the joint chiefs

Half Fast
~ Liner Notes ~

the chiefs
Eliot Osborn: guitar, bass, foot box, keys, vocals
Louise Lindenmeyr: mandolin, button accordion, vocals
George Potts: guitar, bass, vocals

~ the indians ~
Michael Wiskey: drums
Brian Melick: percussion
Eileen Cozzaglio: violin
The Mighty Half Fast Singers: Bobby MacVeety,Lisa Sturz, Eileen Cozzaglio

Produced and Recorded by the joint chiefs at Don’t Come Over Studios in Taconic, CT.
Mastered by Arthur Adams at Last Stop Digital, Claremont, N.H.

graphic design: Elizabeth Yoakum for Nonobaddog Design
interior photos: Tom Zetterstrom

~ unsung heroes ~
Colter Rule, Stuart Leigh, Charles Emerich, Skip McMillan, Rona Roberts, and everyone at WKZE.

~ the songs ~
1) There Goes My Love (B. Owens) Tree Publishing BMI
2) Come That Day (G. Potts) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
3) Real Life (G.Potts, L.Lindenmeyr) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
4) Just Dance (E. Osborn) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
5) The Last Whippoorwill (J. Nuese, M.Ward) ASCAP
6) Sycamore Shade (G.Potts) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
7) Big Brown Eyes (E.Osborn) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
8) La Libelula (O. Torres) C & P 1999 Le Loup de Faubourg
9) I Don’t Want Love (D, Hicks) Great Guns Publishing ASCAP
10) Wanna B your Baby (E. Osborn) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
11) Poison Love (E. Laird) Hill & Range Songs BMI
12) I’m Only Sleeping (Lennon-McCartney) Northern Songs BMI
13) Still Kickin’ (E.Osborn) Y.M.I. Publishing ? BMI
14) Someday (M. True) copyright 2003 Marie True

~ about the songs ~

1. There Goes My Love... from a tape of Barry and Holly Tashian recorded on an evening we shared a stage, this song is also available on their most recent release At Home (www.tashian.com)... written by Buck Owens, recorded by the Farmer Boys... earlier than the Everlys, but on the way there to my ears... e.o.

2. Come That Day – written by George in response to one of those ageless questions....inspired by a performance of the old spiritual "Somebody's Callin' My Name", but not about divine retribution....really...g.p.

3. Real Life... George wrote the melody and the changes, I wrote the lyrics... an anti-intellectual’s appeal to just follow one’s natural instincts ... made all the more persuasive with all that smoldering encouragement from Brazil ... l.l.

4. Just Dance... Louise has a favorite memory of two people dancing, without music, at a bus stop in the Dominican Republic... here it’s a husband and a wife just gettin’ goofy ‘round the house... in celebration of those over the top moments so conducive to romance and happiness... e.o.

5. The Last Whippoorwill... an endangered bird cries out for hopeless love...from The Gram Parsons Notebook, co-written by Cornwall resident John Nuese, who played guitar with Gram and poured countless hours into raising Eliot’s awareness of rhythm guitar playing and great country writing many years ago... l.l.

6. Sycamore Shade –  for the early morning light looking west across the Housatonic, and the golden sycamores that line the river in Kent....just lay back, look around and remember that feeling....g.p.

7. Big Brown Eyes ... twenty years ago, under the spell of the Neville’s and the Wild Tchoupitoulas, this song fell out after an afternoon hangin’ with a seven year old... this time with a calypso flavor and spontaneous combustion provided by the Half Fast Singers... don’t wait to be asked, just join in... e.o.

8. La Libelula... from Chile and the throat of Maria Montalvo, ... two dragonflies meet, she bathes at the river’s edge... he appears... they consummate their relationship... he dissolves into thin air... life the way it oughta be..? l.l.

9. I Don't Want Love -  from "Last Train to Hicksville" to "Beatin' the Heat", Dan Hicks musical shenanigans have influenced many a recording...we're proud to have this one be counted among them.....g.p.

10. Wanna B your Baby... inspired by the spare sound of early Al Green/Willie Mitchell collaborations... advancing the notion that what a big tough guy wants and needs in a woman boils down to this when life overwhelms... e.o.

11. Poison Love - the Elmer Laird classic...we are guessing that he was a bit unhappy when he wrote it.... and performed with a big time nod to Buddy Miller, whose candle burns brightly in our shrine....g.p.

12. I’m Only Sleeping... could the music match the mood of the lyric any better...?  I first heard this in someone’s basement at an 8th grade make-out party... still dreamy after all these years... l.l.

13. Still Kickin’... this incantation sprang from haunting and helpless conversations with a close friend whose brother, Kevin Murphy, perished on 9/11/01... for his family and all they continue to work through... in praise of the power of maintaining a positive attitude in the face of despair... e.o.

14. Someday... excavated from a fuzzy tape Eliot made at a reunion of my family in 1986... written by my Aunt Mary who played piano professionally well into her eighties... a standard just waiting to be heard... and wouldn’t that be just wonderful..? l.l.

~ and in case you’re interested... ~

~ "HALF FAST" ~
because this happened that way. We did the tracking in a couple of days, but between life itself, flame outs, crashes and just plain wingin’ it... over a year later, here we are... crawling to the finish line, clinging to the wreckage of the plan.

~ the recording ~
We recorded this using Digital Performer 2.7 on an old beige G3 ( with one 300MHz processor ), which in itself added definition to the title. We used Tube MP preamps, a Neumann TL170R and an AKG 414 on the basic tracks, and the same mics thru an Avalon VT737 preamp for solos and vocals.

~ the production ~
We’re a trio, but because recordings capture a moment for repeated listening, we added stuff and engaged the assistance of a few friends to give these songs a greater depth. All of us arranged... George and Eliot engineered, mixed, and tried to steer the additional players toward what we were hearing.

~ the photos ~
In search of a cover photo, we passed a digital camera through the audience at Music Mountain on September 11th, 2004. One unknown genius and the low light environment did the rest. The really good images of us were captured on 35mm film by Tom Zetterstrom who, among many endeavors, has spent years compiling a museum quality portfolio he calls the Moving Point of View. The image on the CD is a ceremonial "crown " as worn by a chief or village elder of the Nso people in NW Cameroon.


~ the design ~
Elizabeth Yoakum is a painter and graphic artist who achieved everything you are looking at when it would have been a lot easier for her to say no. We were so happy with her similarly sumptuous work on our earlier effort, it matches your juice, we unleashed a ferocious emotional blackmail campaign until she realized that resisting was fruitless. Eliot assisted her in collecting artifact and served as both an objective and subjective eye.

~ in addition ~
George would like to thank the extended Redwood, Sandacres and Amazingrace families, but most of all Elissa, Kate and Sarah... he’ll take out the garbage soon.  Louise would like to thank the Ravin’ Mavens, the True family, Rosalie, Nicolette and her Mom and Dad for the lifetime of love and support.  Eliot would like to thank the men and women of Outerspace, Steve Gaboury, Barry & Holly Tashian, John Nuese, Eileen Joyner, and Mary Beth Dougherty... Rosalie and Nicolette, too bad your parents never grew up... Louise, it’s over... I’m going to bed
 

copyright 2005
the joint chiefs

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