For years I’ve felt like the lone voice talking about rock’n’roll. That’s been changing as the term “rock’n’roll” has been making quite a comeback. People are talking about it more and it makes me feel like I might just have had some kind of effect, even if by only putting it out in the universe watching it come back like an echo. That’s cool in my book.
Since RnR is back in the collective conscience I thought it would be a perfect time to reintroduce my version of it by releasing Rock’n’Roll 4 The Soul. At the core of this album are 6 songs which were recorded just to see what would be created. Something good? Something worth pursuing further? A cool hobby to take up and have some fun with? That’s about as far as it went. I was managing and producing The Discontent, who I felt were THE perfect band for the time. I also started my record label Sha-La Music to release their music. So, I was very involved, if you follow.
I had released the band’s 1st album societydidit and quite frankly…it didn’t. But I knew how good it was and ahead of its time. That’s like a curse to me. I was right about it being ahead of its time, because 5 years later, to reboot the band, I remastered the lead track Bulletproof and released it at Specialty Radio, which were the Specialty shows on Alternative Radio. It was becoming the proving ground for new music at Radio. Even major bands like Radiohead and Foo Fighters released their music there first. It was highly competitive, to say the least!
But I had learned a few things in 5 years and hired the top alternative specialty radio plugger. I used an alternative mix by engineer Tom Fletcher. Fletch was in from LA because I hired him to produce another band I was managing named Shotgun Symphony. In fact, both bands started their projects on the same day. I was at Unique Recording in NYC and The Discontent had booked Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ. I hadn’t been there since it had become a studio. It used to be a club back in the day and my band played there, opening for Robert Gordon. So it was through The Discontent that I would meet the studio owner Ben Elliott, and I was about to start a 20-year working relationship with Ben.
Fletch was staying at my house during this and I would play him what The Discontent had recorded. I played him Bulletproof and he was floored! I asked him if he would like to take a shot at mixing it and he jumped at it. To me, Fletch was one of the most talented producer/engineers I’d ever seen. A very cool guy who knew an SSL board inside and out. Watching him inspired me and got me thinking about recording some of my songs again. It was Fletch who told me to just cut it all live with guitars. Fletch was also ahead of his time and did this killer mix. This time Bulletproof went Top 5 at Specialty, going as high as #3. Instant success for an unknown indie band’s 5 yr-old recording!! 5 years later I had better connections and the right sound for the right format.
It was less than a year after Fletch’s comments to me and I was in Showplace Studios getting ready to cut 6 tracks with The Discontent’s drummer Tommy Mastro and bass player Eric Hoagland. They were rehearsing in Asbury Park in a place called Wild Sound owned by a guy named Joe DeMaio, who now owns Shorefire Studios and is my engineer. Go figure! That’s where I did my 1 and only rehearsal with Tommy & Eric. I knew my stuff would be different from what they were used to, so I told them to just go with it. When I think about it now, I could see that they could have some reservations since I was their manager. My job was to critique their performances at live shows and now I’m asking them to play with me in the studio. Plus, they knew I’d played with Garry Tallent & Max Weinberg from the E Street Band. Maybe a bit of pressure?? LOL
I knew they were cool with it and pumped to get in the studio with me. Tommy was the real deal. I saw it the 1st time I laid eyes on him playing with the band. Eric? Ummm…not so much. I kid Eric. 😊 The truth is he was in a no-win situation. Because I wanted to allow myself the space to experiment with different parts and people I was upfront about it with him, so I told E that I would probably be replacing what he played. Thanks, Eric, for being cool with that. I knew you could handle it. 😊
Tommy attacked the songs like he did with The Discontent but he could also put a groove to it. I would compare him to another great drummer, Kenny Aronoff—muscular, hard hitting, and solid. That was Tommy. It’s a bit of a haze now but I do remember the energy from Tommy & Eric, we were committed! Add to that a great live sound that engineer Ben Elliott got and all done live to tape. ANALOG BABY!! It was a fun day. So much so I had to lay down some vocals and guitars the next day. Now I was doing this because I was bringing The Discontent into Showplace to record some demos for a 2nd album. But first I would borrow Tommy & Eric to cut some tracks of my own music. I was going into the 2nd day and starting to hear about it from the band. INGRATES!!!
