Jim Alfredson

It should be noted that frickin' FREEBIRD was recorded on this console!!! Nothing more need be said! Frickin' A, dude!!! FREEBIRD!!!!!!!

I just remembered I have a PO Box!! I got one last week (or was it two weeks ago?) and it slipped my mind. So, I edited my first post in the thread with the following: NOTE: If you do not want to use Paypal, then please send a check or money order, made out to Jim Alfredson to the following address: organissimo PO Box 16129 Lansing, MI 48901-6129 Again, please make checks or money orders out to me, Jim Alfredson. No need to PM me unless you want to. Just send checks/money orders to the above address! Thank you!

I just played with Rick this past weekend in Lansing. He was filling in the guitar chair in my r&b band, Root Doctor.

It's all right, I guess.

You think that's dorky, look at this one:

Bill, good to see you here again! Hope all is well, despite the ominous sound of that post! Maybe I'm just young a naive, but the music industry is changing rapidly. The old guard is dying and a new one is rising in it's place. I'm not saying people don't want to listen to crap still (for the most part they do) but it is now possible to do things your way and find the audience that wants to hear it, without going into debt to a major label. The festival and college gig circuit is where it's at!

I'm not sure how Paypal handles credit card payments without having an account. I think if one is a Premier Seller (which I am not... that requires a monthly service charge) you can do it. Checks and money orders are fine, too. Just PM me!

Yeah, he just sent me a PM with an outline of what he's working on, and it sounds really fun! I'm excited!!!!

I would also like to add that if you do want to become a "Groovissimo" participant, but for whatever reason do not want your name on the CD, just let us know. We had someone graciously donate $500 to our last CD, but she refrained from having her name in the credits, which is just fine. It's all up to you!

Jim, the Arno stuff will probably be saved for our upcoming project with Arno, tenatively scheduled for October. As for live stuff, I'd like to do a real live CD at some point. We'll see. Thanks to all who have signed on already! You guys rule! I'd also like to mention that our very own forum member Noj is doing the artwork for the CD. You can view some of his artwork in this thread. He's very talented and we're excited to have him on board!

Yesterday I got to the studio around 11:00am to set up the B3 and start gettings sounds. Randy's kit was set up on Monday along with mics and was sounding great. The "new" Neve 8068 console that Glenn has (purchased from Muscle Shoals) sounds absolutely amazing. The drums sound incredible. Before Glenn got this console, he would EQ and apply some compression to the drums almost without fail. But with the Neve, he just brought up the faders and the sound was gorgeous. Same with the Hammond. The bass of the organ is just incredible... earth-shaking pedal tones! Oh yeah, and the guitar sounds awesome as well! I am really blown away by the sound of that Neve. I think this record is going to be sonically amazing. Now we just have to play well, too! Joe arrived at 1:00pm a little frazzled. If he wants to fill in that part of the story, I will leave it up to him. I would like to say that he is my true musical brother and I am proud of the way he played yesterday considering the circumstances. Joe, I love you, man. Really! He got to work setting up some amps (Glenn has a great collection of vintage guitar amps) and got a really gnarly tone for our first track, "Wealthy St." Randy popped in at about 2:00pm and we got to work. We did a few takes of Wealthy St., still getting our bearings. None of them were satisfactory, so we moved on. We played another original called "Pumpkin Pie", which is a nickname I have for my daughter, Zora. We nailed that one in two takes. It was starting to roll! We then went on to do another take of "Wealthy St." and this time we nailed it as well! It's really funky and dynamic and will probably open the record. To finish up the day, we did a few takes of a brand new tune that we just wrote Sunday called "Brother Ray", a tribute to Ray Charles. Randy is going to overdub some wicked chromatic harmonica on the head and also take a solo. Most people don't know this, but Randy is a killer harmonica player as well as a master drummer! So we got three tunes yesterday! Today Randy is up north giggin', so we start up again on Thursday. We'll be bringing in a good friend of ours, Bill Vits, to play percussion with us on a few tunes. But I'm getting ahead of myself. More to come... Here are some photos:

