Preachin' The Blues

Diving into the domain again. This 1927 Bessie Smith tune entered the public domain this year and we had not previously heard it. The original was an odd arrangement but we based ours on it, well, other than turning it into blues rock. There are rhymes, rhymes within lines and no rhymes at times And, yes there are different chord progressions and melodies for some verses. We slightly changed the lyric to remove a rather risqué line and also to tweak a few other bits. So there! Lastly the song is PD thus we own all rights to our arrangement.

If interested your time to listen and comment is much appreciated and thanks to PG Music, Peter and Ms. Smith.

Tech stuff below and lyrics on Soundcloud.

Janice: arrangement & vocals > Rodes NT1 > Scarlett interface > Izotope Nectar > Logic Pro X
Peter: rhythm/solo guitars & arrangement
Bud: arrangement, mix, mastering, photography, etc.

BiaB Tracks:
Piano: MIDI SuperTrack 3001 Rhythm FolkBluesSlowShuffleMike Sw 085 > Logic Pro X Grand Steinway > CLA Unplugged > Ozone Imager / (comped from multiple generations by the three of us)

Guitar Rhythm: RealTrack 3246 Electric, BluesShuffleSlowSol sw 100 > Logic Pro X reverb

Bass: RealTrack 3551 Electric, AmericanaShuffleSteveB Sw 120 > Waves Bass Rider > Waves Magma BB Tubes (fills comped from multiple generations)

Drums: RealDrums BluesRockShuffle > Waves CLA Drums

Drum Tag: Comped from RD kit file

Snare: From RD kit file > Waves Magma BB Tubes > Ozone Impact Module

Cymbal: From RD kit file > EMT 140 Sim Reverb

Mastering: Ozone Dynamic EQ > Vintage EQ > Imager > Limiter > Tonal Balance > Logic Loudness Meter

Janice, Peter, and Bud, some of the best blues I have heard.
Alligator Records could learn a thing or two from you three.
Janice, great vocal.
Peter, outstanding guitar chops.
Bud, great mix.

J&B,

Dang, you all are so good at this stuff . . . great vocals on the chorus . . . really stellar. But the whole production is smokey blues goodness. The piano real track really pops . . . and, of course, Peter's guitar work is killer. Outstanding stuff, folks! Pro sounding all the way!

Hope you are all well,

Deej

A def. live in the shack vibe.
Everything to love.
The backing wah is an excellent touch.
What a voice, what a mix!
Wow.

Hi Folks,

Good Rockin' Blues - well done all of you.

Best Regards
Nigel

Man, you guys find the best PD songs and manage to make them even better. Peter, you're killing me with that guitar, man. What a way to go. So good. Always sucha pro production from upper left to coda. If you guys were all alive a hundred years ago, what would music be like today? A fun rockin' Blues one of my favorite bands.

You know the blues so we know your comments mean a lot to us.

Thanks!

J&B

Thank you for the very kind supportive review! And your mention of the piano is appreciated as considerable effort was put into it.

J&B

J&B&P.
You sewed this up pretty tight.
Well done.

Vic

You guys always do such a great job with taking these old songs and putting a modern spin on them!

Very cool arrangement, and very different from anything I've ever heard before! Neat changes.

Janice sounds great of course, Peter too, excellent playing. I really like the piano too, works a treat.

Mix sounds great, Bud, as usual!

Nicely done you three, enjoyed.

Janice, Bud & Peter,

This is spectacular! Awesome arrangement and Janice as usual has NAILED the vocal.

Love Peter's guitar lines. This is rock n blues at its best.

Production is stellar....

Loved every second of it!

Bob

Great work by all involved, starting with the vocals, the great guitar work and of course the production.
And your joint work to comp the final piano track really pays off, I LOVE the result!

"A def. live in the shack vibe." Too cool and great homage to the period.

Thanks man!

J&B

This is really a great one gang. Guitar got my attention right away, and Janice's vocals could get no better! I hate to be late to the party Bud, but I gotta say I really like what you did with that piano as well. Great sounding arrangements all the way through. Fantastically done folks!

Brad

Thank you Nigel!
Rockin' blues was the objective ... glad it worked for you.

