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 elow, a small selection of sound files culled from public and private sources. Background information is included to make the clips worth downloading for reasons surpassing even their sheer musical wonderfulness! Thanks to Jeffrey Zeldman Presents for the inspiring Lawrence Welk icon seen at left. TECHNICAL NOTE: The sound clips are presented in realaudio and 'aiff' formats. The realaudio clips will play much more quickly but you must first download the free realaudio player. |
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"This one rocks like a runaway train and should be sought after by rock fans far and wide." —New York City's It's Hip magazine on Cut Me Loose. |
Private Jokes: The Assassins crowning glory was a CD entitled Cut Me Loose. The CD was recorded in 1989 by Bob Dawson at Bias Recording in Springfield Virginia. The title track (.aiff 549K or via realaudio) is a vampy R&B melodrama written by Jimmy Thackery and Tommy Lepson. Always a crowd pleaser some thought of it as "cut most likely to succeed." So, ever wonder how musicians privately treat the exalted fruits of their labors? Listen to the song's climax (.aiff 474K or via realaudio) and the line sung by Tommy: " She's packing up—she's got that ticket in her hand…" One of the band's most enduring private jokes (sometimes sung in performance) was to change the line to "She's packing up—she's got that chicken in her hand…"
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"He's been called the 'World's Greatest Unknown Guitarist,' but what famous guitarist could outplay him?" —Guitar Player magazine on Danny Gatton. |
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Drummers: Drummers are like pitchers, providing rhythm and
drive, controlling the tempo of the game. Every one plays differently,
with individual strengths and weaknesses. Here are a couple sounds
from private tapes of The Danny Gatton Band which illustrate
the fundamental differences effected by two different drummers (myself
and one of Danny's longtime drummers Shannon Ford) on a song, Doug
Sahm's classic 60's hit She's About A Mover.
Shannon's funky-syncopated approach (.aiff 291K or via realaudio) infuses a Latinesque feel appropriate to the song's Tex-Mex roots. Powerful, but good finesse. Think of it as a breaking curveball. On the other hand my head-banging-stomp approach (.aiff 288K or via realaudio) is more akin to a grooved fastball and is appropriate to the song's straight-ahead rock'n'roll roots. For more on the 'different drummer' concept see The Concert Tour.
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