A song for Throwback Thursday: The Taming of the Shrew
Our rehearsal/recording studio in Redwood City.
This is how I remember it.
The year was probably 1988.
We arrived at the studio in the late afternoon. I had my guitar and bass, JW had a case of Bud Light and our goal was to write and record a song. I was going to write the music, play everything and handle recording duties, JW was going to write the lyrics and sing.
We entered the studio by raising a sliding metal door, like a garage door, but much bigger. The studio was really nothing more than huge storage locker, and there was a little room to the left as you walked in, which was where I had my Tascam 8-track reel-to-reel, mixing console, Linn Drum, Mesa-Boogie and a few effects. Raw stuff.
After closing the door, sunlight flowed in through frosted glass at the top of the door and was held in the air of the larger room by dust rising from the carpet remnants on the floor. JW mentioned he felt a little full from lunch, did fifty push ups, cracked a beer and lit a cigarette. He was ready.
I don't know how much time passed. I can't remember if my friend Cory, who plays keyboards on the track, was there for the initial recording session or not, I can't remember who convinced me to crank my Boogie the fuck up, and I have no recollection at all of adding background vocals. I wish I could blame these lapses on my heavy drug use or something equally rock and roll, but I can't. Knowing me, I drank a few beers and that was that.
Listening to the song today is a revelation. I like the song. I like my playing, Cory's keys, JW's voice, my reedy harmonies. Even the drum machine programming I did sounds good (I somehow refrained from trying to program too many fills).
JW is still out there, he works in IT. Cory is one of my best friends and works at Apple. I work at Dell. But there was a time when every last one of us had The Dream. And what could be a better day than Throwback Thursday to recall it all and relive it, if only for a few minutes.
Long live rock and roll.