Blog
Song Development: Sat Out the 15th
Written by Andy Patterson
Songs in the Abubilla catalogue will often have gone through a number of revisions before they reach the final version that makes it to an album.
It can be quite interesting to listen to the development of a song, from the early embryonic stages to the final master that makes the cut.
This account is made available especially for members of the birds nest.
The song Sat out the 15th is one such song, which was one of the very earliest Jimmy wrote specifically for the Abubilla project. To my mind, it began with a conversation about all those in history who have come out behind the front runners – the second placers in effect. Jimmy mentioned Antonio Salieri and the dramatisation of his life in the film ‘Amadeus’. Also came the story of the Minnesota Vikings, an American football team who have had played more AFC/NFC championship games, without winning a Superbowl (which is apparently a big deal)…. .
So, all of this combined with viewing of the film ‘Thrilla in Manilla’ Jimmy came up with a set of lyrics based on the ‘second placers’ in life, and the fragile line between their perceived failure and success. Apparently Muhammed Ali was going to throw in the towel before Frazier’s camp did at the end of the 14th round, but Frazier did first, and history was made.
So, to the song. Jimmy played me a riff on the keyboard which became the main musical line for the song.
This being in the days before the Saturday Morning Canasta Club was formed, we used pre-programmed drum parts from BFD, a liberal amount of wah guitar provided by Xpand in ProTools and gave it a bit of a reggae beat.
And here it is:
Sat Out the 15th version 1 by AbubillaMusic
Note the very long intro, and the fact it is about 5 minutes long. The chord structure is hammered out at this stage by all instruments involved. This is a very very raw demo of the song – intended as use as a notepad/idea catcher.
Next Louise came in and added some vocals to it. Here it is again. Not very different from the first demo, but certainly shows some changes and development:
Sat out the 15th version 2 by AbubillaMusic
Next, as the band began to grow, we decided to try again. This time it features guitar from Martyn, along with more vocals from both Andy and Louise. Rob is in on Bass and drums, and for the first time of many to come, clavinet. At this point, the song is starting to pick up its own feel and groove a bit more… Also the general mix of the track has changed
Sat Out the 15th Version 3 by AbubillaMusic
At this point, the song was put on the back burner for while. We had the first album to finish and release, and this song had’t made the cut, so it was left on disk for a rainy day (as interestingly, today in my neck of the woods is..).
In the days after the first album was released, we thought about dusting it off and giving it another go…
So, after much deliberation, it was decided that the song plodded along too much, and never gained the momentum it was needed, so at this point, it was suggested that we speed it up… Mercifully, I don’t have a copy of this version.. but it may be forthcoming when we have a big sorting out of the Abubilla file system in the near future..
So, that didn’t work and we had a Saturday session approaching where we had a cello (with Cellist) a Beat boxer, and the rest of the band (along with a newly acquired set of Congas, and a drummer who maybe had a sore hand or arm). A Flash of inspiration later, and we had a vibe going between the beat boxer (Mikey Vu) and the Cellist (Sophie Mackinder). Rob played a wah wah bass throughout and Ed added Floyd-esque guitars…
Here is the rough bounce from that session (the eager eared amongst you will be able to hear the call to go to the ‘bridge’):
Sat Out the 15th Version 4 by AbubillaMusic
This being an end of session ‘board mix’ everything is a little rough and ready around the edges, but the true form of the song is starting to take shape, and become recognisable as the track which made it to the final version of MMaOSJ.
So, after adding a few more guitars, editing a few cellos, and re-inforcing Mikey’s vocal dexterity with Digidesign’s Boom plugin, here we have it: the final version (about 2 years after the idea was first thrown out there by Jimmy). Both Louise and new recruit Hannah added vocals. Worth the wait? let us know your thoughts via the comments facility below. If you prefer an earlier version, then name it and we may re-mix it for you.
Sat Out the 15th by AbubillaMusic
AP.