5. Groovin' With a Purple Soul Man
Confessions of a Studio Rat: Yada, yada, yada....
BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND (1977)
I was awakened by the silence and stillness. The lulling
drone of the Rolls Royce’s engine and the gorgeous smell of the leather back seats
put me instantly to sleep, but that soon gave way to the harsh reality of a
British police officer’s head staring down at me through the car window about
one foot from my face. He was simply curious, he explained, when he spotted a
Rolls Royce cruising up the motorway driven by a man with shoulder length hair,
at 5:00 on a Monday morning he couldn’t resist checking us out. We had to be somebody,
so it was at least worth a stop. After the rude awakening, it was a pleasant
enough little visit. We were “clean” although exhausted and no crimes were
being committed. Off we went!
The Roller belonged to legendary ex-Deep Purple bassist and
vocalist Glenn Hughes. In the car were Glenn, his driver/ personal assistant
Andy who was driving, another friend and myself. We were driving home from a
gruelling week of studio work in London at Basing Street Studios, mixing an
album for Glenn. This, Glenn’s first solo album after leaving Purple, started
out as a series of jam sessions in a tiny studio outside of Birmingham with
members of his old (and well respected) band Trapeze. This tiny shack of a
studio called Lee Sound Studio was all that any of them needed to cut tracks
comfortably. It was 16 track with decent equipment, was very close to home for
them all, and best of all had a young, keen experienced engineer from New York
(me). Perfect combination. It was inexpensive too, so it wasn’t much of a risk
for Glenn’s record company to pay to put everyone in there for a week or so and
see what came out. When the record company heard the tracks we were producing,
and Glenn’s stunning vocals, they agreed to press ahead and commit to an entire
album with Glenn producing.
Lee Sound was the first studio job I landed in England after
leaving A&R Studios in New York, and Boy what a contrast! When I arrived I
wrote an introduction letter to every major studio I could think of, hoping to
land a job. Despite my background, nobody wanted to get involved with someone
who did not (at the time) have a Work Permit. The only positive response was
from Lee Sound, who’s owner must be credited with giving me a “leg up” into the
British recording scene. The studio was located behind the owner’s house, he paid
me in cash and I worked ceaselessly! So many famous, not-yet-famous and nearly
famous musicians went through that place with me. I spent a good couple of
years in this home-made, roll-with-the- punches, bill-collector-at-the-door
madhouse environment until I had enough contacts and experience to escape! It
really was utter home-made madness there, (see picture below), and not always in a good way. (One of
my friends in one band told me he actually had a dream of me murdering the
owner)! Aspiring Studio Rats be warned-
be careful what you wish for! Having said that, I will always be grateful to
Ron Lee for taking a chance with me. (BTW, I had my Work Permit long before I
left).
Anyway, I digress….Back to the Glenn Hughes story: Here's
how the album was made. We would convene in the studio mid-afternoon and after
a suitable “warm up” period, the guys would start running down ideas for songs.
The band were really tight; all great players who could produce a rocking
groove almost effortlessly. We were fully set up for recording live in the
studio. I could capture a moment instantly, and usually did. We would rarely
roll tape for real until after midnight, but once the recording started, we
rolled on through the night until dawn.
Once the tracks were down it was time to give them some identity
with some vocals. Vocal time was a trip. Glen would stand in front of the mic
and sing whatever came into his head. Nothing was prepared or written down in
advance. In the control room 2 or 3 of us would be scribbling away on notepads,
notating every word he said. We would then read him back the lines he sang, and
from that, a song would emerge: lyrics and title. It was hysterical but worked
a charm. Once we were done with the tracking sessions we were off to London to
do the “sweetening”, as it was called. Basing Street Studios was the venue for
our horn section dubs, under the guidance of Ron Asprey. Great fun was had by all,
and I even managed to get booked for an album with Ron’s mate Colin Hodgkinson from
Back Door, (but that’s another story).
I remember we also ended up spending time at the famous Air
London studios when it was located in Oxford Circus. I have worked there on
several occasions and always been knocked out by the awesome technology (huge
Neve desks, and all the latest toys) and the professionalism of the staff. We
recorded Pat Travers’ guitar solos there, along with strings (my old Air-Edel
mate Graham Prescott did the arranging) and backing vocals featuring the lovely
Liza Strike, Helen Chappelle and Joy Wright. I remember Glenn was so inspired
listening to the ladies sing that every song they finished, he insisted on
trying to re-sing the lead vocal! What a crazy vibe. That was a great album to
make with great players, great grooves and lots of fun, despite being
sleep-deprived most of the time. Thank heavens for the back seat of the Roller!
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