[brad1]

I wrote this song about 15 years ago; long before I ever played electric guitar. I wrote in on a acoustic guitar.
I dug it up out of my crypt (manila folder) of songs and decided to electrify it.

Although it's a 5 minute song, it's really only 4 minutes long. The last minute or so is just me pretending to be a lead guitar player .
In fact there's probably more lead guitar on this song than I have ever recorded. Why the hell I did that is beyond me.

And if you're a cowbell fan, then you might want to check it out.
As I was working on the project I kept hearing a voice (sounded a lot like Christopher Walken) saying to me, "MORE COWBELL......."
So it has a lot. It starts with it and ends with it.

OK, enough, here it is. Tell me what you think.

http://soundcloud.co...now-that-i-know

Now That I Know
Which way do I go
My two feet won’t tell me and so
I tarry away
No need to hurry it’s OK

Now that I know
All of my friends they told me so
And if they all go
I’ll get some new friends don’t you know

Stop bringing me down
I don’t want to share your piece of ground
I’ll stand on my own
And I will never be alone

Now that I know
Jesus he loves me he told me so
The way that I go
Leads to a destination

Now that I know.......Now that I know
Now that I know , my eyes are open, now that I know
Now that I know, things will be better now that I know

Why did you lie?
Now I have to say goodbye
I can be on my own
And never ever feel alone

Now that I know..........

[RaSTuS]

Sort of reminds me of Lou Reed, the cowbell was quite effective and I don't think it was overdone, the lead on the outro was tasty too, could also hear the doubling up of vocals, that was pretty cool, good one Brad.

EDIT: Can't download it though, used to be able to download stuff from SoundCloud, they must have blocked that now.

[bigneil]

Great stuff brad, that sounded good and I enjoyed it. You have great song writing potential, and your rhythm playing was spot on. I liked what you did with your vocals too, nice harmonizing. You also showed that you had put a lot of thought into the lead guitar playing which is more important than just randomly widdling over the rhythm guitar. Keep working on your lead playing , and keep up the good work.

[brad1]

RaSTuS, on 09 April 2012 - 11:19 AM, said:

Sort of reminds me of Lou Reed, the cowbell was quite effective and I don't think it was overdone, the lead on the outro was tasty too, could also hear the doubling up of vocals, that was pretty cool, good one Brad.

EDIT: Can't download it though, used to be able to download stuff from SoundCloud, they must have blocked that now.

Thanks a lot Rob!
I can see the Lou Reed comparison. Raw sounding guitar, and at times I'm almost talking rather than singing.
I'm glad you liked the stuff at the end. It was all improvised. I always have fun tearing up the fretboard when a song is fading out. That way you can't really hear all the bad mistakes as much.
Thanks for taking the time to listen.

bigneil, on 09 April 2012 - 11:24 AM, said:

Great stuff brad, that sounded good and I enjoyed it. You have great song writing potential, and your rhythm playing was spot on. I liked what you did with your vocals too, nice harmonizing. You also showed that you had put a lot of thought into the lead guitar playing which is more important than just randomly widdling over the rhythm guitar. Keep working on your lead playing , and keep up the good work.

What a very positive and uplifting review you gave Neil. I appreciate it so much!
The rhythm guitar track was done on my Epi SG Jr. All the lead stuff was done on my Squier SSH VM Telecaster (all done on the Mini-humbucker). These are my two "least expensive" guitars.
Thanks again!

[SNick]

I'm a fan. Thanks, that was good. I think it needs MORE COW BELL.......

[LPDEN]

SNick, on 09 April 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

I'm a fan. Thanks, that was good. I think it needs MORE COW BELL.......

+2! Vocals may have been a bit too hot, maybe back the vocals down slightly for more equalization with the instruments??? Keep it up!

[Stevie Nazarenie]

Great stuff Brad! You are unique in a good way!

[eggs]

I see what you did there Brad

[brad1]

SNick, on 09 April 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

I'm a fan. Thanks, that was good. I think it needs MORE COW BELL.......

