My first serious recording session was at 10cc’s Strawberry Studios in grimy old Stockport, at the tender age of 18. It was the first state of the art regional UK studio with a buzz about it that wasn’t a ground loop.
The band had a couple of hits – Rubber Bullets and Donna – they were on the up and up. So I was surprised to walk in and see Eric Stewart manning reception, and Graham Gouldman showing us around. I didn’t think pop stars did that sort of thing.
This session was just demos – for Robert Stigwood, where the money was rolling in like I don’t know what…the A&R guy fancied himself as a producer, with his gold plated, all expenses paid trip Up North. He was under the impression I had a band, but the reality was I just wheeled in an odd local musician or three for one mic recordings in my front room, so I turned up armed with only my guitar, a drummer who looked about 12, and two teenage convent girls who played cellos. Interesting line up, eh?
None of us had ever used headphones before – much less iso booths, and I’d never actually overdubbed anything in my life, other than with a weird two-track arrangement cobbled together on my mono recorder, which necessitated monitoring through a tiny earpiece as used with old fashioned hearing aids. But one copes. The unexpected thing was being asked to do bass parts. I didn’t own a bass, or even knew anyone who had one, and bass lines were a complete mystery to me at the time. They said, just play some low notes on the 6 string, and we’ll sort it. But I don’t think they did!
This tale would not be complete without mention of my roadie for the day – Preston legend Mick Mather, he of frighteningly green teeth and national health specs held together with elastoplast, an unkempt gentle giant always willing to lend a helping hand – he could carry two 4 x 12s at once. Meeting him again 35 years on, he hadn’t changed a bit, though the teeth had been fixed. There was something of a reverse Dorian Gray about that…
Anyhow, back to the story. No record deal transpired from the recordings – but there was a publishing contract as a consolation prize, with sessions at London’s Gooseberry Studios (no relation!). Gooseberry was a demo studio, but with a brilliant Ampex 2″ 16 track, great mics and a lovely baby grand. The downside was a dreadful drum booth (literally,”can you play without cymbals?”) and fiberglass insulation stapled all over the walls and ceiling, much of which was loose and falling off.
By this time I had acquired a bass AND a drum kit, and rehearsed relentlessly, determined to make a real record in the alotted time, not the demos they expected. I did 3 songs start to finish in a day, doing all the dubs myself; everything was first take. It had to be. But the preparation paid off, and the tracks were deemed worthy of mixing at Abbey Road….
Subsequently, my publishers were instrumental in putting together my first major record deal.
That’s what effective pre production can do, people!