So, you get the picture. It turned out when I was done and listening at home I was hooked! Here’s what I remember about these tracks:
Turn Around and Go: One of my all-time faves and I knew Tommy would kill it. He did. I think we cut it first. I added the guitar intro lines and sang one of my best RnR vocals. I wrote the song after a visit to Cheeques, one of NJ’s best Go-Go bars with my cousin Gordon. We were sitting in the middle of the bar when the next dancer was introduced by the DJ. She came out strutting her stuff in heels and wearing a top hat. Suddenly she stopped, put her high heel on edge of the bar right in front of me, leaned over and kissed me! WTF?? My cousin looked at me in amazement and said “do you know how many times I’ve come here? You come in 1 time and this happens”??!! lol I already had the music and just needed the right inspiration to write the lyrics. I knew right then I would finish the song. 🙂
Dead End Space: I wrote this with Jessie Hobbs and Ozzie Caccavelli from The Discontent. Yes, there was a great guitar player in the band named Ozzie. It’s Jessie’s lyrics. He was the main songwriter in the band with me and Ozzie adding musical parts. The band demoed it at Ozzie’s home studio and I think I played acoustic guitar on it. I wanted to do my own version of it after that and brought in Tommy to play drums and PJ Farley (of Trixter fame) on bass. Ozzie came in later to add his guitar. Not 1 of the core songs and definitely not a typical Discontent song. I heard it as a type of Fleetwood Mac thing which fit more with my style.
Think a Little Louder: This song has some epic stories behind it. I was working with a guy in NYC named Eddie Walker. He and his band were rehearsing in Soho near Little Italy. After listening to them a few times I approached Eddie with the music to a song of mine. I played him the song with a melody but no lyrics. I asked him to write them. The next time at rehearsal he sang to me and the band the finished song. I still remember it. That’s how good it was to hear the 1st time. A real Moment! Eddie and his band recorded a decent version, but he and the band would eventually split up and Eddie moved down to Austin. I always liked the song and wanted to cut it myself. This was the last of the core tracks recorded that day and the least successful one for me. I didn’t really like anything about it. A couple of years went by and I decided to go back to Showplace to finish recording the other 3 tracks. Now I’m managing a band called Soaked that won the WXRK Battle of The Bands! The 2 main guys Steve Brown and PJ Farley were in Trixter, which was probably the 1st young rock band to break on MTV. They were just out of high school and Trixter became a big deal.
I decided the problem with the track was the key. It’s in B and will play much better in A. Also, the song had a 3rd verse and I decided to get rid of it. In its place I wrote a bridge that took me back to the final chorus and fade out. When I got to the studio, I had Ben Elliott delete all the recorded parts except for Tommy’s drums. Remember this is analog tape. You wipe it and it’s gone forever! It was here on this track that I learned that the basic track is recorded for the drums. If the drums are all there, then you can re-record anything with them in place. Tommy is solid and he’s all there! I go in and record a new acoustic rhythm track, including a new bridge, with PJ putting down the bass next. Then Steve comes in with his monster red guitar that he saves for special occasions and plays these heavy sounding chords. Now Steve is an incredible guitarist and I know he could have shred all over the track. But he’s chill enough to just play a simple but great sounding guitar part that really carries the track. When I hear what he plays I know the track is finished. It rocks now!
And You Know Why: An important song for me. I was working with Garry Tallent and played it for him. He called Max Weinberg up to come and play on it. He did and we cut it at Shorefire. I didn’t know at the time how rare it was to have both Garry & Max playing as the rhythm section on a track. It turns out, besides backing Bruce, they’ve only done it a handful of times with other artists, and I’m one of them. A few years later I recut most of my parts and added new vocals at Showplace with Ben engineering. Not 1 of the core songs. Had I not written this song, I might have quit music altogether. No lie. That’s how important this song is to me. I had left my band The Tupelos and was burnt out. I just couldn’t bring myself to write the kind of songs we had been playing anymore. After 6 months or so, I happened to be playing guitar and came up with the chords that start the song and verse. They blew my mind. They were so different from anything I had done before, and it relit the fire in me. I HAD to finish this song! Once I did, I never looked back.
