Randy Badazz on "Rise"

[badazz]

I appreciate your nice comments regarding the Rise sessions and should any of you have any specific questions regarding that time I would love to answer whatever questions I am able to.

Hi Randy!

Thanks for stopping by. I have a question about a song you and Andy wrote called "Midnight Tango", which appeared on Herb's Blow Your Own Horn album. Some of us have surmised that this album in general consisted of leftover tracks from previous albums. So, was "Midnight Tango" recorded in the Rise or maybe Beyond days, or was it recorded specifically for the Blow Your Own Horn date?


Capt. Bacardi

Hi Captain:

Herb wanted us to produce both the entire "Blow Your Own Horn & Bullish" albums as well as "Fandango". We were both committed to doing other things. Herb loves recording record after record and Andy and I felt that we needed better songs which take time to write and experiment. I hate wasting time writing in expensive recording studios so when we came up with a tune we thought Herb would like we would record a demo in my home studio, with me playing the trumpet, and if we liked it we would bring it to Herb.

"Midnight Tango" was recorded by just Andy and Myself (like Rotation) in studio C at A&M. We added Herb on the 3rd day in studio D (where the Rise album was recorded). Andy and I loved the track and still do however I don't think it was one of Herb's favorites.

Keep the questions coming,

Best Regards to you,
randy

 

[badazz]

I appreciate your nice comments regarding the Rise sessions and should any of you have any specific questions regarding that time I would love to answer whatever questions I am able to.

Hi Randy!

Thanks for stopping by. I have a question about a song you and Andy wrote called "Midnight Tango", which appeared on Herb's Blow Your Own Horn album. Some of us have surmised that this album in general consisted of leftover tracks from previous albums. So, was "Midnight Tango" recorded in the Rise or maybe Beyond days, or was it recorded specifically for the Blow Your Own Horn date?


Capt. Bacardi

Hi Captain:

Herb wanted us to produce both the entire "Blow Your Own Horn & Bullish" albums as well as "Fandango". We were both committed to doing other things. Herb loves recording record after record and Andy and I felt that we needed better songs which take time to write and experiment. I hate wasting time writing in expensive recording studios so when we came up with a tune we thought Herb would like we would record a demo in my home studio, with me playing the trumpet, and if we liked it we would bring it to Herb.

"Midnight Tango" was recorded by just Andy and Myself (like Rotation) in studio C at A&M. We added Herb on the 3rd day in studio D (where the Rise album was recorded). Andy and I loved the track and still do however I don't think it was one of Herb's favorites.

Keep the questions coming,

Best Regards to you,
randy

 

[badazz]

Captain,

Thanks so very much for including the wonderful response and explanation from Randy Alpert. I love reading about how songs are inspired and records. Very interesting reading. To Randy, I also thank you for visiting with us and telling us your first hand account of how Rise and Rotation all happened. I must tell you in all sincerity, I love Herb's trumpet and his music. Always have and always will. My first impression of "Rise" was nearly identical to that of Julius Wechter's. I'm not a disco fan and the first thing I heard in "Rise" was that disco sound. As Herb said when he was sitting in the studio with Julius listening to the playback of "Rise", he leaned over and said, "Julius, I think we have a hit record here. What do you think?". Julius replied..."I don't like this song at all!". But, I grew to like it after a half dozen or so playbacks. I also must tell you that if you had told me about what type of song "Rise" was going to be and that you would have a marimba in it, I would have told you that you were out of your mind. A marimba in a dance/disco song? No way! But, in true Herb Alpert/Julius Wechter fashion, they made it work and it's essential to the intregrity of the song, IMHO. Herb keeps doing it, with just a natural flair, it''s mind boggling. The man is truely a musical genius, like Julius was. Thanks Herb. We, your die hard, loyal fans, just can't dislike anything you do.

Warm Wishes,
Tom Wahl
Pensacola, Florida

Hi Tom:

I was just a little boy 10, 11, 12 years old when the Tijuana Brass were huge. I would sit in my room for hours and hours listening to those records and playing my trumpet. I knew every arrangement, inflection, tempo, and sound.

