Song Revue

I put together a CD of original material. I made 10 copies and started handing them out to the people I've played with. Here's a little more information on the tracks:

2008
1) Far Side (Vocal Mix 1)
I had that Cm riff going since at least '07, if not '06. I used to play it over and over again until it was in Tom's head as well as mine. Anyway, I slowly pulled that into a song, and eventually added lyrics. It took a long time and many iterations to get a decent melody to sit on top, but I think we're getting closer.
I played it a few times with Mike, Ann, and sometimes Annie, sometimes me on the drums. However, I never got a recording of us doing it. This track is MIDI drums/bass, with me overdubbing guitars and vocals in Whipple Studios. I'm guessing early 2008.

2) Daddy's Little Angels
3) Sweet Thing
Annie came back in town in the summer of '08. We were working pretty hard to get some tracks together to perform, but it was going slowly. Then she found it harder and harder to make rehearsals, so we never got a set together. We did lay down these two tracks with Annie on drums, Ann on keyboards, Mike on bass, and myself on rhythm guitars. This was in the July/August time frame in Whipple Studios.
Daddy's Little Angels was a track I wrote for the Rhythm Method pretty early on (2002?). I was messing around with a few jazz chords, and the little E7#9/E9 riff came out. The A7/Cmaj7 followed the melody, as did the chorus progression. Ann heard it for the first time and added the echoed riff. If she continues to add dimension to every song, maybe in 5-10 years I will appreciate her work.
Sweet Thing was written much later, after RM had splintered. I think Mike and I were first performed this at Kaffein. I came up with the theme for guitar, but never fully incorporated the descending bassline into the riff. Not sure how the 5/4 bars got in there, but that happened early on as well. Once again, we added Ann right before we recorded, and she took over the theme.
We did two takes of Sweet Thing and three takes of Daddy's Little Angels. I had them in the can for a solid three/four months before I overdubbed vocals and lead guitars at Mt Prospect Studios on the last days of 2008.

4) Fresh Air (New Vox)
I had put together a cover of Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) where I had played all instruments, but this track is the first original where I played the drums. Mike played bass and Ann played the keys. The first two sections of this song were built around two of Mike's basslines. I have a vivid memory of the fourth section's melody
popping into my head in the shower at my parents' house, so I'm guessing that happened in late '07. It took me a while to transcribe the guitar line I was hearing underneath the melody, but I think I eventually nailed it. I threw together the third section's progression as a way to bridge the two sections. It still sounds like 2 or 3 separate ideas jammed together, but I dig it.
Recording took place at Whipple Studios, and I overdubbed guitars and vocals there as well. I didn't completely flesh out lyrics at the time, so I mumbled through a few sections. After many months of trying to come up with more coherent lyrics with a strong thematic tie-in to the five senses, I eventually scrapped that and settled on slightly more coherent lyrics. I was also messing around with the new PA, so I'm not completely happy with the new vocal recording, but the lyrics hold together a little better.

5) Stooge (Raw)
I think this counts as the first original that's all me. I laid down these drum tracks in late 2008 in Mt Prospect studios. They sat in the can for a while before I threw on bass and guitars in short order. The basic melody came quickly, but it took me a while to get the lyrics in a descent place. I eventually finished up the recording in early Jan 2009.
The premise was to get a song that's quick to pick up and jam over. Hence, the long outro with only the basic riff to solo and improvise over.


2005
This is a set of recordings Mike and I did at WNUR. Tomorrow is the only track I wrote after The Rhythm Method broke apart. "The Reason Why" was originally performed under the title "Simplified." More on these later...maybe...
1) The Door
2) I Miss You
3) The Reason Why
4) Tomorrow