Blog

Artist / Heroes

Earl Slick Plays Through the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Posted by: Jeffrey McAlack | Posted in: Artist / Heroes

It’s a good day here at Source Audio, our pal Earl Slick just delivered a pair of killer instrumental tracks featuring the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion. Each tune is piled high with the signature guitar playing that earned Earl his lofty position in the world of experimental hard rock guitar.

 It is really quite astounding how many mammoth records this guy has appeared on over the past 30 years. Originally hired by David Bowie in 1974 to take over guitar duties on the Diamond Dogs tour (listen to how well he handles Bowie’s material on the Live David album, recorded during that tour), Earl went on to record with Bowie on the Young Americans and Station to Station records. It was on these classic albums that David rebuilt his sound after pulling the plug on Ziggy Stardust  (the glam rock persona that made him famous). Great guitar playing and the success of the two albums inspired John Lennon to acquire the skills of Earl Slick for his incredible 1980 come back LP, Double Fantasy. The list of great artist he’s performed with stretches around the block, Earl has had no problem playing with artists as diverse as Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople, Robert Smith of The Cure and David Coverdale of Deep Purple and Whitesnake. Hell, he even appeared on Leo Sayer’s disco classic, “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”—how’s that for a broad skill set? And of course, in 1983 Earl exploded on his own material in the power trio, Phantom, Rocker and Slick with Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker, the rhythm section of the Stray Cats.

 The tracks he gave us are demos for an upcoming delta blues inspired record. One of the tracks is a twisted version of the Mississippi Fred McDowell song, “Red Cross Store”. The plan, as Earl puts it, is to start with the blues music he loves and “fuck with it”.  In the down and dirty tradition of the blues, the Pro Tools rig is being put on the shelf, opting instead for a good old fashioned 16 track tape machine—a bold choice, but one Earl expects will yield some fresh results.  These days many studio musicians have forgotten what it is to play a song from beginning to end—digital recording offers the ease of fixing mistakes with the slide of a mouse. Not so with tape, but what is lost in post performance control is gained in spontaneity and atmosphere.  It should be interesting, because Earl has selected an awesome group of musicians to support him in his “cut it live” approach. Among others he’ll be joined by members of Bowie’s touring band: Gerry Leonard on guitar, Sterling Campbell on drums and Gail Ann Dorsey on bass.  On vocals we’ll hear Earl’s old friend and man of mystery, Johnny Fear.

 We certainly appreciate Earl’s time and generosity in giving us a sneak peak at his new material. Each tune features several guitar tracks through the Soundblox Multiwave Distortion. Check out how he combines the multi-band octave setting (effect type 13 or 14, he wasn’t sure which) with a flanger on “Stomp”. Earl described his approach to this track as “playing the gate”.  He really digs the Multiwave’s quick snapping noise gate and how it seamlessly shuts without compromising the signal. It’s easy to hear what he’s talking about, listen how each explosive blast of fuzz and flange is bookended by eerie and exclamatory silence—that’s the noise gate. Thanks Earl, we may just steal that tip from you for our website’s “Techniques” page.

 Understanding how the masters use our pedals never gets old and we look forward to plenty of great music and sound discoveries from Earl Slick in the future.

Listen to Earl's sound clips.

Related Posts

• My Morning Jacket to headline 2010 Voodoo Experience
• The Best of Phish Tour 2010 and How Mike Gordon Gets That Cactus Sound
• Steven Wilson - Porcupine Tree and Much More
• Trombone Shorty Guitarist, Pete Murano Plays the Classic Pro Distortion and Tri-Mod Wah
• Mountain Jam Live!

Comments

Name:

Please enter the text you see in the image below:

Your Comment:

Remember my personal information