When I started my professional musical journey around 1976 I was into Aretha, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Bar Kays, Funkadelics, Sly Stone, Johnny Guitar Watson, etc.

In 1978 Herb's career had been in a lull commercially for almost 10 years and he really wanted a hit record. The new generation of kids were into dance/funk music not Tijuana Brass records. I told Herb that I would be involved if he let me do it funky and contemporary. We both agreed to use elements of the Tijuana Brass sound but on top of a modern funky groove. Those years of listening to Tijuana Brass records helped in fusing that classic sound with a modern groove. Part of Herb's old sound was marimba and a good melody. Part of my sound was a 4 on the floor kick drum and a bass in your face with the rhythm elements the loudest thing in the mix. I think the aggressive drums and bass might have scared Julius a bit however that is what the world was grooving to in 1979.

As an aside; I knew Julius since I was 5 or 6 years old. He was truly one of the great musicians in the entire world that I ever worked with and I felt a bit intimidated giving him direction as to what to play and not play during the Rise sessions. As a person he was extremely warm, kind, caring, polite, and one of the funniest guys I ever met. He had a giant heart and I'm so very fortunate to have known him.
randy

 

[Harry]

Randy: As a radio person, I'm always fascinated with single mixes of songs, and "Rise" certainly had a good one. Not so much a mix as an edit, due to the extended length of the track. The single, I suppose, had to clock in under 4:00 or stations wouldn't play it, right? So was that something that you guys do in the studio on the spot, or did you wait for the decision to release it as a single?

Second question, do you recall whose idea it was to do the hand-clapping on the 'four' beat. It was a wonderful device that was used a few other times on Herb's solo albums. And, though Lani appears in the video to "Rise", I wonder if she might have been part of that clapping bunch. Do you remember who was enlisted for that task since it's not listed in the album credits?

Harry
...happy that Randy Badazz has joined us to answer some long-held questions, online...

 

[Stephen Vakil]

Randy - another Rise question!

I remember reading and hearing that "Rise was recorded live in the studio" but was never sure what that meant. Do I take it that the entire recording was made in one go with no overdubbing and with all the musicians playing at the same time? I take it that the Rise video was recorded after the original sound recording...?

Incidentally, I still have fond memories of meeting you at the Julius Wechter tribute in Glendale last year!

Best wishes from a snowy and icy London

Stephen

 

[badazz]

Randy: As a radio person, I'm always fascinated with single mixes of songs, and "Rise" certainly had a good one. Not so much a mix as an edit, due to the extended length of the track. The single, I suppose, had to clock in under 4:00 or stations wouldn't play it, right? So was that something that you guys do in the studio on the spot, or did you wait for the decision to release it as a single?

Second question, do you recall whose idea it was to do the hand-clapping on the 'four' beat. It was a wonderful device that was used a few other times on Herb's solo albums. And, though Lani appears in the video to "Rise", I wonder if she might have been part of that clapping bunch. Do you remember who was enlisted for that task since it's not listed in the album credits?

Harry
...happy that Randy Badazz has joined us to answer some long-held questions, online...

Hi Harry:

Rise was cut at over 9:00 in length and we cut out about 1 1/2 minutes of the groove sections. I remember telling Herb that I could listen to this groove for 30 minutes. Herb too really dug the whole vibe however it was very foreign to him to have a song 7-8 minutes in length when the Tijuana Brass songs were generally 2 - 3 minute songs. I was very keyed into the disco/club scene and very much wanted to do a record that would be a hit in the clubs. Often I would do versions and dance mixes for other artists especially for the clubs at 9, 10, 11, even 12 minutes long. When you get a good song/groove going people want to rock out for 10 minutes. It still happens in todays clubs all around the world.

So it was my intention to make a club record so we first released Rise as a 12" dance single which immediately caught fire in the dance clubs and late night R&B radio which played the whole 7 minute version which was most unusual. Herb and I together did the radio edit when A&M decided that top 40 radio just might play the song.

Please note that the dance mix, album mix, and single mix are all the same master mix. We thought we hit magic so why remix?

