Gene Vincent- "Bluejean Bop"
- Thread starter axel
- Start date
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
That's what I thought, but it's not that easy, because Google comes up with hundreds of entries with a "best of"-comp of the same title. I scanned a couple of articles on Gene but couldn't find any information about it.
JGTiger
Mark VII Class
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2011
- Location
- The Mountains
Actually, he did several session's for capitol- one is absolutely amazing, and it is on a Four Preps 45 (!) if you can believe it- the filpside of BIG MAN- pure Rockabilly sounds- but very overlooked- Called Stop Baby- What a guitar break! WOW BABY! Go Cliff Go!
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
At least I found a great picture of him and Eddie Cochran, accompanying some amazing words on Gene in a blog called "A Muchness of Me".
"My friend Dick did a tour with him and Jan and Dean. His story is incomplete. Dick was being terrorized by Jan and Dean. He remembers once in Colorado he looked out the window and saw them tobogganing down a hill using Dick's luggage as the sled, scattering his clothes down the mountainside.
Dick was most impressed that Jan and Dean never terrorized Gene Vincent. Everyone else was fair game. Back when Buddy Holly had the top two records in America he was in a hotel lobby signing autographs. Gene Vincent entered the lobby and Buddy Holly pushed through his fans and through Gene Vincent's fans just to ask Gene for his autograph.
Gene Vincent had that effect on other performers.
Dick just thought Gene was the softest spoken man he'd ever met.
I didn't understand any of it until I saw Gene at some ratty club in the valley. I think it was '69.
I went alone. No one else wanted to go or the ones who did want to go didn't understand the why of it.
The place was filled with aging rockabilly cats, all of them poured into their finest cat clothes, beautiful bright colors that still looked cool even if they hardly fit the boys now men 10 years later.
Gene hit the stage and I was shocked. He was about thirty but I could have accepted that he was 60 or a youthful 70. He was fat and looked horrid in clothes that were trying to be hip. I thought about leaving.
Then he started to sing.
I sat on stage in Vegas while Sinatra performed. I've seen Elvis in Vegas. I've seen Nureyev in his prime. They couldn't hold a candle to the fading flame that was on stage that night. It was like God had sent us an angel to sing away our sins, a young devil to show where temptation lies, a Cassiopeia to torment us with His omnipotent sadness.
Yeah. He was that good. Better than we deserve."
"My friend Dick did a tour with him and Jan and Dean. His story is incomplete. Dick was being terrorized by Jan and Dean. He remembers once in Colorado he looked out the window and saw them tobogganing down a hill using Dick's luggage as the sled, scattering his clothes down the mountainside.
Dick was most impressed that Jan and Dean never terrorized Gene Vincent. Everyone else was fair game. Back when Buddy Holly had the top two records in America he was in a hotel lobby signing autographs. Gene Vincent entered the lobby and Buddy Holly pushed through his fans and through Gene Vincent's fans just to ask Gene for his autograph.
Gene Vincent had that effect on other performers.
Dick just thought Gene was the softest spoken man he'd ever met.
I didn't understand any of it until I saw Gene at some ratty club in the valley. I think it was '69.
I went alone. No one else wanted to go or the ones who did want to go didn't understand the why of it.
The place was filled with aging rockabilly cats, all of them poured into their finest cat clothes, beautiful bright colors that still looked cool even if they hardly fit the boys now men 10 years later.
Gene hit the stage and I was shocked. He was about thirty but I could have accepted that he was 60 or a youthful 70. He was fat and looked horrid in clothes that were trying to be hip. I thought about leaving.
Then he started to sing.
I sat on stage in Vegas while Sinatra performed. I've seen Elvis in Vegas. I've seen Nureyev in his prime. They couldn't hold a candle to the fading flame that was on stage that night. It was like God had sent us an angel to sing away our sins, a young devil to show where temptation lies, a Cassiopeia to torment us with His omnipotent sadness.
Yeah. He was that good. Better than we deserve."
JGTiger
Mark VII Class
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2011
- Location
- The Mountains
Gene Vincent is a legend... And there was a huge scene around Norfolk, VA with Curly Burris & Norman Phelps from the Fernwood Farms recording studios, who Gene associated with, and Gene's drummer, Dickie Harrell played on the legendary Phil Gray -Pepper Hot Baby -on the Rhythm label. I interviewed Mr. Gray last year, and he said Vincent gave him pointers on the hic-cup vocal style.... When Pepper Hot Baby started to make local airplay, in Norfolk, and down in Florida, Col. Tom Parker (Elvis Manager) bought up all the copies and had them destroyed, thus making it a legendary Rockabilly recording with only a few in existence. Apparently, Parker also bought up all the Billy Barrix remaining copies from Chess Records to squash that sound-a-like also. He could not touch Gene Vincent- He had already hit on Capitol, and Parker could only bribe the smaller labels...
I am in contact with a session (union) drummer who literally met all of the greats- and even plays on the legendary Billy Prager Do It Bop 45. Another supposed Parker bribe- and this guy concurs with the Phil Gray story about Parker buying up Elvis soundalikes- to corner the market on Elvis.
