Gary Hayden-Frank Eckert Project "Terrace" 1982
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2021
- "TERRACE" (1982) (Hayden) Gary Hayden-Frank Eckert Project
The story behind this recording:
Back in June 1982, along with my musical partner Frank, we went into a semi-professional recording studio for the first time to record several originals I had written.
These were recorded on an 8-track reel-to-reel recorder. I still own the master reel tapes but have no way to transfer them for a new, fresh, and high quality sounding mix. For that i'd have to find and pay for an expensive professional studio. But I did recently rediscover the original master cassette of these sessions. Though the tape is now 39 years old this month (at the time of writing this), its quality has certainly diminished with time. There's a ton of flutter and things I couldn't 'fix' so it's presented here 'as is', at least until one day when I can afford to take those original reel tapes into a studio for a fresh remaster and remix.
I decided to put this track up all the same for whatever historical value it may have. I was 22 at the time, Frank was 23 and he had just switched from electric bass to upright acoustic just weeks before we recorded this.
For the life of me I can't recall the name of the drummer we used on this recording at the time (though I can picture him!)... We went through many drummers at the time, I couldn't even keep count....
By the next time we went into a studio to to record more original pieces, in January 1983, Frank and myself just decided to forgo all the drummers and play the percussion stuff ourselves and we never did use a drummer again as I recall....
A 'special guest' appearance on the female vocals was by Geraldine Eckert-Frank's sister who was, at the time, a student at a local music college.
40 years after first writing this little piece I am now in the process of recording a new (all solo) version which, hopefully, will be released at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Gary Hayden: Acoustic Guitars, Background Voice
Frank Eckert: Upright Bass, Recorder, Lead Voice, Percussion
Unknown: Kit Drummer, Percussion
Geraldine Eckert: Female Voice
What a GEM! It's fun hearing an earlier and livelier side to your compositional talents Gary. For me it has that early-mid 70's breezy folk-psych sound I so love. I like the earthy feel and structured progressions with wordless vocals of both you and Frank. Geraldine's voice up front is also a tasteful treat and perfectly suited. Each musician really does a great job with their instruments. The slow start and fusion buildup with great drums and percussion reminded me the early krautrock days Totally original and refreshing as if circa '73. The opening and ending recorder with your nice sounding guitar tones frames the central structure perfectly. Very accomplished and complex fusion considering your ages too. This is SO easy for me to get into and I've repeated the song 10 times in 'Loop'. This piece rewards more with each listen. Nice writeup and I'm so glad you found and shared this piece. Had I heard this on the radio I'd be running out the buy the album!!! I'm excited to hear more of these early sessions. What a talent man, great job buddy.
Thanks buddy. I really wasn't even sure about putting this up, but, well, it's done now.. Thanks so much for listening and your thoughts-I love reading them!
-Gary
WOWEE!!!! EXCELLENT! That singing chick reminds me of the broad that sang the STAR TREK theme!!!! I hope that you upload more of these jems!!!🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘👩🎤
Hey buddy. Thanks a lot..I only have one more track, totally different, from this session (and that one has no vocals).. The good stuff, from 6 months later I still have only on reel to reel and don't have a way of transferring them at this stage.
Anyway, thanks for listening and hope you're doing well..
-Gary
This is absolutely beautiful. Reminiscent of many of the world music bands that don't get the recognition they deserve. Part Oregon, a dash of Paul Winters and a splash of Nels Kline Quartet Music. Wonderful work , Gary. I love it! PS. love your touch on the guitar. Manfred Eicher would be hard-pressed to ignore :)
Thanks so much buddy-high praise indeed! Yes well Oregon and Ralph Towner were a huge influence at the time for sure. Hope you're doing well!
-Gary
@@cosmicpickle6562 I feel like it was made for me :) I have it on loop, so expect the count to go up. Love the blend of the instrumentation and when you do your stuff it rises to another level. Really great stuff, I'm digging it, Thank you for sharing.
@@RonHallKungFuBro Thanks so much-I really appreciate all the plays and the kind words!
@@cosmicpickle6562 what really attracts me to that type of music is that it defies categorization and is a vessel to add what you like to keep it fresh and surprising. :)
@@RonHallKungFuBro Well I do think that very reason is why I prefer instrumental music (or music without lyrics in general) as the 'good stuff' which I love always seems to create the place which invites me to create my own internal images to the music. Of course when writing music it always helps too if one isn't attempting to write a specific 'type' of track/format but rather allowing the creative urge to take over and not worry about categories. Some of the best works under the 'Classical' banner were not well received when they were first presented because they broke barriers and what was considered the norm of the time.
This was really good Gary. I like the originality of it. I like Geraldine's vocals. It was also very cool hearing you doing some background vocals as well as the guitar work. I have always told you how good you are. This is more proof purchase that I am right. {smile}
Well well done G~
Rob/Boston
Thanks so much brother! Hope all is well with you..
-Gary
What a cool piece, G! Very neat. Plus hearing more of the story of it. The flute and voices to me give it a 70s northern California vibe. Played this outside on my portable speaker, and the percussion meshed nicely with the windchimes. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your solo version. Chatta soon. -Carm from the yard
Hey thanks buddy. I really wasn't so sure about putting it up for numerous reasons, so I appreciate the positive feedback....
Great to hear you're hanging (hopefully relaxing) in the yard-space...watching the sun goin' down perhaps..just perfect....
Sounds really interesting Gary. I was surprised when the vocals came in, that's an unusual twist I wasn't expecting. I like the way the piece shifts around and changes over the course of the piece. It's funny how the recording process has changed over the years, now everything being digital. I don't know if that will help in the future in the archiving of today music (movies too for that matter), but it's a plus I'm thinking in that direction for anything that in the past was recorded to tape--speaking about the degradation and other issues. Not much is mentioned about that when talking about the "old" days, analog sound, etc. I enjoyed the percussion, but I can see why you both decided to exclude it when further collaborating. I have a friend that has recorded several cds, and he always just used studio musicians, and they can be added pretty easily when one goes into the studio, and many professionals have done the same over the many years of popular music. Interesting to hear the recorder too. If you knew someone that has DAW, you might could do some of the cleaning up from that cassette, reel to reel, etc. It would be interesting to collaborate with someone that knows more about all that. www.sweetwater.com/insync/best-daws-for-beginners/
Thanks for the link buddy-i'll check it out. Well the problem is that I would want to do a transfer/remix from the reel to reel tapes which SHOULD be in excellent condition as they've never been played, only stored away, since 1982 (and another one from 6 months later)... I dont own a reel to reel to do a proper transfer so i'd have to go to a studio to do that, as reel to reels of that type are many thousands of $$$$... And besides these tapes from '82 and '83 I have no use for reels anymore. I do have another reel to reel for other reel tapes I recorded in the 1990s, but its not the same type as these (full-sized) reels which are from a professional studio.And actually I did already do some digital clean-up, EQ, etc. when I transferred the cassette into the PC, the original tape sounds even worse than what you hear here....