I bought a Grass Roots greatest hits CD, which has about 3 or 4 just
dynamite songs.
Midnight Confession, Temptation Eyes, a couple of others. This stuff
was way before my time so you will have to eductate me.

How is it these songs are so dynamic compared to the rest of the throw
away stuff? Was Midnight confesssion done in a different studio? Also
does anyone know off hand who did the horn charts for these two songs?
I wonder how a band can get a few smoking hot mixes like that and not
emulate that technique for the rest of their stuff.

MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS - Written by Lou Josie; Produced by Steve Barri;
Horns Arranged by Jimmie Haskell; Lead Vocals: Rob Grill and Warren
Entner --- Unquestionably the Grass Roots' most popular song, and the
one most identified with them. It was released during the period in
which they had changed their name to "The Grassroots", and that's how
it appears on the single. Originally recorded by the Evergreen Blues,
it was written by that group's producer, Lou Josie (who was not, as
has been reported elsewhere, a member of the Evergreen Blues). The
Grass Roots changed very little on their version, including an almost
identical horn arrangement. But the original record was great, too -
why mess with a good thing? This song marked a dramatic departure
from the Roots' roots in the folk-rock sound, and was the foundation
for the style of most of their future releases. It included an
element never heard before on a Grass Roots single - HORNS! And the
sound was based more on Motown soul than on the rock records of that
period. At least, that's what the critics and historians everywhere
say, so for once I'm going to bow to their judgement and shut up. Rob
sings lead on the verse, and Warren sings lead on the chorus and the
"little gold ring" bridge. The harmonies are real and not
studio-overdubbed, with Rob, Warren and Creed providing the enchanting
vocal blend. I believe this may be the first pop record to use "nah
nahs" on it, which became a staple of many pop records in the late
sixties and early 70's, but I could be wrong on that, and feel free to
correct me if I am. This also contains a subtly different, but almost
universally misquoted, lyric: though the title of the song is
"Midnight Confessions", in the plural, it is never sung that way in
the song - the line is actually "In my midnight confession." Listen
carefully and you'll see that I'm right. A great and highly
influential record, this one truly deserves the "Golden Grass" moniker
because it was, in fact, a Gold Record.

Taken from the Grass Roots Fans Page.

On the CD you can hear the tape his at the begining of the cut. :-)

Midnight Confessions was a great recording & killer pop song. The mix was
definitely influenced by Motown.

The mix is relatively dry and a clean, uncluttered arrangement which makes
it hard for the players to 'get away' with anything less than perfect.

It's got that 60's - 70's hard panning deal too... Horns are mixed, hard
panned to one side, & there's that combo organ of sorts in the opposite
channel. No guitars other than the very soulful bass track.

During that period, bass players tended to use flatwound strings and mostly
played through tube amps. Drums were usually set up in very acoustically
dead, almost anechoic rooms or booths...

When I listen to older recordings that sound this good, I get curious as to
what kind of compression was used, like on the kick drum, vocals, etc.
Surely they're using a plate reverb on the vocals, a little on the snare...
Details of that sort of thing would certainly be interesting & fun. Lots of
great recordings from the period come to mind... :-)



Schuy
AusTejas

On the CD you can hear the tape his at the begining of the cut.



I suppose it's spelled "hiss" ?

That's one of those mistakes the spelling checker won't catch. :-)

wrote:
I bought a Grass Roots greatest hits CD, which has about 3 or 4 just
dynamite songs.
Midnight Confession, Temptation Eyes, a couple of others. This stuff
was way before my time so you will have to eductate me.

How is it these songs are so dynamic compared to the rest of the throw
away stuff? Was Midnight confesssion done in a different studio? Also
does anyone know off hand who did the horn charts for these two songs?
I wonder how a band can get a few smoking hot mixes like that and not
emulate that technique for the rest of their stuff.

This was common in the 60s all he way to the late 80s and is mostly a
function of the record budgets and studio techniques of the era,
especially at labels like ABC/Dunhill which were not famous for
allowing artistic license or control. The bulk of the budget and
attention is spent on the obvious hits, and the rest is killa filla to
take up the rest of the space on the LP.

As for the GR's, Rob Grill is still doing it decades later; he's been
everywhere, man. I would not be surprised to hear a few Rob Grill
stories on this thread. I did a gig with them in Lincoln NE in the
early 80's.

RP

Skler wrote:

When I listen to older recordings that sound this good, I get curious as to
what kind of compression was used, like on the kick drum, vocals, etc.



My understanding of mid-1960's recording techniques suggests that there
probably WASN'T a compressor on the kick drum.

But I've been wrong before...

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005 23:24:05 -0600, Skler wrote:


When I listen to older recordings that sound this good, I get curious as to
what kind of compression was used, like on the kick drum, vocals, etc.
Surely they're using a plate reverb on the vocals, a little on the snare...
Details of that sort of thing would certainly be interesting & fun. Lots of
great recordings from the period come to mind... :-)



Schuy
AusTejas


It's known as T_A_L_E_N_T !!

Something sadly lacking in the garbage that passes for music these days
and hides behind the "creativity" moniker.

Don't believe it?

Tune in MTV for an hour, turn off the picture and listen.

LeYam

LOL

I usally turn off the sound and leave only the picture on....

Mark