I Was Almost Famous

I am way out of my comfort zone with this one.

This song took longer than any other song that I have done. Constant changes prior to selecting a style and constant changes after! But here it is. It was suggested that I hold off on my commentary and let people describe what their visions are so I will tell you mine in the next message.

An interesting note that after I chose a style and after I got done playing my instruments the only thing left was the chord track, but I did put that to good use.

BiaB Style = Rickety Fingerpicking Indie Folk
Tempo = 85 BPM

Chord track = EZKeys - upright piano - preset saloon

Drum track - various Groovemonkee MIDI drum loops and various Steven Slate's SSD-5 drums.

Me = Squire P-Bass
Samick acoustic guitar
Via my MIDI keyboard controller the UVI B-5 Organ
My good friend BobH - Danelectro 12 electric guitar

As always all comments welcomed.

No story - just lyrics:

I Was Almost Famous

v- I've played in every redneck bar in this town
My name has really gotten around
My fingers really really burned
Playing licks of off records that I've learned

v-I ventured farther from my home
Me and my guitar started to roam
Playing in towns far away
Playing my leads and getting good pay

c-I was going to be a big star
Playing my blues guitar
But one thing wasn't up to par
There was no man
With a big cigar
I was almost famous
I was almost famous

v-So I went on tour
I knew I was gonna score
A huge contract, maybe more
A guitar king, being adored

v-Now I am home
No more do I roam
Playing with a band that really rocks
That band is in a box

c-Chorus repeated

Sounds like old rock and roll, which I like. The instruments almost overpowered the vocals in some spots, but overall a good recording!!

Nice one Mario.
The vocal needs to be at least as loud as the snare - with a little more compression to even it, (VOLA2 is a cool plug in for evening a vocal track).
The band is spot on for the genre.
Interesting coincidence of the last line of the last verse given you played everything.
BIAB as a song writing tool is hard to beat though.
Almost Famous is a good film too!

Nice to hear you sing, Mario! Should be a tad louder in the mix IMHO, other than that, your vocal sounds good to me.

Good song, enjoyed.

Interesting to read that you used the chord track to trigger EZKeys, it never occurred to me that you could do that. Going to give that a try!

Great job Mario.
But "almost famous" ? You are famous (in this forum)

Hi Mario,

This is a promising song.

I would love to hear it, as other have mentioned, with your voice up 2Db plus a much shorter vocal style reverb so the voice sits out in front of the band and not behind it.

Best Regards
Nigel

Hi Mario.
Yes, definitely up the vocal as others have commented.
Maybe you could experiment with the phrasing here and there as it has a slightly regimental feel to it.

Vic

Howdy Mario....

Mario does sing!

This is good effort but I agree with Nigel and few others regarding your vox.
Seems awash in reverb....is the reverb I'm hearing just the room reflections?
Were you too far from the mic?

Ha...."That band is in a box"....good line for our stellar backup band.

I certainly don't have to worry about being famous.

Carry on....

I know you seldom sing on your posted recordings, but I sure have enjoyed the two that I've heard (this one and the math equation song). I really liked your drum intro and the groove to this song. That last verse was cool, clever writing. Bring that vocal up! This was fun.

Brad

Mario,

You are famous here in the Showcase!!!

Fun song

Good tracks, good mix
Always enjoy hearing you sing....

Fj

Hey he sings! I sure hope you consider doing more lyric writing and singing. You're really good at both. Glad you posted this, Tom

Thanx Ronnie for listening and commenting. I appreciate it.



Thanx Ray for listening and the constructive comment. My weak spot in mixing is vocals; I really don't do enough of them.

I never thought about that last line like that, good catch. In reality about 95% of my song start in BiaB. This one started on a guitar and pencil and paper for the lyrics.

I have never heard of the film Almost Famous. I'll have to check it out.

Thanx Dave. I'll have to work on recording vocals.

I have used the chord track many times. Sometimes for string parts. Sometimes for piano or EP. Just think of it as another MIDI track that you can use for anything.



Thanx so much for that ultra kind review.

Thanx Nigel for listening and those constructive comments. Mixing vocals is my weak spot and comments like this help a lot.



Thanx Vic. As you detected I need a lot of help with my vocals. Thanx for the help in that area.

