From left to right we have:
* Paul Reichardt - lead singer. He was a classmate at St. Paul's. He was also a child accordion prodigy - but that fact was not widely known for obvious (nerd alert) reasons :-)
* Tom - my replacement at guitar - I don't know much about him.
* Gordon - new drummer. Ditto... The drummer in my day was Jim.
* Phil Rogers - the other guitarist. Another classmate at St. Paul's - ended up marrying my dream girl Helen (and divorcing her shortly thereafter)...
*Peter Paolucci - bass guitar. Also a classmate at St. Paul's and my best friend...
When I played with the band we didn't have a name. I was lobbying for either "The Lavender Lampshade" or "The Lavender Hill Mob" (after the 1951 crime movie). No idea why I liked the word 'lavender' so much - nobody else did :-)
Yeah - you'd be stunned at how much effort is devoted to coming up with a name... It has to be simple, memorable and original. Not as easy as it sounds... After I left they decided on Mourning Glory... Based on an internet search there were lots of bands named Mourning Glory... But there hasn't ever been a band named "The Lavender Lampshade" :-)
Now - let's talk about what it is like to be in a band:
When you are starting out nobody is going to pay to hear your original material in an auditorium setting. So all of your gigs will be dances (and, if you're desperate, parties). That means you have to play songs that people know (and like) and that they can dance to. In other words - songs you hate :-)
Before you can perform publicly you will need to have a repertoire of at least 25 songs - preferably 30 to 40. Some of the songs on your playlist will be classic and some will be "current" and will need to be rotated...
BTW - Thanks to Peter Paolucci, one fourth of the songs on our playlist were by Paul Revere and the Raiders... How did that happen??? ... Just one song at a time :-)
Of course, there are songs that can be mastered in 5 minutes - like anything by The Kinks - but selecting and learning most of the material is an involved process...
Nowadays there are all sorts of music tabs and videos on line, but back then you had to pretty much figure it out by ear... So - when a new album came out one of the band members would buy a copy and you'd all sit around listening to it and decide if there was any worthwhile material on it - it had to be 'danceable' and within your capacity to play...
Then the album got passed around to the various band members so they could work out their individual parts. I remember turning the record player down to 16 RPM to try and get a handle on the difficult sections.
Now everybody probably just emails mp3 files to each other :-)
Regardless - at the next band practice you piece it all together. Typically you break the song into segments and keep repeating them until you got them down, then string it all together. There's a lot of "back and forth" and collaboration during that part - things like what to do if the song features an instrument you didn't have - or if there are passages you have to "mickey mouse" because you can't quite master them as recorded...
Then there's the 'ending' problem. Almost all songs fade out. You can't do that in a live performance. So you have to 'invent' an ending that sounds good and fits the character of the song. Again - not as easy as it sounds - that's why the song faded out in the first place :-)
Multiply all of the above by 25 songs and you have some idea of what it takes to get to the point where you can audition for your first gig. We're talking at least 6 months if you work really hard. Toss in some ego issues, time constraints, artistic differences and angry girlfriends and it should come as no surprise that very few bands ever get that far...
Then there are the equipment expenses - guitarists and drummers have their own set of (horrendously expensive) equipment but the band still needs mics and stands and a P.A. system - plus lights and effects... And you need something to transport all that stuff to your gigs... We're talking thousands of dollars here...
So to summarize: It's a lot of work - it takes up all your free time - and all your cash - there's no money to be made - it pisses everyone off - and it's the most fun you'll ever have :-)
OK - I guess I'll follow tradition and end with a story that I think is funny but nobody else does... It involves drummer Jim:
We were practicing in Jim's basement and had just run through Cream's recently released "Sunshine of Your Love". We got to the end of the song - and Jim kept on drumming...
Now - in fairness - drummers can't really hear the rest of the band. That's why you often see a monitor right next to them at live performances. But that's also why they really need to keep track of where they are in the song...
So Jim is off in his own little 'drummer' world - happily pounding away... And we're all standing around watching him in amusement... We considered trying to get his attention but he seemed to be having such a wonderful time... Finally - he looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at him and he asked "Why did you guys stop???" ... "Song's over, Jim" ... "Ohhh...."
Yeah ... I guess you had to be there :-)
5 comments:
Well I thought it was funny...not sure what that says about ME.
Sounds like a giant pain in the rear! What a lot of dedication it takes. Surprising how many band members seem like complete slackers...
Well - it's only that much work if you are serious about getting to the point where people will actually come see you play...
A lot of garage bands just hang out and play whatever they feel like. And that's totally cool if they don't ever intend to have a paying gig :-)
Of course, just like in any other endeavor, not everyone puts in the same effort or has the same goals - so that's another problem you have to deal with. But when (if) it all comes together it's MORE than worth it.
I was in a later lineup of "Mourning Glory" with Pete and Phil in 1972. I know they came up with the name but I didn't know the history of it. We had a brass section (trumpet, sax and trombone). I played trumpet. Pete liked blues but we actually played several "Chicago" tunes. Great memories.
Scott - good to hear from another Mourning Glory alumni! I've stayed in touch with Pete through the years and I remember him talking about adding the brass section back around '72, but he didn't name names... Kind of sorry I missed it :-)
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