GOODBYES

I’d like to mention to artists who passed last week.

First, Lynn Taitt. A stunning guitarist from Jamaica who has been living in Canada outside of Montreal for a number of years. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he played on the Kingpins Let’s Go To Work CD. The band asked him to play on Johnny Rocksteady – and apt title for a Mr. Taitt to play on. He tracked the guitar where we were doing the rest of the album at Silent Sound, Montreal. A few takes through and he had “bubbled” from top to bottom. It went so fast that the band was still in shock. It felt like high school, passing notes in class. They asked me to ask Lynn if he could lay down a quick take on Last Train To Expo ‘67. So I did my best to ask him politely to stay a little longer even though he was only getting paid for the one track. He happily agreed and when I explained how the old cover song went he said “no problem, I played on the original.”

The remix is the first thing you here on my Myspace Mixed Tape No. 1. Listen for the muted bubble guitar at the top. We purposely made this mix so that we could feature the smaller pieces (like Lynn’s bubble) because the album mix was a wall of parts from top to bottom.

This may be good background.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle have been in my musical life since high school. I have just about everything they’ve released including a 12″ with some rare B-side. A staple at the home. It was my turn to act the school boy when I worked at Studio Frisson, Montreal, for several projects. So had the McGarrigles and their photos were taped to the wall. Don would tell me stories about their recording sessions. Nothing dramatic, just the kind of things I would expect to hear, but I lapped them all up.

Last week Kate died  so I’d like to share this clip of the sisters playing a French song of theirs (originally recorded in the ska style) that I absolutely love. Kate is on the accordion pumping the hell out of it every time she plays a lead line.

Lynn and Kate – R.I.P.