The first CD is called "Forrest 'n Me." There are a couple of reasons for the name but essentially I've been blessed to be at the right place at the right time many times - in my personal life and in my professional life. These songs have only one thing in common - they were easy and songs I already knew how to play. That allowed me to focus on the learning part of this process. Now I have to say that the vocals were not my focus - that was to play the music and learn how the stuff worked, so my apologies to those with sophisticated musical tastes . . . although it's unlikely anybody in that category is ever going to read/listen to this!
"Secret Agent Man"
"Secret Agent Man" was one of the first song's I recorded. It's a pretty simple tune and allowed me to figure out how to layer drums, bass, keys and guitar over my vocals. The guitar part is all played in midi keyboards - the sound is called "Hellspawn Guitar" - kinda fun.
"Heartache Tonight"
"Heartache Tonight" is a song I never played in any bands but always liked. So this version has some great (if I do say so myself) organ fills - especially towards the end. I also learned how hard it was to record natural sounding brass.
"Runaway"
"Runaway" is another cover classic that probably EVERY band I've played in did. Since I played baritone sax for many years, I think I got the "feel" of the bari pretty good. The synth solo was also a gas to fool around with. I also learned that if you throw in an occasional sloppy note it makes the brass sound more realistic and less "computery."
"Money"
Well this probably isn't the version of "Money" you were expecting but I had fun with it too. Lots of these songs I double organ over electric piano. On this one I used a Farfisa type sounds with lots of splattered notes. There is also a great electronic "frying egg" sound I used. For some reason the horn fills, which come in later, start to sound like music from the Batman TV show (not the movies). I split the brass to the left and saxes to the right channel to give it more of a live sound.
"Honky Tonk Woman"
"Honky Tonk Woman" is more of the doubled keyboards - electric piano playing the rhythm with two layers of B3 organ over the top. Probably the song I most like from this era.
"Help Me Rhonda"
One of the great things about my family is that all my boys love music - they're all accomplished musicians (I've referenced some of that on this website). So on a few of these songs I recruited them for various parts, especially things I don't do well like play real guitar. On this song Wes plays some great guitar and James played the drum parts.
