So I just had this world-class vocalist in here . . .

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chessrock

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Okay, so here's the story . . .

This guy calls me and says he saw my ad. He needs a demo done in the next two days. Just vocals on top of pre-recorded music. Now I'm all about those jobs. Easy money . . . very little work.

He talks with a thick irish accent. I just figure he's some Joe Schmoe Karaoke guy who wants to throw something together for his girfriend or his kids or whatever, which is usually the case with this kind of job.

Anyway, after he arrives we get to talking, and I ask him to describe his voice to me and so on, just to get an idea of what I'm working with . . . and right in the middle of his conversation, sort of non-chalant, he just kinda' belts out a bar or two, just matter-of-factly.

Like in the middle of his sentence, he just says, "Yea, my voice is high tenor like this . . . " and then he gives a quick example by going "Laaaa." Only his "La" just kinda' filled up the entire room and sort of sailed through the air.

It startled the shit out of me, to be honest, because frankly, I've never been that close to a voice that good. And for a moment I thought my CD player just went off, or perhaps the radio suddenly tuned in to a station where some incredible singer just belted out "LA" or something. (Insert Twilight Zone music)

Skipping ahead to mixdown and hour later . . . the guy tells me about how he was the lead singer for the musical "Riverdance" on broadway . . . how he played Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat, etc.

And get this: The cheezy song he threw down is on it's way to New York as we speak because the guy who wrote it wants to hear a demo. This very same songwriter, by the way, has written numerous pop stuff for Britany Spears, Backstreet Boys, and some other teeny-bopper-type bands.

Then I checked out his web site, and realize I was just in the presence of probably one of a handful of the world's more gifted vocalists . . . . etc. etc.

And yes, I did a Yahoo and Google search, and everything checks out. And it was obvious from the photos I viewed online that, although he takes a slightly better picture than he appears in person, that's the guy. :D

What the fuck? ? ? ?


Is this just one of those "all in a day's work" kinda' things I can expect from time to time? ? ? I recorded the guy on my PC with an SM-7 in to a DMP3 for crying out loud ! ! :D
 
Occasionally you find one of those people who regardless of their talent, who they have worked with or where they have worked, just don't have an ego. They are usually the ones who are just appreciative of the abilities they have been blessed with and enjoy sharing with others.

I have a friend who back in the late 70's and earlier '80's was the singer with two well known UK bands as well as having played on the same bill as AC/DC, Whitesnake, etc.etc. He doesn't make a big issue of his past and freely admits that he made mistakes that ultimately cost him dearly. He hasn't sung professionally for a long time, but he still has that "magic" on the occasions he blesses us with a song.

These genuine, unassuming talents are a rarity.



:cool:
 
Well if you're refering to Chess's guest, I have no idea, however, if the question was for me, well..............he was the original singer with Steve Harris when he formed Iron Maiden (pre recording line up) and during the mid 80's toured and recorded with The Sweet. Also had success in the UK and Europe with a couple of other bands between these two.

:cool:
 
No Chess, not Paul Di'Anno................although it is another Paul, but way before Di'Anno. Right at the beginning, when Steve Harris first started the whole thang.

:cool:
 
I can't believe I still know who Di'Anno is. :D

I was a big Maiden fan when I was in Junior High. Saw them on the Powerslave tour and everything ! ! ! Kick ass ! ! !
 
I had a similar experiance, although not in a studio. Now that I think about it, it's a pretty sad story, but it goes to show that some people are just people.


My day job in an equipment rental place (read: pressure washers at your local Home Depot) puts me in contact with a lot of every day Joe Schmoe types. One day this guy walks in and introduces himslef as Glen. 'Nice to meet ya Glen' I say. Long story short, he stops in often to rent the above mentioned pressure washer (he's starting his own business washing decks or something). We get to talking, music, recording, yadda yadda yadda. He says 'I used to play drums'. 'Oh yeah?' I say. "Yeah' he says. For Billy Idol and Pat Benatar. Glen Alexander Hamilton is his name.

Nice guy, still looks like he did in the 80's. Spent all the money. The only thing he has to show for it is the house he baught his mom (how sweet of him).

