TBT#18: ILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, Blake Shelton, circa 2003. https://youtube/watch?v=D9j7O4-Qy8o I dont usually post YouTube things on Facebook because of copyright and intellectual property issues, but this was on a Christmas album (various artists) done for Target, and I dont think its been in their stores for a few years, so its probably okay. When Blake picked Ill Be Home For Christmas, I wanted to do it as a slow shuffle, sort of like the old Bobby Vinton hit, Blue Velvet. I knew that Charlie McCoy played vibes on the Vinton record, so I booked him. (Charlie and I had played together in a Miami Club in 1959, we were both eighteen..with my slicked-back hair and sideburns I looked twenty-five and Charlie looked twelve, so hed get me to buy him beer.) A funny thing happened on this session. Brent Rowan was playing electric guitar; in my nearly eight years of producing Blake, Brent played every electric guitar lick on everything we cut (we recorded for three years before getting a record deal and a big hit). I told Brent that on so many Christmas recordings, there was an electric guitar playing Jingle Bells on the very end of the song, and to please make sure NOT to do that. I moved on to something else, and later, when we were getting ready to mix, I noticed that Jingle Bells was indeed on the very end, and realized that Brent must have misunderstood me and thought I asked him TO put Jingle Bells on there. I asked engineer Ed Seay to play it backwards..we both laughed and I said, Hell, put it on there backwards. So thats how the weird little backwards thing ended up at the very tail end of the recording. Thats the legendary Paul Franklin playing the great steel solo. I think Blakes performance is warm and cozy, like a cracklin fireplace on a Christmas Eve.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 00:23:37 +0000