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Boyish Man

from Deep Water by Allan Thomas

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about

'Boyish Man' - Backstory:

Following my tradition of including one instrumental on every album, I give you 'Boyish Man'. This one began it's life as an improvised groove that I opened my solo shows with starting around 2005. While noodling around in the key of A minor, and providing background music for folks in bars and restaurants - hey, a song's gotta start somewhere - I stumbled upon this sequence of melodies and chords. After a few weeks of gigging the tune was written, but I had no idea what to call it, till six years later when I was forced to come up with a title for the nearly finished 'Deep Water' CD. Up till then I just referred to it as "groove in A minor". Since the thing was in a minor key and was cloaked in a bluesish vein I started thinking about Muddy Waters and his song 'Manish Boy'. On this song the protagonist brags that even though he's a young man he can pull down the older women. I thought what if you turn that that title around to 'Boyish Man'? Then you would have someone older acting like he was younger. A perfect example of a such a character would be an older dude somewhere in his fifties or sixties surfing, windsurfing and whatever, but charging hard, acting like he was in his twenties. So the title is simply a reversal of roles: 'Manish Boy' is your young man acting like he's older, while 'Boyish Man' is your old man acting like a kid, does that bring anyone to mind?

The recording:

A number of previously written instrumentals sit in the archives awaiting their turn, but on the 'Deep Water' record I opted for this newer composition. Since I'd been playing it for over five years the arrangement was pretty well set, and all I needed to do was invite the right players and the mystery as to what the song would end up sounding like would be revealed. As previously stated elsewhere, I had no preconceived notion where this track was going and what it would wind up becoming when I sat down in the beginning of 2011, opened up a new Pro Tools session and dropped in the first drum loops. As usual my electric guitar came next and was a huge player on this track as it carries the melody around in its chordal structure. After my guitar parts came the fun stuff. From my music sound library I found great sounding samples of real sitar, and played the notes I wanted on my little Oxygen 8 midi keyboard. Following that I discovered and recorded into the session some cool Indian tablas, a Pakastani dholak, an Arabic duff - both percussion instruments - an African clay pot and a Tibetan bell. With the track thus gussied up this puppy was now ready to see the vet.

I brought the tracks over to longtime AT recording bandmate and keyboard magician Michael Ruff, figuring he would know exactly what the song required next. He sure did too, calling on his his fender rhodes piano first, and finishing with a B4 organ part. I can't say enough about how Mike's parts always carry the tune to the next level. The man brings a ton of dynamics, soul, and quirkiness with him to a track, and always keeps it interesting yet percolating with some kind of infectious groove. Here he did the same thing. Now that Mikes parts were onboard along with mine, I could hear what was needed next, and that was some mean slide guitar, and not just any mean slide guitar: we needed the real deal.

As the luck that follows every step of this record's production would have it, who should pop up on island but the man, the myth, the legend, the giant among slide players: Kenneth "Milkstain" Emerson himself. The outsized character and world-class purveyor of music from blues to rock to Hawaiian, has backed Donald Fagen, Jackson Browne and many others of that ilk. He also managed to play one stringed instrument or another on most of my 'Coconut Culture' record in 1997, then contributed to three tracks on 2007's 'Making Up For Lost Time' CD. So Mr. Emerson was no stranger to the unorthodox and elastic style tune offered here. Ken was back on Kauai for a week to play with Todd Rundgren at Todd's new place in Kilauea where the hit internet webcast Live From Daryl's House featuring Daryl Hall and friends was being filmed. The timing of Ken's visit was perfect but for one thing: on the day we set for tracking he was three days into a nasty cold and fever. But as he only had this one day free it had to be now or never. The dude manned up and just sweated it out, recording with me till he knew the long and winding tune inside and out. Ken brings a lot of personality to a track, and I think he did a phenomenal job of capturing the essence of a 'Boyish Man'. With Mr. Emerson's wildly dramatic sonic landscape in residence the track was now ready to have the low end addressed.

