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1 mic and a well-balanced group


pverrando

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OK, this one was not really recorded with one mic, but I love the song and never forgot how terrific the music video looked (and the classic RCA 77DX microphone used), picturing five bona fide rock stars gathered around the mic:

I seem to recall that The Kingsmen's classic 1964 hit "Louie, Louie" was recorded with one microphone. So was Tommy James' 1966 smash hit "Hanky Panky," recorded at radio station WNIL-AM in late 1963.

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There have been many so called "Super Groups", and many were good, but only The Traveling Wilburys truly fit the description. This song I want played at my funeral. BTW, their band name stems from a play on words.... ""Wilbury" was a slang term first used by Harrison during the recording of Cloud Nine with Jeff Lynne. Referring to recording errors created by some faulty equipment, Harrison jokingly remarked to Lynne, "We'll bury 'em in the mix"."

CrewC

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There have been many so called "Super Groups", and many were good, but only The Traveling Wilburys truly fit the description. This song I want played at my funeral.

I'm with you, Crew. "End of the Line" was a great song, terrific lyrics from all concerned. Note that by the time they got around to shooting the music video, Roy Orbison had already passed away, so they just pictured an empty rocking chair moving back and forth with his guitar in it.

Love that song.

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A little trivia about the "Handle With Care" video that you might not have heard. On the second day of shooting the video Dylan decided he had done enough, didn't come to the set and told the director to just shoot around him. They hadn't done any of the wide shots yet so they couldn't just shoot around him. The producer called her boyfriend, a guy named Keva, who was Dylan's size and weight and had a big bushy head of hair. He is a director/editor I've worked with many times and it was he who told me this story and showed me pictures he had taken. Keva came to the set, was dressed in Dylan's wardrobe and became his double. There are a number of wide shots of the group with Dylan's back to the camera, shots with his head down so you can't see his face, and one wide shot where Dylan is moving out of sync with the music. They are all Keva and the shot at the end with Dylan on the bicycle is also Keva. He said one of the most memorable moments of the shoot was when between set-ups the band would sit in a mini van, not a motorhome, next to the set and argue over what was the best FM rock station in LA. Word must have gotten back to Dylan that he had a double on set and shooting was going on fine without him, because he showed up suddenly ready to go to work. Keva said he let Dylan finish out the day.

Bob Schuck

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There have been many so called "Super Groups", and many were good, but only The Traveling Wilburys truly fit the description. This song I want played at my funeral. BTW, their band name stems from a play on words.... ""Wilbury" was a slang term first used by Harrison during the recording of Cloud Nine with Jeff Lynne. Referring to recording errors created by some faulty equipment, Harrison jokingly remarked to Lynne, "We'll bury 'em in the mix"."

CrewC

Hi Old,

Interesting Request. Fury took singing lessons for the better part of a decade, to sing just one song-"Crying," after playing it on piano, for some persons. Only one functioning vocal cord now, but hey, still there for ya". Post the date and Fury'll clear the date. OTOH, if you would rather celebrate a different occasion...maybe a birthday...

Thank you very much

Fury

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A little trivia about the "Handle With Care" video that you might not have heard. On the second day of shooting the video Dylan decided he had done enough, didn't come to the set and told the director to just shoot around him. They hadn't done any of the wide shots yet so they couldn't just shoot around him. The producer called her boyfriend, a guy named Keva, who was Dylan's size and weight and had a big bushy head of hair. He is a director/editor I've worked with many times and it was he who told me this story and showed me pictures he had taken. Keva came to the set, was dressed in Dylan's wardrobe and became his double.

Bob Schuck

That's totally wild! So, in several shots it's not even Dylan! Wonderful story, and it seems TRUE as well considering your source.

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Great story Bob. I love trivia like that. BTW, was there a consensus about the best rock station? We have so few and they all are as bland as corporate can make them IMO. Thank goodness we have SiriusXM as an option these days.

As for my funeral, seein as I won't be there, they can play "in a gadda da vida" for all I care, but thank you very much for the offer.

CrewC

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Yes, I love these behind the scenes stories too, especially about old Hollywood. I don't remember if Keva ever said if the band picked a best rock station just that they each had their favorite. I know the story is True, because Keva told me the story and showed me the picture of him dressed as Dylan on set before the video ever played on MTV.

Bob

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Keva came to the set, was dressed in Dylan's wardrobe and became his double. There are a number of wide shots of the group with Dylan's back to the camera, shots with his head down so you can't see his face, and one wide shot where Dylan is moving out of sync with the music.

That's a great story! Thanks for sharing it, Bob.

I've seen similar things happen where (for whatever reason) a shoot is scheduled and somebody doesn't show up, so they just use doubles or rewrite the music video as required. I seem to recall working on one video (whose name escapes me) where one of the group members couldn't be there, so they shot them separately and had them appear on a video monitor. At the end, the lead singer smashed the monitor. I think the guy was fired shortly afterwards.

And there was the case where Paul McCartney wanted to sing a duet with Stevie Wonder -- "Ebony & Ivory" -- but due to scheduling problems, they couldn't both be in the same studio at the same time. So they shot them in green screen in England and America, and director "Keef" McMillan composited them together on a giant insert shot of a piano keyboard. I doubt if anybody ever knew that Paul and Stevie were never in the same room at the same time.

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There have been many so called "Super Groups", and many were good, but only The Traveling Wilburys truly fit the description. This song I want played at my funeral.

I see Jim Keltner in that video - I worked on a music doc a couple of months ago, at Fairfax Studios in Van Nuys, where he was the drummer for the record they were making, along with guitarist Rusty Anderson. I had a great time watching these geniuses make music.

BK

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