It's been 2 years since I've seen him. He got hit by a drunk driver one day on his way to work. I spoke to him in the hospital dirung his recovery. I think I might have been the only person he knew here. Alas, he disappeared after his recovery and I don't know where he is now.

Through all the sex, drugs and rock and roll, some people are just people. When it's all said and done. When it's all over. They go back to work. When they've spent all the money, crashed all the cars, and sold all the houses, they just wind up where they started - a person like the rest of us.
 
Hawking, that is a very telling story. I knew several famous musicians in the past, played with some. Not one of them would be recognized in the supermarket today.
 
Yo Chess:

I can tell you a brief story about a keyboard friend who is one of the best working today. He kind of retired from Chicago to Michigan like I did.

He used to stop and sit in with my group in Chicago for a couple of hours at a time. I'd collect the bread and he would entertain. So, I've known him a long, long time.

If you've heard the "HO HO HO Valley of the Green Giant...." stuff, he did those commercials. He had his own company in Chicago and sold it before he "semi-retired."

He called me one day and said he needed to do a tune for his band, Chizil, to hear before they had a rehearsal. Well, he came to my studio and I did the engineering but he selected levels, etc.

I learned more in those two hours than I had learned in a year. He kept apologizing for goofing a measure and having to run it back and he wanted to do it quickly, FASTER....and, I told him to cool it because there was no charge. He kept thinking he was in a studio in Chicago and they just run the tape forward and push up the bill.

His name: Dick Reynolds. He writes, arranges, creates, and plays and has fun and is indeed a giant in jazz.

Green Hornet :D :p :p :cool:
 
Hawking, that's a good story. But I think 'greatness' is in the eye of the beholder. As for the 'great' person himself, he's probably just getting on with his life, whether he's drumming or washing decks.

Anyway, that's my take. People might have all sorts of ideas about you, but that's not what you are, that's just what they have in their heads.
 
I'm not saying Glen Hamilton is/was a great musician. He did, however, experience all the glitz and glory of the stage. When it was over, he simply had a bunch of great stories to tell. He told them without being brash, egotistical, or elitist about it. He gave me some great insight as to what it takes to be a musician in the real world (i.e. out of my home studio).

I suppose that most famous/semifamous people you might meet (musicians or otherwise) would be the same way, but I think the general pulic has a different view of those people.

I met Jerry Seinfeld in a pizza place once. He is not one of the 'nice' famous people. I would imagine people bothering me wherever I went all the time would make me that way too.

Found myself in a bar with Billy Joel one night. He falls into the 'nice' catagory untill the press shows up.

Growing up around 'The Hamptons', a scant 60 miles from Manhattan, I realized that most people just want to be normal people. You walk down the street and see all the money and fancy cars. The drivers of those fancy cars get angry when they get bothered all the time. I don't blame them. Some of them deal with the fame rather well and maintain their moral standards through it all.

Then again, some of them don't retain any moral standards at all.
 
Had a few drinks with Leo Kotke one night in a bar in Idaho. Talked to Drew Carey here in Hollywood one night. These two were really nice people. Leo was a little mysterious but nice.

Ran into Clint Eastwood one time, a lot of the don't approach vibe going on there.
 
I definately get the 'don't approach' feeling about Clint Eastwood. Still, you never know till you try, and you might walk away with, at the very least, a good story or two.
 
Middleman said:
Hawking, that is a very telling story. I knew several famous musicians in the past, played with some. Not one of them would be recognized in the supermarket today.
Click to expand...

Out of respect for ppl's privacy, I don't want to name any names if that's OK ... but I know what you mean, because I play with some of these now-anonymous "stars" now. Madison Square Gdn, international hits, prominent jazz festivals playing alongside some of jazz greats, and now onto hated day jobs to scrape together the rent for a rent-controlled apt. in SF.

It's amazing, and humbling. Especially since the players are amazing musicians and yet keep it humble. I am learning so much working with these guys.
 
It's really a very nice world if you don't watch CNN.

Green Hornet :p :p :D
 
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