The session musician (name withheld) comes into my store every weekend and tells amazing stories about everyone from Piano Red to Patience and Prudence!
He worked for Ken Nelson as a drummer and is on countless recordings (uncredited-as is common in those days) and worked in Nashville, Chicago, NYC & LA. Nelson hired to him sit in as the drummer for Be-Bop-A-Lula, but The Blue-Caps pleased Nelson enough that the Capitol session men were not necessary. If you want to hear some of the best sounding Doo-Wop-a-Billy (Combo of Rockabilly & Doo-Wop) Listen to Git It, with Eddie Cochran- amazing...
I am in contact with a session (union) drummer who literally met all of the greats- and even plays on the legendary Billy Prager Do It Bop 45. Another supposed Parker bribe- and this guy concurs with the Phil Gray story about Parker buying up Elvis soundalikes- to corner the market on Elvis.
The session musician (name withheld) comes into my store every weekend and tells amazing stories about everyone from Piano Red to Patience and Prudence!
He worked for Ken Nelson as a drummer and is on countless recordings (uncredited-as is common in those days) and worked in Nashville, Chicago, NYC & LA. Nelson hired to him sit in as the drummer for Be-Bop-A-Lula, but The Blue-Caps pleased Nelson enough that the Capitol session men were not necessary. If you want to hear some of the best sounding Doo-Wop-a-Billy (Combo of Rockabilly & Doo-Wop) Listen to Git It, with Eddie Cochran- amazing...
beccabear67
Ikon Class
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2011
- Location
- Canada
I grew up with an original copy of the 1956 Bluejean Bop... I think it was the third 12" R & R record ever or something like that? It does have a great sound, after that they were recording in L.A. instead of VA or TX, which is why the change in Blue Caps too I believe. Buck Owens even plays on some of Gene's sessions at Capitol in Hollywood. My dad had some of those on 78 along with Eddie Cochran and Johnny Burnette Trio. I could be wrong but I think The Screaming End thing was from a concert promoter who put it on a poster. I always liked Gene's Peg O My heart and Jezebel even though they were typical album filler selections in the '50s, but he made everything something more!
Another of the old LPs I think still sounds fantastic is the Ritchie Valens LP on Del-Fi (recorded at Gold Star mostly). The first Elvis LP on RCA also sounds great, probably because it was all done at Sun and not RCA. I have some of the original Decca Bill Haley 45s and the LP of Rock & Roll Show and they sound pretty good as well. And even if you don't like country I think the Buckaroos records on Capitol were all very sharp.
Another of the old LPs I think still sounds fantastic is the Ritchie Valens LP on Del-Fi (recorded at Gold Star mostly). The first Elvis LP on RCA also sounds great, probably because it was all done at Sun and not RCA. I have some of the original Decca Bill Haley 45s and the LP of Rock & Roll Show and they sound pretty good as well. And even if you don't like country I think the Buckaroos records on Capitol were all very sharp.
beccabear67
Ikon Class
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2011
- Location
- Canada
There was a 10" LP of the Rock & Roll Trio that's worth a small fortune. I'd say they were just that slightest notch more crazed than the Blue Caps too! My Dad had three of their 78s, two have the same A side but different B side, but everything up here was a Canadian pressing anyway, except the Gene Vincent LP for some reason. The Johnny Cash Sun LPs say Apex or somesuch on the disc label, and so does the Ritchie Valens.
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
Beware, brother, beware:As legendary/great as Gene Vincent is, I still prefer Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n Roll trio LP.
"A lot of Gene Vincent fans will fight you if you say anything remotely negative. I don't mean argue with you like Stevie Wonder fans, or get belligerent like Elvis fans, I mean straight razor silent attack fight you. I understand why."
Could that be the origins of "The Screaming End"?
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
I wish I was raised on 78s. That might have saved me from some trouble in my youth.
Frantic
G45 Legend
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
Beware, brother, beware:
"A lot of Gene Vincent fans will fight you if you say anything remotely negative. I don't mean argue with you like Stevie Wonder fans, or get belligerent like Elvis fans, I mean straight razor silent attack fight you. I understand why."
Could that be the origins of "The Screaming End"?
How was anything remotely negative in my statement?
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
Well, isn't it REMOTELY negative to say "I prefer this to that", a sort of put-down of "that"? Anyway, be assured there wasn't the slightest seriousness in me quoting this. I just thought it an interesting little piece of prose.
JGTiger
Mark VII Class
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2011
- Location
- The Mountains
I have collected Rockabilly since I was in diapers- Johnny Burnette kicks arse! As does Vincent! It is kinda hard to pick- ya know- I love both! CHEERS!
legbarecords
Ikon Class
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
My favorite Vincent 45 is "right now", absolutely pummeling!
Frantic
G45 Legend
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
huh???!!! If I love one record a little more than another that is nowhere near negative. Do you love all your records the exact same amount? If not, is that negative? I think not:confused:
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
Of course, you're right. As I said, no reason to take it serious.
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
I think it's great that this turned into a general thread about rockabilly or rockabilly on Capitol.
