Motorcycle Irene is seen just moments before pulling into the parking lot of the Fabulous Fandango Hotel, located in Weehauken, New Jersey. Irene joined Stagger Lee, Mr. Tambourine Man and That Old Man River at the Secaucus Lounge. The entertainment legends held hands and announced the grand opening of the "Center For Retired Song-Title Characters".

  Compilation By       : Bill Morse ([email protected])
  CD & Booklet Artwork : Greg Volpert ([email protected])
  Web Page Artwork     : Greg Volpert
  Credits/Web Pages    : Paul Gouldhawke ([email protected])
  Special Thanks To    : John Darsey, Jeff O'Dair
  Web Pages            : "http://www.vcn.bc.ca/sig/htmlsig/forever.htm"
                       : "http://www.vcn.bc.ca/sig/htmlsig/truly.htm"   

DISK ONE:
1)Murder in My Heart for the Judge LIVE with Janis 3:53 Mike Fornatale
2)The Joker 4:04 Mike Fornatale
3) Murder in My Heart for the Judge 2:15 On the Edge
4) Changes Circles Spinning 2:30 On the Edge
5) Weighted Down 5:18 JoJo Fox
6) Weighted Down 4:33 Bill Morse
7) Someday 3:07 Delta Hoovercraft
8) Sitting by the Window 2:44 John Lisiecki
9) Hurting for People 3:52 Bob Harvey & Brian Fowler
10) Seeing 5:08 Hypnodance
11) Gene Autry INTRO 0:11 Sue Bullington-Hof
12) Just Like Gene Autry/Skip Into Night 3:37 Germanator 3
13) Never 6:22 Northern Raisins
14) Silver Wheels 3:25 Peter Schindelman
15) What's To Choose 1:58 Peter Schindelman
16) Right Before My Eyes 2:19 Snow Crow & Axolotl
17) Funky Tunk 3:11 Juvenators
18) Indifference 3:22 California Navels
19) Motorcycle Irene 2:15 California Navels
20) You Can Do Anything 2:39 California Navels
21) Apocalypse 2:21 Martin Bobbe
22) Bitter Wind 2:28 Martin Bobbe
23) Can't Be So Bad 2:23 Martin Bobbe
24) Motorcycle Irene 2:27 Martin Bobbe

DISK TWO:
1) All Come to Meet Her 4:06 Diesel Park West
2) Bitter Wind 2:49 Diesel Park West
3) Hey Grandma 4:16 Diesel Park West
4) Hoochie 5:07 Diesel Park West
5) Lazy Me 2:43 Diesel Park West
6) Little Hands 3:56 Diesel Park West
7) Bag of Bones 4:36 John Butler
8) Wings of the Morning 3:55 John Butler
9) Land of the Sun 5:28 Eternity's Gate featuring Skip Spence
10) Unearthly Estate 5:28 Eternity's Gate featuring Skip Spence
11) When Lightning Strikes 6:38 Eternity's Gate featuring Skip Spence

A bonus CDR or DVD-R disc of Moby Grape material was included with this tribute project.

MURDER IN MY HEART FOR THE JUDGE (3:53)
THE JOKER(4:04) performed by Mike Fornatale
All instruments and vocals by Mike Fornatale

Mike Fornatale:

What I'm contributing is Bob's "The Joker"...and, also, a "long-lost tape" of a performance someone recently asked about -- a live rendition of "Murder In My Heart" with Bob trading off lines with Janis Joplin.

Mike Fornatale has 16-track analog facilities in his basement. Perfectly good equipment. His idea was to invite local bands with no money to come and record private-press CDs and EPs, and just give him a small piece of the action later. This turned out to be a really good way to get burned.

