This is one of the weirdest tapes I have. It was just labeled "LOOB", and so it's been on the bottom of the pile. What a nice surprise hearing this beautiful, sunny party of a recording! As soon as I heard it, I knew what it was! This is us in the backyard of the Red House, a total jamboree with whomever was in the Red House that day. (The "room echo" you hear sometimes is due to the fact that we're sitting on the lawn, next to the garage).
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| Around this time, I was listening less to Robyn Hitchcock, and more to Fela Kuti! There were many Robyn tapes that were taped over with LOOB rehearsals; his voice frequently pops up, mid-song, at the ends of sides of tapes! |
The Red House was where Steve, Chris and I lived (along with Lisa and Lauren) (and a steady stream of guest stars in the spare room across the hall from Chris' room!). It had four bedrooms, a gigantic finished basement, complete with a long bar, and a garage we used as a rehearsal studio.
At the time of this tape, we have just lost our rehearsal space, Mystery Fez. At first I thought this was 1993, but some remarks and song choices seem to put this soon after the Mystery Fez rehearsals I previously have posted. I believe our first rehearsal at the Red House was the beginning of August, so I am dating this as July 1992.We had just moved into the Red House, but hadn't converted the garage into a studio yet (hence the "rehearsal" on the lawn)
There's at least two female singers. Margot? I think it's Margot, I'm not sure! A guy I haven't seen in years, Rick Scruggs is there. Rick came to see us millions of times, both in the city and Long Island, I can see him in my mind standing and watching us play at the Nightingale Bar. Great guy, Rick if you're out there, drop me a line! Lisa is playing flute. Sylvia might be in there. Lauren is there, I think she's playing a drum. Whoever it is singing along with us, the result is a wild and very beautiful "Thundersong", unlike any other!! The singing makes it sound like Duke Ellington! This is the most "sister-heavy" recording we ever did.... and LOOB is all the better for it!
There's some long group percussion jamming, Hubie making up something to sing over it before landing on "What You Say". A beautiful rendition of "Caveman" that lands on "Gone Strong"! Oh my gosh! (listening as I type, sorry!) Another "Gone Strong"! This is great! Ahhhh! Great "I'm Crying" and " Smile" as well.
Any tape that has "Gone Strong" has to be good!
It's only one side of a tape that ends too soon. It's like a picnic with LOOB! Everybody who's on the tape: you all sound great! A real moment in time.
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| Steve in my bedroom, the only picture I have from inside The Red House |
Thundersong
chat, percussion
Jam ->
What You Say
I'm Crying
Caveman ->
Gone Strong
Smile ->
Bucketful Of Rice (All I Wanted) /
Hubert Poole - guitar, vocal
Ted Schreiber - guitar, vocal
Lawrence Krauser - trumpet, kalmiba
Michael Goodman - percussion, vocal
Steven Goodman - accordion, percussion
with
Lisa DeVirgilio - flute
Lauren Pizzurro - percussion
Rick Scruggs and other friends - possibly/probably Margot Grib - vocals and percussion
recorded on a boom box in the backyard of the Red House, on the lawn. There is a low hum on this recording that could probably be easily filtered out with an eq....it disappears about halfway through.
download here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?an4xih1zntd1uje
or if you prefer Dropbox, this link will expire in a week or so:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/frpu2mxh6nb6uf9/1992-07%28circa%29%20The%20Backyard%20Tape%2C%20The%20Red%20House.zip?dl=0
