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Jeff - from Margaret Roding, Essex - was the second of the Essex Chronicle competition winners. He has a musical pedigree that goes way back to his days as a bassist in various blues bands playing, amongst others, Tyrannosaurus Rex covers (pre T-Rex!) Jeff is a huge music fan and cites influences as diverse as The Blue Nile, Tom Waits, the Beatles, Frank Zappa, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie & The Hot Rods, and Roddie Frame from Aztec Camera. Our first contact with Jeff was to select a suitable choice of song and he delivered a selection of CDs of Blue Nile, and Roddie Frame material to the studio. Not being too familiar with the Blue Nile, we were keen to hear some of their material and after some consultation we settled on a track called 'Soul Boy' - from their new album. The Blue Nile themselves have used a production on this song which is both sparse and yet industrial in feel. We decided to use a slightly jazzier ambience with more emphasis on the piano than is present on the original. So, it's mainly piano, keyboards, and some subtle guitar parts which we prepared for Jeff before he delivered his vocal section. When Jeff arrived for the session he was suffering with a typical December's winter sore throat. Being presented with the option of postponing until a later date, he insisted on going ahead and was confident that the dryness in the throat would add some well-suited growl to the proceedings. Before starting he promptly produced a miniature bottle of fine malt whiskey which he knocked back to sooth the tones! A couple of hours later and it was done & dusted. Jeff was all smiles and it was a very enjoyable experience for us too - we're now keen to explore some more of the Blue Nile's music.
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Original song written by The Blue Nile ©2004 |
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