Rock’n’Roll 4 The Soul (Part 2)
Lost and Found: This one was probably the 2nd track to be cut. I recut the bass because I heard something different that I wanted to try. There’s nothing wrong with Eric’s part and he knew going in that I would probably redo the bass at some point. It has become 1 of my most streamed tracks. It’s got this vibe and I think that’s what catches the listener’s ear. It ended up with just me and Tommy playing on it. I added a tambourine that makes it feel like a RnR Gospel type of track to me. The lyrics also seem to add to that with a kind of out of the darkness and into the light imagery. There’s something inspirational about it. At the same time, it’s 1 of my oddest songs from a musical standpoint. There’s major against minor musical things that shouldn’t work together but somehow do. Also, years after writing it, I looked at the lyrics from a new POV while recording it and it seemed like they were about something bi-polar…” the lows are high and the highs are low” Then the lyrics on the chorus are so positive. It took me years to understand how I could write them.
Think It Over: Also 1 of the core tracks with Tommy killing it, as are Steve & PJ. I wanted to focus on the guitar sound. The opening chords remind me of Pete Townsend, who is a guitar player I don’t think of right away as 1 of my influences. But every time I listen to him I find myself of 1 mind with him on how to approach guitar parts, especially from a RnR standpoint. There’s a really cool guitar sound on it. As time has gone on, I think this song has some of my best lyrics. I was probably writing it about and to myself, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I also think it’s 1 of Tommy’s best tracks. He plays some parts that surprise me because they’re things I wouldn’t think of him playing. His energy makes the track happen.
Soul’d Out: This is kind of a sleeper. My original idea for the song was in an Americana style and feel, but the lyrics that award-winning lyricist Martin Samuel sent me were so sad. The music I had sounded too upbeat. However, the lyrics fit really well with the melody and I could sing them, so I had to change the groove if I wanted it to work. It was an emotional piece. I cut a demo that I really liked, so I decided to cut it as one of the core tracks. This was the last of the 3 songs that Steve & PJ played on. Steve brought a beautiful 12-string acoustic and played another great sounding part. I had played a pulsing bass part on my demo and I had PJ play the same part but let him decide when to add passing notes and he nailed it. It’s simple but he adds these nice bass lines that help to build the tension in the track. I think it’s 1 of my best vocal performances.
Redemption: The song is built around the guitar riff that starts the song. This is the 3rd and final version of it. The very 1st time I played it with my band was at a small club on the upper East Side of NYC called JPs. Downstairs in the basement were 3 of the owner’s friends—James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet and JD Souther. JD told me he liked the song and that it sounded like a hit. That might have been the hit he had just snorted talking because a closer listen to the lyrics might have changed his mind. When I went solo, I re-wrote and recorded it as Temptation with my good bud Monte Farber playing bass. A definite improvement but I still felt I hadn’t got it right yet. On this version I overhauled the verses and re-wrote the chorus. The lyrics reflected a situation I found myself in, so they were truthful. What I finally got right was the sound of the guitars for the riff and the 12-string Rics on the chorus. That’s what I was always going for, so it was worth all those years to finally get my reward. Redemption was cut with Steve Holley on drums and Paul Page on bass and not 1 of the core 6.
Gongs of Karma: There was a gong in a corner at Showplace Studios and I made it my ritual to hit the gong every time I would start a session. Then I would hit it again before I left the studio after a session was over. One day I had Ben Elliott set up a mike to record me banging the gong, as it were. I wanted to have the sound on tape. It was at a mastering session with Larry Bentley that I decided to use what I had recorded, but listening to just the gong hits was a bit boring. I got an idea and asked Larry if he had some effects I could use on the gongs. After some experimenting Larry found what I was looking for and we created the track. I knew I was going to use it as an intro to Brian Jones. The crazy thing is that the track has been sync-licensed a few times.
Brian Jones: I could write a book about this song, and I probably have come close to it over the years. In case you don’t know who Brian Jones is, he’s the guy who started The Rolling Stones. Mick & Keith joined HIS band. The song came to be written because I was “in touch” with Brian’s spirit. This was confirmed many years later in a channeling session I had with the renowned spirit of Dr. Peebles. Google the good Dr. and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about. I’ll leave it at that and just talk about the song. I’ve said it took me 15 minutes to write and 15 years to finally get it right, recording-wise. This might have been the 3rd or 4th of the core tracks to be recorded. One day I was on my way to the studio to work on the track and I was trying to figure out how to approach it. Then I remembered that when my band was playing it with Garry Tallent on bass, Garry was modelling his bass part on the chorus after Bill Wyman’s bass on The Stones Paint It Black. I wasn’t sure if it fit the song, but it was a very cool idea! Thinking about Garry’s idea of using a particular Stone’s song for the basis of a part sparked the light bulb to go off. Why not do the same kind of thing throughout the song?
