The Second Batch October 2005

Hey Now!
Shake It Or Leave It
Big Fat Nada
Danger Waves
You Shoulda Been There
Stevie Gets High
Kitty Caught The Blues
Looking For The Body
He Say She Say
Raw Deal
Out Grew My Lucky Suit
Subterranean Waterfall
No One Won
Roy Loney Is A Major Dude (maybe next time)

The Cast

Roy Loney - acoustic guitar and vocals
Jim Sangster - guitar, bass
Johnny Sangster - bass, guitar
Joey Kline - guitar
Graham Black - drums
Tad Hutchison - drums

Engineered By : Conrad Uno

Produced by Ron, Jim, and Uno

This Is The Modern World

For all you technical minded, a few notes about the recording process....

All three of the Longshots studio albums have been recorded at the very famous Egg Studios, run buy the very famous Conrad Uno. The new album marks the first time Roy had enjoyed Uno's 2" 16 Track machine. There are more than a few people who feel that this is the ultimate in analog recording. In the past 1/2" 16 Track was the medium du jour at Egg.

For this new album, the second phase of work was to be done at several locations. Since none of the rest of us have 2" machines, all the tracks were converted to digital for ease of transport. Egg and GLEA both use Digital Performer as the digital platform. Uno dumped all the tape tracks to a hard drive which was then shipped out to Montana, where the material was prepared for further work

Jim Sangster will be doing work at his Low Beat studio, where ProTools is the format. He asked that I prepare him files with all the separate tracks and a stereo drum mix. This will allow him to mix the music as he overdubs guitars and such, to suit his needs.

Scott McCaughey said this format will work for him as well. Scott will be adding keyboards to the tracks and it's hoped his Minus 5 band mate, Pete Buck will contribute some jangle at the appropriate places. Scott also has some sort of ProTools/Lap Top set up. Good enough for what we need.

This is clearly a much different way to work, and is all new to Roy. I've assured him that it will expedite the process, and give a few more options. The idea of unlimited tracks seems daunting to some, and horribly unspontainious to others. When used correctly, it just means that you are not trying to squeeze the guitar solo between gaps in the vocals. Robert Plant tells stories of just this situation while working on Led Zepplin II.

Make no mistake. There will be no studio trickery involved. What you'll hear on the new record is what was played by the Longshots. Instead of cutting tape with a razorblade, we can do it digitally. That means if I screw up, I'm not picking up tiny bits of tape off the floor!

Once the contributions start coming back to me, there will be more to tell...

November 2005

Before we could move forward there were two songs that needed some attention. The last song written for the album was the Bo Diddly inspired tune, Roy Loney Is A Major Dude. The nature of this sort of song allowed the band to jam around the idea. This resulted in a 6.30 basic track. Roy left it up to me to "pick out the good parts" to assemble the final track around. The song had four verses and choruses, and two extended instrumental sections. After a bit of listening, I mapped out the song, and selected the most exciting parts to keep. This track is no loose one chord jam, but a well structured song. I chose to "condense" the song down some. The first solo section was cut down, and a verse and chorus removed. This meant that some tricky interplay between Tad and Johnny would not be faded out. Only Roy has listened to Bo Diddly more than me, so we knew what the requirements were.

The other song that need editing before we continued was How Would I Know. After the session, Roy realized he had forgotten to tell the band there was suppose to be a full stop between verses. I tried to edit the song with that in mind, but it didn't give us the results we were looking for. I tried another idea. I thought a drum and bass breakdown might fill the bill. Jim suggested it be twice as long. The obvious place for this would be after the guitar solo. A second solo section was also removed to tighten up the arrangement. This is where the song stands now.

January-April 2006

With the Christmas holidays out of the way, Jim Sangster was able to occupy himself with some serious studio time. The arrangements were set, but some much more comes from the guitar overdubs. There had been extensive discussions in at Egg, as to what was needed, but in the end, Jim was given a free reign. In a furious burst, rough mixes began circulating between Jim, Roy and myself. The results were uniformly successful.