Hey folks, Organissimo is in the studio this week to record our next album. After many months of writing tunes, rehearsing, playing them live and then tweaking, I think we have a really strong batch of new songs... enough for two records, actually. Joe and I just wrote a new one on Sunday! We're very excited to be back into the studio. This thread will serve as a "behind the scenes" blog thingy. I'll try to relax after each day's session and write a little bit about the day's events and post a picture or two. This thread also has another purpose: As the title states, you can be a part of the process as well! We're going to try our own version of the ArtistShare method, since we have so many great members here who support us! Thank you all! The last CD was financed almost solely by the group and cost us roughly $6,000. We did break even, and then we decided to press another 1,000 copies of "Waiting For The Boogaloo Sisters..." rather than let it go out of print, so we went back in the hole. However, we are very close to paying that off. This next disc is going to cost us a bit more. The studio we use has increased its rates (but even so, it is still a bargain for the world-class sound) and we've decided to hire a publicist firm. They will help us garner radio play, get reviews in both the major magazines and local papers of towns we play (and we're currently working on booking in the greater midwest), and even do some showcases in NYC. All total, I think this next project is going to be in the $10,000 range. How can you help? It's very simple. We're offering three levels of participation, sort of modeled after the ArtistShare method. We're calling it Participationissimo. Ok, not really. But here's how it works: You pick the level that best fits what you think is fair from the following list: Level 1 - Groover - $16 This level includes one copy of the CD on pre-order, to be shipped when the record is complete, printed, and pressed. Level 2 - Groove Merchant - $24 This is just like Level 1, but you get a signed copy of the CD! Level 3 - Groove Elation - $30 This is just like Level 2, but you also get a signed poster! Level 4 - $100 - Grooovissimo!!!! This is our only "benefactor" level. With this you get two signed copies of the disc, a signed poster, and your name in the credits of the CD itself! All you gotta do is CLICK HERE to start! We thank you for your participation in the board and in this project! NOTE: If you do not want to use Paypal, then please send a check or money order, made out to Jim Alfredson to the following address: organissimo PO Box 16129 Lansing, MI 48901-6129 Again, please make checks or money orders out to me, Jim Alfredson. In my next post, I'll talk a bit about yesterday's session and post some photos.

Yes, Booker used a Hammond M3. The M3 model is similair to a B3 except it doesn't have full pedals and has shorter keyboards (less keys), so you can't really play basslines on it. Obviously, Booker didn't need that. I'm pretty sure they just mic'd the internal speaker as well and did not use a Leslie. I have an M3 sitting in my garage right now. I just noticed in that photo that the bass pedals are gone. Someone (possibly Booker) must've removed them, as they are not detachable on the M3 model. If you're not using them, that's a good idea as they can be damaged easily when moving the thing around. As for what Jimmy Smith thought of Booker T? I wager he didn't think about him at all. Jimmy had a big ego!

Beautiful post, Al! You're a great father. And congratulations to Nathan!

I think that's exactly what it means. Both New Jersey and Indiana would've done the same thing to the Lakers. The Lakers last year were playing on their reputation and the Spurs bought into it and got psyched out. I agree that a Pistons/Spurs series would be tougher, but I still think the Pistons would've won it.

That's because of deleted posts. The numbering of the posts do not get reset when someone deletes their post, but the overall total post count does. Go figure.

77... not bad! 50 more years! Rock 'n roll! Just put my wife in and she got 81. Considering we're 4 years apart (she's four years older), we'll go at about the same time. I'm down with that!

Good game. Illinois blew it in the clutch. May was the big man! I'm glad I didn't bet on this one, I would've went with Illinois.

Lazaro is the man!

ANYMORE? Since when did the average Joe become an independent thinker? People are constantly trying to be something there not. Part of it comes from living in a Capitalist society where marketers play upon people’s insecurities in order to get them to buy their shit. Another part of it comes from nationalism, patriotism and other forms of nostalgic Americana, and yet another comes from the inherent human trait of pack mentality (sometimes leading to mob mentality). Add all this to the disposable income that many Americans are lucky enough to have and woo-la! Instant lemming. People are just people. Everybody wants to feel a part of something. Why else would this board exist? Getting down on people for "group mentality" is like getting down on birds for singing. It's part of our nature and a healthy one.

Guy, you have to be kidding me. The Spurs got beat by the Lakers last year. THE LAKERS! You saw what Detroit did to them in the finals, didn't you? It was pitiful (if one is a Lakers fan, that is!) And you think a team that got beat by the Lakers would've beat Detroit? Pul-leaze. I think Detroit is better than they even know. They have had a rough season, what with the brawl, Larry's health problems (and his general restless attitude) and some injuries with a bench that isn't too deep to begin with. But I honestly think they are still a contender.

I believe "love drops" is sexual slang. In that context, it doesn't take too much to figure out what it means.

Have a great one, dude!!

You really think so? I'd imagine that North Carolina will be the favorite. MSU had a nice run...shit how did they get such a good team? Yes. After seeing Illinois against MSU earlier this year, I knew Illinois would win the title. I've never seen a college team play the way they do. NC doesn't have a chance. The MSU Ladies pulled off an amazing comeback! That was awesome!

It sounds like victory!!!