My roundup originally appeared at soundcheck.ocregister.com
Friday morning, one of the more interesting sights downstairs in Hall
E was the display of unusual and antique instruments plus Rod Stewart
and the Faces memorabilia from the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad.
A rare early ’70s tape relay keyboard originally designed with Yes’ Rick Wakeman in mind, an echoplex, stylophone, Irish harp, gut bucket and 1969 Rick Turner-designed “pretzel” guitar were just a few of the items.
Upstairs in the Gibson guitar room, Echosmith, an L.A. four piece comprising the teenage Sierota siblings, impressed with a six-song acoustic set that sometimes brought to mind Paramore. They were recently signed to Warner Bros. Records, are working on an album with Mike Elizondo (Maroon 5) and have Owl City and Vans Warped Tour stints on the horizon.
At NAMM, Echosmith excelled with the totally catchy single “Come Together,” upbeat and fun “Bright” and a folk-rock cover of Modern English’s “I Melt with You.”
If you’re performing amid all the hustle and bustle of the main
convention floor, it’s not easy to get heard. But Taylor Matthews – a
top 10 finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2010 – definitely
did at the Sennheiser booth.
The young pop singer-songwriter gave an impassioned delivery on the title track to his current EP, Head Over Feeling. One to watch.
NAMM happened to host some past and present members of the Doobie Brothers this year. The invite-only Yamaha shindig at Disney California Adventure headlined by Elton John also had Michael McDonald. Meanwhile, the Taylor Guitars room at the convention center boasted an appearance from Pat Simmons (pictured, below).
Making just his second-ever trip to NAMM,
the veteran singer-guitarist’s seemingly rare 40-minute acoustic set was
easygoing and leavened with humorous asides about the songs. Catering
to die-hard fans in the packed space, Simmons displayed dexterity
during a few instrumentals based on ragtime and the slack-key guitar
styles of his Hawaiian residence.
He pulled out the folksy “Slippery St. Paul,” from the Doobies’ 1971 bow, and said it was the first time it had been played in 40 years. Elsewhere, “Far from Home” and the Willie Nelson co-written tune “I Know We Won” (both off 2010’s World Gone Crazy) featured weathered vocals.
Those waiting for a Doobies hit were finally rewarded at the end. Much to the delight of people who enjoyed an unannounced earlier set by David Mayfield (a Taylor performer at last year’s NAMM with his own band), he and the company’s master builder Andy Powers joined Simmons as an acoustic guitar trio. Their intricate picking and extended jams, not to mention loud singalongs, enlivened “Black Water” and “Long Train Runnin’.”
There’s been renewed attention given to Fleetwood Mac lately, with a
tour on the way and a 35th anniversary deluxe edition of the band’s
multimillion-selling album Rumours (featuring unreleased session recordings and highlights from the subsequent 1977 tour) due next Tuesday.
So the hour-long H.O.T. Zone conversation with the band’s frequent associate Ken Caillat was a must-see. Sharing stories from his 2012 book Making ‘Rumours’: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album, the music producer gave fascinating glimpses into the process and answered several questions from the audience. A few engineers and studio personnel who were part of the recording even attended.
Among the more interesting tidbits is that Rumours took a
year to record and cost about $5 million (at $1,000 a day), but Warner
Bros. didn’t object because Mac’s self-titled ’75 effort was selling
like mad at the time. After playing an early version of “The Chain” for
NAMM attendees, Caillat also noted that song was the only one credited
to McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Other details from the sessions that Caillat shared: Christine McVie’s “Songbird” was recorded in an auditorium near the Record Plant in Sausalito; “Dreams” utilized Nicks’ reference vocal because she couldn’t better it; the producer used a “divide and conquer” technique to get work done amid all the intra-band relationship squabbles; and “Silver Springs” had to be omitted from the original running order to balance the LP sides.
Outside the convention center in the arena plaza, the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus hosted Fitz and the Tantrums for its 2013 “Imagine” Party. Although the rain had mostly tapered off by that point, the group drew only a moderate-size crowd – not too surprising, considering all the live music options Friday night.