Jim is currently a member of several bands: Sgt Major, John Ramburg's Trip Wires, Mark Pickerel's band, and of course the Young Fresh Fellows. It seemed that all these bands required his time, not to mention the day job and a family. There was also a trip to SXSW with Pickerel and a guest slot with The Minus 5. How he found the time to get so much work done is still a mystery. Armed with an arsenal of guitars, he added solos, rhythm parts and a couple of sonic experiments. In the end, he was only sent back for a second attempt on one or two songs.

As April approached it became clear that Joey Kline and Deniz Tek would be in Montana the same week. This meant that Jim would need to gather up all the loose ends and send his work to GLEA, so it could be added to the master reels. Even at this point Roy had some reservations about our working methods. It had taken us a couple of tired to figure out how to exchange files efficiently and communicate ideas. Jim's rough mixes were made with the goal being for us to hear his new parts clearly. This was usually at the expense of a properly balanced mix.

My main concern was making sure the new material would load up with out any problems. There was one mistake, and it was my fault. One guitar track was loaded twice, the second time slightly out of time with the main track. This was only discovered after we'd added more guitars to the track. While it didn't cause us any grief, but it was surprising to find out I'd misplaced a very nice guitar solo Jim had played.

During the tracking sessions Roy asked if Deniz could play on a few songs. It was pretty clear that the AC/DC inspired White Line would be an obvious choice. With Jim's tracks added, there were still a few bits that needed work. Jim's notes suggest some projects for Deniz, and there were one or two things left up for grabs.

When Deniz arrived in Bozeman on the 10th of April he sat down and listen to the progress mixes. I pointed out the songs that he might consider and what was needed. Not only did he love the album, even in this incomplete form, he agreed to have a go at the short list of tunes over the next two days. For his trip to the states Deniz had brought along his Epiphone Coronet, rather than the white Crestwood. This would most of our needs. It's a single P-90 guitar, a popular configuration around here.

This was the guitar of choice for Looking For A Body. Den would need to play the end solo on this classic Loney tune, a brisk rock-a-billy number. In a moment of studio madness the boys moved through not one, but two modulations over the end section. This meant that every few bars, Deniz would have to change the key of the solo. The hardest part was sustaining the energy that long. At this point we didn't know that Jim's short end solo was missing. It took a couple of hours for Deniz to construct a passage he was pleased with. Later, when I discovered my oversight, and added Jim's solo, it all fit perfectly. The song just keeps gaining momentum as they swap solos, and it steps through the key changes. Disaster averted, and Jim Sangster gets to live out one of his rock fantasies, trading licks with Deniz Tek.

The next one up was Big Time Love. Jim's had tried a very surreal solo idea, which was deemed "too much NRBQ and not enough Cramps" by Roy. I made sure Deniz didn't hear this original guitar track, so he would start with a clean slate. He's been eyeing my Epiphone Casino which was sitting around the studio. I'd been trying to sell it with no luck. Deniz thought this might be the guitar for the tune. Much to my amazement he got a killer sound out of it with little effort. Just as we finished this one, a message from Roy arrived asking for a specific part to be played over the intro. We decided to give this job to Joey, who did the business two days later.

Don't Like Nothing was one of really fun tracks to cut. The basic was recorded with Graham, Jim on bass, and Joey on guitar. Jim had not returned to this one, and suggest that Den, Joey, or even Kurt Bloch have a go at the guitar solo. I think Roy was looking to capture a Yarbirds rave up feel on this one. In the studio I did point out to Roy that Shapes Of Things was 2.30 long, while this one clocked in at 4 minutes plus. Deniz went back to the Coronet and I suggest the 60's Ibanez fuzz box for an authentic sound. After a couple of run throughs, I gave him a couple of clues, and he took it right to the center of your mind. Again the long solo required some planning to be sure it built to the proper climax. Den took a few passes, before we sat down and compiled the final solo. It was also decided to get Joey to add another part on top as it built to the finale. Of course Joey delivered the proper part with ease.

I think How Would I Know was the one Deniz enjoyed the most. The song has a Stax-Volt back beat, and a great melody. Jim had suggested an organ solo, but I was hearing Steve Cropper. You had to be there to see the look on Deniz' face when I told him what the idea was. He asked if I'd get the Telecaster out for of the closet for this one. The Memphis sound relies on economy and emotion rather that flash and volume. Again, after a few satisfactory passes we picked out the best playing for the final solo. For good measure Deniz came up with a simple pattern to go over the ending.

