Quarantine: The Season, The Song

Like everyone else, The WannaBeatles have been washing our hands, sanitizing surfaces, wearing masks and sheltering in place. 

The last gig we played was February 14, and that led into a sad time of Good Yoko (Holly, wife of WannaBeatle Bryan) going into the hospital with a serious illness. WannaBeatles Dennis and Nathan both came by the hospital to visit and sing, and WannaBeatle David delivered a powerful prayer in front of Bryan’s family gathered at his home, on the day that Holly died. 

The WannaBeatles were planning to sing some of Good Yoko’s favorite songs at her memorial service, but that was cancelled due to the coronavirus emergency. 

Since then, the group has only met for virtual rehearsals, sharing song ideas and plans in extended Zoom meetings.

We did show up together in downtown Nashville on February 17, for an interview with a German journalist, and took advantage of the sunny day to pose at the Hard Rock Café.

We still haven’t met together physically in almost three months.

But that doesn’t stop our brains from thinking up creative ideas.

We polished off a video we had made performing our White Album medley in front of a television audience, and made that available on Facebook.

But the freshest and most fun new idea was collaborating on a parody of “Yesterday” called “Quarantine.”

Song parodies are a specialty for WannaBeatle Dennis. He could write one every morning before breakfast. 

In fact, another parody he wrote, “Creme Brûlée,” is a favorite item in our WannaBeatles setlist, and also based on the song “Yesterday.”

So, once the quarantine started, it was only a matter of time before Dennis’s mischievous mind would devise a funny way to look at what we were going through.

He sent the lyrics to the rest of us, with a mixture of contrition and delight, like a recovering alcoholic admitting he had another drink. We thought it was pretty funny, and responded with our own traditional two cents worth.

Dennis had in mind using a video of Paul McCartney performing the song “Yesterday,” then replacing the soundtrack with his alternate vocal. I offered to play the guitar track, and Nathan offered to do the string parts, as we both normally do onstage for that song. 

We each did those parts at our respective home studios, sending Dennis the audio files from our remote location, so there was no physical contact. 

David gave some feedback about the lyrics, and helped smooth out the flow of the words. 

Dennis recorded his vocal at his home studio, inserting it into the McCartney footage. David helped edit the video, in his own home studio.

I was thinking the words were so witty that it would be better to have them displayed on the screen, rather than potentially be lost if people couldn’t hear every syllable accurately.

So I offered to take the video with the new vocal and put it into iMovie, adding lyrics at the appropriate time.

Dennis had wanted to add some funny graphics to go along with the lyrics, but after some reflection, we decided the parody would work well without any additional graphics, just the footage of McCartney singing, and the new lyrics displayed on the screen.

So that’s how we did "Quarantine” as a team effort, built around Dennis’s original inspiration, polished with everyone's input.

Of course, we can’t talk about The WannaBeatles without talking about our in-house hero, Johnathan Pushkar, who helps us in many ways, but especially in getting the word out. 

Johnathan helped the posting of the video, and coordinating Facebook with YouTube, and helping us understand the analytics of who was responding.

All in all, it was a fun way to get back into action, since we can’t go actually play a live show yet.

So, enjoy us during the quarantine with a song by the same name.

And we’ll be glad to see you on the other side of it.

Blogging Bryan 9May2020

Gianluca and the Fretless Bass

Last April, Michael Clarke, a music buddy from years ago and one my favorite drummers in the world, told me about a young Berklee student named Gianluca Magalotti. Gianluca was a bass player from Italy, who had attended Berklee, where Michael has been teaching, and he was moving to Nashville. 

Gianluca called me; I said, “Welcome to town.” He came down to Sambuca to hear me play with the Jenerators, and got along great with everyone. He’s a charming fellow, tall, bearded, relaxed, very articulate, passionate and knowledgeable about music, and all of it with that charming Italian accent.