Apart from that I finally found some information bout the recording of Bluejean Bop. This is from the Gene Vincent Fanclub site. The sound/ equipment of Owen Bradley's studio and an engineer by the name of Mort Thomasson seem to have been responsible for the technical side of the production:
A message finally arrived, asking for Gene and his band to get to Owen Bradley’s studios, in Nashville on the 4th may. Once called up, Gene quickly gathered the band members, but they ended up stuck in Norfolk airport, on account of the fog. Worried that they would not arrive on time for the recording session, they started playing to relax. They grabbed their instruments, and within a few minutes, they were rocking the whole airport. The weather cleared up, and a plane could land: five passengers let them have their seats so that they could arrive on time.
Owen Bradley had already recorded Buddy Holly and Johnny Carroll, who had even had the idea of adding extra echoes on the reels. This gave a new sonority, improved by sound ingenior Mort Thomasson, and this made Gene’s voice sound better, as well as the general sound of the band. On the 4th of may 1956, Gene and his band –renamed the Blue Caps- got together for their first and legendary recording session in Bradley’s studios. Nelson had kept an excellent bunch of studio musicians left, for he was not sure about the capacities of Gene’s band: Grady Martin, Hank ‘Sugarfoot’ Garland, Buddy Harman and Bob Moore. But these musicians left after Cliff Gallup had started playing the highly energetic intro of ‘Race with the Devil’: this was already excellence!
Cliff Gallup
9th april 1956 : On this monday, the first demos with the Blue Caps were recorded in the WCMS studios : ‘Be Bop A Lula’, ‘I sure miss you’ and ‘Race with the Devil’. The members of the band are: Cliff Gallup (lead guitar), Willie Williams (rythm guitar), Dick Harrell (drums), Jack Neal (bass), and Gene Vincent (vocals and guitar). A managment contract was signed with Lamar and Blumenthal, the owners of WCMS, as well as a contract with Sherriff Tex, making him artistic director.
Ken Nelson (center) Sherriff Tex Davis (left) and Gene Vincent
27th April 1956 : A contract with Capitol was negociated by Tex Davis.
3rd May 1956 : The contract with Capitol was signed, with Ken Nelson, in Nashville: it would become effective on 23rd april 1956.
4th May 1956 : on this Friday, recording sessions started in Owen Bradley’s studios, on 16th street, Nashville (the same studios would be later used by Elvis Presley and Johnny Hallyday under the direction of Shelby Singleton).
Owen Bradley
Bradley's Studio 804 16th Avenue South - 1956
The band was playing so loud that Gene had to record his vocal performance in a corridor, so that he could be heard on the reel. After the recording, Nelson suggested the used of the name Vincent instead of Craddock, and also to find a name for the band. Harrell, the drumer, who was used to wear a small cap while playing suggested the name of the Blue Caps.
4th June 1956 : Gene’s Vincent first 45 rpm came out: ‘Woman Love’/’Be Bop A Lula’, issued with a specification sheet (Capitol F 3450 US).
Apart from that I finally found some information bout the recording of Bluejean Bop. This is from the Gene Vincent Fanclub site. The sound/ equipment of Owen Bradley's studio and an engineer by the name of Mort Thomasson seem to have been responsible for the technical side of the production:
A message finally arrived, asking for Gene and his band to get to Owen Bradley’s studios, in Nashville on the 4th may. Once called up, Gene quickly gathered the band members, but they ended up stuck in Norfolk airport, on account of the fog. Worried that they would not arrive on time for the recording session, they started playing to relax. They grabbed their instruments, and within a few minutes, they were rocking the whole airport. The weather cleared up, and a plane could land: five passengers let them have their seats so that they could arrive on time.
Owen Bradley had already recorded Buddy Holly and Johnny Carroll, who had even had the idea of adding extra echoes on the reels. This gave a new sonority, improved by sound ingenior Mort Thomasson, and this made Gene’s voice sound better, as well as the general sound of the band. On the 4th of may 1956, Gene and his band –renamed the Blue Caps- got together for their first and legendary recording session in Bradley’s studios. Nelson had kept an excellent bunch of studio musicians left, for he was not sure about the capacities of Gene’s band: Grady Martin, Hank ‘Sugarfoot’ Garland, Buddy Harman and Bob Moore. But these musicians left after Cliff Gallup had started playing the highly energetic intro of ‘Race with the Devil’: this was already excellence!
9th april 1956 : On this monday, the first demos with the Blue Caps were recorded in the WCMS studios : ‘Be Bop A Lula’, ‘I sure miss you’ and ‘Race with the Devil’. The members of the band are: Cliff Gallup (lead guitar), Willie Williams (rythm guitar), Dick Harrell (drums), Jack Neal (bass), and Gene Vincent (vocals and guitar). A managment contract was signed with Lamar and Blumenthal, the owners of WCMS, as well as a contract with Sherriff Tex, making him artistic director.
Ken Nelson (center) Sherriff Tex Davis (left) and Gene Vincent
27th April 1956 : A contract with Capitol was negociated by Tex Davis.
