I sorted it out and came up with the bulk of the tune. But by the time Ronnie and I had finished with it, Billy couldn't find a piano part! That's the only time I can recall when a tune originated on the piano. (Billy complained many times that no one would write with him. I just chalked it up to the fact that Billy's a classically trained musician and it was difficult to write with him.)
Billy brought the chords of the verse to the table and I turned it from something that sounded rather classical (in the MOZART SENSE) to something we could use. But without Billy's chords, the song would not have been written.
My rhythm part during the verses is pretty important and is missing on their 'live' version. Like the chorus in ALABAMA, they never figured that rhythm part out, either.
Q - Was Billy upset about his part being cut out?
At the time the song was finished in Atlanta, I don't think a piano part was ever recorded. Kooper took the track to L.A. and David Foster played the part. Billy was ALWAYS upset when he didn't get a piano part on tape. I guess that's one of the problems when your producer is a piano player!
There are certain guitar reasons why this tune is flat-out great. The only thing holding it back is Ronnie's 'cold in the nose' on the day he did the vocal. We were hard-pressed to finish the album and get out of town. We should've waited.
I remember doing quite a few takes of many of the songs on NUTHIN FANCY...mostly because we were writing the songs on the spot. WHISKY ROCK A ROLLER took many takes over 3 days to get right and, to my ears, never did get rightly finished.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:54:40 GMT -5
That's the only 'unfinished' Skynyrd song I know of. It's just NOT QUITE DONE. Kooper played the keys...Rossington's not on it...that's Allen at the end. We were so rushed doing that record and we just didn't have time to fully work out that song. Ronnie's vocal is great, though.
One point of interest...I play the bass throughout the entire song EXCEPT the guitar solo in the middle...that's Leon on bass! Weird, eh?
28 days just isn't enough time to write AND record an album!! (WHISKEY is unfinished, too.)
Are the lyrics true? NAH!!!!!!!
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:55:19 GMT -5
RAILROAD SONG was written in my hotel room.
We had to spend the entire month in Atlanta in this lousy hotel and Ronnie didn't spend very much time in the room at all...he was all over town when we weren't working on the album. What I'm saying is, that song wouldn't have gotten written unless he'd answered his (hotel room) phone.
I had the music written and told Ronnie "this sounds like a train song." He had ALL the lyrics together in his head by the next run-through. Probably took a half hour. He never wrote them down...remembered them all perfectly the NEXT DAY.
The slow-down ending wasn't planned but, after hearing Artimus apply his part, seemed like a logical way to end it. That album was some of Arty's best work. That endless chuggin' along thing he plays is difficult. Jimmy Hall played harmonica on the album version.
I would've wanted RAILROAD SONG to be in E but for what Ronnie was writing, that key was too low. I am positive that when he and I wrote the song (late one night in a hotel room in Atlanta) that I played it in E...then revised it the next day to make sure the highest note in his melody was at the highest part of his range.
I never had time to use a capo again.
This song MOVES me and moves me BAD. I swear, Artimus Pyle did some MONSTER playing on that track. How he remembered all those moves, I'll never know. That tune's got some very cool wrinkles.
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Post by ekforum on Dec 2, 2009 16:57:07 GMT -5
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