Ian Sampson
pfm Member
Brilliant
Alice Cooper recomendations please.
- Thread starter Paul Dimaline
- Start date
Brilliant
Still remember standing in front of the stage for the WTMN tour and watching him dart in and out of a giant movie screen. I think it was "Welcome to my Nightmare" (help me out Ron) and the movie playing was a graveyard scene. The screen had giant slits and on cue he would come right out of the screen and then back in while singing the song. I believe it was '74 or '75 (again, help me out Ron) and up until then, he had one of the best stage shows going other than Genisis('74) and perhaps Kiss('75). Off stage he is quite the character, straight for 23 yrs and a scratch golfer, well known on the celebs tour.
BTW, Ron, you are right about Ezrin...a transplanted Canuck. Don't forget his contribution to Gabriel, Lou Reed and Kiss...
There was another Canuck producer you might remember Ron, who worked with bob and Alice also...Jack Richardson.
Here is Jack answering Q. about producing some of his early stuff...
The success of the Guess Who records led to Alice Cooper contacting you. Cooper was already making a name with shock value. How did you approach those records you did with him?
Shep Gordon, Alice's manager, contacted me. [Alice] was the Darth Vader of the music business at the time, but all I think I said was, We don't have to kill chickens onstage to make records. But it was these productions that we brought Bob Ezrin in on, as a kind of apprentice. I did Muscle of Love; Bob and I did Love It to Death and Killer together. I had agreed at first to do four sides with Alice. We did them at the RCA studios in Chicago, and Brian Christian was the engineer again, though later we also did some recording at Record Plant in New York, and Muscle of Love we started at Sunset Recorders in L.A. and finished at Record Plant. On the first session, we had Alice come in dressed in full Alice Cooper regalia, and Brian could never bring himself to call the guy Alice. I don't put much credence in superficial appearances. I'm more interested in what they're doing musically and if they're serious about that. We actually became pretty good friends.
How was Cooper different as a production client from Guess Who, besides sartorially?
These were the records I moved to 24 tracks on. And the band was pretty raw players by comparison. That was something of a surprise. I'd have thought that a band who had already made three or four records would have been better players. I'm talking about issues like getting the guitars in tune. But the shock value of the music actually overcame these deficiencies. Still, to make the records, I needed a very sharp razor blade for edits. There was no Pro Tools then. I often took a chorus from one part and a verse from another and edited them together. We often worked from a tape drum loop. The albums were done much more as overdub sessions than ensemble playing. We also brought in some outside players, like Rick Derringer on Killer and Jack Bruce on Muscle of Love. But they were also attracted by Alice's notoriety. Alice, himself, was a very good singer in terms of knowing the songs and giving a good delivery. He was also a pretty nice guy. I would have brought him home to meet my mother. He was also a soap opera fanatic watched them all the time in the studio.
BTW, Ron, you are right about Ezrin...a transplanted Canuck. Don't forget his contribution to Gabriel, Lou Reed and Kiss...
There was another Canuck producer you might remember Ron, who worked with bob and Alice also...Jack Richardson.
Here is Jack answering Q. about producing some of his early stuff...
The success of the Guess Who records led to Alice Cooper contacting you. Cooper was already making a name with shock value. How did you approach those records you did with him?
Shep Gordon, Alice's manager, contacted me. [Alice] was the Darth Vader of the music business at the time, but all I think I said was, We don't have to kill chickens onstage to make records. But it was these productions that we brought Bob Ezrin in on, as a kind of apprentice. I did Muscle of Love; Bob and I did Love It to Death and Killer together. I had agreed at first to do four sides with Alice. We did them at the RCA studios in Chicago, and Brian Christian was the engineer again, though later we also did some recording at Record Plant in New York, and Muscle of Love we started at Sunset Recorders in L.A. and finished at Record Plant. On the first session, we had Alice come in dressed in full Alice Cooper regalia, and Brian could never bring himself to call the guy Alice. I don't put much credence in superficial appearances. I'm more interested in what they're doing musically and if they're serious about that. We actually became pretty good friends.
How was Cooper different as a production client from Guess Who, besides sartorially?
These were the records I moved to 24 tracks on. And the band was pretty raw players by comparison. That was something of a surprise. I'd have thought that a band who had already made three or four records would have been better players. I'm talking about issues like getting the guitars in tune. But the shock value of the music actually overcame these deficiencies. Still, to make the records, I needed a very sharp razor blade for edits. There was no Pro Tools then. I often took a chorus from one part and a verse from another and edited them together. We often worked from a tape drum loop. The albums were done much more as overdub sessions than ensemble playing. We also brought in some outside players, like Rick Derringer on Killer and Jack Bruce on Muscle of Love. But they were also attracted by Alice's notoriety. Alice, himself, was a very good singer in terms of knowing the songs and giving a good delivery. He was also a pretty nice guy. I would have brought him home to meet my mother. He was also a soap opera fanatic watched them all the time in the studio.
Paul Dimaline
12" round member
Well, picked up "Killer" and "Schools Out" the other day. Must say I am well impressed, far easier to get into than I was expecting, even Wife enjoyed them.
Some interesting lyrics. "Dead Babies" wouldnt be one to play to Mum & Dad!
Thanks for the recomendations.
Paul.
Some interesting lyrics. "Dead Babies" wouldnt be one to play to Mum & Dad!
Thanks for the recomendations.
Paul.