When I got to the studio, I went to work with The Discontent to try some of my ideas out. We modelled the chorus on Gimme Shelter with driving guitars and the way it breaks down with the drums. Then I had the thought to try the oohs from Sympathy For The Devil on the backing vocals. From there I added a piano part that plays the same pattern through the song. It’s played to Brian’s piano rhythm on Let’s Spend The Night Together. All in all, I used 7 parts from Stones songs, including The Last Time, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Jumping Jack Flash and Satisfaction. But something was still missing for me. What was it?
One weekend I was going up to Boston with The Discontent for a gig they were playing. I think it might have been on that trip that I saw this wooden stake in the median near Mystic, CT that read “next stop Downtown Mystic”. I knew it was the perfect name for my little project the second I saw it. I never saw that stake again on the return trip or subsequent trips to New England. On the way back from Boston, John Borneo (guitar) from the band asked me what I was doing later. He knew I had a beach house at the Jersey shore and would probably be going down later that night, which is what I told him. He said his sister was having a birthday party in Red Bank and invited me to drop in on my way down to the beach. John was a bit of an enigma to me. He was the heartthrob of the band but was kind of quiet. So I said “sure, give me the directions”. I get there later that night and the party seems to be winding down. John introduces me to some people. I’m sitting at a table in the backyard and one of his sister’s friends asks me if I could use a good harp player? The Discontent is not the kind of band for a harp, but as soon as she asks me, I know I have the missing piece to Brian Jones. That’s just the way my mind works. I tell her to give me the name and number of this harp player. You never know.
When I heard the word harp, I flashed back to the 1st time I saw The Stones. It was a TV show and Brian was wailing on his harmonica. That was it—the harmonica was the missing piece to this track! I called the harp player and asked him if he would come to Showplace Studios to record something for me. His name was Jerry Fierro and as it turns out, he was a champion harp player, having won a few titles in competitions over the years! He showed up at the studio and I wasn’t quite sure what we would do. He asks me what style of harp playing do I want. Chicago? Yeah, sure. Ben mikes him up and as Jerry starts to play, I realize that the harmonica should represent Brian in the song. I tell Jerry to riff after every line, as if it was Brian responding. I coach Jerry to create the intro part that gets repeated in the song and he’s killer! When Jerry is done playing, I know I have the finishing piece I was missing.
Brian Jones is a good example of the lengths I will go to for a get a great track. It will consume me, sometimes for years, but it won’t leave me until I get it! I should be less nuts about it, but then I wouldn’t be me. 😊
Last Teardrop: There are just some songs that I write, and I feel like somebody else should sing them. This is one of them. I don’t think it fits my voice. The original track was recorded with Bruce Engler singing the lead. His voice was perfect for it and he nails it! It’s on his One More Chance album that I produced and played on. This is my version with Bruce adding acoustic guitar with mine. I wrote it at a time of great emotional upheaval in my life and I consider it one of my best. I feel that if I was ever lucky enough to write a “classic”, this would be it. It’s probably one of the lesser-known songs in my catalog and I included it on this release to try and change that. I think it’s a great album closer.
Eyes of The World: This was originally going to be on the album, but it didn’t make the cut because I was never fond of the mix. I decided to finally fix that by remixing it at Shorefire with Joe DeMaio engineering. I added some more acoustic guitars and 12-string Rics to finally get the sound I had been looking for. I had cut the lead guitar part on my 1964 Fender Strat played thru a Leslie speaker cabinet that Ben used for the B-3 organ at Showplace. Bruce Engler, who played a great slide part and sang vocals, went in the studio and would keep the rotors going on the Leslie because they would slow down. Joe featured more of the Strat in the mix to give the track that chimey sound. I was so happy with the results that I decided to release it as the advance single to promote the release of the RnR 4 The Soul album.
So there you have it. These are my best recollections of the songs and recording them. It’s amazing to me that I remembered as much as I did. Part of releasing RnR 4 The Soul is not only tell how DownTown Mystic was created, but also to honor the people that helped me to do it. My main interest was always doing the best thing possible in recording these tracks and I know that everyone who was involved felt the same way. I couldn’t have done it without them and as I look back now, it’s a bit bittersweet because 3 of the participants are no longer with us. Tommy, Ozzie and Ben have all passed since the recordings. I dedicate RnR 4 The Soul to them because we were RnR brothers and they are missed by everyone who knew them.
Listen to RnR 4 The Soul: