Track
1: Brown Eyed Devil — Written by Mike Karagozian — started
out as a simple a boogie progression. First, I laid down a "country"
drum track. Next, I experimented with different voices from my
effects pedal until I found one that worked with just the right
sound and the right level of distortion. The mood of the distortion
had to be just so. Then I added the auto-wah as a change of pace
during the intro and as a way to bring the sound down during one
of the breaks. I don't really remember how I made decisions as
to key changes, etc. I started recording at the beginning, with
no a definite idea of where I wanted to end up. A month or so
after I recorded it, I revisited the drum track and cut the drums
out between verses. The drums are electronic and putting in some
breaks and rim shots helps make it a little less obvious. Another
month went by and I decided to add a new bass track to it. Though
I don't really play a keyboard instrument, I used a Yamaha digital
keyboard with a pipe organ voice to add a dark quality to the
sound and to help unify the other tracks. At the close of the
song, I used the organ to build to a climax. I didn't want to
just fade it out.
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Track
2: Rude Mood — Written by Stevie Ray Vaughn — was a
blast to record. The tempo of the original song is really fast.
I cranked up the drum track to the fastest speed possible and
it still wasn't as fast as the original. The hardest part —
for me — about recording Rude Mood was thinking ahead. As
I played the lead guitar part against the bass and drums, I kept
forgetting what I wanted to do next in the song. Maybe that's
what happens when you get old. I managed to come up with some
of my own riffs that sounded good and so I added them to my version
of the recording. SRV's version is obviously smoother and more
elegant (and I'll bet he did it in one take), so let's just say
this is my personal tribute to SRV, although you'll hear his influences
in several tracks on this CD.
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Track
3: Strip Teaser — Written by Mike Karagozian — was inspired
by the chord progression from an Eric Clapton song, After Midnight.
I heard it on the radio one day and went straight home and tried
to come up with something based on it. I purposely chose the key
of C because I wanted to include an organ track. I don't really
play the organ but in the key of C, I can fake it. The song continued
to morph into the final version I called Strip Teaser. This was
tough to record because it is a wall-to-wall guitar solo for six
straight minutes. Most guitar solos usually last 20 to 30 seconds.
By the time I finished recording the lead guitar track on this
one, I was tired, pissed-off and my fingertips were so tender
I couldn't touch a guitar for two days. To record this song I
modified one of the voices in my effects pedal into an edgy shredded
sound. Since then I adopted this as a signature sound. You'll
hear this same sound in backing rhythm tracks of Linda and Summertime.
The title suggested itself after having lunch one afternoon at
the Toy Chest, a restaurant located in Dearborn.
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Track
4: Pedyl Y'All — Written by Mike Karagozian — began
with a pedal-ya sound on one of my effects pedals. I started strumming
the chords in a progression and decided there was a song in there
somewhere. That's how I look at the original numbers on the CD
— I didn't write the songs, I discovered them. This song
features a rhythm track with my old Moserite Celebrity 12 string
electric. The Mosrite 12-string has a unique sound, but for some
reason it makes pops and clicks when I lift my fingers from the
strings. You can hear these in a couple places in the track.
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Track
5: Take Five — Written by Paul Desmond — is another
elegantly simple (deceptively simple) song I really admire. This
song was made famous by the Dave Brubeck jazz quartet but it has
been recorded by dozens of other artists. I wanted to do an "all
guitar" version. Not being a jazz musician, I didn't have sense
enough to know what I was trying to do was damn near impossible
so I did it anyway. Like all the other tracks on this CD, I used
electronic drums. Except that no electronic drum machine I know
of can do a 5-4 time signature. And let's face it, without that
distinctive beat and drum solo everyone in the world has completely
memorized, I could never hope to make the song work. Fortunately
a very talented friend of mine named Jack Imes recorded the whole
drum track for me as a favor. With that track as the foundation,
I recorded a rhythm track. Then I recorded the lead guitar, then
the bass line. I wanted to play the whole song in octaves, (I'm
an admirer of Wes Montgomery) but it didn't sound right. I didn't
wanted to "copy" Paul Desmond's sax work, so I did something loosely
based on his sax solo — some of it octaves. You can hear
my Strat fret out on one particular note and I didn't notice it
until it was too late to fix it. Well I noticed it, but it didn't
start to bother me until later. Now it does. I tell everyone,
"It's like a natural flaw in a leather coat — just dig it
— it's a real old Stratocaster and that's how it sounds."
I adjusted that string up a little, and you can hear that same
note fret out — but not as much — on Summertime, which
was the next song I recorded after I was finished with Take Five.
