MPS (MIXTAPE PRESERVATION SOCIETY HOUR 38)

I decided to just jump into the show this week-- no opening segment where I discuss what's coming up. Fuck that; if you listen regularly then you know what's up and if you just started listening... well, you have 37 previous hours to go through to catch up. It's not necessary at this point, and it gives me more time to throw in other segments and more music.

And speaking of music, I think playing excerpts of songs instead of entire cuts keeps some of the discussions compact and lean. I am referring to the second segment of the podcast, a new thing I call "Some Ill Shit w/ Nick Culp". This segment is going to be a regular feature where Nick and I talk about our mutual love of hip-hop. The segments are culled from a long conversation I had with him (like his appearance on my last podcast featuring him, this is conducted over the phone from his home in Oakland CA) and mostly just touch upon our personal reminisces and anecdotes about growing up in the rap era.

The first segment features Indiana native and renaissance man extraordinaire Bob Drew, sharing his thoughts on guitars, his favorite music (Mostly Alice Cooper) and his record collection. I had Bob send me a few pics of what he's got going on at his home, where he is getting his den remodeled into a record library the likes of which few this side of the Mississippi have ever seen.

It's a work in progress, and I hope he gives us an update on the project as it comes along. He also sent me a clip of a song he plays guitar on, recorded by his friend Leo Denault, accompanied by his copious liner notes:

My friend and former college roommate, Leo Denault (pronounced, "Duh NALT"), is working on a record that he is planning to release early next month.  Leo and I have been friends since our days at Ball State University.  We played in a band ("Educated Guess") together for about 2 years, doing campus events and a few bars in Muncie, IN (probably '81 and '82).

  

Leo is a very talented vocalist, songwriter, and keyboard player, with 13-14 songs that he's going to include on the album.  He now lives in New Orleans, and has been working on the project for several years.  

I'm very honored that he chose me to play on 2 of the tracks.  The one I sent you is "We Should be Together."  I am doing one of the rhythm guitars, the "fills," and the lead solo.  The other players include John E. Gee on bass, Sandy Williams on the other rhythm guitar track, Dane Clark on drums, and Troye Kinnett on keyboards.  These guys are all members of John Mellencamp's band.  They also play on the remaining album tracks.  

Alan Johnson is the sound engineer on the project.  He's been a senior engineer at the "Static Shack" recording studios in Indy for a number of years.  Alan mixed all of the Bob and Tom albums that have been released, and has  done a lot of work through the years for John Fogerty.  Alan roomed with Leo for a couple of years at BSU, and worked with (and partied with) our band.

Here's a video of Bob working on the song in question, "We Should Be Together" in Leo Denault's studio. Note the superior sound quality to the podcast version-- that's because this is the source of the audio I used.

On a seemingly unrelated note, I think that Bob and JJ Schoch from Coolhouse look a lot alike. Here's a pic of Bob with Alice Cooper:

Now here's JJ with his double bass:

You'll never see the both of them in the same room at the same time... mostly because they live 3,000 miles apart!

00:00 Intro/Bob Drew interview pt. 1
08:00 A Day In The Life
12:40 Bob Drew interview pt. 2
19:55 We Should Be Together
23:10 Bob Drew interview pt. 3
30:30 I'm Eighteen
35:55 Bob Drew interview pt. 5
37:35 BJ Fornicatti segment
44:30 "Some Ill Shit" with Nick Culp
56:06 End Of The Hour