It seemed like White Line required a bit more muscle, and it was decided to set up the 50w Marshall. Deniz was expect to play the Malcolm Young part. He did. Kurt will play the flash bits.

Joey Kline arrived a few hours after Deniz had left back to Billings. Joey had family in Helena, so he'd spent a couple of days there, before coming down to Bozeman. Unlike Deniz, Joey had heard all the songs. He'd played on several of the basics, but to keep things simple in the studio, he sat out more often than not. It was then important to get him on as many of the songs as possible. We had a list of songs that there were parts and solos for him to play. The two rockers, Hey Now and Baby Du Jour were the most important ones. We listened to all the songs, and decided if there was anything that could be added. On the ballad, Star Light, Joey just did a small figure to answer the solo.

Roy had a very specific part in mind for Big Time Love. I had the Gene Vincent record we were told to check out. A fully equipped studio.

The song, Miss Val Dupree had stumped everyone else, so we were left to our own devices. Joey and I discussed it for a while, and hit on an idea, which was tried out. It's now awaiting an organ part and final vocals. This one has hints of the early Groovies, good time sounds.\

Roy was sure about the solo that Jim had played on Carnival Ride. We decided to try a radically different approach to the song, Replacing a nylon stringed guitar solo with a pretty dirty guitar line. In the end, Roy wasn't sure if this was what he wanted for the song. Jim has suggested he would try something yet again different before we called it quits. With 18 songs track, and only 13 required for the album, it's becoming more apparent what songs are at the top of the list. A tentative running order has been drawn up, but it's still too early to say if this will be the final choice.

At the moment, Roy is planning a trip to Montana at the end of May. In the meantime, Jim has sent the updates to Kurt Bloch and Scott McCaughey so they might fill in some gaps. Johnny Sangster has also scheduled some studio time to add organ to a few songs. Once Roy completes his vocals, all that is needed will be some background vocals. Scott Sutherland will once again assist with this chore.

May-June

Scott McCaughey has started adding keyboards to a long list of songs... His first attempt was piano and organ on How Would I Know. The parts were just what the song needed. We are waiting on further contributions now.

Deniz was back in town for a few days. Roy had asked him to have a look at the solo on Baby Du Jour. The solo Joey had performed was deemed too radical for the song. "It's just suppose to be Chuck Berry-Keith Richards" was Roy's comment. Deniz chose the Les Paul Jr for this one. I'd put up the Tweed Bassman to see if it would deliver the proper sounds. It did. After a few takes, Deniz asked to hear what Joe had done, in order to see what it was that Roy care for. After that it was a simple matter, and one punch to fix a bum note.

Big Time Love was still unresolved. There was an element of Jims part that wasn't working for Roy's ear. I figured it might be a good idea to talk to Bobby Sutliff about having a try at this one. He had asked if there was anything he could play on. Early in the process, it was suggested not to have to many people working at cross purposes. The changes we were asking him to do are actually very subtle. He did come up with a new idea straight away, which Roy asked him to pursue. I encouraged Bobby to continue in that direction, which he did successfully. He was sure he wouldn't be able to improve on Deniz' solo, so he let that stand as is. At the moment we will have to see what the final mix sounds like before it can be decided if this one will make the final list.

Roy and Deniz will be here in a week to work on the lead vocals and add acoustic guitars as needed.

Roy arrived on Monday the 5th of June. Rather than trying to start work straight away, we decide a nice dinner and drinks is in order.

On Tuesday we get right to work on the acoustic guitar overdubs that need to be done. Roy gets right to it. For the sessions at Egg, Roy sat in the booth with an acoustic plugged in to the board, and sang guide vocals. These were just meant to be scratch tracks, there was attempt to "get a sound", it was just so the band could follow the songs. Until now, it's been impossible to get a good sound from either in the rough mixes. Roy with my Martin in hand does the business. Songs like Baby Du Jour and Hey Now! come to life with beautiful Everly Brothers like strumming. In the end we decide there are two or three songs that don't need the acoustic. We are done by six in the evening. Deniz has arrived by then, and joins us to hear the playbacks.

