Every week in the year 2011, Michael Morse will write, record, and release two brand new songs! He will then write about it here! You can hear and/or download the results at http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/
Friday, March 11, 2011
Week 9 - "Paper Presidents" b/w "Hallway Blues"
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It took me a while to get to Chicago. Even though my first exposure to the blues was probably Chicago-style (or derived from) and (as mentioned in my first blog) seeing B.B. King was a very important event in my life, when I got into the blues I went straight for the delta (and some near-by areas) and stayed there. It was seeing Robert Johnson's name in the writing credits of albums by The White Stripes, Cream and Red Hot Chilli Peppers that first got me curious. Who was this guy that wrote these great songs? I had to know! When I finally got to hear the original recordings of "Stop Breaking Down Blues", "Cross Road Blues" and "They're Red Hot" I was hooked. I had been searching for raw, primal music and delta and country blues was it. The grumbling growl of Charley Patton and the bold defiance of Lead Belly was what I needed. At first, Chicago Blues sounded too slick for me, at least what I had heard at that point did. I don't mean to say that there was not any Chicago electric blues that I liked, because there certainly was, but I really preferred earlier rural acoustic blues. I think it was hearing Howlin' Wolf's menacing recording of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" that really got me interested. Muddy Waters soon followed which of course lead to his harmonica player Little Walter's solo work (probably my favorite Chicago bluesman).
pick a key, any key!
Both of this week's songs prominently feature the harmonica. I should be a better harp player than I am as I've been playing it for quite a while now, just not as frequently as I should. I grew up with cheap Hohner Bluesband harmonicas. I'd get a new one every now and then and end up just puffing on it aimlessly until I got bored and moved on to some other activity. In high school I got yet another Hohner Bluesband in the key of C (probably at a Cracker Barrel restaurant) because I really wanted to play "Love Me Do". For the first time ever I actually read the little instructional paper and learned "When The Saints Go Marching In" (a song I love playing on most instruments) and later "Love Me Do". My growing interest in Bob Dylan got me interested in seeking out more keys. I got a harmonica rack and a super cheap set of Kay harmonicas and started figuring Bob out. I got a more expensive C Hohner Blues Harp but eventually blew out the reeds and haven't been able to replace it because they doubled in price! I later got Hohner's cheap (but decent enough playing) all plastic Piedmont Blues set and for this last Christmas Hohner's (slightly more expensive) Bluesband set. I've been wanting an Astatic bullet-style harmonica mic for a while and thought I was going to get one last month only to find the one I wanted (also made by Hohner) had doubled in price! Stop that Hohner! I did end up getting a harp mic though, a homemade ebay special Egg-Static, which I used on both of this weeks songs.
I was definitely inspired by and thinking about general Chicago blues and Little Walter specifically when writing and recording this week's A-side "Paper Presidents". I had meant it to be slower but for whatever reason (probably the manic punk inside me trying to claw his way out) it didn't come out that way. I touched on my money frustrations in my last overtly blues song in this challenge ("No One Believes In Me But My Mother Blues"). Ohh I could go on and on and on...but I won't! Suffice it to say I hate how much you and I need money. I hate how it controls us and makes our decisions for us. I hate how it opens doors for some and closes those same doors in other's faces. I hate money but like I just wrote, I need it. But that doesn't mean we can't have fun without it. I encourage anyone and everyone reading this to have as much fun as you can without touching your wallets.
The recording of "Paper Presidents" gave me some difficulty, especially with timing the guitar stops but I think it came together nicely. I admit it's kind of sloppy, most of my recordings are, but I hope that adds more charm than distraction. I didn't realize I had forgotten to add a bass to the song until after I did the final mix-down (oops) but thought it sounded fine without it. I plugged my new Egg-Static in my little Vox and turned up the gain and turned down the tone to try to get that dirty Chicago sound.
Egg-Statics are a girl's best friend
The basis for the B-side "Hallway Blues" dates back to my senior year in high school. That year I had a lot of time to do nothing in school. I had finished my math, science and english classes the previous year and pretty much had a half day but had to wait around all day for a stupid health class (the only one available was of course during last period). I started bringing my guitar and harmonicas to school a lot more to help me pass the time (when I wasn't watching Arrested Development on my portable DVD player or looking up Monty Python videos and Looney Tunes online in the library). I was a little hesitant to do an instrumental. While I enjoy instrumentals, I don't know if other people do. But if Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Little Walter can do them then so can I! I really like how "Hallway Blues" turned out. I kept the instrumentation very simple, acoustic guitar, simulated piano and harmonica and I think they all complement each other so well. Again I used the Egg-Static, only this time plugged directly into the recorder. I think I may try more instrumentals later in the challenge.
The cover design is based on Chess Records' 50th anniversary "best of" collections. Whoever designed those did a great job, they fit the content so well, exactly the way a cover should. I donned stereotypical blues garb, sunglasses and fedora, for the picture which was taken by my mother. To relate it to the A-side "Paper Presidents", I used the only money I had at the time (a 1 and a 5) to make origami rings to wear. That 5 dollar bill has since been given to Wendy Thomas in exchange for one of her burgers and a salad.
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