It’s fitting that Elaine Summers and I would release a love song today. It’s our wedding anniversary. We’ve been together for 30 years and married for 15. When asked what took us so long to get married, we’d joke and say, “We passed the 15-year trial period.”
Our wedding was as low-key as they get. Just the two of us and my parents as witnesses in Judge Judith Hightower’s office in Seattle’s municipal court building. Judge Hightower was awesome. It was a surprisingly beautiful ceremony followed by a lovely dinner with my folks and a couple of close friends who happened to be in town from overseas.
The basic track for “Only Have Eyes” was recorded ten years ago, in March of 2013, while we were working on The Droge & Summers Blend Volume Two. We flew Russ Fowler in from Atlanta to occupy the engineer’s seat. In addition to these Blend sessions, Russ has worked on Necktie Second (1994), Find a Door (1996), Spacey and Shakin’ (1998) and Skywatching (2003). Necktie was recorded in November 1993, so it’s been nearly thirty years since we first worked together! In addition to being a valued team member as an engineer, Russ has mentored me in the studio arts. He’s also funny as hell. And a dear friend.
I gave Russ his nickname, “Razor” Russ during the Necktie Second sessions. In those days, we worked on 24-track 2” tape machines. To make an edit, you had to cut the tape with a razor blade. Russ earned his nickname by being a total master of the blade.
Initially, I intended to play all the instruments on “Only Have Eyes.” I managed to pull off the drumming and all the guitar work, but my bass playing fell short. And so I enlisted two Seattle luminaries to round out the rhythm section. Bassist Keith Lowe has played with Brad, Bill Frisell, Fiona Apple, Harold Budd and many others. He recently released a fine album of ambient music on Stone Gossard’s Loosegroove label called The Other Half of Silence.
The great Bill Reiflin played percussion on the track. Bill is best known for replacing drummer Bill Berry in a little band called R.E.M. He has also played with King Crimson, Ministry, Robyn Hitchcock and many others. Sadly, Bill passed away from cancer in 2020. He is sorely missed.
To round out the “Only Have Eyes” team, Sean Lane lent his drum tech talents to the basic tracking session. And later, Seattle record maker Johnny Sangster engineered guitar overdubs. For the final audio touches, we visited Resonant Mastering, where Ed Brooks handled mastering duties. Lance Alton Troxel designed the cover art.
We left “Only Have Eyes” off Volume Two at the last minute. It just didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the EP’s mellower, laid-back vibe. Also, my mix fell short. For this new single release, I punched things up by adding more compression to the drums and cranking up the guitars. I also fiddled with the vocal sound and gave it a bit of a thinned-out radio effect.
You can find “Only Have Eyes” on your favorite digital music provider HERE.
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
ONLY HAVE EYES - New (Old) Single Release Day