3rd May 1956 : The contract with Capitol was signed, with Ken Nelson, in Nashville: it would become effective on 23rd april 1956.
4th May 1956 : on this Friday, recording sessions started in Owen Bradley’s studios, on 16th street, Nashville (the same studios would be later used by Elvis Presley and Johnny Hallyday under the direction of Shelby Singleton).
Owen Bradley
Bradley's Studio 804 16th Avenue South - 1956
The band was playing so loud that Gene had to record his vocal performance in a corridor, so that he could be heard on the reel. After the recording, Nelson suggested the used of the name Vincent instead of Craddock, and also to find a name for the band. Harrell, the drumer, who was used to wear a small cap while playing suggested the name of the Blue Caps.
4th June 1956 : Gene’s Vincent first 45 rpm came out: ‘Woman Love’/’Be Bop A Lula’, issued with a specification sheet (Capitol F 3450 US).
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
Now that I know what to look for I found some definitive answers. This is a bit long, but it contains some amazing information about the Gene Vincent recordings and recording in general:
A technical appreciation for Gene Vincent's recordings, for the boxed set The Road Is Rocky on Bear Family Records
By Deke Dickerson, 2004
Fans have long admired the technical excellence of Gene Vincent's recordings, especially the Capitol albums from 1956 to 1962. But besides the fact that they are great-sounding records with amazing musicianship, the documentation and details of how these recordings came about have been somewhat shrouded in mystery, and what little has been written about them has been plagued with false facts and inaccurate modern views toward old-school techniques of making records. This addition to the Vincent boxed set is for those who yearn to know more about these recordings, and who thirst for more technical information about how these great rock and roll records were made.
The most important thing about understanding early rock and roll is knowing that all the recordings were done live in the studio, with no overdubs. This means the entire band was playing live in a room with Gene singing at the same time in the same room. Unlike today, where recordings are done one instrument at a time on multitrack recorders and mixed later on, these records were made on an extremely limited time schedule and then mixed on the spot to glorious mono by the producer. The first five Vincent albums were mono only; only the sixth LP, Crazy Times, was issued in both stereo and mono, and the last Capitol LP, Crazy Beat was a UK-only release available in mono only. Understanding this fact makes one realize just how incredibly talented the musicians and recording engineers were -- these are still some of the best-sounding records of all time!
"Mono" has often been understood to mean "low fidelity," and nothing could be farther from the truth. Mono simply means that there is only one channel representing the sound. A popular term in the 1950s was "high fidelity," which meant that the recording was of a high-standard, mono, source. When stereo came into use in the late 1950s it was intended to represent a binaural, three-dimensional, realistic picture of the sound spectrum, much like the human ears hear naturally. In reality, few understood true stereo then or now, but it was a great gimmick for the electronics stores to sell two amplifiers and two speakers with each turntable, thus doubling their profits (shades of today's "latest gimmick" mentality). The term stereo was soon hijacked, however, and a realistic binaural three-dimensional representation was abandoned by most recording engineers (save for a few jazz purists, like Rudy Van Gelder, who continued to record incredible stereo imaging on his LPs for Blue Note) in favor of goofy "ping-pong" stereo effects and gimmicky stereo panning: for example, guitar only in the left speaker, and vocals only in the right speaker. In this regard, many of the transitional records from 1958-66 actually sound much better in mono than they do with these artificial-sounding stereo mixes. Knowing these general facts, one should appreciate that the mono Gene Vincent records represent the very best in 1950s recording quality, and that the term mono in and of itself does not mean anything in terms of fidelity.
Gene's first two albums and his first batch of singles were recorded at the famed Owen Bradley studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The correct name for the studio located at 1804 16th Avenue South was Bradley Film and Recording Studios, not to be confused with Owen Bradley's later Quonset Hut (located in an actual Quonset hut set behind the original studio house) and Bradley's Barn (built in the early 1960s, outside the Nashville city limits, and the only studio of the three that still exists today), which have been incorrectly listed in other liner notes as the studios in which Gene cut his early recordings.
The original 16th Avenue studio was in a two-story house that Owen Bradley had converted into a recording studio by removing the floor from the first story, thus creating a sunken studio with a high ceiling in the basement. There was a long stairway leading down to the recording floor, and behind it were a bathroom and a utility room, the latter of which was converted into a small echo chamber.
1956 recording technology was primitive by today's standards, but much of the equipment that Owen Bradley used was state-of-the-art at the time. In fact, fifty years later, that type of gear is still highly sought out for use in today's digital studios, because those microphones, preamps, compressors, etc. are acknowledged to be some of the finest of their kind ever made.