Gianluca had posted some videos online that showed him playing bass, both in studio sessions at Berklee, and some solo work he recorded with his cell phone. From what I could see and hear, he’s a fine player, tasty, skillful, creative.

He plays a Rickenbacker fretless, which sets him apart. He has studied upright bass, but that’s not among his options now that his life as a struggling musician means living in an apartment with no car. His visa prevents him from taking any "day jobs" that most musicians can do when money gets tight. 

Gianluca with his Rickenbacker fretless bass

The first time he came to my house, it was on a scooter, with the bass on his back. We found out he could rent access to a scooter for $5 a month. We had never had anyone visit our house by scooter before, but then scooters are becoming a lot more visible around Nashville.

Gianluca, as an immigrant, faces certain challenges besides limited transportation options. He’s in the U.S. with a work visa, which must be renewed within a year or he must return to Italy. He wants to live here, and he’s willing to jump through the elaborate legal hoops to make it happen. 

I offered to help Gianluca, and he set up a meeting with his immigration lawyer, herself an immigrant whose legal work is largely with immigrant musicians. 

The paperwork that involves me in Gianluca’s application describes me a “petitioner” and him a “beneficiary.” Basically, I’m saying that I intend to employ him.

I know he’s a good bass player, and, frankly, the electric fretless bass is a very interesting voice to add to a small acoustic group, which is how I tend to produce my songwriter recordings. As it turned out, I was working on a song with an acoustic guitar part for which a fretless bass would be the perfect complement. So I hired Gianluca, simultaneously fulfilling both musical and legal goals.

I told Gianluca about the song, and he asked for an mp3 and chart so he could begin working out parts. 

One of the things that makes the fretless bass different is the way the sound between notes can slide, continuously rising or falling in pitch. It’s more expressive, but also more challenging. The fretted bass is easier to control but somehow less fluid.  It takes a special player to learn and use the technique required to play fretless. It takes a player who is not only dedicated to the technical challenge, but also inspired to use the richer sonic palette in a fresh and creative way, without sounding gimmicky.

Gianluca is a very likable guy, and we love talking about music. Working on this one song was a pure pleasure for me, not only finding the right musical parts, but seeing what it’s like to work with a young musician, who is also a Berklee grad, and a native European. 

The little time I’ve spent in Europe impressed me with the overall high appreciation for the arts that seems naturally instilled in the population there. I was delighted that Gianluca was more interested in the art of playing along with a song than the technicalities, although that is certainly not an area where he’s lacking.

A part of enjoying music with another musician is sharing enthusiasm for other great musicians who have inspired us. 

I can remember when Jaco's first album came out in 1976. I knew how great he was because I'd been fortunate enough to see him playing in a club near Miami before he got famous, and he amazed me then. So now, in 2020, long after his years with Weather Report and subsequent illness and death, Jaco's name is synonymous with adventurous electric bass playing, especially on fretless.

Gianluca and I naturally shared admiration for Jaco Pastorius. Then Gianluca turned me on to a duet that Jaco had done with Michel Columbier, a beautiful original song of Columbier’s called “Dreamland.” 

A beautiful piece of music. Here's the link:

Michel Columbia and Jaco Pastorius "Dreamland"

Gianluca is also a big fan of Pino Palladino, both for his original approach to bass and for his versatility, playing jazz, fusion, and commercial pop equally well.

I was aware of another record that featured a stunning fretless bass part, “Man of the Tombs,” by Bob Bennett. I played that for Gianluca, and he loved it. 

Here's that link: Bob Bennett "Man Of The Tombs"

We googled and discovered that the bass player on that record is named Gary Lunn. Then we found his Facebook page, and saw that he had recently played with an Eagles cover band, and he was adding his fretless to their sound, quite well.

Here we are in the studio, playing, talking about music, recording a new song.

So, Gianluca is a man with talent, an “alien” seeking a humble modicum of stability so that he can pursue his passion.

He's also the bass player on my latest release, “That Was Me,” which is officially released today, January 24, 2020.

