When you really get down to it - if I want to be honest, that is - the whole reason I felt the urgent need to start digitizing all this stuff can ultimately be boiled down to a single song: "Sailing". Don't get me wrong: I love me a good "Thundersong", and I'm addicted to "Return Britain"s, but at the end of the day...I'm a Sailing man!
These "Sailing"s must be protected!
Not only did this rehearsal bear the "Sailing" that became the prototype for all other versions, it also contains the birth of "Babaloo", the all-time great recording of "I'm Crying", the prototype version of "Jack On The Road"....and lots of other great stuff. During the acoustic portion, Hubie announces that it is 3 in the morning. These guys were busy.
We rehearsed a lot that week. We rehearsed on the 18th, the 19th....this one on the 20th....and again on the 23rd. All were taped, and all sound great...and all have been digitized!! But I want to get all the classic versions of "Sailing" up before any more time goes by and I get hit by a shark. So I'm going to bounce around the batches and single out the ones with "Sailing" in them. Some songs we played every rehearsal. "Sailing" took a lot out of you, so it had to be a special occasion!
I remember the song kicking around the end of the Howie days. It took a long time to get just the right architecture for it, months....and this was the night that it finally, fully gelled. This is what you might call a textbook "Sailing", what the "record" might have sounded like.
Sailing
Sailing across the sea
to disregard
Everything is strong
Flying into the sky
Red as it is
not knowing why.
Stepping into life
stepping in
to everything.
Running away with you
is the only thing
I ever wanted to do.
In awe of all this pain
In awe of all this pain
Seeing that I'm thrown here
into this despair
Knowing that
I will
never leave this
never leave this care
I have.
It went a little something like that.
We segueway into an elusive song of mine "Jack On The Road", elusive because virtually every version gets cut off! It always followed "Sailing", which was so long, it could take up a whole side of a tape! "Jack On The Road" never really went anywhere as a song, but it was fun to play jazzy and bluesey for a tune, it was like having a cigarrette after "Sailing"! When you played "Sailing", you darent' even breathe!!! So "Jack On The Road" was cool for a bit, though I doubt we ever played it live. This version features a great guitar solo at the end by Hubie...and as always, great playing by Ted & Frank. Even Mike!
So, that's the centerpiece of this tape. But immediately following the "Sailing" medley comes the birth of "Babaloo"! I don't know what the other gents were doing, but Hubie was playing these chords and we both started singing at the same time, so there was a countermelody. Then we fell into this really beautiful harmony. Anyways, so we wouldn't forget it, we laid down a quick little demo with dummy lyrics. (to hear what "Babaloo" turned into, check out this classic version here.)
And then we go and do an acoustic rehearsal where lay down the perfect "I'm Crying" (which we used as a demo)! As I said, Hubie notes the time as being 3 a.m. This tape is definitely one of those "moments in time" tapes.
Let's go Sailing!
Rocky Point Studio, 6/20/90
Untitled Frank riff jam
Don't Let Me Down
Wintertime
We Both Wobble
I've Got An Onion
It's All Right
The Advocate
Is It Safe?
Return Britain
Frankenhubie ->
I Know Your Name ->
Sailing ->
Jack On The Road
I'm Crying *
What You Say *
Don't Step On The Blue Grass *
Windstorm -> *
Beating A Dead Horse / *
* - acoustic
Hubert Poole - guitar, vocal
Frank Russell - guitar, vocal
Ted Schreiber - bass, vocal, acoustic guitar
Michael Goodman - drums, vocal, percussion, cuartro, recorder
Recorded on a Tascam Portastudio cassette 4-track. There's a female voice early on the first tape, but I didn't recognize who it was.
Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4uaczplrf6rabo4/1990-06-20+Rocky+Point+Studio.zip
flacs
1 http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/4Jy55JV1/file.html
2 http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/DfzszUOG/file.html
3 http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/XOd1ktcM/file.html
