We’re All In This Together

I am sitting in The Mud House in Springfield, MO, taking ‘er easy for a day. I haven’t had a chance to upload any of the pictures of our trek home until now. On the way back from L.A., Shawn and I decided to stop for anything interesting along the way. Turns out there’s a lot to see, if you don’t have to drive through the night 18 hours for the next gig. We hit Las Vegas(no crazy gambling stories, I’m afraid…I think I bet $3 in the slot machines), drove over the Hoover Dam, caught sunset at the Grand Canyon, went to another ghost town, visited the petrified forest in Arizona, saw the Cadillac farm in Amarillo(?), Texas and we’re not even home yet. I have been trying not to listen to the record every five minutes, so I don’t get burned out on making mixing notes. Honestly, it’s hard to refrain from hearing it and I don’t have many notes…I am so proud of this record.

Shawn and I left home on May 14…that’s one month and some change ago. As we pulled out of his driveway on that day, I realized that we had been working so hard for so long that we had forgotten to get excited about doing this record. Well, that changed pretty quickly as soon as we got out here. I have been thinking about that kid in my parents basement, playing guitar for hours alone and day dreaming about singing his songs for people. If he knew what I know now, he wouldn’t believe the sounds coming out of the studio speakers in front of me. I almost can’t believe it myself. It’s been a long time since I was that kid, but part of him still lives inside my head. I hope he always does. I never want to lose that feeling of elation, when you turn an amp up all the way(to 11, of course) and play and E chord like [insert your rock hero here] with your legs spread out and your head held back. It sounds a little stupid to say, but that’s kind of what this is about. Innocence and innocence lost, taking your youth and encapulating it into a 3-4 minute epic song, letting the melody be your solace, singing at the top of your lungs - even if your voice cracks - so you don’t have to scream at someone. I have always thought( and maybe even told a couple of you) that if it wasn’t for music, I would have gone crazy. Everyone needs to express how they feel. Some people paint pictures, some make movies, some become UFC fighters…you get the idea. I am so grateful to have finally realized this dream of mine. I wanted to make a classic album, like the ones I grew up listening to and learning from. Now, I have it…or at least my best attempt at making one. No matter what anyone says when they hear this, no matter how many get sold, no matter how many people hear it…I am proud of it. That’s not all that matters, but it matter a lot. I have never been so proud of anything I’ver ever done. I hope you will like it too, cause I could not have done it without you. I made this record for you and I. Now, I’m coming home. We are all in this together. - Andy

We did a bunch of little overdubs today. BGVs, small guitar parts, etc. Oh, and I finally recorded ‘Are We Going Down’. It came out just like I wanted…You’ll have to wait to hear just what it’s like now. I don’t think you’ll be dissappointed. Tomorrow is our last day here. We’ll be making “rough” mixes of all the songs, which will still sound better than anything I’ve ever done.

Vincent Jones http://www.apple.com/pro/music/jones/, keyboardist for Sarah McLachlan, came in to fill some holes in some of the songs. ‘Keep On’ has some really cool Clavinet, Wurlitzer and B3 now. It’s like Stevie Wonder meets The Rolling Stones meets Led Zepplin. He also added some amazing things to ‘Maybe Tonight’, ‘Feel the Weight’, ‘Find You’, ‘Easier to Crumble’, ‘Fields of Mourning’ and ‘Lie to Yourself’. It was pretty spectacular watching Vince track a song after hearing it the first time, dialing knobs on his pedals and working his Leslie like a madman. I took a bunch of pictures of his gear: B3, Solina, Clavinet, Wurlitzer, Kurzweil, Styleophone(what David Bowie used on Major Tom), Harmonium, Accordian, Pump Organ and some other things I’m forgetting right now. It’s 3 a.m. and Shawn and I just finished making the loop for ‘Are We Going Down’. It’s time to go back to the Super 8 and get some rest.

We did back ground vocals today on ‘Find You’ and a couple others. Arnold McCuller, who sings with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and a bunch of other people, did this really cool gospel choir on the song. I am so happy. It sounds amazing now. Brian Mcleod came back and did some percussion on some of the songs too. Everything is coming together so well.

Back in the studio today going over what needs what. The glue is being squeezed into the mix. We’re really getting somewhere. I am kind of freaking out about how the songs are sounding.

So, I’ve just finished the vocals for the rest of the songs…minus ‘Are We Going Down’. I’ll do that one Monday, with the rest of the overdubs, etc. Stuff is sounding killer. I can’t wait to start polishing things up a bit with percussion and other texture things.

I finished up the vocals for ‘Last to Know’ this morning. Then I moved on to ‘No Shelter’, ‘Keep On’ and ‘Feel the Weight’. That leaves ‘Maybe Tonight’, ‘First to Promise’, ‘Lie to Yourself’ and ‘Are We Going Down’ for tomorrow. We’ll do percussion and other over dubs next week. 

I have been cutting vocals for the last two days. It’s great having so much time to do work on the vocal parts. So far, I’ve done ‘Find You’, ‘Fields of Mourning’, ‘Give All’, ‘Last to Know’, and ‘Easier to Crumble’. I’ve even been able to do some of the bgvs on a few of them. I should be able to finish all of the vocals by the weekend, so we can pick up on Monday doing various over dubs. I took pictures of some of our notes. You can see them in the Vox gallery.

I found this online today. Rest in peace, Mr. Preston. ‘Fifth Beatle’ Billy Preston dead at 59 07 June 2006 LOS ANGELES: Keyboardist Billy Preston, a so-called “fifth Beatle” who also played with the Rolling Stones and enjoyed solo success in his own right, died in Arizona on Tuesday after a long illness. Preston, 59, had been in a coma at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea in Scottsdale, Arizona, since last November after suffering kidney failure and related illnesses, the legacy of a long-time battle with drugs that landed him in prison in the late 1990s. His sister, Lettie Preston, told Reuters his condition worsened over the weekend. An autopsy will be performed, and his funeral will take place in Los Angeles, she said. A young keyboards prodigy, the Houston, Texas, native spent most of his life in the entertainment business. While still a teenager, he played with the likes of Mahalia Jackson, Little Richard and Ray Charles. With his large Afro hairstyle, ever-present gap-toothed smile and funky clothing style, he was a popular on-stage presence. He entered the Beatles’ orbit in 1969, as the band was on the verge of breaking up, and helped to soothe some of the tension. He performed on both sides of the Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down single, which was credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston” – the first time the band had shared the spotlight with a sideman. He also accompanied them during their last concert that year, the famous rooftop gig in London. In the early 1970s, he topped the charts as a solo act with the Grammy-winning instrumental Outa Space, Will It Go Round in Circles and Nothing From Nothing. He also wrote Joe Cocker’s 1974 hit You Are So Beautiful. At the same time, he was becoming a fixture with the Rolling Stones, recording such tracks as Can’t You Hear Me Knocking and Heartbreaker, and playing on several tours. “He’s just such a great player, singer and songwriter and has spiced up so many recordings with his keyboard prowess,” said current Rolling Stones tour keyboardist Chuck Leavell. “He’s one of my true heroes.” Preston’s private life was darker. In 1997, a California judge sentenced him to three years in prison for violating the terms of his probation for a cocaine possession conviction handed out earlier that year. Born William Everett Preston on September 9, 1946, he moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 2. He appeared in the 1958 film “St. Louis Blues,” which starred Nat King Cole as bluesman W.C. Handy. Preston played Handy as a child. Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson was also in the film, and he would go on to play organ on some of her best-known recordings, including “In the Upper Room.”