John The Revelator

John the Revelator is a traditional gospel/blues song typically heard in a call and response format. The chorus refers to "John of Patmos" writing about the opening of the seven seals (which brings about an apocalypse) while the verses contain additional biblical references.

The first written version is said to have appeared in 1880. The African-American origins seem indisputable and are (as with our recent post of Fire The Next Time), unfortunately, not always referenced. Interpretations have been done by Blind Willie Johnson, Son House and more lately by John Mellencamp, Jack White, Depeche Mode, Gov't Mule, Larkin Poe and many others. A bit apocalyptic but hey it’s 2020 smile

Janice plays all the percussion and Peter plays all the guitars so that left only the bowed bass for a RT. But as always the song was developed in BiaB from the get go .

As an arrangement/interpretation of a traditional tune we own all rights to it per PG Music’s policy for posting.

Thanks to Pg Music, Peter and also Ray for his thoughts on the percussion. Your time to listen and comment is both welcomed and appreciated. The Lyric is on SoundCloud.

Janice: Vocals, cajon and arrangement.
Peter: Guitars, arrangement, and counsel

Bud: Arrangement, lyric tweaking, vocal/cajon engineering, mix, mastering, etc.

Tech Stuff:

Vocals > Rodes NT1 > Scarlett 212 > Logic Pro X > Nectar 2

Bass: RT 2482 Acoustic Held > Neutron 3

Cajon > Rodes NT1 & MXL mics > Logic Pro X > CLA Drums (EQ, compression, reverb delay)
The "kick" is doubled and processed also with CLA Drums.

Handclap: One sample track and one J&B > EMT 140 Plate Reverb sim

Mastering: Logic Pro EQ > Ozone Dynamics > Ozone Imager > Ozone Maximizer > Ozone Tonal Balance > Ozone Loudness Meter

Lyric is on SC.


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