My cover, of an old CCR classic "Bad Moon Rising"

[GONZO-X]

http://tinyurl.com/tk2p4

it's a 320kbps mp3....
you can download, or stream


This version is a licensed cover, on my latest album, Trouble.

When the label owner and I had gotten together to discuss the songlist for the trouble cd, he asked if i was open to doing a cover.
i said 'yes', and took a while to mull over just which one i'd want to do.

Bad Moon Rising, was one of the earliest rock tunes, that i can remember really liking a lot...
the more i thought about it, the more i felt it fit right into the rest of the songs on the album.

Just so happens, that right near the end of tracking this song, about the time i was ready to go for final vocal tracks, hurricane katrina hit.

i used to live in new orleans, so it was pretty easy, after watching the horrible coverage on tv, that sunday night, and monday.... to have a visual in my head, that brought a new meaning of the lyrics to me.


tech stuff:

unfortunately, this song was added to the playlist, AFTER the drummer had recorded all of the drum tracks.....
so i was left to my own devices (zoom drum machine) to complete this one.

the concept for the drum groove, was to make the overall vibe heavier, and different.

rhythm and slide guitars are all thru a miced up mesa boogie 60 watt head thru a roland 1x12 with a celestion greenback, sm57 thru A Designs Audio MP-1 into dbx compressor into ART DPS convertor>>vs...
a borrowed danelectro 12-string comprises one of the rhythm tracks, set to a crunch tone on the boogie..
Bass is thru sansamp bass di direct into dbx compressor into ART DPS convertor>>vs;
vox are all thru ADK Hamburg mic into A Designs Audio MP-1 into dbx compressor into
ART DPS convertor>>roland vs-1880;
drum machine intoART DPS tube preamp section and then into convertor>>vs.

[ido1957]

Well being a die hard CCR fan, I found it hard to adapt to your version of the song at first, but as the song progressed it became more comfortable.

I think you did a fine job rearranging the tune to a slower groove. I've never heard many people pull off a good arrangement of the original and yours was better than any I've heard.

Your guitar playing continues to amaze and the intro was very creative and layered. The slide is very nice - wish I could play slide. Your vocals are excellent - not too many can pull off JC's range but you did so well with high harmonies to boot - very cool.

I wouldn't be surprised if this arrangement made it somehow onto the radio.....it's truly unique...

[Bulls Hit]

Nice alternative groove on this one. The production sounds superb in these headphones. Guitars & vocals are spot on. Nice job

[fasterthanu]

The playing and vocal are excellent and you made the song your own. However it drag a little towards the end for me.

[GONZO-X]

ido1957
thanks for your review...
glad you liked the arrangement...

that's the hardest part, the arrangement...
it's tough, to come up with something that hasn't been done to death...
the original arrangement, is so well known, and so well covered, it'd be easy to get caught in the situation where you simply pay homage to the original....
the slide, is definitely NOT my strongpoint~!
but i tried to play it plain and true, and that was tough for me.
thanks again for listening.

Bulls Hit
glad you put the space in that there moniker.......!

thanks for checking it out.

fasterthanu
thanks for checking it out...
i wonder, if i should have sped the meter up just a smidgeon, near the end......
the drum machine plays a consistent xxx beats per minute (whatever they were.....) and i didn't really consider a changeup in the meter...
i used to do this a lot, when i used to work with drum machines a lot...
i'd ride the meter knob, and manually speed up during the choruses, slow back down during the verses, pick it up a bit during the bridges, etc.....
hm, good idea.......

[GONZO-X]

ido1957-
heard the original on the radio last night...
the speed of the original kinda threw me for a minute..
reminded me of what you said....

[Nakatira]

Very cool.

I`m used to hearing drunk trubadours and bad bands doing this tune.

Thank you for making me realize what a great tune this really is.

Great playing, great vox. king solo`s

No nits here.

[COOLCAT]

yeah that was interesting,great job.
I thought the vox and guitars were really good, especially the slide added a freshness to this one.

The intro and the bass or limiter over-shadowed the drums a bit in my playback?
anyone else hear that?

maybe too loud on the limiter or whatever was my first guess? maybe my setup? I turned down the volume it was still there.

anyway, great tune...great song...great arrangment. I heard it 5 times. really like it.

I listened to it a few times without the intro-piece too, just for kicks. like a radio version might be.

the DJ's will just talk over the intro anyway? I love it when they do that.

[Monsterpop]

thats excellent! i really liked it!

its like the Eagles,,,,but good,,,hehehe

well done mate

[GONZO-X]

Nakatira
well, i've been a drunk trubadour before, so i can relate.
LOL
thanks for listening, glad you liked it..

coolcat
the slide was just a requirement for me, for some reason...
it was the only way i heard it in my head..
the drums, were tricky, as that they were drum machine tracks, versus real drums for all the rest of the songs on the album..
the mastering engineer, i imagine, had to 'ride the fence' with how he mastered this one, in relation to the other songs....
seems that the acoustic part in the beginning, even on my raw mixes, sounded louder than the electric part did...
it's the way i mic and process the acoustics on tracking, and i still haven't figured out why it happens like that, other than the taylor i use, and the mics, just really track well....
good ear.

Monsterpop
thanks for listening...
i love the eagles ( i dig lots of stuff) but i'd never say my stuff was ANYWHERE as good as their stuff......
!!
but thanks for the thought all the same...

[jpw23]

I had a little trouble with the tempo and the arrangment at first, then I listened a couple more times and I got over it......very cool, excellent playing and arrangment....2 thumbs up!!!

[GONZO-X]

jpw23

hehe..... you're not the first to say they had trouble with the tempo!

i'd say, if you didn't know what the song was going to be , going into it, it'd probably work better, than hearing the original reverberating in your brain, then hearing my version..
it's pretty much a mind fuck.

LOL

hey, thanks for checking it out... glad you liked it