We recorded Baboon Strength
at Trout Studio in Brooklyn. They have an old school
set-up where everything happens in the same room,
instruments, mixing desk, tape machine, everything.
We recorded to 16 track two-inch tape before putting
it in the digital realm (for those of you who
are interested).
Erik brought his 1970s Yamaha
combo organ, Casiotone and Echoplex. His sonic
aesthetic and abilities as an improviser are impeccable.
Go Erik!
Tony played Trout's big
ass bass drum, snare and toms. He also happens
to be, in my opinion, the best pure pocket drummer
I've ever heard. Science. In terms of groove
and time it's his world, we live in it, act accordingly.
Erik and I both concur that he gets the game
ball for this record.
I brought some decent songs
and tried not to overplay. It's
a never- ending process.
Dave McNair did a hell
of a job mixing and mastering the disc. Check out
the fat drum sound on Difford-Tillbrook.
TRACK
LISTING
Athens :
This tune is really supposed to be a kind
of a set opener or closer, a "theme" so to
speak. We call it Athens because the high-pitched
one note melody is our version of said city's
(Greece, not Georgia) horde of excruciatingly
grating motor scooters
Astronaut
Love Triangle : You know the news story.
Welcome to
Frankfurt : What can I say, Europeans like this because
it has a four-on-the-floor bass drum pattern.
Difford-Tillbrook : We call this one "The
Squeeze Tune". It has that vibe.
A Song for
Karen Carpenter : I think she was a great
singer and wrote this with her in mind.
Baboon
Strength : Did you know that" strength" is
the longest word in the English language
with only one vowel?
Fine Corinthian
Leather : A four -chord jam.
Porter-Hayes : This
ended up with a quasi-Stax kind of sound
so I named it after their two top writers.
AbadabA : I was reading "Billy
Bathgate" by
EL Doctorow and decided to name this one
after Dutch Schultz’s number crunching
assistant.
