Tris
had been working on the tracks with the engineers for weeks: cleaning
and restoring the tapes, to make sure the sound was pure and authentic
and transferring them to modern storing and filing media. I was
summoned to a playback session the next day to hear the results
of their hard work.
So there I was on a sultry summer evening in July 03 crossing
the famous zebra crossing outside the Abbey Road recording studios.
‘I wonder what Studio they are in’, I mused, hoping
that it was Studio 2. I signed in and to my delight was ushered
to the celebrated Studio 2.
This studio was the place where all the archetypal music of the
Sixties and Seventies was recorded – it drips with atmosphere.
The chief engineer was Paul Hicks, the son of Tony from The Hollies.
What a twist of fate. I told him the story of the evening I was
discovered and the part his dad played in the event. I was given
a steaming cup of tea and settled into a huge leather swivel chair
placed ceremoniously in front of the mixing desk between the monitors.
“There you are, down there, “ Tris gestured toward a
solitary speaker placed in the center of the huge studio on the
other side of the glass panel. “Huh?” I responded.
“We wanted to get the best possible separation for your voice
so we’ve played it through this speaker so it can pick up
all the atmosphere invested in the studio by all your favourite
musicians – especially John Lennon,” he laughed. My
disembodied voice swam out into the studio feeling perfectly at
home with its illustrious company of musical peers. It was one
of those special, ‘in the now’ moments that captured
everything from the past taking it forward into the future. Have
you experienced those times when you feel completely at one with
yourself and with the world? Pure magic. I was so touched by the
trouble everyone had taken to make me and my work seem so special
and valuable.
Then came my big treat. We listened to songs in Italian and French
that I had long forgotten but the memories soon came flooding
back. My first driving lesson from Fangio, Italy’s legendary
car racing champion, in a Ferrari on an Italian race track.
My first French tour in the South of France with Johnny Halliday,
France’s premiere rock heartthrob, around the South of France.
Mad taxi drivers in rainy Paris, barefoot rides on Lambrettas
in Rome.
The music conjured up a delicious fusion of La Dolce Vita and
Belle Du Jour, cappuccino and café au lait, Fiat and Renault,
Gucci and Courrege, Fellini and Truffaut, Portofino and St Tropez,
Chianti and Chablis, San Pelegrino and Perrier, pannacotta and
tarte au pommes, risotto con truffi and - I was getting hungry….
We dined at a great Italian family restaurant, in Charlotte Street,
La Gardinetto . Il patrone, Maurizio was so delighted at our visit
he dived into his wine cellars and came up with his most treasured
bottle of vintage vino. He wanted to tell everyone exactly what
place La Cantata Scalza held in his life. It was a loud and talkative
evening, bursting with flavoursome anecdotes and laughter and
great food. Grazie, Maurizio. Next month we dine at “L’Artiste
A Soife” ….
Grazie mille et merci mille fois to everyone who made it all possible.
The 2 CD’s: La Cantante Scalza and Pourvu Que Ca Dure are
released on the 13th October (not 8th September as quoted in previous
newsletter).
For press details contact Deborah Geddes for the UK and Mary Henry
for the Continent at emimusic.com
