Post by rockinronnie on Feb 28, 2014 21:01:03 GMT
Taken from the official messageboard in October 2008:
Pete
Member
Member # 1763
21 September 2008
John,
I’d be very interested in your recollections and impressions of the recording of the tracks that ended up on the Never Too Late album. This album is typically disparaged by the group as a bit of a throwaway effort, as a bunch of tracks left over from the Just Supposin’ sessions.
But the album has quite a following here, judging by comments on the (official) Message Board from time to time.
I like both Just Supposin and Never Too Late, but if anything, I think Never Too Late is the stronger album, at least in terms of overall quality of the material. It is very varied in style though, suggesting that the band were pulling in quite a few different directions by this time. Any recollections / thoughts on the recording sessions would be much appreciated!
And a couple of specific questions if I could. The Lancaster track “Mountain Lady” and the following one he wrote with Andy Bown – “Don’t Stop Me Now” - are quite unlike anything much Quo have done before or since. But I like both tracks a lot, really first class – were there any particular challenges posed for you in your role given they were quite a departure from the Quo ‘template’? And where did the idea come from to run the two tracks together on the album without a break after the cold ending to “Mountain Lady” – was that something planned all along, or did it just come together in the studio?!
And Riverside. A typical Rossi/Frost track in some ways – a real ripper though! - but presented very unusually, with an extended fade in and an extended fade out repeating “Riverside” over and over. Again, was that concept something that only came together in the studio, or as far as you know, was that approach always in the writers’ minds?
Any insights would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
Precious Pup
Member
Member # 14582
1 October 2008
Hi Pete,
To talk about N.T.L. really includes the recordings of J.S. also.
It was our 2nd visit to record in Dublin - four years earlier we had attempted what became R.A.O.T.W. but the studio just didn’t work out. In the time that had elapsed from R.A.O.T.W., C.S.T.H. and W.Y.W. a great new studio had emerged called Windmill Lane and it was a very different set up from the other studio we had visited years earlier.
The recording area had a large open room and the console and tape machines where MCI which was one of my favorite board/machine combinations at the time. We stayed once more at Jury’s Hotel a short drive to the studio which had a 24 hour café perfect for a late night snacks.
Francis had been spending quite a bit of time in Ireland writing with Bernie. Richard had been in the Channel Islands and Ireland both of which were temporary living areas for tax reasons. Alan I believe had made Australia his permanent home. John was based in the Isle of Man which was no more than an hour flight to Heathrow and Andy I think was in living in Barnes. So in respect of four of the band members it was a nearby location out of England to there main residences.
My letter of agreement at the time was to record tracks for two albums.
Songwriting within the band had its definitive camps something that was there from R.A.O.T.W. Sadly Bob Young’s presence had become less in the studio, which I never understood but always put it down to Francis’s growing friendship with Bernie.
There were no album titles when we started and we ended up cutting a total of 16 songs in Dublin. It was never finished as one album then started to record songs for another. It was not defined that way until after we had recorded all the basics in Dublin. So for example “Don’t Drive My Car” could have just as easily been on the “Never Too Late” album and “Take Me Away” could have been on the Just Supposin’ album.
What however was different on N.T.L was that three songs on the album. - “Something About You Baby”, “Oh Carol” and “Riverside” plus AB Blues the ‘B’ side of What You’re Proposin’ were not recorded during the sessions in Dublin.
My recollections of the recordings in Dublin were that they went pretty smoothly. We set John’s kit up in the same room, with just separation screens between the amps, so everyone played together. The studio worked out great, the hotel was fine and had a pool that provided early morning exercise for Alan and I in what became known as the “Jolly Knobble” period by Francis. It was a time that Francis saw Alan bending “my ear” about what he wanted to see happen in the studio that day.
Despite the ups and downs that always ran there course with S.Q. the tracking stage was going along pretty well until Richard had an accident one night and burned his fingers. A night of entertainment with Scott G. of Thin Lizzy ended up with Richard falling asleep with a cigar in between his fingers. Fortunately he was lucky, he healed quickly but we did loose a bit of momentum in the tracking stage as he could not play and we moved onto overdubs for a few days on tracks we already had in the can.
I really don’t recall anyone being “pissed off” has Alan has mentioned in interview and the fact that he regards N.T.L. as a “throwaway” could probably just as easily be applied to J.S. I think these comments surround more the friction within the band rather than the actual recordings we made.