Still, the classic R&B/pop sextet out of L.A. put on an electrifying 45-minute set. Shimmying and employing a synchronized move or two, co-singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs had a kinetic stage presence together; the latter, clad in orange pants and a sheer black top, was quite the jubilant cheerleader.
That connection was evident during high-energy opener “Don’t Gotta
Work It Out,” “Breakin’ the Chains of Love” and the authoritative
delivery of the Motown-tinged “Dear Mr. President,” all from their
stellar 2010 debut Pickin’ Up the Pieces.
A pair of promising new tunes from a follow-up due in May found the band branching out in slightly different directions: “The Walker” had prominent new-wave keyboards, while another one was akin to OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” Other standouts: the dramatic, tempo shifting “News 4 U” and ultra-soulful “L.O.V,” heightened by James King’s snazzy sax lines.
 |
| courtesy NAMM |
A rare early ’70s tape relay keyboard originally designed with Yes’ Rick Wakeman in mind, an echoplex, stylophone, Irish harp, gut bucket and 1969 Rick Turner-designed “pretzel” guitar were just a few of the items.
Upstairs in the Gibson guitar room, Echosmith, an L.A. four piece comprising the teenage Sierota siblings, impressed with a six-song acoustic set that sometimes brought to mind Paramore. They were recently signed to Warner Bros. Records, are working on an album with Mike Elizondo (Maroon 5) and have Owl City and Vans Warped Tour stints on the horizon.
At NAMM, Echosmith excelled with the totally catchy single “Come Together,” upbeat and fun “Bright” and a folk-rock cover of Modern English’s “I Melt with You.”
The young pop singer-songwriter gave an impassioned delivery on the title track to his current EP, Head Over Feeling. One to watch.
NAMM happened to host some past and present members of the Doobie Brothers this year. The invite-only Yamaha shindig at Disney California Adventure headlined by Elton John also had Michael McDonald. Meanwhile, the Taylor Guitars room at the convention center boasted an appearance from Pat Simmons (pictured, below).
 |
| by Bob Steshetz |
He pulled out the folksy “Slippery St. Paul,” from the Doobies’ 1971 bow, and said it was the first time it had been played in 40 years. Elsewhere, “Far from Home” and the Willie Nelson co-written tune “I Know We Won” (both off 2010’s World Gone Crazy) featured weathered vocals.
Those waiting for a Doobies hit were finally rewarded at the end. Much to the delight of people who enjoyed an unannounced earlier set by David Mayfield (a Taylor performer at last year’s NAMM with his own band), he and the company’s master builder Andy Powers joined Simmons as an acoustic guitar trio. Their intricate picking and extended jams, not to mention loud singalongs, enlivened “Black Water” and “Long Train Runnin’.”
So the hour-long H.O.T. Zone conversation with the band’s frequent associate Ken Caillat was a must-see. Sharing stories from his 2012 book Making ‘Rumours’: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album, the music producer gave fascinating glimpses into the process and answered several questions from the audience. A few engineers and studio personnel who were part of the recording even attended.
Other details from the sessions that Caillat shared: Christine McVie’s “Songbird” was recorded in an auditorium near the Record Plant in Sausalito; “Dreams” utilized Nicks’ reference vocal because she couldn’t better it; the producer used a “divide and conquer” technique to get work done amid all the intra-band relationship squabbles; and “Silver Springs” had to be omitted from the original running order to balance the LP sides.
Outside the convention center in the arena plaza, the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus hosted Fitz and the Tantrums for its 2013 “Imagine” Party. Although the rain had mostly tapered off by that point, the group drew only a moderate-size crowd – not too surprising, considering all the live music options Friday night.
Still, the classic R&B/pop sextet out of L.A. put on an electrifying 45-minute set. Shimmying and employing a synchronized move or two, co-singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs had a kinetic stage presence together; the latter, clad in orange pants and a sheer black top, was quite the jubilant cheerleader.
A pair of promising new tunes from a follow-up due in May found the band branching out in slightly different directions: “The Walker” had prominent new-wave keyboards, while another one was akin to OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” Other standouts: the dramatic, tempo shifting “News 4 U” and ultra-soulful “L.O.V,” heightened by James King’s snazzy sax lines.
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