Once a year, at least, the door opens and Mike sneaks into the room alone, turns everything on, and emerges a few hours later with recordings that are intended to sound like his various idols -- painstakingly re-creating some of his favorite records, one instrument and one vocal at a time. His 1995 attempts to clone Moby Grape's entire debut album (some of which can be found on "Mo' Grape") eventually landed him, slightly dazed, on stage with Bob and Peter in San Diego in June of 2001. He has given the same treatment to Jefferson Airplane's "After Bathing At Baxter's" and also to The Monks, legendary German/American proto-punk band from 1966, who tapped Mike to sing at their first and only reunion show in 1999 when their singer got sick at the last minute. Mike has also played with Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders) and can be seen (trying to hide) on the forthcoming DVD of Mark's New Year's Eve 2003 show in Portland OR.

Mike was born on June 3 1954 and wears size 8 shoes, the small size of which make it extremely difficult for him to adjust his center-of-gravity when landing a guitar-windmilling leap.

MURDER IN MY HEART FOR THE JUDGE (2:15)
CHANGES, CIRCLES SPINNING (2:30) performed by On The Edge

Murder In My Heart For The Judge:

Don Wittsten: vocals and percussion
Average Joe Andazola: Vocals and percussion
John "Chris" Christensen: Lead Vocals and lotsa stuff

Changes, Circles Spinning:

Don Wittsten: Bass and percussion
Average Joe Andazola: Percussion
John "Chris" Christensen: Lead Vocals and even more lotsa stuff

Recorded and mixed at Mad Labs Studio between July 1 and July 14, 2004
Produced, engineered and mixed by JC with support from Don "Big Ears" Wittsten
Cheering section: Margie Christensen and Average Joe Andazola.

John Christensen:

I had originally considered doing "Going Nowhere" or another tune from MG '69 but had an epiphany when my sick twisted mind juxtaposed (for no good reason at all) The Monotones "Book of Love" with "Murder In My Heart For The Judge." Did the world need another version of "Murder?" Not really, but not one to second guess a real inspiration I just went with it. So there it is. Thanks to Don and especially Joe for just going with the flow and being in the Doo Wop Zone.

With "Changes, Circles Spinning" it was a whole other trip entirely. The one line about "a living Man from a dyer" has always bugged the shit out of me. I alternately love it, and hate it. It makes me think that Peter Lewis is a sadistic son-of-a-bitch. I even thought about changing "dyer" to "Attorney" or "Lawyer" to get a Katz dig in there somehow, but you know, 'dyer" it has to be! We'll just all put our best wishes for that 'special someone' on that particular lyric and hope it comes to pass. Stylistically I was really trying to channel Buddy Holly in the arrangement, although my wife says it sounds more like Ricky Nelson. I'll take a compliment whenever I can get one! Thanks again to our Great Grape for giving us so much to work with. Forever Mo'

WEIGHTED DOWN (5:18) performed by JoJo Fox
Vocals, slide guitar, mandolin, piano, organ: JoJo Fox
Engineer: Tom Fox

JoJo Fox:

Skip was the one who got me started on Moby Grape a few years ago, after I bought "Oar." "Weighted Down" always struck me as having such great lyrics, a lovely melody, and an overall mood of sadness carried off with great beauty. Days before I was planning to record the slide guitar part (something I learned to play just for this recording), I had an unfortunate run-in with a kamikaze glass salad bowl, and was left with 4 stitches in my left wrist. Hm. Luckily, I'm ambidexterous, so after some practice and MANY attempts (and cursing), I managed to record a take I was happy with. I played it with the guitar lying flat on my lap, the left hand strumming and the right hand doing the slide. I tried incorporating some gospelly feel toward the end with organ, piano, and harmonies. Skip's simple arrangement left room for me to try some different things, but I tried keeping it fairly simple overall.