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Track
6: Secret Agent Man — Written by Sloan & Barri — has
got to be one of the coolest songs ever recorded. This is my favorite
Johnny Rivers song. My band played Secret Agent at dances, frat
house parties, clubs, and bars back in the early years and it
was always a huge crowd pleaser. It seemed whenever we played
this one, people got real rowdy — a perfect song to sing
along with as you get drunk and throw beer on your buddy's date.
I recorded it partly for sentimental reasons and partly because
my brother's kids were all excited because their grade school
teacher played the James Bond theme in class on his guitar and
now they think he is a rock god. I had a great time playing the
lead guitar track for this song and when I was done, parts of
it reminded me of Carlos Santana, though I wasn't consciously
trying to ape his style or sound. I put two rhythm guitar tracks
in this song — one with an acoustic guitar treatment and
the other a traditional electric sound with my Strat's selector
switch stuck between positions. I played one of the verses using
auto-wah as a way to vary the sound and it is a good fit for that
kind of song.
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Track
7: Linda — Written by Mike Karagozian — is a song that
was inspired by an assortment of Stevie Ray Vaughn songs, sounds
and riffs. I wanted a Texas shuffle - a smooth, mellow, laid back
sound and the auto-wah gave it to me for the lead guitar track.
The rhythm guitar sound uses my customized sound off the effects
pedal, but I kept the volume low so it would stay in the background.
The tempo and chords came from a documentary on one of the cable
channels — I can't recall which one. The sexy little octave
workout at the end of the song just sort of happened. I got to
the end of the song and began playing one of the three jazz chords
I know, and then added some improvisational octaves and it took
on a life of its own as I played it. Somehow the octaves evoke
a feeling that suggests a sad goodbye.
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Track
8: Texas Chili — Written by Mike Karagozian — was the
second song I recorded, so I really didn't know what the hell
I was doing. I recorded the lead guitar track in one take, but
then I decided the original first verse didn't have enough "bite"
to it and I redid it. The original take begins where you hear
the wah effect cut in. I played the bass line on my Strat using
an octaver distortion effect. I picked the name Texas Chili at
the last second. I was going to title it Tequila Mockingbird but
it sounded to "cute." If I ever get a cute little sailboat, maybe
I'll name it Tequila Mockingbird.
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Track
9: Summertime — Written by George Gershwin — is a song
I wanted to record partly for sentimental reasons, but mostly
because I love its haunting melody and its elegant simplicity.
I feel an attraction for riffs and songs that sound "southern."
The correct key for this song is "E" but I recorded it in G because
it is a "good" key for my Stratocaster. I used my "signature"
distortion sound for the one of the two rhythm guitar tracks.
I purposely did not use any distortion for the lead guitar track
other than reverb and flanger because I wanted that vintage Fender
Stratocaster sound right up front. (My Strat is a '61. I paid
$80 for it — in 1968.) I used the other rhythm track as a
fill with an acoustic guitar sound. The solo track is a mix of
the original Summertime melody and some improvising with minor
and major scales plus some contemporary blues riffs liberated
from BB King that I thought sounded "southern." I like to jump
into and out of major and minor scales - not because it is part
of any finely crafted plan — that's how I play.
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Track
10: Stormy Monday — Written by T-Bone Walker — was done
in one take — but not take #1 or even take #15. I don't remember
how many takes were required to get one good guitar solo track,
but it was a bunch. If you listen closely, you can hear me switch
from one type of distortion to another — I quit playing for
a couple bars while I stomped on the pedal four or five times
to go from the first effect to the second — then I changed
my playing style a little to fit the different sustain and kept
on until I thought, "Hmm, this song has gone on just long enough,"
and so I quit. I had fun playing the bass line for this one —
it brought back memories of when I played bass back in my high
school garage band days. I recorded the bass lines for all the
songs on the CD by turning the tone down on my Strat and strumming
the strings with my thumb. I then boosted the bass using an equalizer,
and I suppose I am going to have to invest in a bass guitar for
album #2.
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Pretty
Woman is not on the Brown Eyed Devil CD. Pretty Woman is a complex
song in that I use eight tracks. There are two lead guitar tracks
where I play the same melody twice — one with auto-wah and
one with a mild distortion effect. (There must be an easier way
to accomplish that without having to play the same part twice
but I don't know how to do it.) There is one rhythm track where
I use my Moserite 12 string with flanger and reverb added to it.
There are two additional rhythm tracks playing along with the
12 string. Then there's the drum track, a track with nothing but
ride cymbals on it and a bass guitar track. Pretty Woman is not
on the CD because I couldn't get a license for it and I didn't
want to hold up releasing the CD. Roy Orbison isn't around anymore,
but maybe someone from his estate will cut me some slack and let
purchase a mechanical reproduction license so I can release it
on my next CD.
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