John played well on the Dublin sessions and was pretty consistent, one or two incidents but no more than I had got used to. I spent many evenings with him after recording’s having a pint or two.
IMHO every band is the sum of the components; it’s just that some of these components have a greater contribution than others. Francis is without any doubt the most prolific writer of this band and it’s Captain. Quo’s sound is uniquely identified with the guitar interplay of Francis and Richard, Francis’s lead vocals, the dual lead vocals of Francis and Richard and the great double act that Francis and Richard developed together in the media. John I think understood and accepted this, he did not write which if he had may have helped in the feel aspect of interpretation of the songs but may be not… Francis is a pretty good drummer and keyboard player and certainly had frustrations at times with John’s feel for his songs.
Richard was going through the worst possible time any parent could imagine with the loss of Heidi when we started working on the overdubs of N.T.L. so it was understandable that his focus at the o/dub and mixing stage may not have been the best it could be. I think also deep down he did not like the fact Bernie did so much of the hi harmony work on these sessions which lead to his comment about people doing bit parts.
Richard I must say always provided the heavier side of Quo on these sessions. Songs like Take Me Away /Coming and Going and Don’t Drive My Car turned out really well.
Mountain Lady ended the way it did due to the great Quo treatment the song received. The end section is for me the best part and ends the way it does to take advantage of the groove that was established at this part of the track. The sudden end is simply me pressing the stop button on the multi track machine just before the take broke down. If you listen carefully you can hear the machine slurring into park and then the decay of the echo used.
It could have been faded but we would have lost the impact of the length of the section and its effect into the edit of Don’t Stop Me Now, which all came about when the running order was assembled. It was not part of the original process of recording these tracks.
Riverside the last track of side two (vinyl only album in 1981) was added last minute just before mastering. The intro from memory was the mix of the end section that we crossed faded into the verse all done with ¼” analogue machines. The basic track I think was the original version I recorded with Francis and accounts for the fact that John does not remember playing drums on it.
I’ve re visited tapes from these albums the past few weeks and think they still sound pretty good after 28 years. Found a version of Rock ‘N’ Roll that ends when the tape ran out and ends in a long echo which I don’t think has ever been used.
N.T.L. “A Throwaway Album” – Not in my opinion Alan!
Hope that helps explain some of your questions.
Best P.P
Pete
Member
Member # 1763
21 September 2008
John,
I’d be very interested in your recollections and impressions of the recording of the tracks that ended up on the Never Too Late album. This album is typically disparaged by the group as a bit of a throwaway effort, as a bunch of tracks left over from the Just Supposin’ sessions.
But the album has quite a following here, judging by comments on the (official) Message Board from time to time.
I like both Just Supposin and Never Too Late, but if anything, I think Never Too Late is the stronger album, at least in terms of overall quality of the material. It is very varied in style though, suggesting that the band were pulling in quite a few different directions by this time. Any recollections / thoughts on the recording sessions would be much appreciated!
And a couple of specific questions if I could. The Lancaster track “Mountain Lady” and the following one he wrote with Andy Bown – “Don’t Stop Me Now” - are quite unlike anything much Quo have done before or since. But I like both tracks a lot, really first class – were there any particular challenges posed for you in your role given they were quite a departure from the Quo ‘template’? And where did the idea come from to run the two tracks together on the album without a break after the cold ending to “Mountain Lady” – was that something planned all along, or did it just come together in the studio?!
And Riverside. A typical Rossi/Frost track in some ways – a real ripper though! - but presented very unusually, with an extended fade in and an extended fade out repeating “Riverside” over and over. Again, was that concept something that only came together in the studio, or as far as you know, was that approach always in the writers’ minds?
Any insights would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
Precious Pup
Member
Member # 14582
1 October 2008
Hi Pete,
To talk about N.T.L. really includes the recordings of J.S. also.
It was our 2nd visit to record in Dublin - four years earlier we had attempted what became R.A.O.T.W. but the studio just didn’t work out. In the time that had elapsed from R.A.O.T.W., C.S.T.H. and W.Y.W. a great new studio had emerged called Windmill Lane and it was a very different set up from the other studio we had visited years earlier.
The recording area had a large open room and the console and tape machines where MCI which was one of my favorite board/machine combinations at the time. We stayed once more at Jury’s Hotel a short drive to the studio which had a 24 hour café perfect for a late night snacks.