Bradley used Ampex 300 and 350 tape recorders (a 300 for the master recorder and a 350 for tape echo) along with a custom-made mono mixing console. He didn't switch to his famous three-track recorder and three-buss mixing board until about 1958. The most obvious effect on the Gene Vincent recordings is the liberal amount of slap-back tape echo on Gene's voice and Cliff Gallup's guitar. Bradley and engineer Mort Thomasson's obvious affection for slap-back tape echo can be heard throughout, especially on tracks like "Catman," where the echo on the guitar is louder than the original signal, a great defining effect that has been imitated by rockabilly bands ever since. There is obviously compression and limiting on these tracks, but it is unknown whether or not Bradley had a compressor in his studio or if this was added during the mastering phase. The only other effect Bradley used was reverb, which came from the small echo chamber in the utility room by the stairs. This short, unusual reverb is the distinctive sound heard on Dickie Harrell's snare drum. Bradley used utilitarian RCA 77 and 44 ribbon microphones on the guitar amp and upright bass and rhythm guitar, but he used exotic (for the time -- Bradley was among the first to obtain them in the U.S.) German condenser microphones made by Schoeps and Neumann for the vocals and drums. (It's possible that at this time, Bradley was also using an Altec M-11 condenser microphone for the drums.) It should be noted that some of the promotional photos shot during the first session were set up by Capitol producer Ken Nelson, especially the one showing Gene singing three or four feet away from an RCA microphone with the Capitol logo on the front. Anyone who has ever used an RCA ribbon microphone knows that you wouldn't hear much from a vocal recorded that far away, and anyone with a technical ear can also plainly hear that Gene is singing into a condenser microphone. So beware of false impressions based on the Capitol promotional photos!
A technical appreciation for Gene Vincent's recordings, for the boxed set The Road Is Rocky on Bear Family Records
By Deke Dickerson, 2004
Fans have long admired the technical excellence of Gene Vincent's recordings, especially the Capitol albums from 1956 to 1962. But besides the fact that they are great-sounding records with amazing musicianship, the documentation and details of how these recordings came about have been somewhat shrouded in mystery, and what little has been written about them has been plagued with false facts and inaccurate modern views toward old-school techniques of making records. This addition to the Vincent boxed set is for those who yearn to know more about these recordings, and who thirst for more technical information about how these great rock and roll records were made.
The most important thing about understanding early rock and roll is knowing that all the recordings were done live in the studio, with no overdubs. This means the entire band was playing live in a room with Gene singing at the same time in the same room. Unlike today, where recordings are done one instrument at a time on multitrack recorders and mixed later on, these records were made on an extremely limited time schedule and then mixed on the spot to glorious mono by the producer. The first five Vincent albums were mono only; only the sixth LP, Crazy Times, was issued in both stereo and mono, and the last Capitol LP, Crazy Beat was a UK-only release available in mono only. Understanding this fact makes one realize just how incredibly talented the musicians and recording engineers were -- these are still some of the best-sounding records of all time!
"Mono" has often been understood to mean "low fidelity," and nothing could be farther from the truth. Mono simply means that there is only one channel representing the sound. A popular term in the 1950s was "high fidelity," which meant that the recording was of a high-standard, mono, source. When stereo came into use in the late 1950s it was intended to represent a binaural, three-dimensional, realistic picture of the sound spectrum, much like the human ears hear naturally. In reality, few understood true stereo then or now, but it was a great gimmick for the electronics stores to sell two amplifiers and two speakers with each turntable, thus doubling their profits (shades of today's "latest gimmick" mentality). The term stereo was soon hijacked, however, and a realistic binaural three-dimensional representation was abandoned by most recording engineers (save for a few jazz purists, like Rudy Van Gelder, who continued to record incredible stereo imaging on his LPs for Blue Note) in favor of goofy "ping-pong" stereo effects and gimmicky stereo panning: for example, guitar only in the left speaker, and vocals only in the right speaker. In this regard, many of the transitional records from 1958-66 actually sound much better in mono than they do with these artificial-sounding stereo mixes. Knowing these general facts, one should appreciate that the mono Gene Vincent records represent the very best in 1950s recording quality, and that the term mono in and of itself does not mean anything in terms of fidelity.
Gene's first two albums and his first batch of singles were recorded at the famed Owen Bradley studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The correct name for the studio located at 1804 16th Avenue South was Bradley Film and Recording Studios, not to be confused with Owen Bradley's later Quonset Hut (located in an actual Quonset hut set behind the original studio house) and Bradley's Barn (built in the early 1960s, outside the Nashville city limits, and the only studio of the three that still exists today), which have been incorrectly listed in other liner notes as the studios in which Gene cut his early recordings.
The original 16th Avenue studio was in a two-story house that Owen Bradley had converted into a recording studio by removing the floor from the first story, thus creating a sunken studio with a high ceiling in the basement. There was a long stairway leading down to the recording floor, and behind it were a bathroom and a utility room, the latter of which was converted into a small echo chamber.
1956 recording technology was primitive by today's standards, but much of the equipment that Owen Bradley used was state-of-the-art at the time. In fact, fifty years later, that type of gear is still highly sought out for use in today's digital studios, because those microphones, preamps, compressors, etc. are acknowledged to be some of the finest of their kind ever made.