Having the renowned and respected bassist Jimmy Johnson already onboard the 'Deep Water' record on several other songs, I knew beyond a shadow that he would absolutely rip this song to pieces. And he didn't let me down. I gave him nary a hint of what to play and added nothing in the way of editing his part. What you hear is what he recorded in his home studio in it's entirety. One word: bad-ass! This guy's appetite for playing knows no limits, he could munch on ten songs like this for breakfast and then ask what's next. So when you invite JJ to record bass on one of your tracks you go in trusting, knowing he is gonna take care of business in a huge way, and you can expect that when he's left his mark, the songs arrangement will have taken a giant leap forward to it's final place. Besides Jimmy's regular gig in the James Taylor band, he's played for a staggering array of diverse artists, including Ray Charles, Sergio Mendez, Aaron Nevill and Stan Getz.

The track was nearly complete but there remained a couple of spots I felt could use a little sweetening. Calling on Los Angeles electronic valve instrument mainstay Judd Miller, I explained what I was looking for. Over the years Judd has kept himself in demand with his sound design work on a plethora of well known blockbuster films for many of the industry's top composers. His unforgettable stamp can be heard on films starting with Rocky, and Star Trek 2, on to his more recent work on Planet Of The Apes, Spiderman and James Cameron's acclaimed sci-fi hit Dark Angel. Not content to dwell in one dimension Judd is also known well for his programming work in the jazz world for the likes of drummer Peter Erskine and tenor sax icon Michael Brecker. Judd Miller and I go back to my southern California days in the late seventies, and he played EVI on several tracks on my 1989 CD 'The Island', adding innumerable textures and colors with his use of synthesized pads, flutes, trumpets and chromatic harmonica, all played through a trumpet mouthpiece. Judd had already given the 'Deep Water' title track a wonderful ambiance with his muted trumpet sound, and I knew he would find something beyond cool for 'Boyish Man'. Mr. Miller conjured the chromatic harmonica sound, but for only a note or two in the bridge. He also brought this shimmering brass pads sound to the few remaining places requiring his attention. After Judd's spot-on parts were laid down the song asked for but one more thing…

It happened that one of my favorite drummers in the world - William Kennedy of the Grammy nominated contemporary jazz group the Yellowjackets - was available for the last four songs on 'Deep Water'. Our mutual friend and guitarist Jeff Richman, had hooked us up, and William said he was game. I was on cloud nine and-a-half at the mere prospect. I thought back to how many times had I imagined him playing on one of my tunes, and now it was becoming reality. I wasn't there for the session which took place in Los Angeles at Paul Tavenner's Big City Recording Studio, just this summer of 2011, but just like I had to trust all the other players on the record who recorded their parts on the mainland without me in attendance, I trusted that this monster player would know precisely what to play on the track. Will listened to the drum loops I had provided for him to get a hint of where I might like a side-stick rim part on a verse, or a snare part on a chorus, and used that as a blueprint, but from then on he was flying solo and just did his own impeccable thing. Upon reviewing his tracks at home - after I picked myself up off the ground - I was jubilant, in awe, the grateful recipient of his dynamically spirited playing, and 'Boyish Man' was not only complete, but was amplified ten-fold by his groovacious part. The recording session also contained Will's drum performances on 'Fall In Love Too Easy', 'It All Comes Down To Love', and 'The Longest Ride'.

Oh yeah, there was one other instrument recorded on 'Boyish Man' that got left out of the final mix, and that was my vocal. I recorded several takes of experimental vocal parts with made up scat-like words to go along with the melody on what would be the chorus. But in the end I realized they were superfluous, and even though I'd spent a couple of hours recording them and a couple of days editing them, I had to say sayonara.

credits

from Deep Water, track released October 18, 2011
Boyish Man - 6:09 - Instrumental

Allan Thomas - Sadowsky nylon electric guitar, sitar, dholak, duff, clay pot, bell

Ken Emerson - fender slide guitar
Michael Ruff - fender rhodes piano, organ
Judd Miller - chromatic harmonica & brass pads
Jimmy Johnson - bass
William Kennedy - drums

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Allan Thomas Hanalei, Hawaii

Aloha and welcome to my Bandcamp Music Store home page. Here you can listen to full-length samples of all seven Allan Thomas albums and three singles. Also to be found are credits, photos, stories and lyrics for all songs. Dig in...

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