The last thing you do when you’re making a record is put the songs in order. You try to make the whole record flow, from one song to the next. “Sequencing”, the pros call it. Of course, this may mean absolutely nothing in the days of streaming services and Spotify continually trying to get me to listen to Dave Matthews (I will NOT!…skip…skip….). Anyhoo, as we were sequencing our last record, Wasting Time, I kept coming to the song Slippery Slope and thinking ‘this song just doesn’t fit’. Even though it shared a lot of the lyrical skepticism that I favor and sorta fit in thematically with One Done Morning (“…days are getting shorter, nights are turning black…”) or Wasting Time (“…I’m gonna pop a couple pills just to see what they do…”) or Miracle On Ice (“…good fortune never found its way to me, unfortunately…”), it was just too damn happy-sounding. The twin lead guitars. Chas and Snake's snappy rhythm section. Steve’s slide bouncing like bubbles in the wind, and Dave's amazing contribution (not exactly sure what that was). It just felt like it didn’t fit in with the other songs – the usual pulled-from-a-hundred-influences and mashed together like a Tofu Scrambler sound of The Fentons. Slippery Slope was a throwback, a really traditional-sounding twanger. The kind the struggling, chubby-cheeked, Nudie-suited, middle-aged guy with a pompadour sang on the Johnny Cash Show.
So, I pulled it off of Wasting Time at the last minute. Fortunately, most of the bandmates don’t actually listen to our records so they didn’t notice and couldn’t be too upset.
But it got me thinking – I’ve got a few songs like this. That hadn’t yet seen the light of day. Songs that lean on their country roots in a big way. Have a little extra twangy sauce on them. Songs that fit a little more snuggly into the retro country mold. And I knew that Dave had some, too (his songs tend to be a little more rooted than mine). So I suggested that we just take all those songs from the Island of Misfit Retro Country Twangers and record them as live as possible - the way we play ‘em in Kent’s basement, and just to confuse folks, call ‘em “Country Favorites” and put ‘em all on one record. They’re not classics by Buck Owens or Bob Wills or The Louvin Brothers, or even Johnny Paycheck. But maybe, in an alternate timeline, in a parallel universe, in a Grand Ole Opry in my dreams…they coulda been.-JK-
Song by Song Credits
Too Weak For The Weekend (J. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocal, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Acoustic Guitar/BG Vocal, Jim/Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal
You're The Reason Why (D. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocal, Dave/Acoustic and Electric Guitar/Lead Vocal, Jim/Electric Guitar/Organ/Harmony Vocal
Blink of An Eye (J. Keller)-Chas/Drums/BG Vocal, Snake/Bass/BG Vocals, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Acoustic Guitar/BG Vocal, Jim/Electric Guitar/Lead Vocal
Forget Me (J. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocals, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Mandolin/Harmony Vocal, Jim/Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal
Jesus and the Hula Girl (D. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocal, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Acoustic Guitar/Ukulele/Keyboard/Lead Vocal, Jim/Electric Guitar/BG Vocal
Slippery Slope (J. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Acoustic Guitar/BG Vocal, Jim/Electric and Acoustic Guitars/Lead Vocal
Heroes (J. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocals, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Mandolin/BG Vocal, Jim/Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal
Cold In Your Coffin (D. Keller)-Chas/Drums, Snake/Bass/BG Vocals, Steve/Steel Guitar, Dave/Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal, Jim/Electric Guitar/BG Vocal
Song Writer's Notes
Jim's songs
Slippery Slope. This is the song that inspired this whole project, and it’s got all the twangy elements – the twin lead guitars, Steve’s slidey slide, and the essential harmonies. I love a couple of the production tricks that Dave created – the breakdown in the last verse and the in-your-face sound of the vocal on “It’s a slippery slope” (Tennessee Ernie Ford would be proud).