According to the Department of Immigration, he is a “beneficiary” and I am a “petitioner.” I hope that whatever we do, it results in more time for him to be here playing bass. He’s a fine musician, with a tremendous future, and if he wants to live in the U.S., my view is that we are better off with him here.

I only wish I could have mixed his bass louder in my song. But he knows that the bass player - even a fretless bass player - is not a showoff. Doing what’s right for the song is the musician’s job. Sometimes not being heard is the sign you're doing a great job. The unknown defensive tackle can be the football player who makes it possible for the quarterback to throw that winning pass. Music, like all good things in life, is a team sport.

So, again, I hope Gianluca stays. He’s a blessing. 

Of course, the Immigration Department is not expected to show any artistic understanding. I’m just speaking from my own perspective. And cooperating the only way I can.

Blogging Bryan 24jan20

Feb. 9, 2020 - WannaBeatles at Hard Rock - A Date Made in History

Although Beatlemania was in full bloom in Britain in 1963, no one in the U.S. knew who they were. But all that changed on February 9, 1964.

That day The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, the same week as “I Want To Hold Your Hand” hit #1 on the U.S. charts. 

Nothing would ever be the same. 

Over 70 million viewers saw The Beatles on television that night, the largest audience ever gathered for a single show. Their music, their hair, their personalities, their humor and energy - it all seemed to set the sixties into motion, as an entire generation felt the joyful possibilities that were available simply by picking up a guitar and starting to play. 

What The Beatles brought to America was rock’n’roll, as originally launched by its earlier pioneers like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly, absorbed and re-interpreted by the lads from Liverpool, influenced by other Americans like Chet Atkins, delivered like a thunderclap to the American youth.

Chuck Berry

Chet Atkins

There’s no way to overstate the impact of The Beatles on American music of the sixties. Beyond their hits (25 albums reaching #1), an entire generation of bands grew directly out of the seminal power of that night of February 9, 1964. 

Much of the California scene from The Byrds through Crosby, Stills, and Nash came from Roger McGuinn and David Crosby being inspired by The Beatles, getting for themselves the same brand of guitars they saw The Beatles playing. 

The Birds: Crosby on Gretsch, McGuinn on Rickenbacker

It all started on February 9, 1964. 

Meanwhile, back in London, The Beatles were making history, recording epochal albums like Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road before breaking up in 1970. 

And in that city, in 1971, two shaggy haired Americans wanting to find a good hamburger, opened up a diner in an old Rolls Royce dealership. They called it Hard Rock Café. 

Wanting something that looked like a Chevrolet hood ornament, they hired artist Alan Aldridge, best known for his work with The Beatles, to design the now famous logo.

The first live music at Hard Rock came in 1973, with Paul McCartney and Wings warming up for their UK tour.

The first guitar on the wall was Eric Clapton’s, which was hung over his bar stool to “mark his spot.” A week later, Pete Townsend followed suit, offering his guitar. 

Clapton’s connection to the Beatles is through at least two of George’s most famous songs: “Here Comes The Sun” was written while George was at Eric’s home, and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” features Clapton playing lead. 

In 1986, purchasing rock memorabilia from Sotheby’s, Hard Rock became the world’s premier music museum, with John Lennon’s glasses among the thousands of iconic items.

In 1990, the Signature Series t-shirts were launched, starting with a Peter Max design, raising money for millions of organizations. Ringo Starr wore one that said Peace Love.

In 1994, the Nashville Hard Rock Café opened. 

In 2007, The WannaBeatles started in Nashville.

In 2010, The WannaBeatles released “February 9, 1964,” our musical tribute to that historic day.

In 2018, that song was released as a digital EP.

In 2019, The WannaBeatles played Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. Not quite Nashville.

It took a while. But now, exactly 56 years after the date of The Beatles' first time on American television, The WannaBeatles will bring to Nashville the fulfillment of the connection between Beatles music and the legendary restaurant.

It was destined to happen. 

Blogging Bryan - 21 January 2020