Thank YOU for listening! Really glad you liked it.

LPDEN, on 09 April 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

+2! Vocals may have been a bit too hot, maybe back the vocals down slightly for more equalization with the instruments??? Keep it up!

Thanks a lot! Thanks for the suggestion.

Stevie Nazarenie, on 09 April 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

Great stuff Brad! You are unique in a good way!

Thanks Steve! I take that as high praise indeed.

eggs, on 09 April 2012 - 05:59 PM, said:

I see what you did there Brad

You always seem to see what I'm doing in my songs Stu.


I had a fun time playing the bass on this song.

[Digger]

HI Brad,

Sorry that I haven't joined the comments before now but I have such a slow internet connection that I am unable to stream or watch movie clips. I know yours is audio and I now know what you look like too.

From the comments I see that you have done a good job, and would expect nothing less of a bloke like you.

I didn't want you to think my silence was disapproval mate.

Keep up the good work my friend.

Dig

[damian]

Very nice..........Although I like "Questions" more.........

[stein]

Nice work...and good thread for plusses.

I think I like everything done there....I like the 'style' of the vocal (although, I think it would be a great song for a cover)...I like the atmosphere of the tone of the music....I like the flavor of the leads...but it seems it could use something.

I think I know EXACTLY what this tune needs. MORE Cowbell.

[Stevie Nazarenie]

This cowbell thing is a bit sexist! Bulls have bells too... if you wanna ring 'em! More bull bell!!!

[brad1]

Digger, on 09 April 2012 - 11:33 PM, said:

HI Brad,

Sorry that I haven't joined the comments before now but I have such a slow internet connection that I am unable to stream or watch movie clips. I know yours is audio and I now know what you look like too.

From the comments I see that you have done a good job, and would expect nothing less of a bloke like you.

I didn't want you to think my silence was disapproval mate.

Keep up the good work my friend.

Dig

How great is that? Approval from someone who wasn't even able to hear it?
Gee Rob, that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Thanks my friend.

damian, on 10 April 2012 - 02:13 AM, said:

Very nice..........Although I like "Questions" more.........

Thank you very much Damian. Means a lot to me.
And I like "Questions" better too.

I remember you mentioning a song you were working on.
And I thought you said you were going to post it soon.
How's that going?

stein, on 10 April 2012 - 02:50 AM, said:

Nice work...and good thread for plusses.

I think I like everything done there....I like the 'style' of the vocal (although, I think it would be a great song for a cover)...I like the atmosphere of the tone of the music....I like the flavor of the leads...but it seems it could use something.

I think I know EXACTLY what this tune needs. MORE Cowbell.

Thanks Stein! I appreciate it very much.
You had me going at the end there.

[brad1]

Stevie Nazarenie, on 10 April 2012 - 07:37 AM, said:

This cowbell thing is a bit sexist! Bulls have bells too... if you wanna ring 'em! More bull bell!!!

I thought bulls were cows?

How about, Bovine Bell?

[matiac]

This one's good..."Questions" IS better. The vocals are missing something, although they are "right there". The guitar was very "Kink-ish" to my ear, and the bell was a nice touch. I would maybe back off on the vocal volume a tad, but it's missing something. Can't quite put my finger on what though...good woik!!!

[brad1]

matiac, on 10 April 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

This one's good..."Questions" IS better. The vocals are missing something, although they are "right there". The guitar was very "Kink-ish" to my ear, and the bell was a nice touch. I would maybe back off on the vocal volume a tad, but it's missing something. Can't quite put my finger on what though...good woik!!!

Yeah the guitar does sound kind of "Kink-ish". I was going for that raw sound. Thanks for the positive comments Mat!

