Last night’s practice was a lot of fun. We had a guest, Jeff, who loaded in about a million dollars worth of recording equipment, so if his ears survived, it will be nice to hear what he recorded. I was really impressed with all his shiny stuff. Pretty.
We started the evening with a rousing discussion on the reasons why and why not to play the song “Danger: High Voltage!” Some of us think it’s a quirky, hot little number and some of us think that we have to pull over on the side of the road and puke if it comes on the car stereo. The discussion did not escalate to the point of fisticuffs, but the point may be moot in any case. The song is a male/female duet and while Wes is a stellar vocalist, he just doesn’t have the legs for it. However, somewhat along those lines, Rodney voiced a concern that falls into the category of ‘had to be there.’
There was also much licking of batteries. I guess it’s a ritual with guitarists, and they wouldn’t let Dave in on it. In response, Dave donned The Hat.
To get started, we warmed up with “Signs” which sounds really good, especially considering this is only the second practice session where we’ve played it. After that we tried “Layla” which is a song we have never played. Another rousing discussion ensued concerning which version we should try. Some of us (the ones that play drums) want to do the Derek and the Dominoes version. Some of us (everybody else) want to play the Clapton unplugged version, with some of the old style guitar thrown in. We settled on the latter, with the caveat that the drummer announced he would be playing under duress. I had a terrible time finding the key, but Philip finally talked me down. We played it about four times. It’s a fantastic tune, and I think it will become one of our favorites. We worked out a really nice transition for that tough ending. The lead is really sweet on that and you gotta’ have that bass to follow.
Next we moved on to “Fire Woman” which is another song we have never played before. It’s a real vocal chord buster, and it’s at the top of my range, but Rodney said it sounded good so I’ll take his word for it. I do like the song and it’s a good old-fashioned, guitar-driven, rock-n-roll number. We cut out the bridge, which simplifies it, but we may want to try it with the bridge to see how it goes.
After that we did “Baker Street” which sounded really good, followed by “Walking In Memphis” which was sweet. Dave’s drums were nice on that one. Next we played “What I Like About You.” We do that one pretty well. Next we played “C.C. Rider” and did an interesting ending on that one, which was kind of cool.
Next we went to “Secret Agent Man.” All was going well, that great guitar intro was smokin’, and as soon as the vocals started, POW! Lightning struck and the lights went out.
The power quickly came back on, but just in case it was a message from above, we unplugged everything for a few minutes. After waiting for what we thought was a safe amount of time, we got everything up and running again. Dave had a problem with his drums and a speaker and Wes worked his magic on it and we were ready to go.
I made a note to insert the phrase “Dave was right” at this point in the newsletter. I’m not sure why, but there you have it.
“It was this big!”
The second time around for “Secret Agent Man” rocked! Love that bass. Next we played “Chevy Van” where I missed the second chorus at the ending and threw us all off, so we did it again. We got it right the second time. Wes’s acoustic sounded really good and Dave’s drums were excellent, as he backed off a bit and played with some real finesse.
Then came the obligatory jam whereupon we rambled through an unknown blues tune. Wes did the vocals and I backed him up. We’re a pretty good improv team.
Then we played “Layla” again where we perfected the transition. Wes made the observation that PJ did a seriously nice arrangement on that number. We all concurred. We played “Signs” again and moved on to “Tainted Love” and it was a disaster! I don’t know why, but I simply couldn’t follow and completely messed up the lyrics. Then we played “867-5309/Jenny” and I left out the ending vocals. I’m surprised they didn’t fire me. As punishment, they made us do “Fire Woman” again, which we did really well and had a very good ending.
I think the secret word is either ‘pick’ or ‘picket.’
My first quote of the night contains one of those words, so I’m going to have to get a ruling from the judges. Do I still win if I identify the secret word and use the quote?
“Wilson Pickett ain’t got nothing on you!” ~PJ, referring to my nice, shiny new microphone with the gold windscreen
“Yeah, but he’s dead!” ~Dave
“I have to compete somehow.” ~JD
“Yeah, it was a B, until I realized what I was playing.” ~Rodney
“We have GOT to do that song before Rodney drives me crazy!” ~Wes
“That was the best that song ever fuckin’ sounded!” ~PJ, right after the power went out
“Don’t make me put the shirt on!” ~Dave
“I’ll be the bass holder.” ~Rodney
“There was an understood ‘if’ in there.” ~JD
“I especially like the various apologies after every song.” ~PJ
“Sorry, my arm was hurting.” ~Dave
“The Drummer’s Creed.” ~Wes
“No, I got tired of waiting for you so I brought my own!” ~PJ
“I was having trouble keeping up.” ~JD
“I was hoping to get some of the thunder in the recording.” ~Dave, in response to queries about the open window right next to the air conditioner
“OK, just put my ass closer to it.” ~Wes
“I think I’m over that now.” ~Rodney
And the winner of the Best Quote Of The Night Contest:
“I already blew two horns.” ~Dave
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