Why Rework a Recording You've Already Released?
Friday, September 19, 2008 at 05:56PM I received some posts on this article about owning your own songs, one regarding the re recording, remixing, resequencing and remastering of Traces of the Old Road, a CD I originally put out in 2002. 
Here’s what David of Colorado had to say and then my response.
“Not that you need a plug on your own blog, but I would like to discuss "New Traces of the Old Road". Frankly, I wondered why you were re-doing this, James. Almost seemed to me like re-visiting the past. And I have always loved the CD as it was. I worried that tinkering with a good thing would make it too perfect - take the soul out of it. Make it too sterile and remove the heart. And what I have always loved the most about "Traces" was its heart.
But I ordered it anyway, because, well, I order everything you do. I needn't have worried.
From the first note, I knew that you had done the right thing. You managed to improve the musicality without losing any of the heart or the soul of the incredible songs. Before, it was great. Now, it is right - and still great.”
Thanks for the posts, the kind words and the insights. i always liked the Traces CD, but as i listened a few years later on a road trip (as an aside, one of the ways I warm up in the car is to sing with the albums I am going to be drawing from for the nights performance—but as usual, I digress--), things started to pull me out of the song, so i had to fix them.
You know, Lowell George of Little Feat (www.littlefeat.com) , also rerecorded songs if they changed in the course of live performance. He would just record a song again, if he felt it warranted it. I always admired his artistry and his courage as an artist...not to mention he was one of the greatest singers of the time. Anyway, back to the topic...
By my lights, a CD should be a journey and the songs, the sequence, the mixes, the topics, all have to flow into one another and I want to have nothing pulll me out of that flow.
For instance, the first side of Sgt Pepper (remember sides to albums? ho ho.) kept my interest the whole time. when i turned it over, the harrison indian song was interesting,but what was it doing on that album? it has always taken me out of the rest of the recording. i like the song, and the sentiment, i just never liked it there on that album.
in any event, the first thing that came to me was the fact that the sequence was wrong for the unfolding of the topical journey Traces takes. I just made infinitely more sense to start with the wistful, Last Day of Summer.
Originally, I had Dylan’s Just Like Thom Thumb’s Blues as the opener. I did that on purpose in an effort to demonstrate my artistry and to engage radio DJ’s with something that was, at least, slightly familiar to them.
But Last Day of Summer sets the tone that I wanted to permeate the CD.
I begin with a big summer storm, lightning and thunder; sound effects and out of the thunder comes the rain and then my guitar. The way it unfolds makes all the songs that follow it resonate with that wistfulness.
Out of the sound of the rain next comes me and my guitar and Just Like Thom Thumb’s Blues. The song feels differently to me now because of what preceeded it. And the first lyric, “when you’re lost in the rain in Juarez” Ah. It’s perfect.
Then the weather gets heavier with One Heart Falling. Still on a journery, now across the heartland and into the Rockies…”black ice and mountains lie ahead…sirens and red lights flash behind me…” I had to rearrange this CD because the project as a whole made sense to me in a different way than it had when I began it.
Everything that follows uses more images of nature and more everyday references to tell the story in a way that is familiar and, hopefully, fresh at the same time. I literally wrote reams of poetry before I settled on the simple images that made the most sense to me as an artist in this context.
I actually wrote a column about writing and rewriting Last Day of Summer…it’s in here somewhere.
As I have always said, it is difficult to produce yourself because you must distance yourself from your own work to see it as it is and not as you want it to be. Time gave me that distance and I am very glad that I took the time to redo the things that begged me for attention.
Reader Comments (8)
Don't worry too much ^.^
magasinmp3
Hi James,
I feel the rhythm of the music just from your words. Its that much appealing. Even though you said that its difficult to produce ourselves im quite confident in producing myself in judging things which i do before asking to any other.
You have mentioned "it is difficult to produce yourself " so do you stand away from the crowd of people who have difficulty in that! :P
Thanks once more for this awesome article James,
thanks for the comments. i do love producing myself, tho i am becoming more free with others input than i wa in the beginning. we learn to trust ourselves and others, but in the final analysis, we must follow our instincts, not our manners. serve the recording and the song, the rest works itself out.
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Oh my James! Your creation is awesome! Believe me, it is really heart warming. DOnt worry about producing yourself.You have a great talent and it is not hardnto do. So keep it up!
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I think you're right. I always rework my old recordings. 'cause I remember things, tricks or something that I used when I was recording so can be things that I can use on my new recordings and give them like a retro sound. Make a combination between retro and new sounds is the combination that gets up on top.
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