Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early and also early and bright. Our final vocal session ran just three hours, exactly as I predicted. Which means we did this album from start to finish in two and a half days, which is pretty good if I do say so myself and I do. Brent, Chris Denny, and I all arrived at noon, along with a very nice fellow named Bernie, who was going to be singing along with Brent on Silent Night – a beautiful arrangement by Chris, sung in both German and English. Our videographer, David, was there, shooting video (he was there the day before, too, so we have lots of great footage, which we’ll be editing together and putting on the Kritzerland site). And our very own Mr. Donald Feltham stopped by for a while. Like the previous day’s vocal session, it was easy/breezy all the way. Brent and I have had a wonderful shorthand since the day we met, so it’s very simple communicating with him, and he’s so open and collaborative and willing to go anywhere asked. Doing the Kander and Ebb and then the Alan Jay Lerner CDs were really fun, but this one was just dreamy – no drama, no problems, no delays, no rushing, just wonderfully creative days and the pleasure of working with people firing on all cylinders, and that includes our engineer, John. This is one of only a handful of times Vinnie hasn’t done the recording part, so I was a little nervous about it, but John was just terrific – easy going, down-to-earth, really good at his job, and, because he assisted on a few albums with Vinnie, very much aware of the vibe I like in the studio, and also knowing the sound I like to hear. It will be really fun to comp the vocals because we have a wealth of great choices. We’ll be doing that in the next couple of weeks, then John will get rough mixes up on everything, which I’ll hear on my iDisk – then I’ll make some preliminary comments and he’ll tweak, and then we’ll do one day of getting everything finalized. We’re trying to get this ready for pre-order by mid-October at the latest, so there’s a lot of work to do, but I think it will go quickly and smoothly.
After the session, we all toddled off to Genghis Cohen for a little celebratory late lunch. I ordered for the table and the food was, as always, superb. We had a fine old time, and we laughed and laughed and just when we thought we could laugh no more, we laughed again. It was a perfect end to a pretty perfect recording session. I would recommend that everyone buy lots of copies because they’ll make great stocking stuffers.
I then came back to the Valley, picked up my mail and a couple of packages, then came home. Earlier in the morning, I’d gone and picked up the tapes for several new potential Kritzerland releases, and I looked through those and I must say they look very promising. One of them, one of the key titles, has a lot of tapes and they smell a little of vinegar, which is worrisome, and so we’ll have to see what shape they’re in come next week. But, there seems to be one tape of all the music that’s on those multi-track reels, so hopefully that will be in good enough condition to use, should it be necessary. For the title it would be paired with, there seems to have been an album prepared but not released – that’s the third time I’ve found that to be the case. If all works out, I think this release will delight just about everyone. One of the other potential releases seems to have tapes in good condition and I’m very anxious to hear them – if they’re good, we’ll definitely do the title, even though the composer isn’t well known, the filmmaker is someone I adore and know, so it will be a treat to do it. The other release would be a two-fer, and those tapes seem to be fine – the two scores involve two different composers but one actor who stars in both films. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture I had on the DVR entitled Pressure Point, a very strange motion picture starring Sidney Potier, Bobby Darin, and Peter Falk, and directed by a director who’s a real guilty pleasure of mine, Hubert Cornfield. He didn’t make many films, but I sure do like all of them. The DVD of this film was from MGM and, like so many of their DVDs, was released in a non-anamorphic transfer. The MGM-HD broadcast looks absolutely fantastic – gorgeous contrast, and wonderfully sharp – it’s a beautifully photographed black-and-white film, so it was great to see it looking as good as it did when I first saw it at a sneak preview. Darin turns in a really good and powerful performance as a socio/psycopath who hates various races and is a member of the American Nazi party in 1942. The film begins with a modern day scene and an “older” Potier. Falk plays a psychiatrist who wants to be taken off a case because he can’t handle the person anymore. Potier tells him about his most difficult case, and the film is comprised of that story told in flashbacks. The style of the film is really interesting, with many fantasy sequences as Darin tells his life story and we find out how he got the way he is (the young Darin is played by a particularly chilling Barry Gordon). Potier is great, and his final speech to Darin got applause back when the film came out, and it’s just as powerful today. And I cannot praise the score by Ernest Gold enough – it’s really brilliant and it’s a shame there are no tapes for it in the MGM vault because it’s one I would do in a second. For me, Gold was one of the all-time greats – I’ve never heard a bad score by him.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must soon go to bed and get my beauty sleep.
I forgot to mention that I also addressed all the packages and put the CDs in them, so all that’s left to do now is to put postage on them, prepare the online dealer orders, and then take it all over to the postal office. I’m hoping we can everything done in a couple of hours.
I also forgot to mention that a week from this very day I’ll be doing what has become my annual book signing at Mystery and Imagination Books in the Dale of Glen. I’m hoping that our LA denizens will come out and have cake, hear some of the book aloud, and have a high old time.
Today, I must do the long jog, then do errands whilst she of the Evil Eye does her thing, and then Cason and I will get all the CDs shipped, after which I’ll probably eat something amusing. What the evening holds is anyone’s guess.
Tomorrow, I’m doing nothing. The day is mine all mine, I have no liner notes to write, and I will be girding my loins in preparation for dental appointment two for the second of my crowns. I should be a King I have so many crowns. I think this is my fourth.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, do errands and whatnot, ship out lots of CDs, and eat something amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: Who are your favorite artists of the 20th and 21st century? And provide examples of paintings you love. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and hope my dreams are a lot less weird than last night’s dreams.