I've been playing my upright bass like a freak, and I've also been studying music. Mostly I'm playing the upright and working on jazz, but I guess the electric and the rock just get better automatically. I'm a big fan of Too Much Joy. A band from the very early 90's. They were witty, funny, and always touching. They never let a joke get in the way of a real idea. They had a great original sound, a very pop Clash, that always had this fierce intelligence. I went from fan to kinda sorta friends with the guys in the band. Well, Too Much Joy broke up, and went their separate ways. I stayed in touch with Tim, the lead singer, and Jay, the guitar player. They were the two that wrote most of the songs.

I was writing Email to them, and they said they were going to be doing some demos the first week of March in SF, and wanted a bass player. I thought about it a lot. I'm on the road a long time, and traveling when I'm not working seems stupid. But, I really LOVE the work they do and I was excited to see how they work in the studio, and I was excited to be asked to play bass. It scared me, and that, in itself, is often the reason I do things. I get asked to work with people on music, but it's rarely to just play bass. I like the idea and, although it was a tough call, I decided to go to Frisco and lay down some tracks.

I didn't have to bring a bass or anything; I just had to fly in. I got in Friday night and went out to the studio. It's a cheap, dirty place in Oakland. It took the cab forever to find the place, but I got there. It was Tim, Jay, and an engineer in a studio, with a few Strats and acoustics, and Pro-Tools. It's amazing; Pro-Tools is getting to be all you need.

When I walked in, they were working on a drum track and the Clash sample they had for the ride cymbal, when slowed down was obviously out of time. They needed someone to just play a ride in time. I thought I could do that. I went to the drum kit and, all I had to do was play the ride. They had the kick and the snare. I put on the cans, and laid down my first track.

The bass they had for me was a 5 string. I've always said, "If you want to use 5 strings, play the banjo." I hate 5 string basses. But, that's all they had. It turned out the first song was in D (my favorite key), and well, having the low D was really helpful. So, as always, the World's Stupidest Sober Atheist had to eat crow. Five string basses are great. I got used to it pretty fast and they played me the tune. They showed me the changes and the lyrics and Jay stood over me.

I sat in the control room, with my bass plugged in and I was a little nervous. They had told me the songs were stupidly easy, but I was afraid. I started playing, and it sounded okay. I was pretty happy. It was great to have Tim and Jay singing (just to keep me in the right place). I just loved hearing the style up close and learning how their ideas end up on the record. Man, those boys can write. "Drape your hair across my pillow / drape you legs across my back / then you left me bruised and bleeding like a hemophiliac," what's wrong with that? And I played and they were happy. They seemed really happy. I think I only had to punch in one thing. Now, there's nothing to brag about here, it was a really easy part, but it filled me with joy to please them.

We did another song that was all laid out and easy, and then it was time for one that they were just building out of nothing. They really didn't even have chords. They had a backwards piano, a drum riff copped from some record, and some Tom Waits scream. Jay and I worked together and thought up the bass line. It was really fun, and it sounded good. A little while later, Jay finished writing the changes for the chorus, and I sat there while he put down the rhythm guitar track and then I added the bass to it. Watching Jay lay down the rhythm was great. It always amazes me, how musicians always sound like themselves. I remember Billy Gibbons over my apartment in NYC with my girlfriend's cheap horrible guitar and this little stupid amp he plugged in, turn a dial or two, and ZZ Topp was in our bedroom. Lou Reed came over my house, borrowed Jimmy's guitar, plugged into my amp, and without his rack or even any pedals, he sounded like Lou Reed. I don't really understand how that works. And I watched Jay sound like Too Much Joy. It was also great to watch how Jay and Tim work. Having the best partner anyone has ever had and working for 27 years, it's great to see others going through the awkward stupidity of creating together. Tim and Jay are pretty good at it. It seems like a good mix of respect, and lack of respect. I think that's what you need to work. There were no more bass parts to do, but they needed a cymbal crash. Since I had done the ride so well, they let me whack the cymbal, for a sample.

So, here it was, Friday night, and I had laid down everything I had to. I was done. They drove me back to the hotel in the city. I felt really happy. I was glad to see Tim and Jay, and I really had fun playing bass. I was going to come back the next day (it was the day I was supposed to work), but my bass playing was done.

My dear old friend, Crazy James, happened to have Saturday off. He's far and away the best piano player in Frisco, and certainly the best cocktail pianist I've ever seen. He owns a lot of tuxedos, has huge ears, and practices, and works all the time. I'm just in awe of his musicianship. I love to talk music with him. I always learn so much. He's also just a great friend. I enjoy every minute with James. I asked Tim and Jay if they wanted James to play. They were thrilled. I asked James if he wanted to play, and he was happy too. So, James and I had breakfast at the Farmer's Market, stopped in the modern art museum to see some Brian Eno stuff, stopped at a little Oakland music shop to get some more Real Books, talked about how happy he was that the Jazz doc finally gave credit to Louis Armstrong, even though he wishes they'd trashed Miles Davis. We arrived at the studio.

So, I sat for hours and watched Tim, Jay, and James credit piano parts and songs. James is so good. He always has ideas, and he plays as much or as little as necessary. I'm sure there are lots of musicians with chops and taste, but it's such a joy to watch one work up close. Man, he's good, and there's so much to learn about music, just by being in a room with him while he thinks. Tim and Jay were thrilled and the music was sounding great. You know, watching friends create and working with them, is just the most fun you can have. It's just thrilling. I felt great.

I didn't touch the bass again. At the end of the day, I did some vocal "work," I went into the booth and screamed and growled to replace a Tom Waits sample they were using, and then I sang "Cow cow yippy yippy yo" with a LeadBelly sample. And we were done. There's another 10 pages to write about this. Thoughts about using samples, building on those and replacing them. The thoughts about how James talks about music with all the jazz terms and Tim and Jay talk with their own personal slang, coupled with Pro-Tools talk. They don't put together something for a band to play, they build something on computer. But, you know, no matter how you do it, it's fun to make music with friends. James had a blast, Tim and Jay were happy, and somewhere, in the confusion, I'm sure I got credit for some of James' talent. I like when that happens.

I guess the band is called Wonderlick, and the songs we did will be up on the Web, free for the taking. And Penn Jillette will be credited as "Bass and Cymbals." I'm a sessions cat.

Penn

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