RufusKrisp.com

Stories from a zillion studios and Zappa

BEHIND STUDIO MICS

Before I was rudely interrupted into a decade of band management at 21, the Righteous Bluegrass Band had already been into a studio at the University of Colorado and laid down a few tracks.  The tape they played me was fun but thuddy, the acoustic bass not recorded well, but it was a start and their teeth were cut in front of mics as a band for the first time…1970.

Robert Anderson was an Elton-like voiced singer in the higher register, but the band needed more depth. Eric kept his mic at banjo level.  Dick could sing light doubling. Robert Anderson recalls, “I grew up with Scott (Brownlee) in Yuma and we were in a high school band together and Scott never opened his mouth to sing.  Then we got into our bluegrass band in Boulder and he did a few backup things doubling me, and then we discovered we could harmonize and it sounded great, and then we discovered he could sing lead and it was clear he was a real singer and so we started to take advantage of that and became a little riskier.”

But vocals aside, the challenge with this band was trying to translate the high energy magic of RBB/RK onto a studio recording, not the first bands facing that challenge.  Denver front range studios were really varied from little 4-track rooms to bigger Denver suites with giant Neve consoles and isolation booths for vocals and drums.  

And then of course there was the world-caliber Caribou Ranch just 40 miles into the mountains that drew Stills, Eagles, Elton, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Wonder, Lennon….why not us?  The piano on our Caribou recordings was on Bridge Over Troubled Water…damn!!!  

We did ALL the Colorado front range studios over the years…recording commercials, soundtracks, film songs, demos and a record.  Frankly the band was captured better live and not many remote recording outfits existed back then.  What we have is a lot of fair-to-good recordings off the PA, and those are mixed for the live house, not headphones.  Of course live recordings depended on how good the stage monitors were mixed, which impacted how they played and harmonized.  So many uncontrollable variables to insure great recordings.  

Not just Colorado too, we were in Bell Sound in NYC doing music for an ABC Afterschool Special, two major LA studios and in Chicago as well.  Plus self-recording in Yuma and Boulder.  

The band did three TV Specials, two in Denver and one in Tulsa. TV paid attention to getting good sound and Tulsa had a bonus live audience. In Denver the band shot pieces in a symphony hall, at 12,000 foot Loveland Pass in the snow and even donned tuxes to record their bluegrass rip on Jacque Offenbach’s 1858 Can-Can.  

KIMN-FM in Denver recorded a local band every week in Denver Sound Studios for a regular Sunday night Best of broadcast and Gone Johnson crushed it in theirs. An invited audience splayed around studio gave it that extra kapow.  

GOOD STORY!!  In an LA studio, we were playing back a very clever track we recorded of an Eric Holle song called “Preservative Pie” his ode to shitty food additives.  I went back into the control room and there was this shady guy sitting in the shadows listening.  He burst up out of the darkness and bellowed VOILA!  LOOOVE THAT SHIT!!  Took me a second to see in the dim studio light the aura and inimitable voice and stache of… Frank Zappa.  Now we had Zappa AND Alice Cooper exalting that song.  Makes sense those loved that song, huh.  

While we got money from Columbia and Atlantic Records to do demos, we never got a major record deal.  This band in its various iterations were either not commercial (read radio worthy) in its bluegrass days or they were ahead of the Eagles-legitimized country rock genre.  

I think frankly having found THE right producer was the missing ingredient. Rob McLerran, Robert Anderson and Roger Gemelle wrote legit radio-ready songs.  In there, in my book were at least a few accountable hits.  When Roger joined Rufus Krisp there was a bonus level of a really “commercial” radio vocal along with Robert.  

The ingredients were there — the contract was missing.  Time ran out of living on the road to maintain life to just…keeping recording!  I think though we all knew it was just a matter of time before we got a deserved spotlight!  

Some tactics just plain backfire in lieu of public love.

