Post by rockinronnie on Feb 28, 2014 20:46:53 GMT
Taken from the official messageboard in January 2009:
Pip The Prod
Member
Member # 16211
11 January 2009
I'd been working on POR for some time. It was no secret that I loved the B tuning and I'd long wanted to do another extended rock tune with the guys, with the solos, tempo shifts etc.
The whole Irish conflict was big news then and I had this idea for a lyric about a couple separated by the no go areas in Belfast and the Catholic/Protestant divide- then brought together by the power of rock 'n' roll. Corny as f--- by today's standards, but it seemed a great idea at the time.
I borrowed the idea of the "wows" in the chorus from John Farnham's You're the Voice. We all loved that track.
It was VERY difficult to get Frame motivated to come all the way from Purley to my house in Iver to work on the song. Rick was over regularly anyway, because we'd written and demo'd a lot of things there. It was most important to me that they were both involved in the writing. I was fully aware of the type of songs that were being put forward for that album (PR) and knew exactly what kind of outcry there would be from the fans.
I'm proud to say that most of the song structure was mine. Rick contributed strongly to his middle vocal section ("But they were learning" etc) I had the other melodies, riffs and most of the lyrics in place and the guys helped me to tidy them up. Frame is great at finding lovely melodic twists and turnarounds.
I remember that I wanted to book rehearsal time to really work the song in, but that wasn't possible before we left for Nassau. I'd put together a pretty good demo in any case. It was recorded as a single backing track and I sang the guide vocal in the studio. The guys played all their own parts and Frame's extended solos were spontaneous (he'd not yet lost the enthusiasm for playing long solos!) This is some of the best improvised soloing Frame ever did on any of the songs I recorded with them, and the piano solo is a belter too. We got a few people in to sing the chorus- crew and others.
I think they turned in brilliant live performances of it later. It's always easy to say that they play certain songs better live (such as BB) but the simple truth is- Of course they do, they were still learning them when they were recorded!
(Incidentally, the reason that the fade of IAWMT breaks down so quickly is because Francis made a few cock ups and stopped playing! The bulk of that solo was taken from his demo and Francis was not at all keen on recording another. The feeling was- the song is over anyway!)
Bad Company was another of my songs that could've been a great rocker, but that's another story!
Pip The Prod
Member
Member # 16211
11 January 2009
I'd been working on POR for some time. It was no secret that I loved the B tuning and I'd long wanted to do another extended rock tune with the guys, with the solos, tempo shifts etc.
The whole Irish conflict was big news then and I had this idea for a lyric about a couple separated by the no go areas in Belfast and the Catholic/Protestant divide- then brought together by the power of rock 'n' roll. Corny as f--- by today's standards, but it seemed a great idea at the time.
I borrowed the idea of the "wows" in the chorus from John Farnham's You're the Voice. We all loved that track.
It was VERY difficult to get Frame motivated to come all the way from Purley to my house in Iver to work on the song. Rick was over regularly anyway, because we'd written and demo'd a lot of things there. It was most important to me that they were both involved in the writing. I was fully aware of the type of songs that were being put forward for that album (PR) and knew exactly what kind of outcry there would be from the fans.
I'm proud to say that most of the song structure was mine. Rick contributed strongly to his middle vocal section ("But they were learning" etc) I had the other melodies, riffs and most of the lyrics in place and the guys helped me to tidy them up. Frame is great at finding lovely melodic twists and turnarounds.
I remember that I wanted to book rehearsal time to really work the song in, but that wasn't possible before we left for Nassau. I'd put together a pretty good demo in any case. It was recorded as a single backing track and I sang the guide vocal in the studio. The guys played all their own parts and Frame's extended solos were spontaneous (he'd not yet lost the enthusiasm for playing long solos!) This is some of the best improvised soloing Frame ever did on any of the songs I recorded with them, and the piano solo is a belter too. We got a few people in to sing the chorus- crew and others.
I think they turned in brilliant live performances of it later. It's always easy to say that they play certain songs better live (such as BB) but the simple truth is- Of course they do, they were still learning them when they were recorded!
(Incidentally, the reason that the fade of IAWMT breaks down so quickly is because Francis made a few cock ups and stopped playing! The bulk of that solo was taken from his demo and Francis was not at all keen on recording another. The feeling was- the song is over anyway!)
Bad Company was another of my songs that could've been a great rocker, but that's another story!