The handclaps were my trademark funk thing. Part of the hi hat, snare,kick drum, bass, motor thing. It was the motor to get Uncle through to the masses in 1979. I let him do his thing and graciously Herb let me do my thing which is why we had success. We had a synergy thing happening. Old guard wisdom/new guard energy.

I liked big big big handclaps. Herb, Andy, me, and the engineers would go out into the studio and we would record claps onto 10 tracks then combine them to 2 tracks. So actually those 2 mixed tracks contained 50 people clapping. Herb would say that sounds great what should we do next and I would say we need to finish the claps and I think Herb assumed we would stop at 50. 50 was a start for me because we then called the other studios and got the other engineers, receptionists, and people in the hallways and brought them into studio d and gave them headphones. So we now had 15 - 16 people clapping onto 10 more tracks and then combine them with the other 50 claps down to 2 tracks so that we now had the sound of over 200 people clapping. That is the sound I was looking for. A whole dance club of people clapping to the song.

Lani did not clap on the Rise album although she was most supportive, always, to everyone.


Thanks for asking Harry.

 

[badazz]

Randy - another Rise question!

I remember reading and hearing that "Rise was recorded live in the studio" but was never sure what that meant. Do I take it that the entire recording was made in one go with no overdubbing and with all the musicians playing at the same time? I take it that the Rise video was recorded after the original sound recording...?

Incidentally, I still have fond memories of meeting you at the Julius Wechter tribute in Glendale last year!

Best wishes from a snowy and icy London

Stephen

Hi Stephen:

Firstly, it's a pleasure to have met you and quite an honor for Julius to have you fly in from the UK for his memorial. Very warm...

Many records are cut first on a computer or sequencer with a drum machine and then parts such as guitar and bass are added. Vocals or trumpets are added and then maybe a real drummer is brought in to replace the machine, etc.

Rise was basically live in the studio. Julius, Abaraham Laboriel, Mike Lang, Andy, Steve, 2 guitar players. Herb was set up right in the middle of the room. 8 musicians playing the song for 9 minutes right before my eyes. With everyone playing together I could make immediate arrangement changes or sound changes and Herb decided to try one of the "go throughs" at a slower tempo which we all decided we liked. Those things can't really be done when you make a piece meal all overdubbed record.

So the basic record was live. Handclaps, low toms, some bass slides and pops and a few guitar licks (like the one leading into the breakdown sections) were the only overdubs.

I never saw the Rise video. There was no MTV back then and I was busy trying to get the album completed when Herb went to shoot the video. I believe that it was made for Europe, Japan, and South America. I didn't see it but it was most definitely NOT SHOT during the recording session.

Have a healthy 2003 Stephen and stay out of the English rain,

randy

 

[Rudy]

Please note that the dance mix, album mix, and single mix are all the same master mix. We thought we hit magic so why remix?

I believe I own the 7" version (I may have bought it before the 12" was available locally), but when that 12" single came out, I don't think a day went by that I didn't play it a few times per day! The funked-up "Aranjuez" was the icing on the cake--it got just as many spins. However, I've never noticed a difference between the album and 12" single versions of either song. The mix, unquestionably, is the same. But I haven't run the album alongside the 12" to see if one's remarkably different. Just curious if I'm missing anything.

"Rotation" was definitely remixed (or "extended", if you will), and up until a few years ago when I finally found the 12" (on clear vinyl, yet), I didn't even know it existed.

One of my pet projects is to put all of those 12"ers onto a CD one of these days. Like I have time lately.

I was always a little disappointed that "Beyond" never had a 12" single version available...maybe a remix, or extended somewhat. That whole groove was so intoxicating, I always wished it would continue for another six minutes! Maybe with a little creative work in Sound Forge, I can patch something together.

Around the time of "Rise", though, I was also into a lot of the R&B and disco, less of the "pop" stuff and one-hit wonders, but more of the funk/R&B bands with danceable singles, and lesser-known disco tracks that most radio wouldn't play. And we had a local station that played all extended versions--it was a good time for music back then, and quite a surprise for someone like Herb, who was usually so far outside that sphere, to actually make a record in a similar style...a #1 hit, yet!

