There's a great book out called "Recording The Beatles"
that explains all of the techniques and equipment used at Abbey Road.
It is a fantastic piece of research and documentation. Good job fellas!
Lately I've been hooked on the
Canadian TV
show "Holmes On Homes".
Mike Holmes takes on home projects that everyone else has failed on and
screwed the homeowners. This is not "This Old House". Sometimes
I get called into a facility that has so many problems one just wants
to
cry. I know how Mike feels.

I feel sorry for Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones. He acted in 2 great
TV shows that never made it past their first seasons. The first was
"Over
There" on FX Networks. He played a US solder in Iraq. The second was
"Blade The Series" on SpikeTV. I thought it was much better than
the Blade movies. It had a good cast and great music.
MtTamalpaisMagicMountain.html
I
was working on a theater. They had engaged the services of a famous
acoustical
consulting company to improve the acoustics in the theater. They paid
them
$20,000. and the consultants sent a blueprint of some baffles to be
placed
on the walls. The theater had them made up and called the consultants
to
tell them where they had specified the panels to be placed was not
possible.
The panels would have been blocking HVAC vents, windows and handrails.
Would
they please send someone out to specify the correct locations? No one
came.
The theater called the consultants again and again over the course of 8
months. Finally, they got a consultant on the phone and he told them :
"just
put them anywhere".
I get a call from one of my church customers
that their wireless lavaliere microphone is acting funny. I go down
there
and find the Pastor has cut off the little antenna that hangs off the
bodypack.
I get a call from one of my church customers that their wireless
lavaliere
microphone doesn't work. The Pastor says everything is on and he even
has
a red light on his bodypack, so why no sound?
We're supplying a system
to a theater for a big show. The promoter says they've engaged a Big
Time
sound "engineer" to mix the show and they want Brand X mixing
console. No big deal, we sub rent it. Big Time comes up and I say
"System
sounds great, we've checked the backline and your Left and Right is on
matrix
1 & 2." Big Time says "What's a matrix?"
I'm recording
a bands demo in a small studio. Everthing's fine except I tell the
guitarist
he's out of tune. He says "Really, which string?"
Great American Hero's :
Smokey Yunick
Smokey has passed away but he left behind a great autobiography "The
Best Damn Garage In Town"
One of the best books I've ever read.
Check out
her website- it's very
good: Carol Kaye
An LA studio musician who played on so many great records:
A more detailed list of Carol Kaye's electric bass session work: The
Beach
Boys: "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Help Me Rhonda," "Good
Vibrations," "Caroline No," "Sloop John B," "Heroes
and Villains," "California Girls," most of Pet Sounds LP.
Electric guitar on an earlier hit, "Surfin' USA." Plus work for
Joe Cocker ("Feelin' Alright") Barbra Streisand ("The Way
We Were"), the Marketts ("Batman Theme"), Simon & Garfunkel
("Homeward Bound"), the Righteous Brothers ("Soul & Inspiration"),
Ike and Tina Turner ("River Deep Mountain High"), Ray Charles
("America The Beautiful" & "Don't Change On Me"
& "I Don't Need No Doctor" & "I Chose To Sing The
Blues" & "Understanding" & "Feel So Bad")
Brenda Holloway ("You Made Me So Very Happy"), Herb Alpert and
the Tijuana Brass ("Whipped Cream"), Andy Williams ("Love
Story"), Lou Rawls (""Natural Man," "Unforgettable"
and "Tobacco Road"), Glen Campbell ("Wichita Lineman"
and others), Motherlode ("When I Die"), Frank and Nancy Sinatra
("Something Stupid"), Nancy Sinatra ("These Boots Are Made
For Walkin'," "Sugar Town") plus the Monkees, Gary Lewis
& the Playboys, the Buckinghams, Paul Revere & the Raiders,
Gary
Usher, Gary Puckett and Union Gap, Bill Cosby ("Hikky Burr" with
him and Quincy Jones, "Chump Change" with Quincy also). Did over
10,000 recording sessions in Los Angeles. Was first call on elecric
bass
from 1964 through about 1974, but played electric bass on all sessions
from
1963 through last thing I did, the theme for "Soap" TV series
(1981). Guitar hits: "La Bamba" Ritchie Valens, "Zippity
Doo Dah" Bob B. Soxx & Blue Jeans, "Unchained Melody"
& "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" Righteous Bros., "The
Beat Goes On" (he used my bass line doubled with bassist Bob West)
& "He's A Rebel", "I Got You Babe" & "Baby
Don't Go" & "All I Really want To Do)" & "Bang
Bang" Sonny & Cher (& "Alfie" Cher), "Danke
Shoen" Wayne Newton, "Mexican Shuffle" Herb Alpert and the
Tijuana Brass, "Mothers Of Invention & Freak Out LPs w/Frank Zappa.
TV Shows: "Mission Impossible", "M.A.S.H.", "Room
222", Kojac, "Hawaii 5-O" (played bass on Ventures' thing
of this), "Ironside", "McCloud," "Addams Family,"
first Cosby TV (Quincy Jones), "The Streets Of San Francisco,"
"Brady Bunch," "Hogan's Heroes," "Alice,"
"Cannon," "Soap," "The Paper Chase," "Mannix,"
"It Takes A Thief," "Wonder Woman," "Peyton Place,"
"The Love Boat," "Get Smart," "FBI," etc.
A few movies: "Airport," "The Thomas Crown Affair,"
"Walk, Don't Run," "Sweet Charity," "The New Centurions,"
"The Pawnbroker," "Slender Thread," "Plaza Suite,"
"Smokey and the Bandit," "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner,"
"Beneath The Planet of the Apes."