Fan List
Description:
Recently, I wrote a note to Jiguma (Neil):"At work recently a woman retired. She was a very hard worker who would do anything for you. She was also so anal she couldn't let anything go and she would have to tell us everything we did wrong (nicely, of course). She was well-respected and well liked and her retirement dinner was one of the biggest parties of the year. I wrote a song for the retirement party which we played with full sound system; quite a bit of fun. Here's an mp3 to show you how it goes." I was interested in maybe some bass and drums which Neil does so well. As an aside, I asked him if maybe rtcooper would be interested in playing an electric guitar track. He said it doesn't hurt to ask. So, I was very fortunate to have both these awesome players join me and it turned up the boogie factor exponentially. Neil had so much fun he added a crowd to the mix so it sounded like a party. I only wish I had these two fellas with me at the retirement party.
Lyrics:
I was wrapping up a tray In the Clean Workroom
I was all thumbs
as 3 o’clock loomed
Gas incheck
and tape that said Steam
Looked like I was gonna need
A glass of Jim Beam
Sweet hands took that tray
As I was making no gain
While a voice like a needle
Bored into my brain
Now Joe, I’m not saying this to be mean
But you got a gas incheck when it oughta be steam
No offense to you
But you’re kind of a slob
If you’re gonna wrap a tray
Why don’t you do a good job?
That’s the problem with some people ‘round here
I talk and talk and talk
And no one seems to care
It's like that
Humbled as I was
I put no one above
That naggin tech hammered me
Till I fell in love
I bought her flowers,
Then I planted a kiss
She said “Joe I’d rather you
Do it like ths:
Sweet hands took my hands
Put them around her waist
I got an hour-long session
In how not to make haste
Your nose should drift to left
Whlie mine drifts to the right
First, go brush your teeth
They ain’t lookin’ too white
Cheap flowers nice
Next time buy me a rose
If your gonna hang with me
I’ll keep you on your toes
No offense to you
But you’re kind of a slob
If you wanna be my lover
You better do a good job
More like that
Sitting here broken
You can’t know how it feels
Fallin far too short
of Maggie’s ideals
Makes me feel useless
With a condescending hug
Saying nobody’s perfect
Therin lies the rub
She titters and giggles
With the girls down the hall
I hear her say “Joe tries hard”
And I just feel small
I know she aint saying it Just to be mean
But I hate when she’s right
If you know what I mean
Listen to me fellas
don’t say you ain’t heard
You can talk and talk and talk
You won’t get the last word
You may think you’re something,
All she can stand
But you leave the work room
A brand new broken man
Save me Naggie Maggie
I’ve been being good
Way too long
Stop me Naggy Maggie
I must be doing
Something wrong
something wrong
Like that
Or like that
Hardware:
Alvarez Yairi DY62Penco A190
Shure Beta 58
Hohner Harmonica
Neil's Stuff
Coop's Stuff
Software:
Garage Band and whatever Neil and Coop are usingYou must be registered and logged-in to comment.
Feter
WOW ..this is a blast ..what a cool tight band Joe !!
great great rockin blues colab !!! Deep Bow everybody !!
Joe Brady
Thanks Feter, this was a blast. I was blown away with the results once Neil and Coop got a hold of this. I think these guys captured the mood of this song as I could only imagine doing, but the result was beyond my imaginative powers. Also, Neil did a great job producing the mix. Glad you liked it.
ktb
solid vocal over a jammin tune. everyone really gelled on this. kudo's
Joe Brady
Appreciate the visit and the kind words. It was like I had my own band;-)
Cheers,
Joe
Roxylee
I love this collab. First, the lyrics are something I think we all can relate to, having known people like this. This was fun to listen to. The music rocks; you guys sure play together well. And I love the harmonica. The party sounds rounded it all out. Kudos to all! :-)
Joe Brady
Great to see you here again! These guys really stretched out on this one. Singing with Coop’s Guitar and Neil’s rhythm section is like being in a rocking chair; and that rocking chair is moving!
Thanks,
Joe
sawdust on the floor cuttin' material here, great collection of support staff.
. - Harold
Joe Brady
No dancing on the tables (until 2 a.m.) The management reserves the right to cage the band for their own protection. Thanks for the kind words.
Cheers,
Joe
jiguma
As Joe said, this started out as a friendly request for some bass on a nice little acoustic boogie - little did he know that he had taken the first step in creating a monster ;)
I think Coop sent maybe 5 Strat tracks in all (there's bits of 3 of them in this version); Joe has a doubled acoustic track (plus a part of another acoustic track for the first verse), harmonica and vocal tracks, and I did bass and drums (and hired the rentacrowd crew for the ambience). This was a tricky mix to do, making sure that everyone got heard and that guitars and harp didn't get in each other's way, while at the same time trying to get the "live" feel.
