bird in a box (remix)
volume 1 number 15
in keeping with our policy of making available the dust material
which was already released on coming attractions
as a FREE download, here's one of my personal favs from mr. music head.
there were many unique techniques used in making the original track.
the piano was played like a percussion instrument by hitting the strings
inside the piano with a set of soft mallets.
the string bass part was played on a cello.
the percussion was a mix of drum machine and japanese fans played with a pencil.
the "bird wing flapping" sound (which begat the title) was produced by rubbing the guitar strings with a cloth and running the sound through an Eventide processor
and the raging guitar solo sound was made by...gee, I wish I remembered.
ooh, I'm not a free lunch box car parked in the seat
dead end streetcar of desire caught by the tailpiece
I'm a jiffy pop tarts are bad for your teen-aged beef
well there's a mandoLinda Evans talking on the phone call
a Porter Wagoner tailor-made underwear
every dog has his Dayton, Ohio Hitler
says to button your fly Tijuana make a Bette Midler, oh...
drop dead lock stock and bugle coral reefer man
every Marlon Brando gave him a great big handstand
what a lumpy Guy Lumbago embargo fish pants
is there a Groucho Marxist doctrine in the house calls
about a lost set of Keystone Cops out the same way
you came in through the bathroom window look,
a rock and roller skate and skate slowly
hey manatee bone state of the aren't you gonna finish your bird in a box
hey man your witness to the standstill shoulder to shoulder the burden a box
hey man you're eatin' Colonel Sanders daddy was a thunderbird in a box
loose tooth three of a perfect pair of diced onions
cheese and beings from another planeTeri Garr* oil change
every two thousand smiled at Linda Evans called
again singin' happy birthmark
the absurdist wordplay was created by taking an ordinary phrase
say, "a free lunch" then altering it by adding a word
"free lunch box...box car...car parked" and so on.
loads of fun, but a lot of work.
*one night while dining at L.A.'s oldest restaurant Musso and Frank's
I saw Teri Garr sitting in a booth with a male friend.
I happened to have a copy of mr. music head in my bag.
I sauntered over to Ms. Garr and gave her the copy,
telling her that her name was mentioned somewhere on the record.
I've always wondered if she ever figured it out.
guitar, drums, string bass, percussion, piano with mallets, "e" voice: adrian
engineer: rich denhart
assistant: dan harjung
recorded at Royal Recorders in Lake Geneva, Wis.
sometime in early 1989
remixed at StudioBelew by ken latchney in 1999
length: 3:39
Oh, I love this song! Thank you. I tend to think of Mr. Music Head as a Springtime album--it's all cheery and buoyant and green. [sigh] One week ago I saw you in Hbg. It was fantastic to see the ABPT for the third time. Better each time, for sure. Was that your big blue van parked next to my car at the Comfort Inn? Notice my license plate? It's K CRIMSN. Please remind Martha to look into the music club Diesel (on E Carson in Pittsburgh) for a new venue to try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the free song. I've been out of touch with your work for a bit. So, it is great to find your blog. I saw you twice with the Bears , back in the day! At Toads I was in the front row and got to pluck your stings.
ReplyDeletePeace.
Rob
Thank you for the great song. Here is my contribution then :)
ReplyDeleteKing Crimson Videos
wow , sounds like some fun you had with this one , i can only imagine it was a fairly time consuming peice . i love the rythym track ! i had a hunch you where playing your piano with mallets . thats one of the things that i find so admirable in your sound is trying to figure out how you acheive these unique effects .
ReplyDeleteas far as the lead goes , that one and robobo's beef are my some of my alltime favorite leads .
what i can hear in BIAB is jc 120 chourus , some sort of up octave , and some very unusual technique !
maybe someday you could do some regression hypno-therapy , and pry the secrets of the adrian belew whacky lead tone from the back of your mind , but prolly not !
ever feed a poly synth tone into a vocoder and use a toothbrush on the vocoder mic ? try it sometime , it makes me giggle !
Great post above dude! I hope you can still posting this. It was fantastic to see the ABPT for the third time. Better each time! Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI think that Bird In A Box remix contains exactly the kind of music that I like the most. I enjoy listening to piano sounds combined with electronic sounds. I recommend it to those people who like innovative styles! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete