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OT - Anyone like the Stones? (aka shameless self-promotion)
Here in the US we have a holiday weekend, so my wife and I decided to drive to the central coast of California (about a 4 hour drive) to let the kids spend a few days with Grandma and Grandpa. Well, turns out Grandpa's wifi router is down, so now I'm stuck at a coffee shop in town working. I'm feeling my age with all the millenials around me, so I was digging into my own past and came across this gem:
About 5 years ago, a friend of mine hired me to play bass, engineer and produce a tribute album to the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. It was an idea he and a college friend had been floating around for years and they finally decided to go for it. They wanted to create an album that wasn't a note-for-note recreation, but rather an album of alternate takes to show our love of the band, the album and the songs.
It took about a year to complete. I recorded the basic tracks live with the band on a Roland VS-1880 hard-disk recorder. These tracks were dumped into my PC (manually, two at a time....) and mixed in Cubase. There's a huge mix of physical and virtual instruments all over the place. Most of the keyboards are soft synths of some kind except for the electric piano. Guitars were mic'd amps that were further processed with NI's Guitar Rig. I used my old Guild M-85 ii bass to emulate Bill Wyman's distinct tone.
The link may only display the first track, but if you click into Soundcloud, we recorded the full 18 tracks of the album. I'd love to hear any feedback you might have.
Thanks for helping me get some extra mileage out of these older projects!
Comments
I can’t listen at the mo but I’m going to see them on Tuesday! The ticket cost an absolute fortune, so much so I couldn’t persuade any one to go with me and is was at least double what I’ve paid for any no festival gig in the past but it’s probably my last chance to see them..
@Daveypoo Sounds like a very close take on the sound/style. Impressive. Never been a complete believer in Jagger as a singer (that whole vocalist argument), but with no disrespect to your boy here, just listening to Tumbling Dice again reminds me what a good job Mick does working with what he has. Did also like the take on 'Happy' which has always been one of my absolute fave Stones' tunes....
@Extnctn6 I saw them when they toured with Mick Taylor a few years ago. Went to two shows and caught Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt & John Fogerty as guests. I hadn't seen them before and had a blast. I never really got the Stones as a kid since I was completely obsessed with the Beatles. It took me a LONG time and a lot of listens to finally understand where they were coming from and "get it." This project helped, of course.
@JohnnyGoodyear Yeah, Mick doesn't necessarily have a singer's voice, but he knows how to use what he's got like any truly great vocalist does. I put him in the same category as other polarizing vocalists Bob Dylan, Neil Young, etc. You either dig it or don't. But yeah, my buddy was certainly a ringer for Mick vocally.
It was a challenge to at the same time emulate the mudiness (and therefore keep the same "vibe") of the original recording while providing enough modern clarity to be able to appreciate the effort that went into it. I wasn't sure when we got started - why re-record an album that was already done perfectly? I didn't want to reinvent the wheel or note-for-note the whole thing. I feel like we found a good balance between our love of the songs but adding a touch of our own flavor.
your old bass was a good choice and you played it really well, too
The vibe definitely comes across. Exile is probably their most musical album, a true classic. Guitar Rig wouldn't have been my favourite choice for post-pro, but since the playing was so nice it's just a (very) minor flaw.
Unfortunately Guitar Rig was the only choice at the time, so we made do. There was only minor processing - most of the guitar parts were played by a Tele, an SG and a number of Les Pauls through a vintage Ampeg guitar amp. It was the Leslie speaker effects, extra fuzz, etc that was added to bolster the existing performances or help them cut through the mix.
Appreciate the compliments on the bass parts. Not being a Wyman desciple necessarily forced me to get it together and match the vibe of the rest of the band.
Love the stones.
Grew up with parents in a rock band.
The Stones were big then. The songs take me back to be a little kid sitting behind the light controls and the guys letting me work the lights on the stage.
Cool Davey.
Mick Jaggers brother lives near here, so we occasionally bump into Mick (and Nick Mason when he visits his auntie) in the local Spar supermarket. Buying fags and stuff. Bit weird.
I’m not a massive Stones fan, but enjoy some of their early stuff: Paint it black, Sympathy for the devil etc.
Chris? He looks like a handsome version of Mick.
His wife has also always been a stunner. The first Roxy Music album is beautiful on both the inside AND the outside.
Nicely done (and that is coming from a massive Rolling Stones fan of both the Jones and Taylor eras)
Are you familiar with Pussy Galore's infamous recreation of Exile on Main Street?
Not sure about the handsome bit but yeah, he plays in the local pubs sometimes too.
No - I'll have to check it out. I'm glad you dug it!
I think we're all pretty much done with handsome at this point. Got away with urbane for a while, but just pleased to be ticking over at this point
Just as a comment to your Mick/Dylan/Neil Young remark, I think Bob’s great vocally. The first album of Sinatra/standard covers sold me, there’s a lot more nuance and talent in there than one might think.