Bradley used Ampex 300 and 350 tape recorders (a 300 for the master recorder and a 350 for tape echo) along with a custom-made mono mixing console. He didn't switch to his famous three-track recorder and three-buss mixing board until about 1958. The most obvious effect on the Gene Vincent recordings is the liberal amount of slap-back tape echo on Gene's voice and Cliff Gallup's guitar. Bradley and engineer Mort Thomasson's obvious affection for slap-back tape echo can be heard throughout, especially on tracks like "Catman," where the echo on the guitar is louder than the original signal, a great defining effect that has been imitated by rockabilly bands ever since. There is obviously compression and limiting on these tracks, but it is unknown whether or not Bradley had a compressor in his studio or if this was added during the mastering phase. The only other effect Bradley used was reverb, which came from the small echo chamber in the utility room by the stairs. This short, unusual reverb is the distinctive sound heard on Dickie Harrell's snare drum. Bradley used utilitarian RCA 77 and 44 ribbon microphones on the guitar amp and upright bass and rhythm guitar, but he used exotic (for the time -- Bradley was among the first to obtain them in the U.S.) German condenser microphones made by Schoeps and Neumann for the vocals and drums. (It's possible that at this time, Bradley was also using an Altec M-11 condenser microphone for the drums.) It should be noted that some of the promotional photos shot during the first session were set up by Capitol producer Ken Nelson, especially the one showing Gene singing three or four feet away from an RCA microphone with the Capitol logo on the front. Anyone who has ever used an RCA ribbon microphone knows that you wouldn't hear much from a vocal recorded that far away, and anyone with a technical ear can also plainly hear that Gene is singing into a condenser microphone. So beware of false impressions based on the Capitol promotional photos!
axel
Tennalaga Class
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
When Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps came into Bradley's studio in May of 1956, they were among the first rock and roll acts, but Owen Bradley had previously recorded several early rockabilly sessions for Roy Hall (September '55), Jimmy and Johnny (December '55), Buddy Holly (January '56), Johnny Horton (January '56), Bobby Helms (April '56), and Johnny Carroll (April '56). It was apparently Johnny Carroll's suggestion to Bradley that he use exaggerated amounts of slap-back tape echo, though there was already quite a bit of the slap-back echo in evidence on the January '56 Buddy Holly session (which yielded "Love Me" and "Blue Days, Black Nights"). Engineer Mort Thomasson devised the setup for the slap-back tape echo, which producer Bradley used with glee. He continued using slap-back echo on such rockabilly acts as the Johnny Burnette Trio and many others, helping define the rockabilly sound more than anybody else besides Sam Phillips.
An interesting footnote about the echo: The first session that Gene did at Bradley's was recorded dry (no echo), with tape echo added later to the entire mix (unlike today, they had no post-session mixing capabilities). The original dry tape surfaced recently and is included here, and it's very interesting to hear the difference! By the time Gene and the Blue Caps returned for their next session, Mort Thomasson had devised a more controlled method of utilizing slap-back echo only on certain instruments through the use of a second slap-back echo machine placed directly next to the master recorder (more on this below).
Unlike Sam Phillips, Owen Bradley almost always used his A-team of session musicians, a group of the best players in the world that included Grady Martin and Hank Garland on lead guitars, Harold Bradley (Owen's brother) on rhythm guitar, Bob Moore on bass, and Buddy Harman on drums (among others, but these five men represented the nucleus). They were called to the studio for the first Gene Vincent session, but after hearing the Blue Caps play (especially Cliff Gallup's lead guitar work), Owen Bradley and Capitol producer Ken Nelson agreed that this time, Gene's band should be on the session. It should be noted that not even Johnny Horton and the Johnny Burnette Trio were afforded this courtesy, and their recordings were augmented with studio musicians. In fact, to my knowledge, Owen Bradley never recorded any other rock and roll act without help from the session men.
Using Gene's band was not without problems, however. Harold Bradley recalls that young Dickie Harrell hit the drums so hard, it was the first time they ever needed to use baffles (room dividers) at the studio! In addition, Gene sang quietly, so in order to avoid leakage from the loud drums into Gene's vocal microphone, Bradley kept moving Gene further away from the drums until eventually he was singing behind the staircase, out of view of the rest of the musicians! This is also why on the first session, before they could sort out the baffles, Dickie Harrell used brushes instead of sticks to tone down the volume. It's funny to think about in the context of today's loud rock music, but this was the dawn of rock and roll recording and there was a lot of trial and error.
For many Gene Vincent fans, there are two distinct "sounds" of his recordings: the era with Cliff Gallup on lead guitar, and the era with Johnny Meeks on lead guitar. These two eras also fit neatly into the recording history, since Cliff Gallup recorded only at the Nashville Owen Bradley studio, and Johnny Meeks only recorded at the Hollywood Capitol Tower studio.
Cliff Gallup's sound was defined by several key elements. First and foremost, he was a musician of staggering technical proficiency. He obviously listened to a lot of Les Paul and George Barnes, and he stated in his only interview that he was a fan of Chet Atkins but had a style that was all his own. His jazzy runs complemented Gene's style, not only on the fast songs, but also on the ballads. It is safe to say that Cliff Gallup's lead guitar work has influenced every aspiring rockabilly guitar player since. However, if you've heard him playing live on the Alan Freed show recording, the tone of which was completely different, it is also obvious that the choices of the producers and engineers who recorded him also heavily influenced the sound of Gene's records.
