Week 6 - "Sister, Will You Marry Me" (a tribute to The White Stripes) b/w "That's The Way It Goes"

This is the 6th week of my "Single-A-Week Challenge" meaning I have now completed and recorded 12 songs! If you would like to listen to and/or download this week's songs (and why wouldn't you? I mean you are reading this blog, right?) just use the little player below this paragraph or click on this link: http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/album/single-a-week-challenge-week-6



Last week I mentioned the recent official disbanding of The White Stripes.  I opened my mailbox on the night of February 2nd and saw an email from their website with the subject "The White Stripes". I knew what that meant before even opening it. While they haven't been active for a few years now, seeing the announcement was still kind of a shock to me. It sent a rush of memories to the front of my mind and reminded me how important that band is to me. In my first blog post here, I mentioned how important seeing Chuck Berry and BB King was to me in my freshman year of high school but I completely forgot what discovering The White Stripes did for me.

not my pics but from a show I attended at Keyspan park in Brooklyn

I remember sitting in the car in a drug store parking lot while my mother ran inside for something when "Fell In Love With A Girl" came on on the now defunct K-Rock. It instantly brought a smile to my face. It was so short and fast and completely different and better than everything else that station played. It satisfied my ears' hunger for loud fast punk sounds but was something really different. It wasn't until I heard the incredible "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" that I knew this was the band for me. The songs were so powerful and primal and simple and easy enough for fledgling guitarist me to play. At the time I was also going through a phase of bass loathing. The bass just made no sense to me, in so many things I listened to at the time it was barely even audible, it was just this ugly grumbling underneath that upset my stomach. And then here comes a band without one!   It all made so much sense. They also inspired me to dig deeper in music and go back to the blues 20's and 30's.

1st public performance doing "Dead Leaves" in High School

"Dead Leaves" ended up being the first song I ever performed for an audience (at a Halloween party at my high school) and shortly after I recorded acoustic versions of "Offend In Every Way", "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" and "Little Room" (which I used a tambourine only to play) for an acoustic cover album (which after a recent listen, I've discovered is pretty awful). At the first performance of my "band" MJ & The Heretics at my 17th birthday party at CBGB's Lounge, we did a medley of "When I Hear My Name" and "Little Room".

My love of The White Stripes also created some problems for me, I lost "friends" because of them. I wouldn't and still won't accept negative criticisms of them. I remember getting into an argument with some prick that I ate lunch with and ended up kicking him several times under the table over his moronic mocking of Jack's voice until he finally left the table calling me a "faggot" as he huffed away.  I remember the extreme irritation I felt listening to this group of rock-radio-listeners lambaste Meg's drumming which I eagerly and whole-heartedly defended trying to explain to them that it just would not work with anyone else or any other "style" of drumming, and how none of them understood the blues or what feeling music meant. My high school was mostly filled with tasteless philistines. Meg is a great drummer! She and Jack were so in-tune with each other and she always kept up with him. I wish I could drum like her! I wish I could find someone that could drum like her! Do people trash the simplistic drumming of Moe Tucker (another one of my favorite drummers)? I guess not as The Velvet Underground never had the indignity of being sandwiched between Korn and Yellowcard on the radio.

I played "When I Hear My Name" on my lap steel at 1st MJ & The heretics show/my 17th B-Day party

When I started performing a lot, I had a lot of difficulty finding a bass player and ended up playing without one a bunch of times and I loved it. It was so freeing to play and not have to worry about communicating my ideas with 2 or 3 other people when I wanted to change something on the spot. I gt a lot of criticism for playing this way. It was either "rock bands have to have bass players" or "just guitar and drums isn't very original at the moment" or both. Shit, I just want to make music, and no matter if I have one player or ten behind me or no one at all, I'm going to make music for ME! Because I love it! AGGGHHHHH!!!! Sorry, I was venting and got a little carried away. Back to the reason for this blog...this week's songs!

I decorated my amp for the recording

"Sister, Will You Marry Me" is my tribute to that band that meant so much to me. After learning of their break-up, I dug out my WS albums which had gone far too long without being listened to, sang and played the guitar parts I could remember and read old interviews and articles about them. I rediscovered my love for them and had to express it somehow.Since I was already in the middle of this challenge, I decided to do it in song. The first two verses are about their formation and the last is about their demise. I really tried to capture something close to Jack's phrasing of the words and stuck in several references to other WS songs both lyrically and musically and of course the title references the whole brother-sister presentation. I did my best to ape Jack's guitar playing and Meg's drumming (which I need to work on). If any White Stripes fans read this and/or listen to the song, please let me know how I did.

My audio engineering skills are severely lacking and it seems like I can't get a clean mic sound to save my life so the recording sounds a little rough which may or may not enhance the WS-feel of the song. I had considered adding some organ or piano in parts of the song (as heard on many of their songs) or even adding a bit of marimba to come in at the end of the song in reference to Get Behind Me Satan but decided the classic and simple guitar and drums would be the most effective and make it clearer to non-fans what I was trying to do. I finally put together my drums and set them up in my living room for recording to give it an extra first-incarnation Third Man Studios feel (and also because it was the only room with enough space).

Drums and Cat.

I too got in a car accident with Renee Zellweger and injured my finger

I thought about coming up with another kind of tribute for the B-side but had already worked hard on the A-side and didn't want to take much focus off of it. I did however want a song that could relate at least thematically to "Sister, Will you Marry Me" and a song about divorce just seemed natural. I wrote "That's The Way It Goes" very quickly. It is very silly but hopefully enjoyable. It was a very easy and straightforward recording. After I got a good vocal/acoustic guitar take I did my best Tennessee Two impression to fill out the rest. Johnny Cash and the Two (Marshall Grant and one of my favorite and underrated guitarists Luther Perkins) created such a great sound. While the song is not at all Cash-like, the Tennessee Two sound fit perfectly with the song's rhythm.

my audio engineer and former drummer.

I drew the cover image. Since the main song was inspired by the end of The White Stripes I thought drawing them both as skeletons would be a funny complement to the music. I'm pretty happy with it. I looked at several pictures for reference but did not copy one for the composition. I stuck to the band's 3 color motif of Red, White and black.

uncovered cover image

Well that's it. Next week (hopefully) won't be this long but this week I had a lot to say (and still do). With them being just two people I really doubt that this break-up will be permanent (at least I hope it won't be) but I'm sure if there is ever a reunion, it won't happen for quite a while. We'll see. The truth doesn't make a noise.

6 down, 46 to go!

MJM

http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/album/single-a-week-challenge-week-6