WEIGHTED DOWN (4:33) performed by Bill Morse
All instruments and vocals by Bill Morse

SOMEDAY (3:07) performed by Delta Hoovercraft
Lou Hoover - drums and bass guitar
Hughie Rudd - lead guitar
Richard Stepp - lead vocals
Roger Stomperud - guitars

Recorded at Hoovercraft Studio, Delta, BC, Canada (April-July 2004)
Arranged by Lou Hoover and Roger Stomperud
Produced and mixed by Roger Stomperud
Engineered by Lou Hoover

Roger Stomperud:

I never got to play "Someday" in any of the bands I played in over the last (almost) 40 years, but I always knew that someday I would...

Though I loved the complete debut MG album, I especially liked "Someday", which opened the second side of the LP. The music grabbed my before I got into the lyrics. The big sound of Miller's Gibson L-5 was wonderful, and the chord changes were pretty cool too. And that jazzy ending... too bad it faded out so fast.

The recording:
After I first layed down a 'map' of the song, Lou created a click track with some very subtle tempo changes, to which he added his drums and a bass track. I then added two acoustic guitar tracks, and Hughie did a very good lead guitar track. Richard then did his vocals, which turned out great.

However, there was some problem with the equipment. There was noise on Hughie's guitar track. Lou assumed it was one of his ADAT recorders, so he bought a new one and we went back in to redo the guitar part(s). I had the opportunity to scrap the acoustic so I redid my parts on my Washburn Hawk electric. Hugh did an even better job this time. Richard, however, was a bit under the weather for his part, but still managed a very good vocal. I kept Richard's original vocal on the last part of the song.

Then we discovered it wasn't the ADAT at all, but problem was with the tape. But I was not about to ask Hughie to come in for a third run-through. So there is noise on the lead guitar track. I had also made a mistake on the original 'map' track. I had left out a whole bar of music in the first verse, but I felt it would not be very noticable. See if you can find it.

I mixed it late in the evening just after the last session, already being past the July 1st deadline. If I had more time I would have done more with the new ending. But life is like that...

The players:
Hoovercraft Studio owner/operator Lou Hoover has a long resume in the Canadian rock, blues and jazz community, having played in such notable groups as Privilege, Powder Blues, Skywalk and many others. He has also played in stage productions like "Ain't Misbehavin'" and other off-Broadway shows. Currently he plays jazz with piano great Doug Louie at Rossini's in Vancouver's Gastown district. Besides playing the drums and bass, Lou programmed the click track (the tempo varies slightly from section to section) and came up with the new ending to the song.

Hughie Rudd had once again agreed to offer his nimble fretwork. Hughie is a grad from the Berkeley School of Music in Boston. We've played together in several short lived bands over the last 25 years, including The Doucenburgs, The Boundary Bay Boogie Band, Hooch Klootch and Gramophone, and he sat in with Kickin' Horse when one of the other players was sick. Hughie gigs as a solo artist, playing (and singing) a variety of music ranging from acoustic guitar pieces to rock and jazz, played on his midi guitar and accompanied by his foot-played midi bass pedals.

I did not want to repeat my error of judgment on last years "Plucked" project, so this time I recruited my old friend Richard Stepp to sing. Richard has just finished recording 50 songs at Hoovercraft, mostly originals. He is a very strong singer, as well as being a great pianist, guitarist and drummer. After 8 years as drummer/lead singer/songwriter in the rock group The Northwest Company (1967-1974), he has led several bands and has recorded as a solo artist since the mid 1970s. He was nominated for a Juno (the Canadian Grammy, along with Bryan Adams) in 1980. (Both lost.) I have worked with Richard on and off since ca. 1970, as a roadie, sound man, band mate and recording engineer. We have even played together on a cruise ship. A 21 track CD of The Northwest Company was released earlier this year by Neptoon Records.

Then there is me, Roger Stomperud. I have played in bands (and duos) since before I was in junior high, and worked the sound board and lights for several groups (Shakedown, Hit & Run, Sweeney Todd, Richard Stepp Band). I started out on the guitar, but changed to bass in 1968 due to necessity. Never regretted it. Some of the bands I have played in are The Law Brothers Band (with Stepp), Bloodstream, Kickin' Horse, Clayton Hill, Richard (Stepp) and The Hired Guns, and the Lone Star Cattle Company (plus many, many more). I currently play bass in a hobby band called The Solid Citizens where we relive the rock'n'roll and R&B of the late 1950s and early 1960s. We are a revue type of group, with 7 regular members and a long line of guest singers (and players).

