The Recording - The Sound

[dmg]

Agreed. Also I don't like Mark's "first take" principle with "I'm a h-, I'm a hot or what. Oh, take one!", strange ending of Don't Forget Your Hat, "Chuck, take one", etc. I know it's blues, but A Place Where We Used To Live was a "first take" too. Album of first takes released in more than year after recording.

Don't know if you have another version of the album?  I had a listen again, but have not heard none of the two mentioned things. In "Don't Forget Your Hat" though I says "Take one, Kim..." to start the harmonica solo... And the "take one" in Hot Or What might refer "I take a(nother) card"...
Sometimes songs that sound like first takes have been more worked on as one would think on the first sight. I once asked Guy about "Secondary Waltz" (album version). I would say that one sounds like a typical "take one", but in fact it had a lot of work...

LE

If it did take a lot of work though wouldn't it sound awfully contrived?  In some songs I think Mark's guitar playing seems rather uninspired/restrained as though it is a one take.  Hot Or What, for instance.  As a result the harmonica rules that song and Mark is firmly back seat.  Live, without harmonica, and it leaves room for good improvisation.

[Eddie Fox]

It's very unlikely that's Paul Franklin with the wah wah. That sounds pretty much like an ordinary guitar, probably played by Richard Bennett, unless Mark himself recorded some overdubs.

[foma]

What about very high notes? To clear for regular guitar I think. And who plays rhythm?

When I listened Hot or What I clearly heard that "I'm a h-, I'm a hot or what" was not planned by Mark

[Eddie Fox]

What about very high notes? To clear for regular guitar I think. And who plays rhythm?

When I listened Hot or What I clearly heard that "I'm a h-, I'm a hot or what" was not planned by Mark

You can reach high notes through an octave pedal. My guess that's an overdub played by RB.

[MisterYES]

It's very unlikely that's Paul Franklin with the wah wah. That sounds pretty much like an ordinary guitar, probably played by Richard Bennett, unless Mark himself recorded some overdubs.

At first few listenings (iTunes samples) I also thought that is just a regular guitar, but after closer "look" with better quality files (FLAC) and other parts of Blood And Water, it really seems that is, as strange as it might been, mr. Paul with wah-wah pedal on lap steel.  The reason I think that is the case, is 2:43-48 time on Blood and Water. If it is, an ordinary (even overdubbed) guitar, than is some weird logic works going on, because that guitar is panned/placed and colored identically as lap steel. Why would they do it that way?

[foma]

Yeah, Mister. And Richard plays rhythm in left channel. His sound is very recognizable, as well as Mark's.

I mean no overdubs. Maybe it's even first take, who knows!

[MisterYES]

Even thou, it not necessarily means that actual pedal is popular wah-wah for guitars -  it might be some strange way of playing lap steel, about which we don't know.

[border_reiver]

Just a shot in the dark here but isn't that high note coming from the organ?

[MisterYES]

Hm...than the organ has the same pan position and tone as lap steel, or there is no lap steel at all and all those tones coming from organ 

But again...@time 2:43-48 on BAW is hardly an organ 

[JF]

it's clearly steel guitar here, no fret playing. I vote for PF with wha-wah.
the wha-wah is also sometimes used with a clavinet, or an organ, e.g. Rick Wright on Money.


about first take / overproduced recordings :

you can have a tune played live in studio with no overdubs, but it's the 15th take, or first take recorded, but after many rehersals

it's the case for many blues players. e.g. SRV's first album is obvioulsy recorded live, with the 3 guys playing together, but how many times had they played the tunes before record it ? (jams, live in pubs, rehersals, etc...)

And then, you can have a tune with many overdubs and arangements, but an overdub just played one take. e.g. the wonderful Page's solo on Since I've been loving you. The solo is first take, (recorded in the studio corridor !) but all others intsruments might have been re-recorded many times.

In this case, which one is more "spontanous" ? which one can we call "live" "first take" ? The one recorded just one time, but rehersed or played live in pubs million times before, or the one "over-produced" (with keyboards, reverb on the voice, maybe several takes on vocals, etc...) but with a fresh solo just played one time with inspiration coming at the time ?

I must admit I don't have the answer, but the difference between "first takes" and "polished" tunes is not simple as that

[Love Expresso]

It is never really "honest". If you remember: Guy was obviously proud to report that Mark "played and sang at once" during the recording of the song Privateering. But he also says in the same sentence that afterwards the vocals were comped - as I understood it: Several takes were checked and then the best result was "mixed". Of course, every single one was sung by Mark, maybe together with playing, but it is not exactly what you expect from "one take recording". Or am I wrong here?

LE

[goon525]

Talking of sound quality, is Privateering available as a high res download (I mean better than CD) anywhere? (Sorry if this has been answered, but I couldn't find it quickly.)

[MisterYES]

Talking of sound quality, is Privateering available as a high res download (I mean better than CD) anywhere? (Sorry if this has been answered, but I couldn't find it quickly.)

There is a FLAC leak out there. Im not sure what you mean by "better than CD"?

[goon525]

CD is 16 bit 44.1kHz. Increasingly, music is available at 24/96 or better. FLAC is just a format, can be available at different resolution levels. Given the care taken by Guy and others with the sheer sound quality of this album, it really should be available at 24/96.

[JF]

It is never really "honest". If you remember: Guy was obviously proud to report that Mark "played and sang at once" during the recording of the song Privateering. But he also says in the same sentence that afterwards the vocals were comped - as I understood it: Several takes were checked and then the best result was "mixed". Of course, every single one was sung by Mark, maybe together with playing, but it is not exactly what you expect from "one take recording". Or am I wrong here?

LE

yes exactly.
he sinf and play at the same time, but what you hear is'nt a single take, but a comp of several takes, as it is most of the time in modern recordings (that was not the case back in the 50s or 60s)
most of the time the "one take" things doesn't really mean what you would expect