 

[badazz]

Please note that the dance mix, album mix, and single mix are all the same master mix. We thought we hit magic so why remix?

I believe I own the 7" version (I may have bought it before the 12" was available locally), but when that 12" single came out, I don't think a day went by that I didn't play it a few times per day! The funked-up "Aranjuez" was the icing on the cake--it got just as many spins. However, I've never noticed a difference between the album and 12" single versions of either song. The mix, unquestionably, is the same. But I haven't run the album alongside the 12" to see if one's remarkably different. Just curious if I'm missing anything.



"Rotation" was definitely remixed (or "extended", if you will), and up until a few years ago when I finally found the 12" (on clear vinyl, yet), I didn't even know it existed.

One of my pet projects is to put all of those 12"ers onto a CD one of these days. Like I have time lately.

I was always a little disappointed that "Beyond" never had a 12" single version available...maybe a remix, or extended somewhat. That whole groove was so intoxicating, I always wished it would continue for another six minutes! Maybe with a little creative work in Sound Forge, I can patch something together.

Around the time of "Rise", though, I was also into a lot of the R&B and disco, less of the "pop" stuff and one-hit wonders, but more of the funk/R&B bands with danceable singles, and lesser-known disco tracks that most radio wouldn't play. And we had a local station that played all extended versions--it was a good time for music back then, and quite a surprise for someone like Herb, who was usually so far outside that sphere, to actually make a record in a similar style...a #1 hit, yet!

Hi Rudy:

I too loved Aranjuez. The last 2:00 is just non stop funk. That tune was Herb's idea however I showed him how to add the funk motor to an already lovely melody.

Rotation had 2 additional remixes. The commercial 12" was essentially just lengthening the album version. I spent another 3 days in the studio, with Andy, making a club mix which was about 8 minutes of some really radical stuff. Distorted and psychedelic synthesized trumpets, backwards guitars, new drums and voices. Got massive club play in Italy, Germany, Belgium,Holland, and Brazil. In America it was the #2 club record (in the American record pools) for 7 weeks. Never made #1 which bothered me. We were shut out by one of my favorite groups at the time, Chic.

Concerning Beyond. I personally made both a "dub style" mix and the "Beyond Reality" club mix which was in the 8-9 minute range. I haven't heard that mix in years but I was really happy with it. I'm not sure if Herb understood it but he let me be free to handle all of the club mixes. The "Beyond Reality" mix might have been a record pool only mix. Now days the club remixes are primarily the hits you hear on the radio. Back then radio generally wouldn't touch or understand a club remix.

Hope this helps,
randy

 

[thetijuanataxi]

Wow! Randy Badazz here at the Corner! How great is that? It must be incredible to have such a legendary uncle who is loved by millions of people. And it must have given you the inspiration and guidance to excel with your musical endeavors. I remember the RISE era and how overjoyed I was to hear RISE on top 40 radio. My last experience of Herb was seeing him and Hugh Masakela perform at The Bottom Line in New York City in 1978. It was an awesome concert even though no TJB material was covered. But to hear Herb back at the top of the charts and even having teenagers respond to the song was eutopia for me. I was fortunate enough to meet Herb briefly at Korvettes in NYC in 1979, where he was promoting RISE ad he signed my RISE LP. Randy, thanks for creating such a great song and for your contributions in the making of the RISE album and helping to put Herb back where he belonged-at the top. My question for you would be if you know whether Herb has anything in the works for a new CD and whether you have any plans to work together on another project? If RISE was any indication, there is definitely a talent for making very enjoyable and unfogettable music that runs in your family. Stay well and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

David,
thinking that "Behind The Rain" could have also been a big hit

 

[badazz]