BTW, this is the second tribute project that I have not played the bass on. I consider myself a bassist first, and guitars (and keys) player second or worse. But it worked out best this way. Lou is a hell of a rhythm section all by himself. It is a pleasure to work with such great musicians as Lou, Hughie, and Richard.

Between the four of us, we have about 180+ years of playing experience. I am starting to feel a little old, but only when I'm not making music.

(Roger Stomperud, August 2004)

SITTING BY THE WINDOW (2:44) performed by John Lisecki
12-string by Bill Morse

HURTING FOR PEOPLE (3:52) performed by Bob Harvey & Brian Fowler
Bob Harvey : Vocals, acoustic guitar
Brian Fowler : Mandolin, electric bass

Bob Harvey:

In August of 1965, Matthew Katz, the manager, took Jefferson Airplane to Los Angeles to audition for several labels. He got us rooms at the Palms, a secluded lodge in the Hollywood hills. Skip Spence and I had a room together. We spent that first night getting high and writing a song called "Hurting For People".

I wrote the lyrics in my journal, and have hung on to them for 39 years, but the melody was never recorded and was lost in the mists of time, so when I decided to use it for the latest Moby Grape tribute album, I got together with Brian Fowler and we put new music to the lyrics. the one part of Skip's melody that I could remember was to the line, "love is just reaching out while someone else is reaching in". It fit perfectly with the new chord structure.

Brian and I recorded "Hurting For People" with an engineer named Melonie Emerson Taft. She is truly amazing. She got great sound out of all the instruments, including my voice. I'll be proud to have on the new tribute album.

Bob Harvey & Brian Fowler

Song written by (Harvey-Spence-Fowler)
Produced by Melonie Taft

SEEING (5:08) performed by Hypnodance
Ernesto de Pascale- lead vocals & wurlitzer electric piano
Henry James Downes- electric bass
Gianni Salorni- electric guitar
Alex Raimondi - drums
Giulia Nuti - acoustic guitar & viola

Recorded and mixed by Sergio Salaorni @ Larione 10, Firenze
Edited and mastered by Steve Head
Produced by Ernesto de Pascale for Il Popolo del Blues s.a.s.

Ernesto de Pascale:

Hypnodance is one of the leading Italian rock bands of the last 20 years. Born in Firenze in 1984 the band split up in 1990 after 3 records and hundreds of concerts. Hypnodance reunited in June 2003 with some of the original members and new elements to underline a solid, secure and classic sound in the tradition of the best of international rock music. Hypnodance plays a mix of old and new original stuff spiced with covers from legendary international bands such as Moby Grape, Spirit, Kaleidoscope, Fairport Convention, Colosseum and others. The band is actually recording for various projects and tribute albums such as the one dedicated to Moby Grape and a full album is on its way.

Hypnodance was founded and is still led by Italian renowed journalist and music personality Ernesto de Pascale, lead vocal and keyboard player. From the original band it includes guitar maestro Gianni Salorni and drummer extraordinaire Alex Raimondi, and the new elements are the skillfull bass player from UK, Henry James Downes and the next revelation of italian rock music viola player and multi-instrumentalist from Firenze, Giulia Nuti, 19 years old.

JUST LIKE GENE AUTRY, A FOXTROT / SKIP INTO NIGHT (3:37) performed by Germanator 3

Robert German - instruments
Bill Morse - pedal steel guitar
Paul Gouldhawke - Vocal (vocal recorded at Hoovercraft Studio, June 2004)

Introduction read by Sue Bullington-Hof

Robert German (Aug. 30/2004):

Ever since discovering Moby Grape relatively late in 1998, I've liked Skip Spence's tunes because of their rare combination of off-the-wall looniness and real songwriting chops (obvious exception: "Seeing" which is dead serious and all the more compelling for it). I should mention that I like all the Grape songwriters, but for very different reasons.