The Righteous Bluegrass Band had an occasional dilemma — to buck the promoter and play an encore or not.  In this case, despite the protestations back stage of our bass player Earthquake, the band was NOT allowed to do an encore that might dampen the impact of Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band.  It was a VERY amped up show on this Fourth of July in this beautiful massive outdoor venue and the stomping throngs for the RBB only got only Hello Mary Lou and Garden Party from Rick.  But the “opening act” is suppose to get the crowd settled and teed up for the main show, not wanting more of the wrong act, leaving the house drained for the headliner.

Doc Watson dealt with the Righteous Bluegrass Band’s blistering opener, bringing HIS crowd to an encore-producing fever pitch who when asked if they should go back out to do an encore, said “son no good musicians should ever turn down love like that — get out there!!!”

OPPS, NOT THIS TIME

The encore calls didn’t always work out.  The scene was at a special showcase at the grand Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado for the biggest music trade publication industry event for radio stations called the Hamilton Report.  It was wicked tough to get invited and we requested to be slotted-in right before David Bromberg because we were angling to convince his iconic manager Irving Azoff to book us to open for David on his coming national tour.  

Well, the music elite crowd literally melted the rafters for the RBB and despite being told NOT do any encores for careful time budgeting for the showcase of major acts, the band just couldn’t resist the extreme love.  Hey they were stamping and yelling, so the band caved and went out to a ravenous reception.  Not a good move. Totally backfired. Azoff was livid, said he’d never have the band open for David, not just because we abused the no-encore rule but as we found out later, he said the band “was too f@cking good” and the high energy made it tough for David to be in the spotlight. Azoff demanded they swap in another act to lower the temperature of the crowd but alas Bromberg eventually hit stage, complimented the RBB as any good pro would, much to the consternation of his pacing manager who simmered down when David wrested control of the crowd his own way, delivering a crackling Bromberg show!  

Some other band opened for Bromberg that season.

When we played Ebbets Field we had a dressing room that was a large suite on the second floor of the Brooks Tower (The club was on the first floor) and we would practice or relax there before and between shows.

If we were opening for someone we often shared the space.

On this gig we were opening for David Steinberg. A brilliant thinking man’s comic, David was very focused before the show, running through his act in his mind off in a corner and very quiet. This was when I first began to suspect that comedians who were so outgoing and seemingly carefree onstage, might be very different offstage. In fact most comedians are quiet or even a bit dark. It’s a much tougher gig than you might guess.

David asked us to back him on stage on Shell Silverstein’s “Freakin’ At The Freaker’s Ball” so we practiced that with him. After he did his act he called us back up and we backed him on that and the crowd loved it. David knew how to sell it!

Back in the 1970s, Denver was still regarded as a Rocky Mountain “cowtown,” a blip on the national music radar screen that didn’t reap the consideration of most Americans. Ebbets Field, the town’s premiere concert venue of the decade, helped change all that.

Located downtown on the ground floor of the 40-story Brooks Tower building near 15^th and Curtis streets, Ebbets Field could only stuff 238 patrons into its bleacher-style seating space. Ick-orange-and-brown shag carpeting covered the floor, the walls and the ceiling. It was previously Marvelous Marvs, with even cheesier red velvet wall covered interior. You know the kind of place that had signed pictures at the front entrance of everyone who played there… and that was a very impressive list. The Righteous Bluegrass Band started out getting booked at Marvs by Chuck Morris who managed the club. Morris knew the boys from their inception, booking them back in his Boulder beginnings into the miniscule Alley ID and then Tulagi’s, a vast club he hand carried to national attention. The band played many times at Marv’s and Ebbet’s, almost as a house opener for a zillion headliners.

Ebbets became a stopping point for a long list of name entertainers who would become giants in music, including Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimmy Buffett, Billy Joel and Dan Fogelberg. Every genre—rock, blues, folk, country, jazz, folk and comedy—found a home at Ebbets Field during its four-year run. Practically any evening was a concert engagement.