Cliff played a Gretsch Duo-Jet guitar with DeArmond pickups. It was a cheaper imitation of the black Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, and Cliff bought the guitar to have an instrument similar to that of his idol, Les Paul. The DeArmond pickups in particular gave a distinctive, clear, ringing tone, and they figured heavily into his sound. Cliff later recalled that he played a Standel amp at Bradley's studio, but if studio pictures are to be believed, he was actually playing a Tweed Fender Pro amplifier, which had been modified with a JBL fifteen-inch speaker to replace the stock Jensen. It is possible that Chet Atkins's Standel amp was in Bradley's studio for one or more of the sessions, but the only picture we have of Cliff in the studio plainly shows the tweed Pro with an RCA microphone in front of it. Regardless, the two amps both had JBL fifteen-inch speakers, so at the low volumes involved in studio recording, they probably sounded very similar. Every bit of the tape echo heard on the guitar tracks came from Bradley's control room, utilizing the Ampex tape recorders. This was before the era of stand-alone guitar effects; with the exception of the 1955 Echo-Sonic amp, which had a built in tape echo, external tape echoes were not available until the release of the Ecco-Fonic in 1958. On these recordings, Cliff played dry, directly into the amp, and the echo was applied in the studio's control room.
In order to clear up a few misconceptions about how Bradley used slap-back tape echo, we have to step back into a different era of recording technology. Unlike today, the mixing boards back then did not have "echo sends" for each channel. Echo was achieved by placing a second, separate microphone on each source (in Gene's case, the vocal and the guitar amp) and running those not through the main mixing board, but instead straight into the second Ampex machine, which was set on playback monitoring mode during recording to achieve a slap-back echo effect. The slap-back echo was actually an accident of design; the Ampex machine had three recording heads (erase, record, and play) situated slightly apart from each other, and when monitoring off the playback head during recording (achieved by setting the monitor knob to playback), it was slightly delayed from the real-time signal that was being recorded on the record head. This slap-back effect from the second machine was then fed back into the main mixing board on a separate channel and mixed together with the dry signals from the vocals and guitar, then finally put down on the master tape recorder with a balance of the dry signal and the echo. The reverb on the drums was achieved the same way, with a separate microphone running into the echo chamber, folded back into the mixing board as a separate channel. It was a primitive yet effective way of achieving these effects, and one with unique tonal characteristics, since there were different types of microphones being used for the dry signal and the echo signal. Among the first things that Bradley built into his famous three-track mixing console were echo sends, but before that, all sessions (including the Gene Vincent sessions) were done in the earlier, more primitive way.
One last important factor in Gene's Nashville recordings was the presence of Capitol producer Ken Nelson. Many of the pioneering techniques used during the Gene Vincent sessions -- the choice of material, and ultimately the decision to use Gene's own band -- can be attributed to the enterprising spirit of Ken Nelson. He was truly a father figure for rock and roll and was directly responsible for much of Capitol Records' success in the new genre. The great sound of Gene Vincent's Nashville recordings can largely be attributed to the amazing chemistry between Ken Nelson, Owen Bradley, and engineer Mort Thomasson, not just any one of them.
The year 1957 brought about a complete revamping of Gene's band, and Ken Nelson decided to record them in the newly constructed Capitol Tower recording studios in Hollywood, California.
Previous to recording at the Capitol Tower, Capitol's West Coast acts had been recording at a small studio on Melrose Avenue. The Melrose studio produced great results for smaller jazz and country music bands, but the honchos at Capitol wanted a larger studio for recording big bands and orchestras, so the new facilities at the Tower were rather enormous, with a technical and engineering setup specifically geared toward recording large bands.
An interesting footnote about the echo: The first session that Gene did at Bradley's was recorded dry (no echo), with tape echo added later to the entire mix (unlike today, they had no post-session mixing capabilities). The original dry tape surfaced recently and is included here, and it's very interesting to hear the difference! By the time Gene and the Blue Caps returned for their next session, Mort Thomasson had devised a more controlled method of utilizing slap-back echo only on certain instruments through the use of a second slap-back echo machine placed directly next to the master recorder (more on this below).
Unlike Sam Phillips, Owen Bradley almost always used his A-team of session musicians, a group of the best players in the world that included Grady Martin and Hank Garland on lead guitars, Harold Bradley (Owen's brother) on rhythm guitar, Bob Moore on bass, and Buddy Harman on drums (among others, but these five men represented the nucleus). They were called to the studio for the first Gene Vincent session, but after hearing the Blue Caps play (especially Cliff Gallup's lead guitar work), Owen Bradley and Capitol producer Ken Nelson agreed that this time, Gene's band should be on the session. It should be noted that not even Johnny Horton and the Johnny Burnette Trio were afforded this courtesy, and their recordings were augmented with studio musicians. In fact, to my knowledge, Owen Bradley never recorded any other rock and roll act without help from the session men.