Heroes. I was born and raised in the PNW. Never lived anywhere else. So I can’t really explain why my early sports heroes were all on the east coast. Johnny Unitas was the first, Back when the Colts were in Baltimore. Guess I just stayed tuned in to Baltimore for baseball season after that. Frank Robinson was my guy, but he and Brooks shared so many magazine covers you had to like both. Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe was my basketball idol, back when the Wizards were in Baltimore…and called the Bullets. Great nickname. For hockey,, for some reason, it was Boston and Phil Esposito. Yaz was another Bostonian. While I didn’t follow his every move – like the others – I did copy his crazy batting stance when I was in Little League.
Blink of an Eye. From The Beatles to Elvis Costello, I’ve always loved songwriters who put hopeless lyrics in the most optimistic-sounding songs. So I penned this toe-tapper about how everything falls apart.
Forget Me. Dave and I recorded a version of the Louvin Brothers “You’re Learning” when we were writing and recording the early country tunes that would help us figure out this whole Fentons thing (you can hear it on our “Awww Gee: The Demos” album). I wrote this one with the Louvins in mind, from the honest, downer lyrics to the two-part harmonies to the simple arrangement. Nothing fancy here, just a sad, sad country tune.
Too Weak for the Weekend. I’ve always loved the wordplay in classic country, and always wanted to write one. When I came up with “too weak for the weekend” I just went full-on country with the story of a working guy who’s job wears him out so much he’s got nothin’ left “when it’s time for fun”. Some of my fave lyrics are in this one, including the line about the day-old donuts and the Groundhog Day reference in the last verse (with a sideways nod to Sonny & Cher).
Little Did I Know. Maybe next time.
Dave's Songs
Cold In Your Coffin. I hadn't written a song in a while, so I sat down with a yellow pad and told myself “write something”. What came spilling out was what I would call a character study of a guy you'd see every day and not think twice about, but who has his own story to tell.
You're The Reason Why. I have a habit of waking up at 4 in the morning with little phrases in my head that grow into songs. When that happens I'm faced with a choice, to get up and write them or almost certainly forget them. This time I got up, and captured this fairly traditional and slightly sad Country love song, but with a little twist at the end.
Jesus and the Hula Girl. I guess songs are everywhere. We've had a bobbly Jesus and a hula girl in our family room next to the TV forever. One day I just looked at them and thought, “that's an unlikely pair”. The song grew from that simple thought, though the lyrics took a while due to the somewhat tricky triple rhyme scheme and my dog Gibson chewing up my note pad.
Production Credits
Produced by Committee
Recorded in Snake's basement and above Dave's garage
Engineered and mixed by Dave in Spectacular <<Stereo>>
Additional engineering by Chester York
Mastered by Chris Hanzsek
Cover by Dave
Credits page drawings by Steve
Technical Credits
Recorded using Cakewalk by Bandlab software, Tascam 16x08 and US 2x2 HR audio interfaces, Mackie 1604 mixer. Presonus E 3.5 speakers, Yamaha HS 8 studio monitors,
Mics include Shure SM5B (The Bean), Shure SM57, Shure Beta SM58, Shure Beta 52, Shure KSM27,CAD TSM 411, CAD CM 217, Electro Voice DS35, Audio Technica AT4040.
Gear Used On This Album
Chas - WTS drums, Zildjian and Wuhan cymbals, Vater maple drumsticks, Vic Firth brushes,
Snake - 1974 Fender Telecaster bass, Mark Bass Jeff Berlin amplifier (with the badge removed)
Steve - Gretsch lap steel, Melbert Melbertmaster double neck steel, Shubb-Pearse SP2 & SP3 slide, Evans Custom SE200 amplifier, Pedals; NUX Lacerate boost, MXR Resonator 2, NUX Atlantic Delay/Reverb
Dave - Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, Fender FM-61 SCE Mandolin, 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Mele tenor ukulele, 1977 Music Man 210-65 amplifier
Jim - 1974 Fender Telecaster, 1980 Schecter Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul, Gretsch 5120 electric guitar, Guild D-50 acoustic guitar, Yamaha Motif 8 keyboard, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amplifier.