The discussion turns to the matter of the song Don't Like Nothing. When we tracked the song in Seattle, Roy said he wanted a solo like Shapes Of Things by the Yardbirds. I pointed out at the time, that Shapes is 2.30 long, and the solo on Don't Like was itself nearly two minutes long. Deniz had done a very nice solo back in April.

While the grill was warming up for dinner, Deniz and I approached Roy with the idea of editing that solo section and then redoing the guitar solo. Roy thought about it for about ten seconds, and said "yeah". Deniz and I mapped out the drums, which are the key element in creating the excitement. Quick notes and a few markers. Snip, snip, and it was done. This is one time that no one has a problem with digital recording...

We decided to wait until the next morning to do the guitar overdub.

The original solo had been done on Deniz' Epiphone Coronet, with my Ibanez Original Fuzz. Den hadn't brought a guitar with him this time, but he figured my Les Paul SG Jr would do. It's the same guitar, with a different shape. It's also Deniz first choice when he's working at GLEA. While setting up the Fuzz, the battery clip broke. With no time to fix it, I dug out the Shin-ei Companion. It's a gnarly 60's Fuzz/Wah pedal. A few adjustments, and we had the sound needed for this ripping guitar part. Deniz proceeded to play in the proper Jeff Beck style, which pretty much means soloing all the way through the song. A few takes and it was clear the new edited version was going to work much better.

By the time Deniz hard wrapped up the guitar part, Roy had brushed his hair, and was ready to sing. We had a fairly rigorous schedule for vocals. We needed to get seven songs done each day. An album cover photo shoot was also booked for Wednesday. Roy made the most of the the day, and had the the seven songs done by dinner time.

Of course I knew Roy was a great singer, but I'd never worked with him, cutting vocals until now. What I learned is he is an amazing confident signer. I've never worked with anyone who made it so easy.

A couple of months back, I ran into an old aquaintance, Lisa Kerry. Back in 1990, when she was going to school here, she sjowed up at the house for a post YFF' Dharma Bums party. She'd returned to Bozeman last summer, and were reintroduced by Colter Langan. As it turned out LIsa was now doing photography professionally. She asked me if I ever had a need, and I mentioned the upcoming Roy Loney album.

After exchanging ideas, Roy and I had hit on an concept for the front cover. This is always a major issue with every release. With the idea worked out, I told Lisa what we were aiming for. She thought it would be easy, which it was. It only took a few minutes for her to capture the desired image. She took a few more safety shots, and then I asked here to take a few casual out door shoots of Deniz, Roy and myself. One that was done, it was back to work.

The session wasn't with out it's problems, but these weren't artistic. It was computer gremlins that dogged us all day. After the dinner break, and photo shoot, the problems only became worse. Deniz was meant to add some guitar to the song Miss Val Dupree. Rather than kicking the computer, I rebooted from a back up start up drive, and things seemed to stablize. While holding my breath, Deniz came back down to the studio and added a simple, but solid rhythm part that the song desperately needed. He also did a small repair on Baby Du Jour. This covered over a missed change, and we were set for the day. I was so rattled from the near disaster, and wound up from a very serious day of work, it took a couple of long shots from Roy's bottle of vodka before I could relax.

Deniz had to get back to work the next day, so everyone, but myself was in bed by midnight. I was up early, to see Deniz off, and make some coffee for all of us.

Having Deniz in the producers seat the day before had been a luxury. He's always got a good idea of what needs to be done. Coming off the Birdman sessions, his senses were well tuned in to the proceedings. We had used the same methods that were used in the studio while Rob was cutting vocals. For the most part the tracks were recorded with little effort. Roy is a great singer and had a good idea where each song was headed. No major changes were made in the studio. A few parts were doubled, and Roy sang harmonies on a few of the songs. Once again we were done by dinner time. As Karen was out of town, we hadn't made any plans to fire up the grill. When I offered up the options, Roy thought a return visit to our local Italian joint would be in order.

Roy also decided we had best get another bottle of Vodka, so we took a walk across the street to the Cats Paw. The Paw used to be one of the best venues in town, until they decided that a casion/sports bar would be a bigger money maker.

When we returned we got word that Karen couldn't find a room in Billings, so she was on her way back to Bozeman. She might has asked that we save her some Vodka.

