04/24/01 02:21:19 PM
Subject: Great Shape
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Replying to:
Yeah, I was thinking we might not simply have found
the session info for this one. And it's more than a
possibility that the vocal segment done on the 17th
was a different part of the song. I have a hard time
buying that was the barroom brawl though, for a coupla
reasons - one being that should be logged as Heroes
and Villains you'd think. The second being that I have
a hard time believing we'll find paperwork for that
one at all - sounds like an "extracurricular" session
to me. Could very well be Do Alot on that I7th
session... and wouldn't it be crazy if the Veg demo
was recorded then too? Just a thought. A crazy
thought, but I've read - and written - crazier.
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Replying to:
Or a very great possibility that whatever was tracked
on Oct. 17th was a different part of the song or a
different section of H&V under the section title "I'm
In Great Shape," eh? Hard to say.
If there was a session musician under contract, an AFM
should probably exist for him, and in this case, it
probably does!
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Replying to:
Well, I'm thinking the real reason we think the
tracking session should come after the vocal is simply
because that's what we thought all along. I'm sure
there's another possible sax, bass and piano session
possible before the 27th.
Didn't Alan say the tape could be "experimental"? If
"experimental" could be interpereted as "kinda lousy",
then maybe Mike was playing the sax?!?! 'cause the
harpist missing from the other takes at least
indicates to me the harpist wouldn't be on any
missing, or, final take. Doesn't mean it wasn't the
27th mind you, just that if that's all the evidence
there is that makes it a kind of broad narrowing
device, if yaknowwhatimean.
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Replying to:
I have the 27th in mind because the instrumentation
roughly matches up -- the 27th logs a saxophonist, Van
Dyke on piano, a bassist and a harpist -- the harpist
being the only missing soul on this recording, but if
the final take isn't on this reel, that'd explain it.
So if the instrumental was tracked on the 27th, and it
wasn't taped synched up to a previous vocal or
anything, which I'll assume it wasn't, then what was
tracked on the 17th is a mystery.
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Replying to:
Nov. 29th is "Friday Night / I Wanna Be Around." That
one's clear and well-documented.
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Replying to:
Okay, here's a question - if this session was October
27 and the vocal one was October 17, what was tracked
Nov. 29th!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course, is the tape box dated? It could still be
the Nov 29 session, right?
I don't think the October 17 session was the skit by
the way, but that's just me.
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Replying to:
From what I've gleaned from a smidgen of off-board
grilling, it's basically just like the "eggs and
grits" on the demo, with a similar piano part and the
saxophone playing the melody. Three variations.
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Replying to:
...this is a MAJOR bit of news
my take - yeah, Great Shape is most likely the
'barnyard suite', snipped off of H&V and put into its
own track - I reckon it could also have include 'Do a
Lot' and 'Barnyard', maybe with H&V intro? - 'Do a
Lot' appears on a H&V session don't forget...
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Replying to:
Jesus, didn't anyone notice the post below where Alan
talks about finding an "I'm In Great Shape" tape
that's 3 variations on the "eggs and grits" melody
played by a saxophone, piano, and bass?
I would have thought folks'd jump all over that one!
We've only been obsessing about "Shape" for, oh, 10
years or something.
Well, let me begin the jumping by saying a few things
that spring to mind:
a) so -- saxophone, piano, bass -- this says to me
that this might be the Oct. 27th H&V session, which
features piano, saxophone, and bass, but where's the
harpist? If none of the three variations have vocals,
and I'll assume they don't, then the final version
might've been the one to feature the harpist, and was
perhaps scoped off this session tape and put onto a
comp reel for vocal overdubs? I don't have my session
sheets in front of me -- Cam, is there some notation
about the amount of time people were at that session?
I seem to remember something.
b) I was right about the "tape explosion" being
featured in an early version, I just mis-guessed its
location!
c) So -- if "eggs and grits" is "Great Shape," and if
it was tracked on Oct. 27th as "Heroes and Villains,"
what in tarnation was tracked at the "Great Shape"
vocal session on Oct. 17th?
d) Does anyone think it might've been the skit stuff
that Bellagio Insider was on about?
e) And then what else was "I'm in Great Shape?" Surely
it can't only be a 30-second fragment, that must have
been only one of the consitutent parts. Was it a song,
with "eggs and grits" as the verse or the chorus and
something else as the verse or chorus, and maybe
"barnyard" as a fade? Was it the "barnyard suite" with
"eggs and grits," maybe the "barnyard billy sketch" if
such a thing ever existed, and "barnyard" as a fade?
e) So -- if I was right months ago and "eggs and
grits" and "barnyard" really WERE part of a barnyard
suite / "I'm In Great Shape," then by the time the
Smile tracklisting was compiled, it was already
seperated out into its own song, and what tbe heck
took its place in H&V, eh??
f) If Toby's right and "swedish frog" was tracked in
December, then maybe probably one or all of the "part
2 variations" were tracked in December at the "insert"
vocal sessions as a replacement for the now-removed
"eggs and grits" and "barnyard"???
Thoughts? Comments? Anecdotes???
If you have any comments on this topic, psychedelismile@yahoo.com and I will try to promptly post any interesting replies.