Using Gene's band was not without problems, however. Harold Bradley recalls that young Dickie Harrell hit the drums so hard, it was the first time they ever needed to use baffles (room dividers) at the studio! In addition, Gene sang quietly, so in order to avoid leakage from the loud drums into Gene's vocal microphone, Bradley kept moving Gene further away from the drums until eventually he was singing behind the staircase, out of view of the rest of the musicians! This is also why on the first session, before they could sort out the baffles, Dickie Harrell used brushes instead of sticks to tone down the volume. It's funny to think about in the context of today's loud rock music, but this was the dawn of rock and roll recording and there was a lot of trial and error.
For many Gene Vincent fans, there are two distinct "sounds" of his recordings: the era with Cliff Gallup on lead guitar, and the era with Johnny Meeks on lead guitar. These two eras also fit neatly into the recording history, since Cliff Gallup recorded only at the Nashville Owen Bradley studio, and Johnny Meeks only recorded at the Hollywood Capitol Tower studio.
Cliff Gallup's sound was defined by several key elements. First and foremost, he was a musician of staggering technical proficiency. He obviously listened to a lot of Les Paul and George Barnes, and he stated in his only interview that he was a fan of Chet Atkins but had a style that was all his own. His jazzy runs complemented Gene's style, not only on the fast songs, but also on the ballads. It is safe to say that Cliff Gallup's lead guitar work has influenced every aspiring rockabilly guitar player since. However, if you've heard him playing live on the Alan Freed show recording, the tone of which was completely different, it is also obvious that the choices of the producers and engineers who recorded him also heavily influenced the sound of Gene's records.
Cliff played a Gretsch Duo-Jet guitar with DeArmond pickups. It was a cheaper imitation of the black Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, and Cliff bought the guitar to have an instrument similar to that of his idol, Les Paul. The DeArmond pickups in particular gave a distinctive, clear, ringing tone, and they figured heavily into his sound. Cliff later recalled that he played a Standel amp at Bradley's studio, but if studio pictures are to be believed, he was actually playing a Tweed Fender Pro amplifier, which had been modified with a JBL fifteen-inch speaker to replace the stock Jensen. It is possible that Chet Atkins's Standel amp was in Bradley's studio for one or more of the sessions, but the only picture we have of Cliff in the studio plainly shows the tweed Pro with an RCA microphone in front of it. Regardless, the two amps both had JBL fifteen-inch speakers, so at the low volumes involved in studio recording, they probably sounded very similar. Every bit of the tape echo heard on the guitar tracks came from Bradley's control room, utilizing the Ampex tape recorders. This was before the era of stand-alone guitar effects; with the exception of the 1955 Echo-Sonic amp, which had a built in tape echo, external tape echoes were not available until the release of the Ecco-Fonic in 1958. On these recordings, Cliff played dry, directly into the amp, and the echo was applied in the studio's control room.
In order to clear up a few misconceptions about how Bradley used slap-back tape echo, we have to step back into a different era of recording technology. Unlike today, the mixing boards back then did not have "echo sends" for each channel. Echo was achieved by placing a second, separate microphone on each source (in Gene's case, the vocal and the guitar amp) and running those not through the main mixing board, but instead straight into the second Ampex machine, which was set on playback monitoring mode during recording to achieve a slap-back echo effect. The slap-back echo was actually an accident of design; the Ampex machine had three recording heads (erase, record, and play) situated slightly apart from each other, and when monitoring off the playback head during recording (achieved by setting the monitor knob to playback), it was slightly delayed from the real-time signal that was being recorded on the record head. This slap-back effect from the second machine was then fed back into the main mixing board on a separate channel and mixed together with the dry signals from the vocals and guitar, then finally put down on the master tape recorder with a balance of the dry signal and the echo. The reverb on the drums was achieved the same way, with a separate microphone running into the echo chamber, folded back into the mixing board as a separate channel. It was a primitive yet effective way of achieving these effects, and one with unique tonal characteristics, since there were different types of microphones being used for the dry signal and the echo signal. Among the first things that Bradley built into his famous three-track mixing console were echo sends, but before that, all sessions (including the Gene Vincent sessions) were done in the earlier, more primitive way.
One last important factor in Gene's Nashville recordings was the presence of Capitol producer Ken Nelson. Many of the pioneering techniques used during the Gene Vincent sessions -- the choice of material, and ultimately the decision to use Gene's own band -- can be attributed to the enterprising spirit of Ken Nelson. He was truly a father figure for rock and roll and was directly responsible for much of Capitol Records' success in the new genre. The great sound of Gene Vincent's Nashville recordings can largely be attributed to the amazing chemistry between Ken Nelson, Owen Bradley, and engineer Mort Thomasson, not just any one of them.
The year 1957 brought about a complete revamping of Gene's band, and Ken Nelson decided to record them in the newly constructed Capitol Tower recording studios in Hollywood, California.
Previous to recording at the Capitol Tower, Capitol's West Coast acts had been recording at a small studio on Melrose Avenue. The Melrose studio produced great results for smaller jazz and country music bands, but the honchos at Capitol wanted a larger studio for recording big bands and orchestras, so the new facilities at the Tower were rather enormous, with a technical and engineering setup specifically geared toward recording large bands.