From various posts on the Grape Yahoo group, I learned that "Just Like Gene Autry" was not a favorite of anyone else except yours truly, so putting it in a different context had a certain attraction for me.

Having opened my big mouth about someone doing a western swing version of "Gene", I pretty much put myself on the spot. That's where the hell started. After many aborted tries at figuring out the chords myself (I am rotten at figuring out other people's tunes on any instrument, unfortunately...), I contacted Bill Morse for help. A couple of weeks later, he came through, and brilliantly.

From that point on, I worked on putting my own fingerprints on the tune, because I figured the 1920s Rudy Vallee-thru-a-megaphone feel that Skip did so well was in fact a major reason why folks were turned off by the song. In doing so, I created a drone-string hammerstroke riff that I liked to vamp on between run-throughs of the tune itself.

I finished off the "Gene Autry"� part and really thought the thing was ready to send to Bill & Paul. But I kept hearing that little vamp going thru my head, again and again... So I kept developing it. I added two rhythm acoustic guitars to boost the energy level, but during the recording of the 2nd one, I just started vamping on that one chord, right after the main body of the song. I doubled that with an open track. After that, I just started doing an acoustic Pete Townshend chord sequence just for the hell of it--and it worked! Immediately I came up with a high, chiming acoustic guitar part, and basta! But... ...it wasn't long enough--it quit just as things got really hopping, and I kept hearing all these Brian Wilson-type harmonies in my head that would've added so much to it. So I had to edit & extend it, then the next obstacle reared its ugly head--singing the parts. I can't hold a note in a suitcase, so no amount of trying would allow me to transfer the melodies in my head onto my HD. So I went back to my usual standby--guitar. After that, the tune really took off, especially when I added some backwards guitar in the right places and finished it off with some simple basslines.

After that, I sent off the finished mix to Bill Morse for him to add his pedal steel break for the "Gene Autry" part and to Paul (The Walrus) Gouldhawke for his rendition of Skip's vocal warblings.

As this is a tribute project, I wasn't really sure if my improvised vamp strictly fit the format, but Bill & Paul both said it did, so I hope you like it.

BTW, as of this writing, I have not heard the final version with vox & pedal steel and won't until I visit my relatives Stateside in time for Election 2004 and pick up my CD in person.

NEVER (6:22) performed by The Northern Raisins

Alec Newell - guitar, harmonica, bass and drums
Paul Gouldhawke - vocal
Backing tracks recorded at -Above the Bakery Studio, Toronto, Canada
Vocal recorded at Hoovercraft Studio - Delta, B.C. June 2004

Alec Newell:

I recorded the basic tracks for Never (bass, drums, guitars and harp) a couple of years ago, intending to submit it to the Even Mo' Grape tribute, but was never happy with my own vocal, so I shelved it. Then Paul (the Walrus) Gouldhawke said he might like a crack at singing it, so I dubbed him a cassette (minus the Al vocal) and mailed it off to him. And ...next thing ya know, he's gone and done it up proper, thanks to some help from Lou. Shania Twain was gonna sing backup, but she was getting her ear-wax read by her astral psychic feng shui past-life deprogrammer that day, so she had to pass. (By the way...try this one your friends. Tell them that "Shania" isn't her real first name. Tell 'em her parents really named her "Choo Choo." Then wait for your friends to look at you and say..."Her parents named her...Choo Choo Twain?" Ah jeez...it never stops being funny.)

Paul Gouldhawke:

Never has always been one of my favourite Moby Grape songs. I attempted to warble the vocal for Never with thanks to Lou Hoover. It was a lot of fun being on the recording end of one of these Mo' Grape projects.

