Impromptu Tom Waits Cover.

[Jamie French]

I pulled an old Tom Waits song outta my ass during practice last night & Orion, (my drummer) totally smashed it. I definitely could have used a lyric sheet but the vibe was caught all the same... Video glitches for a half a second about half way through... I kinda fixed it.

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

Hi Jamie,

Wow! LOVE IT! That was unexpected. Nicely done.

Orion DID do a good job on that. Too bad a bassist was absent on this one.

Jamie, do you write songs, too, as well as, play covers? I, personally, would love to hear some acoustic versions of your own material. Think about it.
Are you primarily a rhythm guitarist or do you solo, also?

I like that Waits song, too. I am not a GREAT BIG fan of Tom but there is one song that really caught my ear, last year.
I love it! It's called, Hell Broke Luce. Check it out if you don't know of it. It's an awesome tune.
"HAD A GOOD HOME BUT I LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT."

I am well aware of Mr. Waits' legendary persona but i just never really got into his style. I know he's good and all, but...he's a little too gruff and scratchy-voiced for me. I saw some videos of him in a blues band and he was awesome.
Maybe one day i will really get into his music like i probably should be.

I often wondered if a trans-band could ever be successful as a serious act.
Jeffery Starr is one but i, kind of, really dislike that style. From what i've seen from Jeff, it's a little over the top. Actually, i saw only a few Jeff Starr videos several years ago and just chuckled. Maybe my musical tastes are a little too...hmm...traditional?...i dunno.

Thank you for sharing your talent.

Babe,
♪o♪o

[Jamie French]

I actually am a bassist, (20 years) But I play a little of everything. My band is a two piece. We perform our actual songs with with backing tracks that contain bass lines, etc. with an accompanying click track that only the drummer can hear through some wireless ear monitors. The example above was from one of our practices where we just generally fuck around and make noise.

Here's a brand new original that we are just now piecing together, (no real lyrics, ironing out the melodies, etc. as well as a finished demo so you can hear what we actually sound like outside of practice environment.

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

Hi Jamie,

Really like, The Man.
It has a nice vocal, the melody is coming along as it sounds not too bad at this time in the writing stage. I think it could be a hit if it were produced by the right producer.

The existing arrangement sounds to me like the first verse should be omitted.

You could start the song with Orion's 2 bars of 16ths drum pattern like he does after the first verse, with the guitar banging out the Am chord like you did also in 16ths. That could be a short 2 second intro which leads right into the 2nd verse which, i think, should be the 1st verse.
(For example, like the intro to Shapes of Things by the Yardbyrds check it out. See if you like the short into.)
This way the chorus would start at 33 seconds instead of at 1 minute, which is really too late (according to music producers) for a chorus to start in a pop song.
The arrangement would also be trimmed down to a comfortable 3m:30s by simply omitting that first verse.

I know you want to have that build up with the drums and guitar for dynamics after the first verse but have you considered that it makes the chorus happen too late at 1 minute into the song? I am quite certain that you know that.

With such a clever chorus that uses parts of the pre chorus, i doubt a bridge would be needed in this song. There is enough going on to make it interesting.
However, a tenor sax solo would be well placed in that instrumental slot, i think.

Just a suggestion, of course. As i've already said - i know you know what you are doing, and that the song is still "in the making".
Of course, live on stage, the song can easily be extended. So what i suggest here is solely for a studio recording.

So, i would use the arrangement below, if it were up to me (which it ISN'T lol).

My suggestion is as follows:

verse 1 _______________omit
I would suggest the song starts here.
verse 2 ________ 0m:00s - 0m:17s
pre chorus ________ 0m:17s - 0m:33.5s
chorus ________ 0m:33.5s - 1m33:05s

verse 3 ________ 1m:05s - 1m:20.5s
pre chorus ________ 1m:20.5s - 1m:36.3s
chorus ________ 1m:36.3s - 2m:07.6s

instrumental _________ 2m:07.6s - 2m:31.2s (For a solo? Or a bridge?)
chorus _________ 2m:31.2s - 3m:10.3s (Includes repeat)

outro ad lib __________3m:10.3s - 3m:30s
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Kids These Days has a catchy chorus. The song sounds almost punky in the verses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Which genre of music would you say the songs you write fall under?

Thank you for sharing your incredible talent. I hope you don't mind my suggestions.


Babe,
xoxo

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

Hi Jamie,

The times i listed don't make any sense as they represent what i saw on my WaveLab Lite editor after i edited out the first verse.
My bad

I was re-reading my last post and i noticed that if anyone tries to make any sense out of it, they probably wouldn't because i wasn't specific about the times as it was what i saw on my editor and not the youtube video time-counter.

To make it all clearer, just move the time counter in the youtube vid to 0:30 and that would work out to be one bar less than the two bars of 16ths i had initially mentioned. My bad, again
And the 3m:30s would become like, 3m:32s maybe.
You know what i mean, Jamie.

Babe,
♪ ♫ ♪






















Note to the site owner:
Realize, now, how darned IMPORTANT the edit option is to me.
I would have re-written my previous post and explained briefly why in the, Reason for editing field.
I know! I know! I should take the time to be certain of what i write BEFORE i press the save button. I'm guilty of not doing that, BUT, i, have a note - i'm blonde - and kind of ditsy - you know?...kind of a dingbat...(kinda).

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

youtube.com/watch?v=0Fju9o8BVJ8

I had a good home but I left
I had a good home but I left, right, left
That big fucking bomb made me deaf, deaf
A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on wrong
I guarantee you'll meet up with a suicide bomb
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce

Big fucking ditches in the middle of the road
You pay a hundred dollars just for fillin' in the hole
Listen to the general every goddamn word
How many ways can you polish up a turd
Left, right, left, left, right
Left, right
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce

How is it that the only ones responsible for making this mess
Got their sorry asses stapled to a goddamn desk
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Left, right, left

What did you do before the war?
I was a chef, I was a chef
What was your name?
It was Geoff, Geoff
I lost my buddy and I wept, wept
I come down from the meth
So I slept, slept
I had a good home but I left, left

Pantsed at the wind for a joke
I pranced right in with the dope
Glanced at her shin she said nope
Left, right, left

Nimrod Bodfish have you any wool
Get me another body bag, the body bag's full
My face was scorched, scorched
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
Left, right, left

Can I go home in March? March
My stanch was a chin full of soap
That rancid dinner with the Pope
Left, right, left

Kelly Presutto got his thumbs blown off
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
And hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce

Boom went his head away
And boom went Valerie huh
What the hell was it that the president said?
Give him a beautiful parade instead
Left, right, left

When I was over here I never got to vote
I left my arm in my coat
My mom she died and never wrote
We sat by the fire and ate a goat
Just before he died he had a toke
Now I'm home and I'm blind
And I'm broke
What is next

Awesome tune!

[Jimmy W]

I know and love a LOT of Tom Waits music but this one is new to me. Thanks, Dahlia