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Band Reflections on Not One Cloud

Song-by-song recollections

EGA Jam:

 

Nick:  In my opinion, this song started off as quite a miserable number.  It was never intended to be played by the band.  It was never really intended to be played ever, but Jim liked what he heard and encouraged me to play it for Andrew.  Andrew's approval made me reevaluate it.  It was a relatively miserable acoustic song, but I really like the sound with the band behind it.  They really saved this one from the trash heap.  It's a bluesy rock'n'roll number and it's real fun to play, even if it is three chords.  I have a dream that one day at a live show of ours people in the crowd will sing the hoo hoo hoos with me...that'd be great.

 

Jimmy:  This one was fun to play. I'm glad we tried this one out as a full band song, as it turned out to be a solid rocker. Thanks to Sally for her Oohs!

 

Nick:  It's actually kind of an antidrug Sally appears on this track, singing the "hoo hoo hoos."  Don't fret: we have plans to utilize Sally's voice in more appropriate ways later on.  So hang tight!

 

Selfish Invitation:

 

Nick:  I like harmonies a lot, so this one is great in that respect.  Jim makes the glee club proud again!  How many takes on that one line...?  Rumor has it that "recording engineer Murph" listens to this song in his spare time. 

 

Jimmy:  I had a hell of a time singing on this one for whatever reason. I think Murph was pissed. This is one of my favorites off the cd though. I adore Nick's singing on this one...yeah.

 

Nick:  Great bassline...

 

Someday:

 

Nick:  It was a folky number til we turned the amp on and added some rhythm to her.  It went from a borderline country-western sing along to a catchy little rocker, featuring Street Teamer Randy's favorite chord progression of all time!!!  (Check the message boards to find out what it is!)  Jim nails the harmony like a champ, and the bassline walks like a pro or something.

 

Jimmy:  This one was done as a live take, sans the vocals, cause of the tempo change. I like the slow intro, it's misleading isn't it? Greg makes his vocal debut, somewhat Britishly. 

 

Nick:  GREG SINGS ON THIS ONE!!! AND HE SOUNDS DAMN GOOD IF YOU ASK ME.  (He sounds damn good if you don't.)  Note: I think my vocals sound goofy/poor on the intro.  I will forever be self conscious of it...

 

Let Me Know:

 

Nick:  I wrote this one on my porch.  It's pretty self explanatory.  This song features the first recorded Rodney whistling and harmonica.  Where will we go from here?

 

Jimmy:  I like this song a lot. Definitely one the best on the cd. It was written in the midst of our biggest Beatles binge to date, which I think the harmonies on the bridge exemplify. It's a fun song to play!

 

Ballad:

 

Nick:  When we are on, this is one of the best songs heard live.  It will get stuck in your head for days.  Originally titled "Ballad Number 12 in C Major."

 

Jimmy:  Credit goes to Bill for the riff. This is a cool song, which I'm not sure the recording fully does justice. But it's solid nonetheless. This one was fun to record, as I think Greg likes playing it.

 

Nick:  The recording is alright, but I give the "worst recording on the album award" to this song, which is a crime because it is one of the best.  The guitars on this song should have burst spleens...tube amp... cough... doug... choke... remember when we gave Murph's dog a cup of pizza sauce...

 

On Such a Perfect Night:

 

Nick:  It was a perfect night...I wish I knew how to make music pretty enough to complement the mood.

 

Jimmy:  I think the piano added a lot to this one. At first, when Nick was trying to play it, Murph's dog kept doing weird stuff. But he overcame and played it, and played it well. One time though, when we left Murph's, Nick thought it would be funny to give his dog our pizza sauce. And it was funny, except Murph's dad came home just as Nick gave the dog the sauce. We thought he would be pissed, but he didn't know it was us or something.

 

There For Me:

 

Nick:  Ya know...the chorus is damn catchy.  And the bridge is solid too.  The verses...not so much.  But by the end of the last chorus I figure it's stuck in your head and you forget about the verses anyway.

 

Jimmy:  The choruses are the best part of this one. I like the breakdown part a lot though, which was actually kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision in the midst of recording. It turned out nice, and made the song, in my eyes. We originally recorded it too fast and had to redo it. It's pretty quick as is, so it's a good thing we did I guess.

 

Nick:  Andrew brought the bass on this one.

 

Chains:

 

Nick:  This might be my favorite electric recording on the album.  It's got some great chord transitions and the drums on the chorus are really cool.  The riff is catchy.  The bassline hops (can I say hops?).  I don't know, everything is fun in this one.  I think?  It ends on an A9 too...I think?  It sounds cool to me. 

 

Jimmy:  Me and Nick wrote this one at the park one day. Some ladies at the park walked by and smiled, so I think they liked it. The riff came later, and kind of brought it all together. I like the harmonies too!

 

Dark and Heavy Blues:

 

Nick:  Jimmy wrote these lyrics.  They may have been changed a bit, but I don't think so.  I think we cut out a guitar biff somewhere in the last chorus that you might be able to hear if you listen real close.  I think this was a hard song to mix the vocals into.  It was later brought to our attention that you can have fun singing Hotel California over the verses.  Try it.

 

Jimmy:  A sadder song. Dark and Heavy Blues, a clever play on words from one of the lyrics. We didn't want to call it the obvious title of Midnight Lover cause we have a song called Lover. I like DH Blues better anyway.

 

If I Had Time:

 

Nick:  I like this one.  I actually listen to this one on my free time.  It's not aiming to be funny, but I realize that I use the word hobo in a song so laugh it up.  If you don't understand what I'm trying to say, you can ask me about it on your own.  Listen for the two hits of the "WOW" bell used in the second half of the song.  We found it lying around in Murph's basement. 

 

Jimmy:  Definitely another of my favorites off this cd. I really like the lyrics, the melody - it's all really nice. We found the earthbell in Murph's basement and threw it in a couple times, just to keep you guessing.

 

Funkadelic Jam: 

 

Nick:  This was a live recorded jam session.  I don't appear at all on this track.  I like that.  It shows that we are funky, or well, that they are funky.  Funny story:  So I had some improv words and vocal lines that I used to sing along to this jam.  Sally really liked the instrumental jam and when I sang over it she expressed her disappointment at my contribution.  She said it made it sound really sad...  Maybe it would have had vocals had Sally not pointed out the flaw in the formula.  Jimmy and Greg miss a beat towards the end which is kinda funny.  It was a one take wonder...I'm proud of it.   It's a good listen if you are in the right mood...Colo...

 

Jimmy:  This was a live take, as is evidenced by the messing up towards the end... oops. It was actually the second take because the first take wasn't funky enough. What you hear is what you get. This one is for Boz and for Colo. So as long as they like it, I'm happy.