The room was a perfect formula for the band and they killed it in there. Not only as a band but were asked to be the backup for some performers showing up without one, like Helen Reddy, their least favorite backup band gig. Helen had several big radio hits including I Am Women, Delta Dawn and Angie Baby. Not the most lithe stage performer, the Aussie songstress did EXACTLY the same thing, same moves, same asides every show for a week. They backed Tanya Tucker who was like 15, a flavorful performer. Backing Doug Kershaw there and at festivals was a grand test in patience, you never knew anything about what was next.

But the most exciting moments was watching this one young comedian cut his teeth there, trying out the most fantastical brand of nonsense ever seen. He played banjo too so there was some great backstage jamming with the band. I think to the person in that small room they would say they never laughed harder, struggled more for life-thriving breaths than watching Steve Martin at Ebbets. He had no recordings out yet, but you watched him methodically dial in the guy who’d become one of the biggest recording and stage comedic acts in history. From arrow thru the head to taking the entire audience out of the club and pied pipering them past bars and restaurants in bouts of hilarity before hailing a taxi, yelling out the window as it drove off that he’d be right back. The crowd slowly dispersed when…yes…he never came back. Quite the closer!

One time after the RBB played their food additive rebellion song “Preservative Pie” a weird guy stood up yelling what a great f@cking song it was — eventually Alice Cooper sat down. The following two nights Alice sold out the Denver Coliseum and made sure the band were his guests one night, mentioning them in his press conference and they got invited to his birthday party after with someone popping out of a giant birthday cake according to Eric.

Music lovers on the Front Range and beyond loved the whole Ebbets Field vibe. That was it — a distinct vibe, like no other! Bands arrived in Denver and checked into the aging pre-refurbed Oxford Hotel. (Tom Waits was often seeing smoking on the front stoop, just cause it was his kind of place.) Artists came out between-show interviews in the lushly decrepit dressing room. The stage was located where the bar was, making it the lowest focal point of the room—so as the spotlights went up, all that an act saw was a jury of bodiless bobbing heads. ListenUp, the local audio/video retailer, professionally recorded hundreds of shows for either simulcast on free-form radio stations, such as KFML-FM and KBPI-FM, or re-broadcast. Oh, and the bathroom was oddly visible just to the right of the stage, so Steve Martin would sometimes play tricks on people who went in there during his show. Imagine that.

Bob Ferbrache hung out at Ebbets after school and eventually got employed as a gofer. “I sold sandwiches there—it was just ‘whatever’ to hang out and see free shows,” he explains. “The Mahavishnu Orchestra was only a five-piece band, but John McLaughlin was literally standing in a two-foot square engulfed in keyboards and drums and what have you. There was always broken glass around—and when Lynyrd Skynyrd played there, Ronnie Van Zant was in his bare feet.”

To showcase the Ebbets Field legacy, Ferbrache has released a sampler of his photography to the Colorado Music Experience. This photo gallery reflects the variety of musical styles that graced the tiny Ebbets stage.

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After Robert left the band would he drift aimlessly?

Well how about writing a # 1 country song with Michael Woody. Sheesh.

Yuma, Colorado not only spawned Robert and Scott but also their compatriot  Michael Woody.

   Their high school rock band. Scott left, Woody black leather jacket and Robert string tie!

The Desert Rose Band was an American country rock band from California founded by former Byrd and Burrito Brother Chris Hillman along with Herb Pederson and John Jorgenson in 1985. Bill Bryson on bass, JayDee Maness on pedal steel and Steve Duncan drums. The band charted several hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Track charts including the Anderson/Woody #1 hit…

 He’s Back and I’m Blue. 

YOU SING !!
Lyrics above, clear your throat and sing along with this music-only track…

And here’s Woody’s version, a shade bluegrassy….

Old Joe Clark & Salty Dog

We idolized Doc, just like the rest of the world and being on the bill with him was the greatest treat!!

