Flaco Jimenez/ Dwight Yoakam - Carmelita

"Heavy Drums & Horns!"
45 King (featuring Tiger) - Funk Box

nelson, not only super talented.
but he was quick witted & hilarious.

A brief story about the "King "

My family had returned to NY for the holidays, and on
Christmas Day, 2006, James Brown passed away. It
was announced that there would be a public viewing at The
Apollo Theater. I mentioned to Mark that I'd like to take my son
but it was extremely cold, and I feared that the line waiting to get in
would be difficult for my nine year old to manage. His reply was priceless,
and I can quote it to this day.

"Don't worry, Dave," he said. "There are two lines; one for Blacks and
one for white people.........and the white line is really short!"

Mark James, The 45 King Dead at 62
He was a very close friend and professional associate for many years.
A totally unique and creative individual. RIP.
https://variety.com/2023/music/news/mark-45-king-eminem-stan-dead-queen-latifah-1235762467/

I knew a few benign Hell's Angels
when I lived in Seattle.
There was a bit of disbelief in the clubhouse.

Here's one you'll repeat to "biker" friends.
I "dropped" the iconic & legendary Captain America chopper and dented the tank!

Before I tell my story, these links will be appropriate background information.

Ben Hardy built six custom bikes resurrected from an LA Police auction.
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/ben-hardy-1921-1994/

While Peter Fonda has taken enormous credit for the creation of those bikes,
it was a friend of mine named Cliff Vaughs who was the true unsung producer of
the finished choppers.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=cliff+vaughs&bshm=rimc/1

How I came to foolishly attempt a slow 360 at the intersection of Carl & Cole Streets
in San Francisco, on a bike with extended forks follows, "soon."

......an outstanding session player, as well.

Steve Ferrone replaced Stan Lynch in The Heartbreakers.
He's an English drummer who first caught my attention when he replaced
Robbie McIntosh in the AWB after he died of a heroin OD.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=steve+ferone&bshm=rimc/1

Otis Redding - Cigarettes & Coffee

Kenny Vaughan on Mike & Tom on tour

If you have it available in your area,
the David Fricke interview w. Mike Campbell, currently playing
on PBS nationally, is outstanding, IMO.

If you've not seen the Otis Gibbs/Kenny Vaughan
story about his experiences w Tom & Mike in the Hamptons,
it is also revealing about who these "crackers" really were.
As previously mentioned "my kinda guys!"

They had some magic;
I always liked his songs but I liked THEM more after
listening to KV's story about their "barbecue" behind the tour busses.
My kinda guys.
I've watched an in depth interview w. Mike Campbell currently showing
on PBS, twice.
It's very insightful into how songs are organically created.

Otis Rush - Double Trouble

Otis Rush - I Can't Quit You Baby

Cap, answering your question about Coupe Studios
made me think about my studio experiences in general.

I've probably worked in over 100 of them in multiple places including,
New York, Rhode Island, Colorado, California, Puerto Rico, The British
Virgin Islands and most memorably, in Port 'O Spain, Trinidad W.I.

What I'd like known, as my opinion only, is that there are no magic studios.
What happens on the "south side of the glass," where the singer/instrumentalist
performs is where the only possible magic can occur. As I've said for many years, "you can't
shine a turd," and regardless of what super engineers, and elaborate processing
tools (including auto tune) are employed, if it ain't going into the mic good, it ain't
gonna be more that a post production patch job. Honestly, that's what the pop music
today is all about. It's the product of producers, engineers and digital equipment that turn crap
into louder crap; once again, strictly my opinion.

I loved recording the entire production all at once, either via direct to two tracks, or having
everyone in the room at the same time, with overdubs only for multi instrumentalists and the vocalist(s).
I read once how Tom Petty thought having all five members of his band record at the
same time was not only more spontaneous but permitted the musicians to create based on the
interplay of playing together. It's cost effective, as well!

Of course; I never worked there
because they were not a pro format facility when I lived in Boulder.

Later, in the eighties, I believe, they upgraded to a pro format 2" 24 track recording
facility. By then, I had moved back to New York.

They were nice guys, and I always thought they had a decent studio.

Sixty plus years.....
so far so good.

They certainly are.

I always liked it.
He has/had a pretty rabid following with his special down & out way
of glorifying low lifes.

Tom Waits - Please Call Me Baby

Quirky dude.

Tower Of Power - Boys From The Bay

Kenny Vaughan on Prine & Van Zandt

John Lee Hooker on Amps, Guitars & SRV
https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/john-lee-hooker-out-of-the-younger-generation-of-the-blues-singers-who-was-my-pride-and-joy-stevie-ray-vaughan-he-could-do-anybody-albert-king-jimi-hendrix-george-benson-anybodys-thing-id-sit-down-and-watch-him-do-that

R. L. Burnside Stack O' Lee & Billy Lyons

He did.

I overstand where Keith is coming from,
but I disagree.

Archibald & His Orchestra - Stack-A' Lee

Right cap...........
in his world in Nashville & thanks to Marty Stuart's
incessant need to tour, he's well known for exactly that.

I appreciate Otis Gibbs for what he's done, as well.

After the one hour or so that we spent with a guitar overdub,
I never saw nor heard much about him for the next 25 years.
One reason was that he and my friend with whom he'd co-written
a tune that I recorded had a falling out and the recording got shelved.

It wasn't until Steve Conn told me that Kenny had been in his band but left
and had joined Marty full time, that I fully understood how successful he'd become.

When we met up again in Portland a few years ago, I was happy to
congratulate him and say "Glad to see you made something of yourself, son!"

nelson, you are diggin' deep in the crates
for that one!

This album has been sampled many times, in addition to its influence on
percussionists.
The principal drummer, I believe, was Jim Gordon. He was an incredible studio drummer
who, haunted by demons, committed an unspeakable act.

For you guitar buffs,
that's the legendary Clarence White's souped up
Telecaster Marty plays.

Funny you mention Johnny........

I saw a live broadcast of his revue
from a studio in Denver. He played piano with his very professional band
featuring Little Esther, the Fat Girls & his son Shuggie.

It was an incredible performance, marred inexplicably when Shuggie
suddenly took off his guitar and threw it on the floor, while leaving the stage, mid-tune.

Kenny Vaughan - Pipeline

Otis lives in Indianapolis.
He shows up in Nashville and rents a "reasonably shabby"
room in a local motel/hotel. (as pictured) He calls the day before arriving,
asks KV to meet him at 10:00 am and doesn't tell him the subject(s) until
they are on camera!

When I recorded Kenny, it was for a Gene Haywood track. He was recommended
by the bass player in a band I'd previously been in and he showed up, "punked out" in spike
boots with a pink telecaster. He had a punk band at the time in Denver with his close
associate, Leroy X. A few years ago we re-acquainted when Marty Stuart performed in Portland.

Recently, I've arranged for a friend to co-write some songs with him.
He's asked Wendy Motin (recent Voice contestant) to sing the demo on one
of them, in which I had a hand in writing.

He's exactly what you see in those presentations; cool and very gracious.

Kenny is a super cool dude, and
I hired him for his FIRST recording session when he was 18 yrs old, in Denver.
We did some catching up the other day. He gave me the back story on Otis Gibbs.

That's what they always called me.

Jim Pepper - Comin & Goin

Hard to tell it's only a trio.

Perfectly obvious to me, Myth...
who got the best hair.

Sonny Landreth @ Crossroads 2023
begins about six minutes in