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All We Knew
Written by Janice Merritt & ray cochrane
Vocal recording, engineering & production by Bud Merritt.
Vocals & vocal arrangements by Janice.
Mastered by Fran Ashcroft Happybeat Studio

This as total collaboration. It started as a lyric. Janice had written something resonant when discussing events from the past. That something stuck in my head. Weeks later I wrote a stanza that quoted Janice's words and, I hoped, her intent. I added a couple more, developing that stanza into a narrative. I then made contact & asked permission to develop the ideas into a song. With Janice's nod I did a bit more and sent the lot to her for editing, reworking etc. I also built a simple backing in BIAB. Janice read & listened, modified words so that the voice was authentic and modded the backing to support the melody developing in her head.
That done I tweaked & tracked away, updating J&B when I made a solid step forward. Bud recorded & processes Janice's "scratch" vocal. That "scratch" is the lead vocal still..some impressive itch. An harmony was added, the song went through a few mixes iterations, mainly as I fought with the solo track, and, once we were all comfy, it was off to the M.E. and it became what you now hear.

BIAB info:
NewWave Light 80s
Drums: RealDrumsSoulRock70sEv^4
Baritone Guitar solo: 2444 (there were huge problems with this...glitch sounds that weren't carried by the trem which suggests they're edits...much multiriffing and cut paste later it seems okay)
Piano: 2825
Organ: 673
ray bits:
Trem guitar: Squire Bullet, J.S.Trem & Spectrum Matcher
Bass: Vantage -> Alesis Microlimiter -> ReaEQ

Mixed in Reaper with NOTHING on the master/stereo bus
Exported as 24bit .wav file and sent to the M.E.

Lyrics:
When I asked my Mamma
why we moved here anyway.
Mama simply looked at me
There/Wasn't much to say:
Well, honey, your daddy
Your daddy he wanted to.
See, in those times,
those cultural climes.
That is all we knew.

When I questioned granny
As I was want to do.
Granny'd turn and smile at me
Like she always used to:
Well, baby, your grandaddy
It's what he wanted to do.
See, in my day,
Only men had their say.
& That was all we knew.

When I asked my daughter
What she proposed to do.
She turned her face and smiled at me
Like she always knew:
Well, mamma, any man I take
Will do what we agree to do.
See, this new day,
I will have my say.
& he'll believe in me too.

Ray, Janice, and Bud, WOW this is fantastic
Super vocal, as usual
great mix
Super groove and backing band
Outstanding guitar lead, super tone
This is a fantastic song

Wow, what a nice song! Love how the vocals are both warm and clear. And such a nice vocal performance this is! And that guitar break sounds GREAT. Those Squier guitars are KILLER, especially for the price. Loved your song!!

Thank you Mario! It was a pleasure to join in with Ray on this song. Your comments are encouraging given my very limited songwriting over the years. 😀

Janice

I agree with MarioD; it was a great vocal and a great mix. Really captured the mood of the song.

This is (I think) the second time I've listened to a collab with you two, and again I'm amazed that it works so well.
It's a typical Ray song (that's good), and a Janice who leaves her "normal" life behind and dives into Ray's world like she's never done anything else.
That's really, really good from both of you!

Ray, Janice & Bud,

There are not enough good things to say about this song... Love lyrics, vocal and production. Everything about this project just works so well.

I absolutely love the vocal here by Janice. The lyric and mix completely supports her wonderful performance.

AWESOME!

Bob

That was interesting, engaging, well done, and enjoyable.

Really nice work.

Thank you,
Your comments are very generous!

Janice
PS Bud has been using the same slight EQ, light compression and reverb on my vocals for the past 12 years.
Sometimes we experiment but almost always return to our standard no matter what the genre. Glad you like it!

Ray & Janice,

Lovely work, stunning vocal and a great production. Good work on getting the guitar solo to work so well.
Moody, and interesting throughout.
Well done.

Peter

Ray, Janice and Bud...really great collab...Janice the vocal so very good! the clarity of the mix is so pro sounding...love the lead guitar...the essence of the spaghetti western guitars with that baritone lead...great performances and production!

Thank you!
Janice

I much appreciate that! Bud has long kidded me about behaving like a method actor when I sing. 😀

Janice

Wow, outstanding, Ray. You gave Janice another terrific melody upon which to stretch out her magnificent voice. So well done, Janice. I love how the notes slide in and out. That baritone is an excellent choice. Yeah, I definitely get that method actor feeling for each song. A song created as only you can, Ray, and a powerful vocal as only you can sing, Janice. Love it!!

Wow! This is different from Janice. That Ray, he's an influencer.
This is really interesting.
The melody and chord progression, the lyric, Janice's vocal and the instrumentation make this one of the most striking tracks I've heard on the forum.
It's not a catchy singalong but a slow-working earworm that eventually gets inside your head. Give it more then a couple of listens.
The guitar solo works beautifully.
Naturally, the production is first class. Well done everyone.
Mike

Thank you for the kind words Bob. As Ray mentioned it all sprang from a conversation about family events. That made it easy for me to relate to while working on the tune!

Janice

Hi, Ray & Co.

Cool moody sound, with a matching vocal from Janice.

I enjoyed listening.

Very convincing lyrics and performance, Janice really had her say. I enjoy the dark mood in the melody, chords and the arrangement. The baritone guitar sounds great and the introduction of the organ works well. Collaboration at its best, the most interesting things happen when two quite different "voices" come together.

Janne

Thank you Herb. We appreciate that and are glad you liked it.

Janice

Really great song and production!

This has a very Carly Simon radio hit feel and sound to it.

Superb.

All I can say is:

Wow, Ray you just produced Carly Simon.

Janice, you just went all Carly Simon.

And Nobody Does It Better. Makes me feel sad for the rest. Cause baby baby you're the best.

What else can I say?

😂