SILVER WHEELS (3:25)
WHAT'S TO CHOOSE (1:58) performed by Peter Schindelman

Silver Wheels:

All instruments and vocals by Peter Schindelman

Performed, recorded and mixed: March 12, 14-15; June 18-20, 2004, by Peter Schindelman

Instrumentation: Lead and harmony vocals; acoustic and electric rhythm, electric lead, and bass guitars; organ; piano; and drums

(My first recording with flatwound bass strings)

What's To Choose:

All instruments and vocals by Peter Schindelman

Recorded and mixed: June 17-20, 2004, by Peter Schindelman

Instrumentation: Lead and harmony vocals; electric rhythm, lead, and bass guitars; and drums

RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES (2:19) performed by Snow Crow & Axolotl
Dan Fassett - vocals & guitar
Mark Kick - vocals & harmonica
John Elder - vocals
Ray Strouble - vibes
Arte Kenyon - bass
Andy Sadler - drums
Steve Campbell - engineering & production

Funky Tunk's cast of unruly characters are:

Tom Fox - vocals, guitar, engineer
JoJo Fox - vocals, mandolin, piano
Bill Levine - vocals, guitar
Judy Appleby - vocals
John Darsey - bass
Glenn Morse - drums
Clyde the Cow-horn - moo

Jojo Fox:

I wanted to do Funky Tunk as an excuse to play my mandolin....(Not really.) I love this song, chipmunk voice and all. It's quirky, campy and silly, and I can relate to it on that level for sure. I also love Jerry's countrified guitar playing. The other Juvenators were a bit dubious until they started having fun with it too, and now it's a beloved addition to the songs we play.

INDIFFERENCE (3:22)
MOTORCYCLE IRENE (2:15)
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING (2:39) performed by The California Navels
Mark Fletcher - Bass, guitar
Adam Marsland - Vocals, guitar, master of ceremonies
Tracy Landecker - Vocals
Amanda Mullins - Vocals
Dave Strayer - Drums
Anna Simpson - Keyboards
Larry Jacobson - Guitar, bass

Recorded live at The Skip Spence Tribute Show at The Taix Lounge, Echo Park (Los Angeles) April 24, 2004.

Mark Fletcher:

The California Navels is actually a 1920s nostalgia band that temporarily broke character and allowed me to take them into the bizarre, rhythmically skewed world of Skip Spence. I had been a Skip fan since I first heard "Seeing" on the third Grape album when I was barely 15 years old, and the idea of doing a tribute show has been rattling around my skull since his death.

When I first suggested this project to the band, it seemed like a good idea-until they realized how much time it would consume. Those with obligations to other bands asked to be excused, and we brought in a few substitutes: singer/songwriter Adam Marsland, Amanda Mullins and Tracy Landecker from L.A. bands The Sounds of Asteroth and Spooky Pie, respectively, and Larry Jacobson of the law firm of Glickfeld, Fields and Jacobson, a fine guitarist who could, if need be, keep Matthew Katz off of our collective ass. The Navels who stuck it out were pianist Anna Simpson and drummer Dave Strayer. Their resentment toward me afterward was surprisingly minimal.

We got a nice write-up in the LA Weekly, attendance was great, the response was incredible, and if we ever try this again it'll be under the influence of some as yet undiscovered drug.

Martin Bobbe:

Selecting and recording songs for the Forever Mo' tribute was quite an intensive process, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Instead of playing some of the old faves I've been playing off and on, both in electric and acoustic settings, over the past 35 years I chose to do some songs that are relative new additions to my songbook. I ended up with 4 songs written by the 5 original members to make it a kind of "full circle" effort:

Peter's Apocalypse, Bob's Bitter Wind, Don & Jerry's Can't Be So Bad, and Skip's Motorcycle Irene

All were recorded in my modest home studio and I played, sang, arranged, recorded and programmed everything myself.