Hope you enjoyed where it went Joe.
Neil
Joe Brady
this is the most fun I’ve ever had with one of my songs. And really, all I had to do was wait for the daily remix to arrive. Your musician and production skills are greatly appreciated with everything you put out, but to have one of my songs given your treatment was a pleasure I sure hope I get to repeat. And how ‘bout that Coop! I felt like I was riding on a rocket; he has a great feel for a song and I loved how this one turned out.
Thanks Neil.
Alannah
... Boys Rock ... but y'all KNOW THAT !
Joe Brady
appreciate the sentiment! Thanks for the visit.
Joe
The Fritters
Good song...but too loud! Too much compression! Turn it down!
jiguma
... the high compression was intentional :) - wanted the live feel. Compared to the duo I saw live last night (Disappear Fear - from Baltimore) the sound on this was positively subtle!
Thanks for the visit and comment - a little experiment ;)
Neil
Jim Bouchard
But I still think it could sound live at a lower volume, by providing more space in the sound. The problem with using compression like this is that it puts the sound right in your face, and rather than creating space, it flattens it. Rather than sounding live, it just sounds loud.
There is something different about moving air in a concert venue versus the sound coming out of the speakers at home. The problem with having a loud sound in a recording is the ear gets fatigued easily because the sound is all there is. When you are at a live venue, there are so many other physical factors that go into the experience that the loud sound is just a minor part of that, and there's an energy factor from the public setting that makes it a different experience. This song, because it has a lot of words, and the focus is the clever wordplay and the story, would be better served by making the sound easier on the ears. Ear fatigue is something I suffer with a lot, so maybe it's just my problem.
jiguma
I'll give it a tweak down to less inyerface settings and see what happens.
:)
Neil
Jim Bouchard
and if I seem to be singing in a monotone, feel free to ignore me. But "loud" does not mean more exciting, more powerful, more forceful, or more "live". It just means loud, and to me, it means something I won't download because it isn't something I can take listening to more than once. It's gotten so that when a song is pushed up as far as it can go by limiting and compression, it's all I can do to get through even just one listen all the way through the song. There's a lot of songs on MacJams that are getting pushed up to that ear fatigue level for me, and it makes me less and less inclined to listen to much MacJams music. So many powerful limiting and compression plugins are so much more affordable now, like Ozone, that these effects are getting used more and more indiscriminately to push the volume up to the max, sometimes indiscriminately. But enough of my ranting...I'll get off my soapbox now...
rtcooper
OZONE, too often, defaults to a full, BLOWN OUT Max.
And while OZONE is great, it takes a few projects to learn the Dynamics settings to counter or modify the pre-sets effectively.
Headroom and Dynamic Range seem to return after some exposure to the App., but, you correctly identify the apparent Zeitgeist of the moment with Mastering Plug-ins.
As a caveat, I'll note that while Neil has a 24-bit environment, Joe and I sent him tracks in 16-bit that, by definition, has nearly no usable headroom. No argument that "Maggie" is a tad short of the Range and Headroom that would prevent the listening fatigue that you reference.
No offense intended. Enthusiasm trumped any planning of the Final as this developed and Neil was tasked with Mixing whatever we had sent over.
Point well taken.
With appreciation and best regards,
Cooper
Vic Holman
boy, this sets the floor on fire.
great rockin"
Joe Brady
Call 911! If the fire doesn't get to the neighbors, the noise will. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Joe
apb
.. thank you er .. men. :o)
Joe Brady
You're too cool to fool! Thanks for the visit!
Joe
rtcooper
WELL, if we'd fixed it, it wouldn't have sounded like this, would it?
It sounds like the Party it was to do.
We did about everything backwards and by sense of touch, but, hey, it's a Hoot!
It's sometimes a good thing to not get too self serious about things.
Thanks, Joe. That's the first one, we'll have to see what's next, eh?
very best,
Coop
Joe Brady
regardless of the details, we had a hell of a lot of fun, I think, because the musical interplay between the three of us worked so well. It was kind of exciting and that may have contributed to the high levels. Can't wait to try again. Thanks for the retro-rockets Coop!
Joe
Outstanding.... everything.... Joe, great song... your singing is just right on. I love the subject.... day in the life, eh? Great harp.... and the band... the band. Neil, RTC... kudos dudes....
and the crowd cried out for more!