Francis had been spending quite a bit of time in Ireland writing with Bernie. Richard had been in the Channel Islands and Ireland both of which were temporary living areas for tax reasons. Alan I believe had made Australia his permanent home. John was based in the Isle of Man which was no more than an hour flight to Heathrow and Andy I think was in living in Barnes. So in respect of four of the band members it was a nearby location out of England to there main residences.
My letter of agreement at the time was to record tracks for two albums.
Songwriting within the band had its definitive camps something that was there from R.A.O.T.W. Sadly Bob Young’s presence had become less in the studio, which I never understood but always put it down to Francis’s growing friendship with Bernie.
There were no album titles when we started and we ended up cutting a total of 16 songs in Dublin. It was never finished as one album then started to record songs for another. It was not defined that way until after we had recorded all the basics in Dublin. So for example “Don’t Drive My Car” could have just as easily been on the “Never Too Late” album and “Take Me Away” could have been on the Just Supposin’ album.
What however was different on N.T.L was that three songs on the album. - “Something About You Baby”, “Oh Carol” and “Riverside” plus AB Blues the ‘B’ side of What You’re Proposin’ were not recorded during the sessions in Dublin.
My recollections of the recordings in Dublin were that they went pretty smoothly. We set John’s kit up in the same room, with just separation screens between the amps, so everyone played together. The studio worked out great, the hotel was fine and had a pool that provided early morning exercise for Alan and I in what became known as the “Jolly Knobble” period by Francis. It was a time that Francis saw Alan bending “my ear” about what he wanted to see happen in the studio that day.
Despite the ups and downs that always ran there course with S.Q. the tracking stage was going along pretty well until Richard had an accident one night and burned his fingers. A night of entertainment with Scott G. of Thin Lizzy ended up with Richard falling asleep with a cigar in between his fingers. Fortunately he was lucky, he healed quickly but we did loose a bit of momentum in the tracking stage as he could not play and we moved onto overdubs for a few days on tracks we already had in the can.
I really don’t recall anyone being “pissed off” has Alan has mentioned in interview and the fact that he regards N.T.L. as a “throwaway” could probably just as easily be applied to J.S. I think these comments surround more the friction within the band rather than the actual recordings we made.
John played well on the Dublin sessions and was pretty consistent, one or two incidents but no more than I had got used to. I spent many evenings with him after recording’s having a pint or two.
IMHO every band is the sum of the components; it’s just that some of these components have a greater contribution than others. Francis is without any doubt the most prolific writer of this band and it’s Captain. Quo’s sound is uniquely identified with the guitar interplay of Francis and Richard, Francis’s lead vocals, the dual lead vocals of Francis and Richard and the great double act that Francis and Richard developed together in the media. John I think understood and accepted this, he did not write which if he had may have helped in the feel aspect of interpretation of the songs but may be not… Francis is a pretty good drummer and keyboard player and certainly had frustrations at times with John’s feel for his songs.
Richard was going through the worst possible time any parent could imagine with the loss of Heidi when we started working on the overdubs of N.T.L. so it was understandable that his focus at the o/dub and mixing stage may not have been the best it could be. I think also deep down he did not like the fact Bernie did so much of the hi harmony work on these sessions which lead to his comment about people doing bit parts.
Richard I must say always provided the heavier side of Quo on these sessions. Songs like Take Me Away /Coming and Going and Don’t Drive My Car turned out really well.
Mountain Lady ended the way it did due to the great Quo treatment the song received. The end section is for me the best part and ends the way it does to take advantage of the groove that was established at this part of the track. The sudden end is simply me pressing the stop button on the multi track machine just before the take broke down. If you listen carefully you can hear the machine slurring into park and then the decay of the echo used.
It could have been faded but we would have lost the impact of the length of the section and its effect into the edit of Don’t Stop Me Now, which all came about when the running order was assembled. It was not part of the original process of recording these tracks.
Riverside the last track of side two (vinyl only album in 1981) was added last minute just before mastering. The intro from memory was the mix of the end section that we crossed faded into the verse all done with ¼” analogue machines. The basic track I think was the original version I recorded with Francis and accounts for the fact that John does not remember playing drums on it.
I’ve re visited tapes from these albums the past few weeks and think they still sound pretty good after 28 years. Found a version of Rock ‘N’ Roll that ends when the tape ran out and ends in a long echo which I don’t think has ever been used.
N.T.L. “A Throwaway Album” – Not in my opinion Alan!
Hope that helps explain some of your questions.
Best P.P