Wow! Randy Badazz here at the Corner! How great is that? It must be incredible to have such a legendary uncle who is loved by millions of people. And it must have given you the inspiration and guidance to excel with your musical endeavors. I remember the RISE era and how overjoyed I was to hear RISE on top 40 radio. My last experience of Herb was seeing him and Hugh Masakela perform at The Bottom Line in New York City in 1978. It was an awesome concert even though no TJB material was covered. But to hear Herb back at the top of the charts and even having teenagers respond to the song was eutopia for me. I was fortunate enough to meet Herb briefly at Korvettes in NYC in 1979, where he was promoting RISE ad he signed my RISE LP. Randy, thanks for creating such a great song and for your contributions in the making of the RISE album and helping to put Herb back where he belonged-at the top. My question for you would be if you know whether Herb has anything in the works for a new CD and whether you have any plans to work together on another project? If RISE was any indication, there is definitely a talent for making very enjoyable and unfogettable music that runs in your family. Stay well and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

David,
thinking that "Behind The Rain" could have also been a big hit

Hi David:

Thank you for your kind words..... Actually when the Tijuana Brass were at their height I was a young boy and never really realised how popular uncle was. I guess I thought that this is normal and that everybody had somebody well known in their family.

I e/mailed Herb several weeks ago and he was sculpting some art pieces. I did not ask if he was preparing to record some new songs so I really don't know what he is up to music-wise. I am personally into R&B/Rap/rock music and not really into the jazzy type of music uncle has been doing during the last 10 years. We're coming from very different places however, if he e/mailed me and said let's do some contemporary dance/R&B, as he did in 1978, It would take me and Andy about 3 days to come up with some melodies for Herb to play. The music tracks are easy it's the memorable melody that's a bit of a challenge. I'm open but unfortunately it's a very different music business then it was in the late 70's although if Santana can do it I know that Herb can.

As for "Behind the Rain" which I have not heard in about 15 years...... I think that was one of Herb's songs and his arrangement too. Had a lot of drama and a nice little melody. It possibly could have been a single however those decisions are usually dictated by both radio and the record company promotion staff.

Thanks so much David,
randy

 

[Mr Bill]

Hello Randy,

We here seem to have hammered you with enough questions about the Rise sessions. What I'd like to do is tell you how much I enjoyed the RandyAndy LP. In fact I wore out the first copy. The 12" of "Motor Song" (both mixes) and "People..." are almost in regular circulation when I have a party. I wish I knew you were at Julius' tribute. I would have liked to have met you. I did finally talk to your uncle (a strong influence on MY creativity, right up there with Walt Disney as I told him) and Dave Alpert (your father, I assume).

So thanks for all the great music. you've given us! I'm about to play "The Factory," my favorite cut off Beyond as I get ready to get on board a Navy ship here in the middle east (my full time job -- visit my website if you're bored: www.irscorner.com, sort of a sister site to the A&M Corner).

--Bill Gowdy

 

[Rudy]

Those rare mixes are very interesting--too bad I've never seen them anywhere. Forget eBay--anything Herb lately fetches big bucks! I used to know someone online who was an ex-DJ, and filled quite a few of my requests for singles I'd heard but wasn't able to find anywhere.

I never did get into later (mid 80's and later) remixes very much, though--I was more fond of the remixes by engineers like Tom Moulton, Bob Clearmountain, etc.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Another of my favorite tunes of yours and Andy's is "The Factory", from the Beyond album. How did you guys get Peter Frampton to play on the track? He was just past the height of his popularity at the time. I always thought the song had this eerie, haunting quality to it, and it worked great with Frampton's guitar. Lots of great sound effects on this one, especially a cannon shot.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Stephen Vakil]

Randy

Many thanks for answering my questions. Much appreciated!

Stephen

 

[badazz]

Hello Randy,

We here seem to have hammered you with enough questions about the Rise sessions. What I'd like to do is tell you how much I enjoyed the RandyAndy LP. In fact I wore out the first copy. The 12" of "Motor Song" (both mixes) and "People..." are almost in regular circulation when I have a party. I wish I knew you were at Julius' tribute. I would have liked to have met you. I did finally talk to your uncle (a strong influence on MY creativity, right up there with Walt Disney as I told him) and Dave Alpert (your father, I assume).

