Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey gang. Sorry I haven't posted much. I kind of have writer's block. But this was the first time I've had three days off since I can remember, and whilst partaking in the drinking of a few beverages, I had a great idea.

There are several forumites here that actively record AND write. Maybe someone could post one of their songs, with chords and/or lyrics, and walk us through it? Maybe throw in a funny anecdote about that weird 9th chord in the verse, an odd lyric, something that would make us go "Huh! Neat!"

If no one offers in the next 24 hours I'll post one of mine to help get started.

Cheers, J Dog

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!! 3 days! Yeah!

Tres cool idea, JDog!! I don't have anything to contribute but I'm keen to see and hear what comes out of this.

I may get inspired!!

Mmm... the lyrics should be in English, i suppose? (I'm not volunteering, just wondering) A fun idea. BTW, it just occured to me... how about writing a song — like, a collective effort — that features verses in different languages?

I've got a few poems and I think a couple of them could be use as lyrics to a song. Now I just have to remember where I hid them.

Sounds like fun, J-Dog. I'd participate, but I'm not presently equipped for recording.

So, I'll try this. Here's a parody I wrote on a Byrds cover of a Leadbelly song. If you need the melody, see disc 4 of the Byrds boxed set "There Is A Season" track no. 12. It's too full of in jokes for general audiences. But I thought all you Rickenbacker Packers would appreciate it.

JimK

Interesting direction... keep 'em coming!!!

Well J-Dog, looks like this thread isn't going anywhere very quickly. So, I'll see what I can do about posting a song that isn't I hope as lame as the Take a Whiff On Me parody.

JimK

I can teach you my song! Since I only have one, it won't be hard to pick which one! So here's the tutorial for a song called "Waste One More Evening With Me"

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... ID=6582638

Okay, so the guitars are tuned down a 1/2 step, but I'll be referring to them as if they were in standard.

The song is in a pretty basic structure, Home key in A. There are two simple progressions that return in the song.

The first is

A - A | A - A | D - D | D - D | A - F#m | Bm - E | A - D | A -E

the second is

D - E | A - F#m | D - E | B - E

very important to note that in the first section, the B is minor, while in the second section it is major.

The bass is fairly simple in the song. It remains mellow throughout the song, mostly Root - 3 - 5. The exception to the simplicity rule is during the solo, It becomes a bit busier, especially in the last bar of the solo, on the B and E.

The organ is used to add layering to the song. It plays in the intro, the bridge, the solo, the second bridge, and the last verse. I "McCartneyed" the organ player into getting him to play it just-so. He essentially held pedal chords in a confined part of the keyboard while adding little notes here and there. We actually record the bass notes of the organ separately so that I could pan the instrument a bit left, and a bit right.

The guitar is simple, One in the back plays the chords rhythmically, while the one out front plays the lead. The intro lick is a standard A major lick, while the rest falls into Am pent. The licks go back into major in the last 4 bars of the first section everytime.

The second part of the solo is the second progression above, and for that, the guitar follows the chords in bar 1,3, and 4, and in bar 2, plays a lick in A major pent, which works well with the next chord, as A major pent is F# minor Pent.

I think that's it.

Awesome Nick! I'll check it out when I get home today.

Here's one I wrote around 1990. It won us a radio station contest and a lot of airplay back in the day.
Here's a link to give it a listen: http://www.myspace.com/skafaceska


Sometimes – written by G Howley, recorded by Skaface

Starts with a guitar riff in D (bear with me, I’ve never tabbed before)
E-10-9-7---7--------7----------10-9-7----7
B--------10--10-7-10—10-7-------------10--10-7--7
G-----------------------------------------------8
D--------------------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------

D.............Bm.................F#m
Sometimes I think of you and all I feel is hate
D.............Bm..................F#m
Sometimes I think of you and I can’t even picture your face
G.......................D...............F#m...........Bm
Don’t think about it often now I’ve put that all behind me
G.......................D................A
Don’t think about it often now it’s just a distant memory


Sometimes I think of you and all I can’t even say why
Sometimes I think of you and it make me want to cry
Don’t think about it often now I’ve tried to put it to rest
Don’t think about it often now it just gets me depressed

Sometimes I think of you and the day you left me behind
Sometimes I think of you and until I think I’ll go out of my mind
Don’t think about it often now should have known it couldn’t last
Don’t think about it often now I try to leave it in the past
C.................................G
Sometime when I’m alone it all comes back
A..........
And I wonder if I meant anything to you at al
C...............................G
Then the flood of emotions gets cut short
A...........................F
And I say to myself “It’s too late now”

Sometimes I think of you but not as often as I used to
Sometimes I think of you and I think I’m gonna get over you
Don’t think about it often now
Don’t think about it often now


*Note: I throw a F#m7 in the verses and a riff leading into the first G that is based on the main riff these days. You can kind of here these in the live version on our band site: http://www.skaface.ca/main.html

Awesome stuff, you two! Exactly what I was hoping for.