Jack
Joe Brady
The energy level was nice and high. Reminded me of some of the best times I've had listening to music. Thanks for the comments, Jack, and the visit. It was a really enjoyable collaboration.
Joe
J.A.Stewart
on this hoe-down...
It's a hoot!
Nice collab and a good time was had by all. ;)
--- Joe
Joe Brady
Thanks for visit. It was a real hoot, that bass makes my feet move! Always wanted to say "hey Joe.......where..." you know the rest. ;-)
Joe
aclarke
Gents- this is what you refer to as a bona-fide rock and roll record. This rocks in all the best possible ways. Great blues rock beat, solid and tight rhythm section, some sweet biting lead guitar and a vocal that doesn't quit (or breathe)! The Dirty Harry artwork was the icing on the retirement cake.
Excellent word play and an awful lot of fun overall!
Joe Brady
Thanks for the kind words. I wanted a bit of a boogie, but I got a bar-room blast with the chicken wire and the Miller long-necks, and, I couldn't be happier. Really appreciate the visit Adam, great to see you here.
guitapick
...this rocks big time, guys. Amazing how you can create that live feel. Love it...congrats on a great collaboration!
Joe Brady
Just call Neil and Coop and you'll feel a"live!" Serious fun.
Joe
dajama
and you've totally succeeded at getting the live feel you wanted. The playing is great - love that guitar work. But the song rests on those lyrics and that vocal performance. This makes me want to get up and dance! Excellent! Nice work to everyone involved. Peace.
Joe Brady
I couldn't ask for a bigger compliment. I always wanted to do music that made people move, but I think this is the first time it happened ;-). Appreciate the kind words and the visit.
Cheers,
Joe
drakonis
I enjoyed the story and the lyrics. Nicely sung! Now I ain't saying this to be mean, but it sounded like the recording was just a little too hot, with a little clipping here and there on a guitar and even vocals. But man, you got some great rockin' guitar and bass work going on there, quite fun! Cheers Joe, Coop, Jiguma!
ttfn,
Drakonis
Joe Brady
Great to have you here. I realize I made some mistakes on the vocal and harp tracks that may have skewed the mix towards the clip effect. But the overall feel was kind of, I don't know, exuberant, over the top, and it really grew on me. I learned some valuable lessons because of it and I promise I'll put them to use on the next one ( as soon as I come down off this table :-0). I love the Condor video. Take care,
Joe
Dixie Mason Band
"A working class hero is something to be."
The band sounds like a real blue collar and blue jean gang. Perfectly imperfect.
Now, if we could just wash off these blue ink hand stamps!
DIXIE
rtcooper
Jim,
Indeed, OZONE, too often, defaults to a full, BLOWN OUT Max.
And while OZONE is great, it takes a few projects to learn the Dynamics settings to counter or modify the pre-sets effectively.
Headroom and Dynamic Range seem to return after some exposure to the App., but, you correctly identify the apparent Zeitgeist of the moment with Mastering Plug-ins.
As a caveat, I'll note that while Neil has a 24-bit environment, Joe and I sent him tracks in 16-bit that, by definition, has nearly no usable headroom. No argument that "Maggie" is a tad short of the Range and Headroom that would prevent the listening fatigue that you reference.
No offense intended. Enthusiasm trumped any planning of the Final as this developed and Neil was tasked with Mixing whatever we had sent over.
Point well taken.
With appreciation and best regards,
Cooper
bud
your singing is great and the harp playing is too good. Way to bring in Jiguma and Coop to kick this along. Mighty fine time.
Joe Brady
It's hard to go wrong with Neil and Coop; the problem is being good enough to keep up. The emails alone were entertaining as these guys were totally committed to the song. I am one grateful guy. Thanks for the kind words and the visit. Looking forward to your next post.
Cheers,
Joe
paddler
in bed with toast and coffee on a stormy thursday morning in the uk before work,this has cheered up my day - Thanks
Richard
Joe Brady
You just made my day. Good of you to visit and drop a line.
Cheers,
Joe
echoroom
Great collab, with great lyrics - this hit the spot, guys!
Joe Brady
Appreciate the visit and the kind words.
this sounded like a buncha talented music makers hunkering down and melding in the best way possible. great vocal alttitude, joe - this is a treat. neil and coop did a fabulous job making the music big and fat and full of life. it made me wanna go across the virtual dance floor and drag coop out onto it with me in a Ladies' Choice sorta mood.
that harmonica is scha weeeeeeeet!
enjoyed your creation,
anne
Joe Brady
You can't dance with Coop; he's in the band; maybe I can arrange a backstage pass;-) Thanks for listen and sweet comment. Someday I'll write a song with harmonies, then we'll have to call on you two. Wouldn't that be a band!
