NECKTIE SECOND 02 - Recording Pt. 1

Pre-production! Dialing sounds!

Jun 06, 2024

My debut album, Necktie Second, turned thirty last month. Today, I’ll share my recollections from the recording process along with some photos and a video clip from pre-production.

The core Necktie Second band consisted of Gregg Williams (drums and percussion), Robert Cooper (bass), and Elaine Summers (backing vocals and percussion). We flew together from Portland to Atlanta. I was buzzing with excitement in anticipation of making my major label debut with big-time producer Brendan O’Brien and his killer engineer, Russ Fowler.

Brendan’s star was rising quickly in those days. He had already established himself as a top engineer and mixer. He twiddled the knobs on the first couple records for the Black Crowes. He worked on Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a slew of other records including huge hits for Aerosmith. He had only recently made the shift to the role of producer with the massively successful debut from Stone Temple Pilots. And he had recently occupied the producer chair on Pearl Jam’s mega-platinum sophomore effort, VS. At one point while we were working together he had three records in the top ten of Billboard’s album chart!

Before settling into Southern Tracks Recording we set up shop in a practice room for pre-production rehearsals. Brendan joined us on guitar. During this phase we shaped up our arrangements and dialed in our parts. I don’t recall how many days were spent in that rehearsal room. My guess is that it was not more than three or four days. Here is a clip of us working up “Hardest Thing To Do.”

I remember loading into Southern Tracks. I had never worked in such a huge and well-equipped studio. The SSL console in the control room was gigantic. And the equipment racks were loaded with all the coolest, most lusted-after gear. Of course, it was all about the 2” 24-track analog tape machine in those days. In this case not one but two beautiful Studers. The live room was packed full of instruments including a vintage Hammond B-3 with Leslie speaker, a Wurlitzer electric piano, a Clavinet, a grand piano, an old pump organ and Brendan’s massive collection of guitars and amps. On top of all that, studio owner Mike Clark was known for his incredible microphone collection. I was a kid in a candy store. For a studio tour, check out this post from March 1, 2023.

Brendan purchased a bunch of rugs and tons of candles to vibe out the studio. Figuring that those were probably paid for with my recording budget, I’m still kicking myself for not bringing all those goodies home with me. Oh well.

First things first, we worked on drum sounds. Upon arriving in Atlanta we visited a local music store and Gregg threw down for a brand new DW drum set. The kit was set up in the main live room just in front of the big iso booth. Gregg is adept at drum tuning and Brendan and Russ are known for working fast so it was not long before we had great sounds dialed in.

Next was Cooper’s bass. He rocked his vintage 1965 Fender Jazz Bass on everything except “If You Don’t Love Me, " where he played Brendan’s pelham blue Gibson Firebird, and “Dog On A Chain” where he sported his fancy bass, a Roscoe fretless. All were run through an Ampeg flip top with two fifteens and a DW Fearn DI box. Again, thanks to great gear and a skilled player we were up and running in no time.

Robert Cooper and his 1965 Fender Jazz Bass.

Finally, it was time to dial guitar sounds for Brendan and me. I used a variety of rigs during the course of making the record. I remember playing through a reissue tweed Fender Bassman a lot. And I know I used a vintage Fender Super Reverb a good bit. But I don’t recall exactly what I used for basic tracking.

We set up in the live room using baffles to control the bleed. For scratch vocals, I sang into a Shure SM7. Here I am at the mic sporting Brendan’s vintage Fender Telecaster.