The Truth Behind DJL

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capnreverb

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I was digging real deap in the past and I came across this thread by DJL where he explains his credentials. Hope this clears things up.


DJL said:
Since many of you have been wondering what I have recorded and what my qualifications are, I figured I would explain now, and get it over with.

My real name is Danjiel Van Gelder . My father is the great recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder. He’s the guy who majestically recorded all those great Blue Note lp’s. I can honestly say that I grew up around microphones and recording equipment in the 50’s when I was a teen. As some of you may know, my dad was real secretive about his techniques, and I was the only one he confided in. I pretty much grew up with Hank Mobly, Thelenious Monk, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson, etc. They where like uncles to me. In the 60’s I need to branch out away from the shadow of my father. So, with my dad’s help I got a job with Bob Thiele at Impulse. The first Lp I manned the boards on was John Coltrane’s “A love Supreme”. After that I did the Mingus Lp’s and a bunch of the other great Impulse LP’s of the mid 60’s. Around 66/67 or so I ended up at the Stax studios. Motown had offered me a job, but I though Barry Gordy was kind of a jerk and didn’t offer me the $ I felt I was worth. Anyway, Stax stuff is so much better anyway, so it really was a no brainer. I did the mic/grunt work at all those Booker T, Otis Redding, Joe Tex, Wilson Picket recordings. I like Arthur Conley the best, but he kept on hitting on me, kinda weird he was so obvious in those days.

After that, I went to the UK to work at Abby Road. It was there I met Alan Parson’s. Let me tell you, that guys a genius. We worked on some Floyd stuff, I think it was Atom Heart Mother. I also did a bunch of stuff with guys like Roy Harper. In fact it was Roy who introduced me to Jimmy Page. I did all the boards and micing (with Jimi of course) for the Physical Graffiti lp. That’s why that album sounded so different than the others. It was my idea for the track order. You got to admit side three is pretty darn awesome.

Around 74’ after working with King Crimson on Lark’s Tongue In Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, and Red I met this really hot African chick. We really hit it off, and I decided to move to Africa with her. It’s there that I met Fela. That guy was like God there. So, I ended up doing a bunch of LP’s there for him. I know a lot of those LP’s sound really lo-fi, but you should have seen the crappy ass equipment I had to use. Anyway, it started to get kinda ugly there politically, so I had to leave the country. That was a fricken nightmare. I will tell that horror story some other time. So, I went to Jamaica.

In Jamaica, I met Lee Scratch Perry. We really hit it off. So, I helped him out on his studio (Black Ark? I can’t remember, the pot is so good there!) That was really a great no stress time for me. I remember hanging out with the Stones when they where recording there in Jamaica. They offered me a job, but I thought Charlie Watts was an asshole, and besides, I was having a great time there. This lasted about a year or so, and Lee got weird on me so I left for Berlin.

In Berlin I hooked up with Brian Eno through our mutual friend Bob Fripp. I was hired to do the boards/mic work for the Bowie albums he did there. Great music, but everyone seemed kinda strung out and Berlin is a bummer town, especially having been in Jamaica for a few years. After that I followed Eno to New York where we did work with the Talking Heads and Devo and bunch of other new/no wavers. Great time, great drugs, great women. What a weird time in my life.

One of the more interesting things I got involved in during that time was working for Sugerhill records. I was the one who did all those Sugerhill Gang sides like “The Message”. I feel real proud to be at the invention of Rap music. This led me to work with guys like Rick Rubin and Russel Simmons. I did “Licensed To Ill”, Run DMC’s “King Of Rock” and some work with a really loud and heavy band named Slayer. Those guys were real cool, but took that Satan stuff a bit too seriously for my tastes.

Well, I needed a break and wanted some quiet so I moved to Seattle. This break did not last long. Word got around that I was in town, and soon I was back in the thick of things. I did work on Nirvana’s “Bleach”, Pearl Jam’s 10, and some Soundgarden stuff. Man, whats with all the heroin and these guys. Let me tell you from my experience, folks strung out on smack don’t get shit done. At least the bands in the 70’s where snorting blow and wanted to do a thousand overdubs and work. These Seattle guys would shoot up and you couldn’t even get them to put strings on their guitars when they broke. They would mumble shit like “who needs a B string, it just gets in the way!”

Anyway. After that I pretty much retired. Every once and a while ECM, Bill Laswell, Steve Albini, or Daniel Lanois will call me and fly me in for some help. I did that Dylan “Time Out Of Mind” lp,, a couple of U2’s, some Pat Metheny, and some other stuff like that. You can see why I don’t talk about my recordings. I would get asked all these useless rock trivia questions about my life and it would get real annoying for me. Hope that answers everyones questions.
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!! Boink !!

Ahhhhhhhhh........ now his behavior makes perfect sense........ ;)
 
Hey DJL,

I know this is what you where trying to avoid when you posted you credentials. But I gotta know!

1. How did you guys record Jimmy Garrison's upright on Coltrane's "A love Supreme"?
2. What mic did you use on Trane's tenor?
3. How did you record that great Fripp solo on Scarry Monsters?
And lastly,
4. Did you hang with Bob Marley when you where hangin' with Lee Scratch Perry, and was he a real nice guy?

Thanks,
Capnreverb
 
Why the hell is this guy even here. I don't care what he's done. He's usually an assbag. You wouldn't think a so called professional would act that way.
 
Wow. DJL's experience in and history with the music industry (if true) is quite impressive. I have renewed reason to listen to what he has to say. Nevertheless, the jabs at PMI are not interesting to me, and I'm still puzzed about it. Perhaps there is some reasonable explanation.
 
Djl

Make this a sticky!!!!!!!

Paj
8^)
 
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So from the look of things, DJL is basically the "Forest Gump" of the music community. For some reason I pictured him as a younger person, i guess hes just some cranky old man. Not nearly as fun to pick on or make fun of.
 
BWAAHAHAHAHAA...Hell nah this dude lyin.
He can eat a dick, old nappy grapefruit head havin, peanut headed water baby syndrome havin red fox lookin muffucka (get him!)
 
Good stuff, capn. On a par with Micsales. Fun to play with the quote function. :)

capnreverb said:
Hey, I'm just fuckin' with you guys
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Yea, I wish it were true. It would certainly make things much more fun and interesting.
 
chessrock said:
Yea, I wish it were true. It would certainly make things much more fun and interesting.
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I must be dense. Are you guys saying the "autobioagraphy" in the original post is not true?
 
If it is, then I'm Eddie Kramer's love child! :D
 
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For all who don't know better, the original post is 110% fake and sarcastic.
 
sdelsolray said:
I must be dense. Are you guys saying the "autobioagraphy" in the original post is not true?
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<ahem>

No.

How's the weather? You're in Salem, yes?
 
Dammit - I was just about to start digging thru my cd's to see if that sh!t was true.....LOL

That woulda been quite impressive.

The main reason I believed it when I read it, is because of Harvey. The more I have learned about him - WOW - he is the real deal. I pay real close attention to what he says.
 
xstatic said:
How is Harvey involved here?
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Harvey has impressive credentials. He thought maybe someone else that posted here did too. Too bad.
 
crazydoc said:
Harvey has impressive credentials. He thought maybe someone else that posted here did too. Too bad.
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Exactly. Harvey is the REAL DEAL!
 
There's a few others with some pretty impressive backgrounds running around these parts. You gotta' be on your toes if you want to catch 'em. :D
 
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