In 1977, with the release of Cheap Trick’s In Color, I felt I was beginning to feel comfortable with my job, that I had earned a measure of respect in the music community, and that I was no longer banging my head against the wall at Epic. I was pretty happy with In Color. The Cheap Trick recording experience was really a pleasure. Every day, I was delighted to return to the studio to hear more of their music and to enjoy their humor. This project saw the development of a production process that became comfortable for me, and that I continued to depend on for most of my projects:

Song Selection

The selection of songs was (I swear) a democratic process, and a consensus of band, label A&R, producer, and to some extent, management.  We’d pick about 14 tunes to record, and then when things got down to the wire and threatened to bust the budget, we’d discard the two or three least promising tracks. Frankly, as the project wore on and it became evident to all of us which were the most promising candidates for single release, I’d try to spend most of our time and money on those two or three cuts. Yes, there are band members who have claimed in print that I “refused” to do a song, or that I wouldn’t allow the band to cut a particular tune. This is sheer fantasy. The label had the last word, period. In the case of the Krokus record, we were literally assigned material to record, and the VP of Business Affairs had lyric approval on the whole album. I kid you not.

Pre-Production

This was my least favorite part of any project. I would prefer to have entered the studio  and allowed the songs to develop naturally, but I considered it somewhat irresponsible to skip rehearsal of any sort – so I would listen to demos of the songs and make notes regarding structural and dynamic changes. We’d try them out in rehearsal; some would work and some wouldn’t. After the new arrangement was familiar enough, I’d zero in on the bass guitar / kick drum combination. Sometimes we’d change the kick-drum pattern in certain sections of the song, and do the same with the cymbals. I always told the drummer and the bass player that I thought the John McVie – Mick Fleetwood combination was about the tightest rhythm section in rock music. They felt like one big rhythm machine.

Then we’d spend some time on rhythm guitar dynamics, and leave the lead guitar and vocals completely alone until we were in the studio. Usually, pre-production lasted five days. Managers worried. A&R asked questions. I tried to assure them that this was good for the material, and that if you rehearsed the songs too much, they would become wooden. Sometimes they agreed, sometimes not. (more…)