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I FIND MYSELF LOOKING AT YOU
Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Mellotrons / Bass ROMEO Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Mellotrons IN MY NEW BEAUTIFUL WORLD Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano / Harmony Vocals Goran Grini Bass / Organ / Mellotron FRIENDS GATHER ROUND Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Bass / Drums / Horn Samples WOUNDED Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Acoustic Guitar / Bass / Cello Samples |
EASTER MORNING
Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Pump Organ HUMMINGBIRD Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Pump Organ BUY A WHISKEY FOR A FRIEND Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Pump Organ / Rhodes Piano / Mellotrons WHICH WANTS WHAT Chip Taylor Vocals / Acoustic Guitar Goran Grini Piano / Vibraphone / String Samples / Mellotron STRAIGHT UP NUMBERS Chip Taylor Vocals / Piano Goran Grini Mellotrons / Organ |
All songs written by Chip Taylor; Back Road Music Inc (BMI) Administered by Sony Music. Produced by Chip Taylor & Goran Grini.
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Songs from the lockdown
On March 25th, 2020 Chip sent me the first song, called ´Wounded´ and in the following days new songs kept coming. The tracks Chip sent were humble recordings, using a Zoom Handy Recorder, which he would normally use to record his sketches and demos. Usually Chip would record at his studio in Mamaroneck N.Y. with his engineer and bass player Tony Mercadante. Sometimes I would fly over and join them in New York. Several times we have recorded together in the great Athletic Sound Studio in Halden, Norway. But due to the circumstances neither would be possible this time. But what could possibly document these songs and these times better than the Zoom Handy recordings? I am fortunate to have a nice recording studio at home, which of course has been a real blessing these last months. Chip and I have been able to go back and forth very easily despite our self-quarantine situations, both of us being able to record at home, and sending our tracks to a shared Dropbox folder, and discuss via Skype. |
To write about the process of working on the songs Chip sends in a few sentences is not easy - Acknowledging that the song stands on its own is a good starting point. The power of the words, and the emotion Chip puts into his performance is the song. These songs don´t need hooks to catch the ear of the listener. Having that in mind, I´ll just get lost in the songs, spend some time, preferably late at night, trying out different sounds and arrangements without thinking too much. Most of the time, at some point, sooner or later, the arrangements start to make sense and blend in with the song. Then, I will listen again the next day to a rough mix I´ve made the night before, now in the role of a listener, just to double check that the producer /arranger (me) from last night didn´t try to be too smart etc. Sometimes that happens. And then, if something doesn´t feel right, I will adjust a bit more. Often, most times, these adjustments will be about making the arrangements even simpler. Hardly ever the other way around. Then I send the rough mix to Chip. Goran Grini Skien, Norway July 2020 |