So thanks for all the great music. you've given us! I'm about to play "The Factory," my favorite cut off Beyond as I get ready to get on board a Navy ship here in the middle east (my full time job -- visit my website if you're bored: www.irscorner.com, sort of a sister site to the A&M Corner).

--Bill Gowdy

Hi Bill:

Firstly, you take care of yourself out there. We are in some scary times and you seem to be stationed right in the middle of trouble.

You have a great site and please know that I was very fond of the whole I.R.S. label. I remixed many Go's Go's and Wall of Voodoo tracks (uncredited) for Miles.

I personally never liked the Randy Andy record and have not listened to it since it was made. I have received many e/mails from many people in Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Italy who really liked those 2 songs. Apparently they were rather big in the European dance clubs during the summer of 1983.

I too really like the Factory. It was such an honor to have Peter Frampton play a fabulous guitar solo throughout the song. He was so nice to work with and he is just blazing. That song is kind of off beat and rather crazy (especially for a Herb Alpert album).

Take care of yourself and stay safe,
randy

 

[badazz]

Another of my favorite tunes of yours and Andy's is "The Factory", from the Beyond album. How did you guys get Peter Frampton to play on the track? He was just past the height of his popularity at the time. I always thought the song had this eerie, haunting quality to it, and it worked great with Frampton's guitar. Lots of great sound effects on this one, especially a cannon shot.

Hi Captain:

I was always a HUGE HUGE fan of the group Humble Pie and I toured with them, as a photographer, during the, I believe, the summer of 1971. I shot many of the photos on their Rocking the Fillmore album. Anyways, Andy and I were laying down the tracks and the sound effects in studio D and I wanted Herb to hear what we had done so I left the studio and was walking across the A&M lot to Herb's office when I heard a loud rock band coming from the soundstage. I listened and could immediately tell it was Peter Frampton's guitar playing so I walked in and Frampton was working on some new songs with some new musicians. I hadn't seen Peter in about 10 years but he was as warm and friendly as the first time we met. I went back to the studio and told Andy and he suggested we have Peter play on the song so I went back and asked Peter if he would play and he said he would be honored. I asked Herb if that would be alright and Herb was very excited. We had Herb play the melody that evening and Peter came in the next afternoon. Peter plugged inwe gave him the chords and we started recording immediately. Just about everything is first take just the way he played. I believe that we were finished in 20-30 minutes. One of the great afternoons of my life.

Thanks Captain B,
Captain Badazz

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I was always a HUGE HUGE fan of the group Humble Pie and I toured with them, as a photographer, during the, I believe, the summer of 1971.

If I remember right, you did some photos on an album by another rocker - I want to say Steve Marriott, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I remember seeing the name Randy Alpert.

Great story on the Frampton bit. It's amazing how these things just happen to come together. Thanks for the insight!


Capt. Bacardi

 

[badazz]

I was always a HUGE HUGE fan of the group Humble Pie and I toured with them, as a photographer, during the, I believe, the summer of 1971.

If I remember right, you did some photos on an album by another rocker - I want to say Steve Marriott, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I remember seeing the name Randy Alpert.

Great story on the Frampton bit. It's amazing how these things just happen to come together. Thanks for the insight!

Captain:

You have a brilliant memory! I photographed the cover for Steve Marriott's (also from Humble Pie) solo album. I also did the cover for the Best of Free and I think the cover of Joe Cocker's greatest hits. Also the "I Heard That" album cover for Quincy Jones. There were also various album shots and publicity photographs for Cat Stevens, Andy Fairweather Low, Tim Weisberg, Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Lee Michaels, Traffic, Billy Preston, Cheech & Chong, Merry Clayton, Styx, Carole King, George Harrison, Blodwyn Pig, The Churls, The Carpenters, Paul Williams and many many more.

Thanks for remembering. I almost forgot that I was once a photographer.

Best Regards Captain,
randy

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Captain:
You have a brilliant memory!

And they say beer kills brain cells. Hogwash! Now what were we talking about???


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Randy, a couple of questions about the Beyond album:

Johnny "Guitar" Watson played on three of the tunes, and was wondering how he got into the mix. I know he ended up doing an album for A&M later. His playing on "Reach For The Stars" was hot!