Thanks,
Joe
thetiler
Cool rockin!! Enjoyed the singing and how the tune was mixed. Really enjoyed the harmonica as well.
Has a very nice swing to it. Kinda Jerry Lee Lewis feel, but of course all you guys style.
Way to go!
Nice bass !
Joe Brady
I love the bass and electric guitar too; I know jammin' live with these guys would be great. Collaboration on this site gives one opportunities that would never happen otherwise. I am extremely grateful. Thanks for the encouraging words Tiler, much appreciated.
Joe
Very great song everyone. The guitar work sounds very good and the bass line was very tasty. The vocal and harmonica are just superb. Just a top notch post my friend. Great fun .... you draw a smile here!
Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi
Joe Brady
That makes my day. Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated.
Take Care, my friend,
Joe
It's really hard to make a "Club Sound Clear" So when the ambience
is overwhelming, you better have a Bad Band and this is... One.
Lyrics are solid as a rock, with some serious production behind this,
it could be a contender.
But to do this in a studio setting would mean some Maaad Work.
This could walk with the Big Boys.
I..........LIKE IT.........
It's really hard to get that "Club Sound "
This a Cool-- Bad Band Mix and to put this together
I'm sure took some work. Lyrics are solid as a rock,
with some serious production behind this,
it could be a contender.
I..........LIKE IT.........
Joe Brady
This was an experiment we are sure to repeat; it was fun and easy to work with these guys, and the biggest mistakes here were mine, so I am looking forward to another shot at recording collaboratively. I appreciate the thoughts you have for the material, thanks.
Joe
rover101
What more can I say
Dennis James
....excellent rock and roll guys. Love the harp style...real sixties Stones.
Joe Brady
There was some Stones in my ears while I was learning to tune; could've left a mark. This sound is very much Coop and Neil; they sure know how to have fun.
I think I just gave 'em license to rock and they released their inner animals. Good time was had by all. Thanks for the visit.
Cheers,
Joe
This Rocks AMAZING WOW THAT Harp !!! I am Blown Away.
Phew you did a great Job on this. I LOVE THIS SOOOO MUCH.
A GEM to Download as well Music was all Rocking Good Vocals to die for. KUDO'S
Joe Brady
Appreciate the kind words for all of us. The song took on a life of its own once the collaboration got rolling; It's a special kind of satisfaction seeing two great musician/production guys have such fun with an idea you start them on. I think it might be time to try again soon. Thanks, and welcome to MacJams.
tmcfate
wow
what a great driving story. and true . the bass in so infectious. and the grit in your voice and the two vdifferent tones in the harmonicas. your voice slides into the mix just right. i yhink i like the loud mix. dinamicly the song is a wall of sound, but that is part of iits charm
tim
Joe Brady
Thanks for the listen; I was so excited by what Neil and Coop did to this song. I hope to collaborate again soon; Neil and Coop really got into the spirit of the song and it came out more powerful than I could have imagined (given my acoustic limitations). Great to hear from you, and thanks.
Char
Of course a fellow Cheektowagan has got to be special. Way to blast it, man. Thanks.
Joe Brady
Appreciate the visit. I am glad you enjoyed this one, it was so much fun making it. NIce to meet you too; maybe we don’t have a boulevard of broken dreams, but Cheektowaga Rocks!
Joe
richardhowardjones
This is what writing music is all about....people and life. Feels good and the guys do you proud. Congrats!
Rich
Joe Brady
Appreciate the visit. I hope to get rolling again very soon; working with limited hard drive space and not much time to record right now. Still writing though, and I am working on the overcrowded hard drive. You couldn't ask for better partners in Neil and Coop, I have even imagined their parts in other songs; gotta find a way to use that B3. Seriously, the production and music skills of these two guys is an example of the great potential a site like this has. I think you are one of those guys too, and really appreciate you stopping by. Thanks.
Joe.
Bob Rodgers
Great rockin' song, loved this collab!
Great stuff!
Bob
Bob6stringer
This is great ol' rock and roll, which is due for a comeback, I tell ya. Nice tune, good story. How you flattened this to get it so damn loud I'll never know... steamroller? But it does unify the mix. It all sounds very roadhouse-live except maybe for the voice; I think--do you wanna hear this? I'm no expert--I would tuck-down the vox level 2 dbs and add a little reverb. That's just my sensibility. Opposing that are mixes like the classic, lone studio album, "Rockpile," where Lowe and Edmunds are indeed far up front and dewatered--and that's one of my favorite albums of all time.