I too have felt that something was missing. I almost didn't post the song.
I recorded this song in two days. Started on Friday and finished on Saturday. It usually takes me a week or so to record a song. So I did this way faster than I've ever done. Than I sat on it for a couple of days trying to decide IF I even wanted to post it because I felt there was something "missing" also. And I too can not put my finger on it.
But, oh well, I guess that's what happens when you only spend about 12 hours recording a song, and it's only you.

[stein]

matiac, on 10 April 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

but it's missing something. Can't quite put my finger on what though...good woik!!!

brad1, on 10 April 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

Yeah the guitar does sound kind of "Kink-ish". I was going for that raw sound. Thanks for the positive comments Mat!

I too have felt that something was missing. I felt there was something "missing" also. And I too can not put my finger on it.
But, oh well, I guess that's what happens when you only spend about 12 hours recording a song, and it's only you.

It's cowbell. MORE COWBELL!!!

We don't all have the luxury of having a Cowbell player. If you can't find one, you might have to spend a couple days practicing....and play the HELL out of that Cowbell.

[stein]

On a serious note, obviously the vocal is loud and 'up front' more compared to the rest. It contributes to that demo-ish sound quality. I can't really comment on the overall because I am listening on a computer and not a stereo, but it is good enough to ENJOY as it is, if not a finished product ready for the radio.

As a demo, it gets it done completely. You can clearly hear all the instruments, the recording is good enough to present itself so the listener can understand and appreciate/like the song. Added BONUS you can hear all the words. That's all a demo really needs to do. The song is complete enough to the point it could be performed as it is here. Contrast a 'sucky' demo, where you can't clearly hear the notes or the chords, leaving someone to have to either guess or ask later IF there is a certain thing to be played. Or, an 'unfinished' song that requires someone have come up with a part to make it complete, or a not performed well enough to be able to understand what makes the song happen.

Performance leaves lots of good things to say. Most, including me, can not play all the instruments as well as you do. The TIMING is real, real good. I bet you could separate either the guitar, the bass, or the vocal and it would sound good by itself. The lead playing, while it ain't exactly "Satch", IS enjoyable and worth listening to because it has FLAVOR and adds to the tune. There is more of a 'talking' quality to the vocal rather than singing, but you still do it in TUNE, and it is plenty there to like and understand. You don't seem to reach, but where you do in places, it hits it's mark.

The song, to me, is good enough that IF I were playing, and playing that sort of music in a band, I would add it to the list.

[brad1]

stein, on 10 April 2012 - 02:08 PM, said:

On a serious note, obviously the vocal is loud and 'up front' more compared to the rest. It contributes to that demo-ish sound quality. I can't really comment on the overall because I am listening on a computer and not a stereo, but it is good enough to ENJOY as it is, if not a finished product ready for the radio.

As a demo, it gets it done completely. You can clearly hear all the instruments, the recording is good enough to present itself so the listener can understand and appreciate/like the song. Added BONUS you can hear all the words. That's all a demo really needs to do. The song is complete enough to the point it could be performed as it is here. Contrast a 'sucky' demo, where you can't clearly hear the notes or the chords, leaving someone to have to either guess or ask later IF there is a certain thing to be played. Or, an 'unfinished' song that requires someone have come up with a part to make it complete, or a not performed well enough to be able to understand what makes the song happen.

Performance leaves lots of good things to say. Most, including me, can not play all the instruments as well as you do. The TIMING is real, real good. I bet you could separate either the guitar, the bass, or the vocal and it would sound good by itself. The lead playing, while it ain't exactly "Satch", IS enjoyable and worth listening to because it has FLAVOR and adds to the tune. There is more of a 'talking' quality to the vocal rather than singing, but you still do it in TUNE, and it is plenty there to like and understand. You don't seem to reach, but where you do in places, it hits it's mark.

The song, to me, is good enough that IF I were playing, and playing that sort of music in a band, I would add it to the list.

Thank you very much for your thoughts. I really appreciate it that you took the time to say all that. Few do.
And the fact that you said so many positive things makes me feel great ! It really does. Puts a big smile on my face, I'll tell ya.
Thanks so much Stein.