On the eve of his departure to Bozeman, Roy suddenly had the good idea to extend his stay thru Sunday. He had no work obligations until Wednesday, so there seemed no reason to rush back to SF. This also gave us a couple of insurance days and allowed Roy to sit in on my radio show. He had spent time since his arrival digging through the record library in the studio, looking for favorites to play. He also worked up a four song set of songs to play live.

This meant that Friday would be a day to relax and reflect on the work done over the last three days. As expected, Roy was an excellent guest, and talked at length about music. The live segment of the show can be found here. After a half hour of live music and talk, we played his selections and talked about those. Roy is an encyclopedia of music knowledge, and a real treat to listen to. It was this sort of musical banter that began our friendship in the early 70's. You can listen to Roy's Piledriver Session over here on the new Roy Loney Download Page.

We had earmarked Saturday as our one chance to take a day trip to Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman in just 90 miles from either the West or North entrances to Yellowstone Park. This means it's pretty easy to take a day trip to the park and still see pleanty. Our usual route is to head down to West Yellowstone and then pick a couple of sites to see. Karen suggests the Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone. It's pretty dramatic, and there are waterfalls involved. We do make a stop at Norris Geyser Basin, as it's as good a view of the thermal activities as you'll see, and there is no waiting.

When we get to Canyon Village, we see that Dunraven Pass has finally reopened after years of repairs. This determines our route back to Gardener, and back home. The Artist Viewpoint offers a stunning vista of the canyon and the falls. I think this is the first time we have all relaxed this week. It's sort of mind numbing in it's beauty. A small trail marker points to "Sublime", but we figure we had better hit the road if we want to get back early enough to grill up those New York steaks we have in the refrigerator back in Bozeman. The quick trip is deemed a sucess, we see loads of buffalo, and we get caught up in a bear sighting traffic jam. Of course we are too late, and most people just tell us what they heard.

The steaks are grilled in due course and we listen to jazz records all night, to try and raise our consciousness to a higher level. I think it's the wine and vodka that do the trick. We enjoy dinner and a lively discussion of movies and music. This is what to expect when hanging out with Roy. Over the week long visit, we've been spinning everything from the Four Freshmen to the Beatles and Kinks in mono. Hearing Sgt Peppers and Magical Mystrey Tour with Deniz and Roy is a refreshing reminder of what has inspired us all. It also makes us work that much harder.

On Sunday, I decide to fry up the bacon at home. While the airport is only 8 miles from our door step, I don't want to deal with any possible hang ups in search of seat at the local eateries on Sunday morning. We enjoy one last breakfast, sitting in the garden and reflecting on the week's progress. Roy is already trying to figure out how he's going to get back to Bozeman sometime soon.

So it's back to work for all of us. I'm left with fourteen songs which need rough mixes. This is a time consuming process, but points to a problem free final mix. Roy does balk at my first try at the new edit of Don't Like Nothing. Before I even sent it to him, I had decided on a different approach. The remix is well recieved by Den and Roy. That means that problem is now solved and the song will find a spot on the album. By this time, there is no question that Big Time Love is also a keeper. Roy wasn't sure that the direction the song had taken was what he had in mind. I keep pressing the issue, with Joey and then pinch hitter, Bobby Sutliff. Bob's idea is the catalyst for a new approach.

There is still the matter of keyboard overdubs. Scott McCaughey is only able to tackle a couple fo songs, but that should be plenty. I ask Deniz if Pip Hoyle from Birdman can take on one or two songs, and he says yeah. Pip has a home studio, where he'd done some of his overdubs for Zeno Beach. I emailed Pip and he is thrilled to be asked. Since he's so enthusiastic, I send him two songs that need attention: Miss Val Dupree and Hamlet's Brother Happy. We shall see. Jim Sangster has suggested one of his friends might be able to do some keyboards for us too. Knowing how these things work, I tell him to put the touch on his pal anyway.

Hamlet's Brother is also in need of a solo. Roy is hearing oboe or recorder. After much thinking, I remember my friend Renee Westlake is in the music department at Bozeman High School. I give her a ring, and she gives me two names of potential sessions players. Funny thing is, music students aren't always used to the idea of playing by ear and improvising. Us unschooled rockers can only work on the fly. I've sent a mix of the song to Anna Kendall. She's scheduled to drop in when she returns from music camp next week.

more as it happens.......