Blue Jay Sessions Added
by Steve on May.23, 2009, under Private Lightning Comments
Well I finally found some time. The Blue Jay sessions are now available. http://baselines.com/music/bluejay/index.html . I’ve scanned in the CD artwork that Scott put together. These are Photoshop files, but if there is enough interest, I’ll put ‘em up as jpgs.
The sound quality here is quite good. These versions sound better than the others I have uploaded in the past, which were copies of copies of copies!!
There are also some tracks here that are not part of the old uploads page.
I have some other CDs that Scott has provided and will upload some other great songs from those.
Steve
May 25th, 2009 on 7:26 PM
Fantastic- thanks again. Can you give some background to “Blue Jay” ?
Looking forward to the new CD–
mm
May 26th, 2009 on 1:54 AM
Hi Mark - Blue Jay was the name of the studio in Carlisle MA where we recorded these tracks. It was shortly after the album came out and was what we provided A&M. A couple of pieces of trivia - the tambourine bang after ‘Burning Love’ was actually the tambourine being thrown across the room. We were forced to record ‘Burning Love’ by the record company - they thought it would be good to release it on a single or an album or something. Go figure!. Also the Piano intro before Euphoria was pretty much written in the studio. Usually we were pretty set on what we were going to do going into the studio, but BlueJay was relaxed and lent itself to some improvization.
June 2nd, 2009 on 2:28 PM
These recordings came out great! Scott must have some very good remastering software. It will be interesting to see how the songs common to the Renaissance Records CD coming out compare.
June 2nd, 2009 on 2:58 PM
Yes I thought so too - Scott did a great job. He’s a man of many talents…He made a 12 string acoustic from scratch and it is one of the best instruments I have ever seen or heard.
June 3rd, 2009 on 11:37 PM
Hey Steve,
I’ve been listening to these track for at least a couple of weeks and they really are stunning. Thanks to Scott for remastering them and to you for posting.
My hopes for PL getting the recognition it so richly deserves remain high. Perhaps the release of the CD will stir up some interest and shine a light on the band once more.
Best to you as always,
Shoost
June 4th, 2009 on 3:33 PM
Hi Dan - Hey thanks - I think they sound great too. Soon I will post some of the ‘music designers’ CD that Scott did as well. Some of these are very good, while others are just OK. Also, thanks for sending along the artwork from the first single. I’ve been busy so I haven’t had much time to post stuff…maybe this weekend…
Steve
June 15th, 2009 on 7:12 PM
Steve!
With just mere hours left until the CD is released tomorrow, I just wanted to share a couple of PL memories that I have with you…
I was lucky enough to see Private Lightning on two occasions in person - once, at Dean (Junior) College in Franklin, Mass. in 1981, and the other in my hometown of Millis, Mass. as part of a music “festival” held at the Glen Ellen Country Club on their indoor tennis courts. (That alone made that gig memorable - some great bands were on that bill as well, including New England, if I remember correctly!)
I was lucky enough to meet you on both occasions, and you (and the rest of PL) signed my vinyl copy of the album, which I still proudly have to this day…
The news of the Renaissance ‘reissue’ of the album came as a bit of a shock, but a pleasant one - my sincerest hope is that the “remastering” folks were able to correct that sibilence issue that was on the original LP (thanks for nothing, Geoff!)…can’t wait to hear the CD first thing Tuesday morning!
Take care, and be well, and thanks for this site!
Cheers!
david tolar
June 16th, 2009 on 5:39 PM
Good to see that the album is available on iTunes, right next to The Private Lightning Six (hmm…six in THEIR band, six in YOUR band…coincidence?!) - they have the album for just $9.99 online. Found an actual CD copy after going to three separate Newbury Comics stores - they are selling the album at $15.99. I also found an eBay link from Renaissance Records itself - they are selling the album for $7.99 (plus a $2.50 shipping charge), and they have close to 50 copies online right now…kudos to everyone involved in this reissue of an absolutely classic album - they even got the reprinted back cover, replete with the lyric sheet, but be warned: you’ll need a magnifying glass to actually READ them! Can’t wait to hear more of the ‘archival’ PL material, Steve! Cheers!