WINTER 1996

Issue No 11

Contents

• Fish Soup (News)
• Soft Vengeance - In The Making
• Notes from America - Soft Vengeance The Official Review (Greg Russo)
• Winged Messenger (Letters)

Soft Vengeance in The Making

It was a cold frosty January morning back in 1992 as I drove down to the Workhouse Studios which is situated down the Old Kent Road. The road was looking it's usual charming unsmart self with its decaying graffiti riddled buildings lining the route, how the Workhouse blends in so well! This day was like no other, it was the start of the new Earth Band album.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band had just finished a successful European 1991 tour in which they had performed material for the new album, so they were well rehearsed and keen to start the recordings. The scene was set, the SSL console sat in front of me waiting, in anticipation, Manfred's keyboards already set up to my right, Steve Kinch on Bass would be to my left, and Mick Rogers to my right, and with Clive Bunker in the Studio Live Room surrounded by Drum Kit and Microphones.

Clive arrived first, not because he was keen but he had more to set up and fiddle with than the other boys with bits of wood with strings on. Steve and Mick turned up and headed straight for the kettle, shortly followed by Manfred who acted as if he owned the place, oh yes, he does, doesn't he! The master plan, as discussed on the tour bus the previous year, was to record the songs live, altogether, like in the good old days. Wait a minute though. There's someone missing, oh only Noel McCalla late again. Well actually he'd already put some guide vocals down onto an eight track along with a few keyboard and click tracks for the band to play along to, so he wasn't required at the start.

The first song to be recorded was Pleasure and Pain, with the multi-track tape in record and the click tracks a rolling, two bar count in and they're off, the start of the Earth Band album. Two to three weeks later and a few laughs along the way, 3 or 4 versions of ten songs had been recorded. The best take would be chosen and worked on and there you have it, the album's backing tracks or so I thought at the time . What was to follow no-one warned me about, I would have had to of been Mystic Meg to have known.

Weeks went by with Noel singing lead vocals time and time again, all keyboard parts were tried along with guitar parts and solos, the summer of '92 arrived and soon went, I'm sure you know the feeling. It was Autumn, Manfred started having doubts about the whole thing, was the album good enough? What direction are we going in? Apart from around and around! It was clear he needed help outside of the band to produce the album. A few producers appeared knocking at the door asking for a job, the right man turned out to be Richard Burgess, not because of his well respected credits, but because he lived just around the corner from the studio.

Richard's first job was on a new selection of songs and his brief was:- Make them anyway you like, so if you want to use other musicians, then do it, except keyboard players of course! The first track Richard worked on was 'Nothing Ever Happens', you should know it by now and that was finished quite quickly. All that was needed now was to edit it, try a few edit ideas of Manfred's , then a few more. Good job I like editing on the 1/2", because I got plenty of practice on this song.

The next song Richard got his teeth into was Sexual Jealousy, my personal favourite, NOT! Yes that's Noel doing all the vocals in the opera section. The initial backing track was to be changed several times to a more live feel for the album at a later date. Songs were being finished and there was a growing air of confidence that the album would be finished later in 1993. Manfred's exact words: "I can't see any hold ups now we've got the songs, the album will be out at the end of the year". One of the boys laughed "Yes but which year?" "This year lan! Put your money where your mouth is then, if you don't think it will be finished". Came the strong confident reply from Manfred. The wager was made, the Gauntlet thrown down, this was one bet I didn't want to win, but of course I did, easily.

We got out of studio life in the Summer '93 to do some festivals in Europe, again a good turn out and very well received, but the Summer came and went so quickly. Back to the studios. We had two studios working on the album now, Richard working in one, and Manfred and I working in the other. Time went by, more songs were worked on, parts changed, re- recorded, thrown out, then recovered and so on. Manfred was going through another one of his doubting stages, are the keyboard solos any good, what about the guitar solos and then the drums and the vocals, not forgetting the bass lines. In the summer of '94 a cassette landed on the door mat with another singers songs on it. This guy had a really deep powerful voice on tape, perhaps what Manfred had been missing on one or two of songs, it was an avenue in which he had to pursue. Enter Bobby Whitlock of Derek And The Dominos fame. He flew in from America for two weeks to record some new songs and try some old ones while he was here. Bobby is a quietly spoken, tea-total chap, NOT!! He tells some great stories and did his best singing his heart out for the album, but alas he decided to fly back to America before finishing the job. Where was Manfred going to find another singer for these songs now. We needed someone with a strong rock vocal, a knowledge of the Earth Band sound, someone who has sung all the way to number one in the American charts.

Welcome back Chris Thompson.

In all the years I've been working down at the Workhouse I'd never met Chris before, so what an honour it was for him. As soon as he started singing that old familiar voice of the Earth Band we all know and love had returned. Some songs had to be totally re-recorded i.e. Pleasure And Pain was now in the wrong key for Chris, than for Noel, but the album was back in top gear coming together very nicely. Having two strong singers on the album, how could it fail, the fans should love it! The first half of '95 was very productive. With the light at the end of the tunnel and I could hear the Champagne corks a popping, the release date for the album, could have been Autumn '95 but to allow record companies time and everybody to be happy with the final product release date of late Spring '96 was chosen. Christmas '95 everybody had a DAT of different versions of all the songs, to choose their favourites. A few more late indecisions by Manfred, more editing and remixing and the album was finished. The next day, before anybody could change their minds, Manfred and I cut the album at the Townhouse Studios. The Champagne delivery must have got lost somewhere, because all that was on offer was a warm bottle of lager. Oh Well!

To conclude this brief insight of the making of Soft Vengeance, why did it take four years to make? This is a question I get asked time and time again. Well the Band did tour in the summer of '92 & '93 and a few holidays were taken which does stop the flow , but at the end of the day Manfred was looking to make a well crafted album which I personally think he succeeded in doing. This makes you go down every possible Avenue and pick apart the molecular structure of each song and make decisions on which path and direction to take. Manfred is well known for his indecisions, so you can totally lose the plot. Manfred was correct in questioning everything we did because for example the majority of those backing tracks we did in '92 just weren't good enough, only one was used on the album Shelter From The Storm. The album came together due to endless fiddles, remixes, editing, soul searching, personnel changes etc. There were times when I just wanted to hide under the SSL console and hope it would all end, but also there were times when Manfred wanted to take a meat cleaver to the back of my head for the unhelpful comments that I often made, but it all came together somehow. There are still a few changes and versions of songs that I prefer, than those on the album but overall it's not bad is it? Despite what some critics and press say.

So what's my favourite songs on the album I hear you ask? Adults Only, Nature Of The Beast, Shelter From the Storm, (although not the version on the album).

The song I love to hate is Sexual Jealousy with all its parts 17 to 24, I know a lot of people really like this track but my C.D. player will skip it every time, I've heard the album more times than Barry Winton. So onto the next project, on the road with the Earth Band!

IAN TOMPSON
THE (INVISIBLE) ENGINEER
SOFT VENGEANCE

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