Session Notes: Pete Atkin -
Driving Through Mythical America

All sessions at Studio 1, Morgan Studios, High Road, Willesden, London NW10
Producer Don Paul
Engineer Roger Quested
All arrangements PA
Sessions with horns conducted by Don Fraser 

11 March 1971 PA (ac gtr(1)*, pno(2)); Chris Spedding (el gtr); Herbie Flowers (bs gtr); Kenny Clare (dms); Dennis Clift (tpt); Leon Calvert (fluglhn (1), tpt (2)); Russell Davies (tbn); Jim Wortley (bass tbn); Richard Ihnatowicz (clt) SUNLIGHT GATE (1) LADY OF A DAY (2) *"actually, it's Chris Spedding's acoustic that I played - I broke a string on mine in the studio run-through and borrowing his was quicker than changing" -- PA
16 March 1971 PA (ac gtr, voc); Chris Spedding (el gtr); Dave Bell (bs gtr); Kenny Clare (dms); Clive Baker (fluglhn, tpt); Alan Wakeman (ten, fl); Don Fay (bar, bass clt); Richard Ihnatowicz (bar, clt) WHERE HAVE THEY ALL GONE? DRIVING THROUGH MYTHICAL AMERICA
18 March 1971 PA (pno (1), ac gtr (2), voc); Alan Parker (el gtr); Herbie Flowers (bs gtr); Barry Morgan (dms) NO DICE (1) THE PEARL-DRILLER (2) PRINCE OF AQUITAINE (2)(no voc)
23 March 1971 PA (voc, ac gtrs); Dave Bell (bs gtr); Kenny Clare (dms) PRACTICAL MAN THE FLOWERS AND THE WINE
25 March 1971 PA (voc, ac gtrs (1), Wurlitzer el. pno (2)); Dave Bell (bs gtr); Barry Morgan (dms) THIEF IN THE NIGHT (1) THE FADED MANSION ON THE HILL (2)
All the above were recorded 'live', i.e. all the musicians indicated playing simultaneously, without overdubs, including vocals where indicated. Some PA overdubs were added at the end of the session, like the extra guitars on FLOWERS AND THE WINE and THIEF IN THE NIGHT, and piano on PEARL-DRILLER. The following overdubs were done at two (not much) later sessions: SUNLIGHT GATE: main vocal plus additional vocals at end LADY OF A DAY: main vocal WHERE HAVE THEY ALL GONE: 2 (unison) vocals PEARL-DRILLER: harmony vocal PRINCE OF AQUITAINE: all vocals PRACTICAL MAN: 2nd gtr THIEF IN THE NIGHT: harmony vocal FADED MANSION: drop-in voc "because the original vocal was live and therefore the vocal track has piano spill on it, you can hear the quality change on 'The cemetery of home could somehow soon be left for dead'. I can't remember what I got wrong, but it was wrong enough not to be able to live with it, but I can remember us saying at the time that the line could almost be taken as a sort of quote so maybe the quality shift would sound like the audio equivalent of inverted commas. Hmm." -- PA
Pete notes that BE CAREFUL WHEN THEY OFFER YOU THE MOON was being considered for inclusion on the album at this time, but the song had been recorded separately for a single, with a sound so significantly different from the rest of these tracks, recorded consistently in a larger (and better) studio, that he decided it didn't belong here after all. It emerged subsequently on the RCA reissue of the album "Beware of the Beautiful Stranger" supplanting TOUCH HAS A MEMORY, the original album arrangement of which Pete was unhappy with. Here are the details of that earlier session: ? Studio, Denmark St., London WC1 11 August 1970 PA (ac gtr(1), pno/voc (2)), Albert Hall (flugelhorn)(1); Russell Davies(tbn)(1); Brian Odgers (bs gtr); Tony Marsh (dms) BE CAREFUL WHEN THEY OFFER YOU THE MOON (1) A MAN WHO'S BEEN AROUND (2) PA overdubs on (1): voc 1, voc 2, gtr 2, tambourine, piano
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