Before the show Doc and son Merle were upstairs of the Tulagi concert hall on the Hill in Boulder and overheard the RBB warmup upon before they went on before him. Somehow a plink led to a plunk and Doc was right there picking AND grinning with the boys who were trying to act at ease — but just honored he wanted to stir up a half hour jam. The band would later open for Doc on a pacific northwest tour. Here’s a sample of two classic tunes with Eric’s banjo, Dick’s fiddle, Robert’s mando and likely Scott on bass or someone on bass and Scott on his Stradivarius spoons. Listen carefully for Doc’s breaks.

OLD JOE CLARK AND SALTY DOG

The RBB added yet another member…a street-smart pigeon they named Rufus who gigged with them on many a Tour, and in a John Astin feature-film western, eventually retiring in Des Moines after green-washing the iconic white jacket of another guest on a Chicago TV appearance… Col Sanders! 

Babyface Braunschweiger (Roger) here. When I first flew into Denver and then rode the bus into Boulder CO in 1973 with my brother Mike, I was a fairly spoiled New York brat with long hair and a nice Fender Precision bass and a fairly strong voice. Boulder was at the time, one of the centers of musical enlightenment and I was really excited to get to play music there. It was “Happening Baby!”

I had been a pro player in New York for years and was pretty certain I could get something good together. That old bit about how if you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere, is kinda true because NY is a tough town and you’d better have some skills or forget it.

I had already been in the Union since 18 working for the Steven Scott Orchestra, and had been signed to The Tokens, had a single out on the radio “First Spring Rain” by our band who The Tokens renamed: The Canterbury Music Festival (Guess they thought “We Ugly Dogs” was too acurate.) and also hired as staff writer for Bright tunes Productions. But much of my opportunities had dried up and I was itching for a change, and one day I just thought I‘m going to Boulder Colorado. My brother Mike wanted to go too, so it was set. My band however was not so happy and to this day I hear about it!

Very soon I was asked to join a country-rock band called Rocking Horse, put together by Bob Murphy who sang, played guitar, pedal steel and wrote original tunes. I was lucky enough to have Bob give us all a place to live in a beautiful barn at Hidden Valley Ranch. Bob was a caretaker there and it was a dream spot for a band to live and rehearse. And we were a pretty good band. We did tunes by bands like Poco, The Eagles, and other similar country-rock material, and some originals.

Boulder is a pretty small town and we eventually met almost everyone in music there. Robert and Scott came over and listened to us practice at the barn and I became a huge Righteous Bluegrass Band fan, going to some of their performances and marveling at their amazing talent and their hysterical show.

Eric’s five string banjo skill was incredibly even and Robert’s mandolin work fast and clean. Robert and Eric would often play double fiddles, double mandolins, double banjos, sheesh! The number of instruments the band would play, (and play well) in a show was crazy!

Mike’s drum-work had to be creative, in order not to overpower bluegrass instruments, so he did a lot of brushwork. On special numbers he played a washboard with thimbles on his fingers and a little red horn and bicycle bell mounted on the top. His washboard solos were killers … ring, ring, toot!

Scott’s standup bass was solid and his solo’s powerful, (not easy on standup). On some shows he’d play tuba, and his spoon playing rolled ’em in the aisles. And Earthquake His’self was also the voice of the band, telling stories with exquisite timing that had the crowd roaring with laughter.

The Righteous Bluegrass Band shows were astonishing to witness. The crowds loved these guys and so did I!

We also did some casual playing and singing together and it was immediately apparent that Robert and I had a very strong complementary vocal blend. I have a strong bass voice and Robert has that clear high voice and that’s always a good combo. Scott had a good ear for harmony and so we had one hell of a three piece harmony going.

Wandering around Boulder with the guys was such a blast and their band was very well known, so I got to chum along when they would walk right in to venues like Tulagi because they had played there. Often they would just go to the dressing room off the front and meet the act headlining that night. We were young, over-confident, and it was just a hell of a lot of fun. And for me, it was about to get interesting!.