I agree. He is a great example of knowing your own instrument and how to use it most effectively. I really feel that one of the elements that sets apart truly great performers is their ability to effectively wield their own musicality. It's an often overlooked subtlety.
Speak for yourself grandad!
I only grew the long hair when I started going grey. Now I'm just rocking that ex-Vietnam vet vibe a la so many eighties movies....
What a cool project I love every phase of The Stones.
Standout tracks for me are Shake Your Hips, Tumbling Dice, Happy, Sweet Black Angel, Just Want to See His Face.
Love your bass playing, the slide guitar playing, and that drummer.
Do you know if the guitarist who played Keith’s parts tuned to open G for any of those tracks? I’m thinking he didn’t.
Really enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing.
The lead guitarist/lead singer is the biggest Stones disciple I've ever met, so he knows the parts inside and out, to the point where he quoted his favorite solos from live versions of these tunes all over the record. So yes - he used his 5-string Tele with a humbucker in the neck position tuned to open G for the appropriate tunes. The rhythm guitarist was a bit sloppier and cared less about the hardcore details, so that may be what you're hearing.
Thanks for pointing out the standout tracks. Tumbling Dice and Just Want To See His Face are favorites of mine as well and came out particularly good. I really love the organ and piano playing. I had a buddy come in just for those and he completely nailed the Nicky Hopkins parts and the gospel feel of the latter tracks.
If we're into finer details, 'the rhythm guitarrist was a bit sloppier' makes a slight difference indeed. Normally Keith takes that part and the specific Stones groove is said to result from him giving the tempo and Charlie following on drums. A rare constellation in bands.
Tbh after all those years I'm constantly amazed about their late performances. For example their Cuban concert with a full 'Midnight Rambler'. They just love to play
ps: I'm also a big fan of Keith's buddy Gram Parsons, who's (Country) influence is another another trademark of the Stones' sound, featured heavily on Exile.
I would agree with you, however the situation we had here was the bandleader/lead guitar/lead vocalist was driving the project with the rhythm guitar player flying up from LA to cut the basic tracks with us. After that, the BL and I spent the next 11 months adding the remaining guitar parts (other rhythm bits, leads, acoustic, etc), keys, percussion, horns, etc. So while the basic tracks ARE live, the standard Stones dynamic/process didn't drive these performances as we weren't, say, a tribute band. We kinda shoe-horned our own lineup into the feel of the Stones.
Not trying to speak badly of the rhythm player - he just had a different style/approach to the Stones thing than the lead player. I feel like they compliment each other and blur the lines of who did what and who's who.
I've not done anything like this before or since. It was really fascinating to dissect that record so deeply and try to get to the core of it all so we could sort of put out a "Here's what Exile is to us" album. Not an approach I would have chosen were it not suggested to me, but what an education!
I am truly glad you're all enjoying it so much. Thanks for all the plays, and tell your friends!
I much appreciate 'your' approach and have the deepest respect for such a huge project.
No need to pretend to be the Stones, but I found it interesting (afaik some studio interview) because it always puzzled me WHY the Stones were so identifyable, even without Mick's voice.
Thanks - the big eye opener for me during the whole thing was realizing just how good a drummer Charlie Watts really is. And how much he has to suffer through.....
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For the first time since my now distant teen years, I have hair that while not long is not short either. I’m trying for the current Rodger Waters look.
Back OT, Mrs Zen and I saw a Stones tribute band a couple of years ago, and spoke to ‘Mick’ on the way out. We told him it was hilarious how he flounced on, like a big girls blouse....only to realise that it wasn’t supposed to be funny.
Doh!
Yeah - my hair is now longer than it's ever been. It only took me my whole life to finally wear it the way I always wanted to.....
This. They still “sounded” like the Stones after Brian and Mick Taylor. When Wyman left, it all changed. Bill says that he, Charlie, and Keith had this “wobble” because Charlie plays slightly behind Keith’s rhythm and Bill plays slightly ahead, which you alluded to in an earlier post.
Wyman just may have been the glue to it all.
Having said that, Keith plays bass on quite a few tracks and Jimmy Miller plays drums on a few too. Shit, Kenny Jones is the drummer on It’s Only Rock and Roll (song not album). They manage to sound like The Stones on those tracks too. Who knows?
@Daveypoo
The bass drum on All Down the Line is perfect! Pounding through the mix, just like the original.
@supanorton Thanks! There were only 4 mics on the drums: kick, snare & two overheads. Drummer played an old Gretsch or Ludwig kit (can't remember which). I was fairly happy with the drum sound all the way around.
I agree that Bill, Charlie & Keef definitely had a unique groove. That being said, with so many recorded tracks NOT being Bill, and with Exile in particular being so rambling, ramshackle, etc. it almost didn't matter. We just made sure to keep a healthy amount of sloppiness in there for good measure and it all came out in the wash.
Now, that’s music. Thank you man...
One need to listen to Stones now & then, for hygienic reasons