Also, on "Keep It Goin'" I notice that Les McCann co-wrote the song with you and Andy. Was this another just-happened-to-be-there kind of thing? There was an impressive list of musicians on this album as a whole.

"Red Hot" - this was remixed for the Blow Your Own Horn album. Did you not like the version from Beyond, or maybe you had a new idea for it later?

Thanks again!

Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Another Beyond fan here.

I have always loved that title tune, it's one of my all time favorite Herb solo tracks.

I've always wondered about the overall sound of it....the understated rhythm section, the odd sound efx. Randy, can you give some memories about the evolution of that song? It would have been pretty easy to make it into a standard dance track with "typical" percussion and drum sounds, but the end result is one of the more unique dance records made.

 

[badazz]

Randy, a couple of questions about the Beyond album:

Johnny "Guitar" Watson played on three of the tunes, and was wondering how he got into the mix. I know he ended up doing an album for A&M later. His playing on "Reach For The Stars" was hot!

Also, on "Keep It Goin'" I notice that Les McCann co-wrote the song with you and Andy. Was this another just-happened-to-be-there kind of thing? There was an impressive list of musicians on this album as a whole.

"Red Hot" - this was remixed for the Blow Your Own Horn album. Did you not like the version from Beyond, or maybe you had a new idea for it later?

Thanks again!

Capt. Bacardi

Hi Captain:

As I had said in previous posts I was VERY into James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Earth Wind & Fire, Aretha, Johnny Guitar Watson, etc. One day we were in studio D listening back after Herb played his horn on the Earth Wind & Fire track "That's the way of the World". I looked over to Herb and said that I think this guy named Johnny Guitar Watson (I didn't think Herb knew who he was) would be perfect for this track. Herb got all excited and said that he's known Johnny for like 20 years ever since Herb was working for record producer Bumps Blackwell in the late 1950's. Herb's secretary found Johnny and Herb talked to him and like 2 days later Johnny shows up on the A&M lot driving a gold Stutz Blackhawk car wearing a gold head to tow outfit including a fedora hat with a feather and wearing tens of thousands of dollars in diamonds. Johnny walks in to the studio looking like Super Fly sits down at the console and we plug him in direct to his little amp in the studio and he immediately starts recording. I almost fell off my chair I was so excited at what this guy was playing. We put him on I believe 3 songs. Another one of the great afternoons of my life.

One day Herbie came walking in to the studio with Les McCann. Herb wanted Andy and I to listen to a few of his songs for possibly recording for the album. I wasn't personally excited about anything however Herb liked a piece of one song so Andy and I went out into the studio with Les and in about 15 minutes finished some choruses and a B section.

Concerning RedHot; you'd have to ask Herb about that. I never liked the version on Blow Your Own Horn and don't remember why it was remixed for that album.

Hope this helps......
randy

 

[badazz]

Another Beyond fan here.

I have always loved that title tune, it's one of my all time favorite Herb solo tracks.

I've always wondered about the overall sound of it....the understated rhythm section, the odd sound efx. Randy, can you give some memories about the evolution of that song? It would have been pretty easy to make it into a standard dance track with "typical" percussion and drum sounds, but the end result is one of the more unique dance records made.

Hello Mike:

Thank you for your kind words. I personally love the Beyond track. Ahead of it's time. Herb played me a song, in his office, from some European demo. Herb liked the melody however I did not like the music at all. Herb knew that I loved experimenting with synths, electronics, and sequencers so Herb basically said to Andy and I; go into the studio and do something cool. We started with a drum machine and a sequencer and lots of different tape echos and weird little percussive sounds. Eventually we flew Steve Gadd out from New York to play various drum and percussive parts to replace the drum machine. Herb was always very cool in letting us go off and do our thing. I really loved that track however radio was not going to play that song.

Thanks Mike,
randy

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I really loved that track however radio was not going to play that song.

"Beyond" got some radio play here, but I heard it more as a theme to a local sports broadcast. The opening synth line is a classic.


Capt. Bacardi