So what about me. The bass guitar is my main instrument and I have played in all kinds of bands as a semi-pro, always doing back-ground vocals and the occasional lead too. Never made it to the big time though or even succeded in becoming a full-time pro for that matter. When I got a job offer from a independant record company at age 40, I called it quits and joined the rest of the human race doing 9 to 5 jobs.

Eight years ago I joined a hobby blues-rock band, because not playing in a band appeared to be impossible for me. Music is kind of an addiction and stopping cold turkey didn't agree with me. Still have to figure a way to get the singer/songwriter side of me out of my home studio on a more permanent basis, but in the meantime I'll take the challange of every worthwhile tribute.

BAG OF BONES (4:36)
WINGS OF THE MORNING (3:55) performed by John Butler

LAND OF THE SUN (5:28)
UNEARTHLY ESTATE (5:28)
WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES (6:38) performed by Eternity's Gate

Land Of The Sun:

Skip Spence: electric guitar (Fender Squier Strat), ART Attack Module amp, DOD digital delay pedal, Takamine acoustic guitar, ambient vocals.

Brian Vaughan: Electric guitar (Gibson S.G.), Hafler T2 guitar pre-amp, Fender SK Chorus 20 amp, Lexicon Jam Man delay, Crybaby wah pedal, bass (B.C. Rich Mockingbird with a pre-amp, lots of switches & knobs- the same kind Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap uses [LOL!]), Johnson Amplification J-Station (used with the bass), doumbek, tambourine, all other effects, recording & production.

Beaux Davis: Yamaha electronic drum kit, bongos (Moroccan), hand slapping.

Unearthly Estate:

Skip Spence: electric guitar (Fender Squier Strat), Pignose amp, DOD digital delay pedal, butane lighter slide (on the ending of tune).

Brian Vaughan: On the intro: electric guitar (Fender Squier Strat), Pignose amp, DOD digital delay pedal. On the rest of the tune: Takamine acoustic guitar, Boss flanger, Korg MicroKorg synth, all other effects, recording & production.

Beaux Davis: Yamaha electronic drum kit, doumbek, china "gong" cymbal.

When Lightning Strikes:

Skip Spence: electric guitar (Fender Squier Strat), ART Attack Module amp.

Brian Vaughan: Electric guitar (Gibson S.G.), Hafler T2 guitar pre-amp, Fender SK Chorus 20 amp, Lexicon Jam Man delay, all other effects, recording & production (gosh, what else would I do- LOL!).

Beaux Davis: Floor tom drum & tom rim percussion.

Brian Vaughan:

A little history:

The name of the project Skip & I collaborated in is Eternity's Gate. My friend Beaux Davis helped with percussion tracks to finish this set of tunes.

"Unearthly Estate" was part of our very first recording session (with Skip & myself) in late November 1995. "Land Of The Sun" & "When Lightning Strikes" were recorded in mid December 1995, most likely during our 4th & 5th sessions.

An ambient vocal track is in the background of "Land Of The Sun", it also has room sound with Skip's strumming mixed in, which adds to the texture nicely. There were vocals Skip did that were recorded for "Land Of The Sun", but they aren't on this tribute version, there wasn't time to get them in the mix. It will be a cut & paste job. They were recorded under some duress with John Chelew on 12-25-95, but they may possibly fit the tune, since they are between singing & talking. That might make it's appearance whenever the whole album gets finished. Otherwise, the original tracks were all guitar duets, the other parts are being added piece by piece.

I met Beaux Davis in may 1999 after seeing him & his band Chant perform at San Jose State University one day, that was a very good group. He is mainly a guitarist, vocalist & songwriter, writes really good tunes, & also has many other talents. We have been involved in a number of things, are planning some more, but I'll go into that another time. See my link below at the end to stay informed. I recommend checking out his link also:

Lastly, check this site for my projects & further developments (Plus occasional surprizes):