Nick, can you tell us a bit about the other instruments played? e.g., is the organ a real organ or a synth? drums/machine? etc etc. Also, I think your vocal range may be higher than you think. It sounds like your voice wants to be singing a whole step or maybe a third higher than you are. Maybe play it the same way, but in regular tuning? Just a thought. You could really belt if it was a little higher in pitch, imho.

Greg, very cool too. One of several great things about living in Florida is that I got to experience the whole 90's ska scene right here, MoonSka, etc. I still listen to ska as often as I can. I love the horns and of course your writing too. Do you write the horn charts too?

Both of you guys, are you playing Ricks on these recordings?

Keep on chooglin, JD

jdogric12aolcom wrote: Nick, can you tell us a bit about the other instruments played? e.g., is the organ a real organ or a synth? drums/machine? etc etc. Also, I think your vocal range may be higher than you think. It sounds like your voice wants to be singing a whole step or maybe a third higher than you are. Maybe play it the same way, but in regular tuning? Just a thought. You could really belt if it was a little higher in pitch, imho.

The organ is played using a crazy expensive keyboard controller, through a VST in Cubase, direct to a M-audio box, into my recorder. to this day, I have now idea what that means...

The drums had to be programmed in a program called Hydrogen. I don't like them, and programming drums is one of my biggest annoyances in this world.

At the time of recording (as well as right now), I was full blown in a cold/sore throat. However, being a quirky musician, I absolutely hated the idea of not recording a written song right away. I tried playing it higher, but even one step higher made my voice do all sorts of accidental acrobatics!

jdogric12aolcom wrote:Awesome stuff, you two! Exactly what I was hoping for.
I love the horns and of course your writing too. Do you write the horn charts too?

Both of you guys, are you playing Ricks on these recordings?

Keep on chooglin, JD

Thanks. In the old days, I wrote the chords, lyrics and melody. Other parts were left for the other musicians as I can't read music. Our trombone player arranged the horn lines. I remember the day he first used that line, we were rehearsing new material, including that one. When the horns kicked I, I completely lost what I was doing. I said "Holy ****, what was that?" and he replied, very casually, "Oh yeah, I came up with something new for this one, whaddya think?"
Unfortunately, he is no longer in the band. Part of the prize for the radio contest was playing at their Canada Day show. I got to play that song to ~25,000 people. It's kind of mind bending to have that many people sing along to something you wrote.
When I write new material now, I record it on my computer, use a midi device to come up with some horn lines and then print it out.
For the studio recording, I used my Epi Emperor for the rhythm track and Strat for the lead (I think).
For the live, it's all strat.

Ok, here's another song for ya JDog! Again, tuned 1/2 step down, but I'll ignore that...

The Song is called "The Postman" and I finished it not too long ago.

It can be seen on youtube here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0i6im6lJRM

Or, preferably listened to in stereo here : http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... ID=6622746

Intro + Verses

The rhythm guitar plays a pretty basic pattern. an "A". Later int he verse, it goes down to a G... then back to the A! simple enough? lol

The Bass should be a familiar sound, it's the bass riff that Paul uses on Taxman, only shifted to A. When the guitar switches to a G chord, the riff remains in A, which I find gives it a cool tension, a trick off of Rubber Soul.

The Lead guitar in the intro fades out for the verses. It's doubled, and is a capo's at the 2nd fret, so that I'm playing the pattern in a G shape.

Bridge

This is my favorite part.
The rhythm guitar plays the following chords in the bridge

F#m - A - D - F# - A - D - E

The Lead guitars strum nice chimey chords, when taking the capo into account the chords go

F#m - Gadd9 - D - F#m - Gadd9 - D - E

The Bass plays some arpeggiated licks on the F#m, and after the I and III of the G, rises chromatically to reach the D.

What I love about the sound is that all at once, you have an A, a Gadd9, and a G arpeggio all playing at once!

as for the gear, it's all in the youtube video!
I used the bridge pickup on the SG excusively, split into single for the rhythm, humbucker mode for the lead.

Lyrics

Wake up it's a new day for me too,
Who brings me my mail while I'm out bringing yours to you?
Must be a postman.

Mr. Chapman waited home to meet me,
Waiting for the magazines he doesn't want his wife to see.

(bridge)
I won't tell and I don't mind,
I'm a hero in his mind,
I'm just the postman.

Mrs. Fox wants pictures for her shelf,
She won't get them till she keeps her trite hands to herself.

(bridge)
I don't mean to act unkind,
I'd be game if I had time,
But I'm a postman

Here's the guitar purchased with your wealth,
Since you weren't here yesterday, go pick it up yourself.
I'm the postman.

(fade out)

Hope you liked it!!