datamusicata

On Datamusicata I will be keeping a blog of the current recording project:  an acoustic duet CD by Cliff Eberhardt (http://www.cliffeberhardt.net/)  and me (www.jamesleestanley.com).    The songs are all songs written by the Doors (www.thedoors.com) and in keeping with my original idea for All Wood and Stones (www.allwoodandstones.com), which was all Rolling Stones songs done on acoustic instruments with vocals like Crosby Stills and Nash, will follow that template.   The project is entitled All Wood and Doors.

Yesterday, May 10^th, Cliff and I got off to an early start and by 9:30 we were sitting in the den listening to doors songs and trading ideas.    I brought a small cassette recorder (remember those?) and placed it between us and turned it on, so that everything we said or played would be recorded and we could refer back to it if we needed to.

By 11:30 we had picked the songs Strange Days,  Moonlight Drive, Don’t You Love Her Madly, 20^th Century Fox, People Are Strange, Soul Kitchen, The End, Riders On the Storm, Touch Me, Love Me Two Times, Light My Fire, I look At You, Break On Through and Crystal Ship; and we had sketched out ideas for the arrangements.

We grabbed a bite and went into the studio where we layed down a very slow funky basic track on Break On Through with a two part syncopated guitar thing that delighted us both.

We did Strange Days kind of like the old folk song Wayfaring Stranger and, as per our vision of the project again made some different chord choices than the Doors had made.

Cliff did a great lead vocal on it.  We made three passes, but he nailed it on the first one.   Just to be safe and in case something extraordinary happened we recorded to more versions of the Lead Vocal

We broke for some Indian food for dinner and got back here by 9.

We then tackled Riders On The Storm and layed down some wonderful solid guitar tracks and finally at midnight admitted that we might be losing our edge.    More tomorrow.