J&B

You are too kind Marty.

Peter



Thanks Deej

Peter



Thanks Mario

Peter

Thank for all Marty!
The public domain is definitely a treasure trove. And it gets larger each Jan 1. Fun indeed.

J&B

Old school, home-fried, hand-rolled blues at its best!

Enjoyed every minute of this!!!

Great work on the piano track! Some good guitar work from Peter. An excellent mix from Bud. Perfectly delivered vocal from Janice. And a terrific find from the PD. Never heard the song before but it couldn’t possibly have been better than this, Tom

PB&J,

Smokin' opening!

Piano sounds GREAT.

Peter's leads have a lot of personality.

Perfect vocals. Perfect harmonies.

A sparkling mix.

Great Music.

Love the album cover!

fj

I love your originals and I love your covers. Always well produced and performed. And, of course this is no exception. Peter's guitar is sizzling and Janice's voice is silky and smoky. I don't know how you keep doing, but just keep doing it.

Hey team!

Nice rendition. Two spins - sound great! Everything works so well together musically. Amazing vocals by Janice. One of the coolest guitar lines from Peter I have heard. Bud, mix and production are stellar. Nice cover image! Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Peter's lead guitar gets my attention, and Janice vocals makes sure I keep listening.

And Bud makes sure that everyone - including BiaB - plays well together.

Pro all the way!

Thanks Vic

J&B

Love that groove.

Everything y'all share is so well done, from performance to master production, always.


(I like seeing the plugin chain too.)

Beautiful stuff. Great vocal, great guitar and BIAB - perfect combination!

Thanks Dave

Peter

Thanks Dave. It was an interesting arrangement indeed. We considered not going with it but decided have a go at it. Gotta wonder how it all came together in 1927. Gigging tune, studio arrangement … will never know.

We appreciate your review!

J&B

Hello together
Very cool song
You can feel every second of the song your fun with the music
Makes really joy to listen
What is Peter playing for a guitar/amp combination?
Sounds really great
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Thank you Bob. The three of us much appreciate those kind and supportive comments!

J&B

Thanks man we genuinely appreciate your positive comments!

J&B

Thanks Tom

Peter



Thanks Bob

Peter

Thank you Brad. We are glad you liked it!

J&B



Thanks man!

J&B

Hi Janice and Bud,

Yes Janice, you know how to preach the Blues, that's for sure!
A 'delicious'song with a nice lead in it and of course those fabulous vocals.
And about the lyrics, beside the fact that they are very nice: I told you you always have to deal with mean men...
How come?

Enjoyed it very much,
Hans

Thanks for all Tom! Of the many things we love about BiaB MST piano tracks are amongst our favs.

J&B



We appreciate that! You mentioned all our music hoped for objectives and the photo.

Thanks!

J&B

Love the groove to this song. Peters intro was excellent. Wah was a cool add to the middle guitar break. Super vocal Janice. Loved the bass lines. Awesome production. Well done

That is very kind of you and much appreciated!

J&B

Cool piano, cool lead guitar, cool vocals. Or should I say hot? Hot mix That piano surely has a live feel of a bar. Nice details like the drumless break and the slowdown at the end. You are the strongest preachers of blues on this forum.

Janne

Thanks Misha! “Everything working well together” is for us what it’s all about and we much appreciate your mention of that.

J&B



Thank you! Dunno about the pro thing but lawdy we do give it our best … your kind worlds are very supportive and appreciated.

J&B

Thank you!

J&B



We appreciate that Andi!

J&B

Guess it’s just my lot in life Hans

Janice

Thanks Hans!

J&B




Thank you Scott!

J&B

Thank you Janne for the generous comments.
And we do appreciate you mentioning the arrangement.

J&B

Hi Janice & Bud,

Superb atmosphere, everything super well mixed and Peter's lead guitar is superb. Another very nice composition. I like it.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Thank you. Glad you liked it!

J&B

Nice Bluesy tune. I like the vocal phrasing. It has an "attitude" in the lyrics that works great !! -)

That is appreciated indeed!

J&B




Thank you! Attitude was the intent. Thanks for mentioning it.

J&B