Thanx for those great suggestions. The reverb was an add on and not related to my room or my vocal recording technique. I guess I just added to much reverb so I'll make a note of that for the next time, if there is a next time.



Thanx so much Brad for the very kind review.

Thanx so much for listening and commenting Floyd. I greatly appreciate your input.



Thanx Tom for this very kind review.

Hey Mario ...

Agree with the dcomments about vocal volume & placement. That said ... what a great song. Your vocal is much better than you allude to! And it doesn;'t sound all that for from your comfort song. But, if so, you hide it well.

Liked my listen very much! Take care and try to stay warm!

Alan

Hi Mario,

I wanted to start my post with "Mario! You can sing!!!', but I read chulaivet1966 was first.
Still I think you did an amazing job. Far away from your comfort zone as you said, but doing th job. Very nice.
In a former post on another of your recent song I wrote you have so many genres you make music in, well now we have to add you as a professional singer and lyric writer.
I agree with Floyd you are famous in the forum. Maybe not the world, but for a start...?

I hope you'll do more with the vocals.
Oh, I agree the vocals can use some more volume.

Hans

Thanx Alan, but singing is way out of my comfort zone. I tried to stay warm but it was -2°F (-18.9C) when I went out to get the paper this morning.



Thanx Han but a professional sing and lyricist? I don't think so but thanx for the compliment.

Mario,

I really really liked this, and also liked your vocals and think you should do that more often.

Could you fiddle with the reverb? Sure, maybe.

But what I liked is that you DID it.

With vocals, it is simply a factor of doing them more, just sing and sing and sing.

Definitely give us more Mario singing songs.

I really enjoyed this.

I would rather hear a real human being singing their own song in their own voice no matter how that sounds over an AI voice or some purchased demo singer any day of the week, so please do more.

It sounds real man.

Cool write, vocal and great instrumental performances.

Hey, it's not too late for the man with the cigar to drop by.
Reckon he's about as old as us now.

Fun listen indeed.

J&B

Well actually the man with a big cigar did drop by many years ago. But I had a good job, a wife, a baby son, a car payment and a mortgage and he couldn't give me enough money to leave that scenario.

I'm glad that you liked it.

Other people said turn up the vox. Do like I do.... Don't give a hoot and turn it up.

Sounds good what I could hear.

Band was playing well.

Mario,

Nice song and vocals!
It's a song that shows how much you love the B3 organ.
Looking at the list of instruments this time, I see that you are using the new UVI B-5 Organ instead of Native Instruments' B4 Organ.
Recently, new reproduction models of B3 Organ are being developed more and more.
As long as I'm a fan of B3 Organ, I'm very happy.
I've been using Ik Multimedia's Hammond B-3X a lot lately.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi, Mario.

Nice to hear you! Fun song.

You're a big star in my book!

Hi Mario
the work was worth it
Cool song
Sounds really good
You should sing more often
Well done
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Ha, pretty hard Not to know what the song is about. You speak for many of us. Love the simple strolling feel. Yes, you should sing and write more lyrics. I always feel that your instrumentals are sung by you and I even hear the ineffable lyrics, but your sense of humor comes through more clearly when you're effable. I'm singing, "I was almost famous...," a new anthem for us.

Thanx so much Herb. When I do another vocal I will turn it up.



Thanx for listening and commenting. I lost the B4 and NI does not support it any more. B4 was the best B3 emulation IMHO. The UVI B-5 does come close to the B4.

My love for the B3 goes back to the 1960s when I was in a trio consisting of a B3, drums, and me on a guitar. I have all of Jimmy Smith's albums.

Thanx so much David. I do like fun/comedy songs.



Thanx Andi to these very nice comments.

Thanx Marty. I may sing more but my main thing is instrumentals. I'm glad that you liked this.

Good to hear you singing on another song. Too many of us were also in that same position. Ha! Clever end to the last verse.

Nice work, Mario. I would prefer a bit more vocal volume, but over all I would give it an A.


Kajun Jeaux (Louisiana's BlackWater Studio)
https://www.reverbnation.com/artist/louisianasblackwaterstudio

Thanx for listening and commenting. I'm glad that you like it.



Thanx Kajun. Yes, I have to work on my vocals.

Well done Mario. Excellent vocal. Cool lyric.

Thanx so much for listening and commenting. I appreciate it.