Mickey Newbury - Triad Studio Sessions (1991)
In mid-1991, Newbury recorded some demo tracks at Triad Studios in Eugene, Oregon, as a favour to the previous owner. He wasn't satisfied with the tracks, mostly covers, and they were never released. But on the two occasions when he sings his own songs, he goes off into two- or three-song medleys, and these just may be some of the best stuff he ever did.
01 - Genevieve - Lovers - How Many Times (M Newbury)
02 - Pledging My Love (D Robey/F Washington)
03 - They Will Never Take Her Love (L Payne)
04 - Unchained Melody (H Zarat)
05 - Ivory Tower (J Fulton/L Steele)
06 - You Win Again (H Williams)
07 - Summertime (G Gershwin)
08 - Just Dropped In - Wish I Was (M Newbury)
Lineup:
Mickey Newbury - guitar, vocals
Dale Bradley - cello
DL (MP3 @ 256 Kbps)
In 1991, Newbury recorded some demo tracks at Triad Studios in Eugene, Oregon.
After “14 years of shelf-ageing,” a fan decided to share the tracks (excellent soundboard) on the internet.
“I’m pretty excited to put this out there. I think it’s essential in this talented songwriter’s legacy. In the short time I knew him, I got the impression that he’d understand this being unearthed.
“In late spring of 1991, shortly after we arrived in town, it was set up that Mickey Newbury would come in for a day of recording as a gift to the previous owner of the studio we had just bought.
“I hung out with him quite a bit that day during the eight or nine-hour session, setting up the recording and the mics, during his smoking breaks, coffee binges, etc. He was a crusty old guy at the time and had been haggard by the years of living the musician’s life. But we got along fairly well and he seemed very interested in what I thought of his music. It was typical insecure-but-talented BS with him, as I told him I was honestly blown away by the soul and emotion in these sessions and he shrugged it off as ‘crap’. He even does mostly covers, the times he does his own songs they’re crunched into two different drawn-out medleys.
Using his two Neumann U47’s (one on his guitar, one for the vocals) and a U87 on the cello (some hippy-looking dude who was the first chair cello player for the Eugene Symphony, Dale Bradley), we laid down all the tracks straight. Dale didn’t even know the songs, he just followed along in key, and quite the pro he was.
The response (from MN) was rather tepid, and the last time I saw or even spoke to him he came by the studio a couple of months later to get his microphones. He made some remark about how his vocals sucked that day. Sure there’re mishaps and a few humorous cracks, but I like the unrehearsed and raw atmosphere of it.
“And here it is, a few years after his death, some totally hidden sessions from the man who wrote a whole bunch of the old country and R&B hits."
Can't think of another singer as mournful as MN, and I mean that as a compliment.
Cheers.
