Kid Charlemagne

**maplebaby** · 04-30-2014, 12:45 PM

We've picked five incredible Steely Dan songs and tried to capture the grooves, chord structures, instrumentation & the creative genius in the writing and playing. Please welcome our friends Tom, Jim, Kenny, Dan, Tyler, Kevin, Jessica, Liz and Amanda to the Lab! Thanks for listening - LLB
Check us out at Lexington Lab Band & follow us on twitter @lex_lab_band.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 04-30-2014, 12:55 PM

Yes, there's gas in the car!

**AlainJazz** · 04-30-2014, 03:19 PM

Awesome!

**339 in june** · 04-30-2014, 04:27 PM

Wonderful !
Are you the man with the Tele ? Nice playing !

**maplebaby** · 04-30-2014, 07:28 PM

i am on the tele...thanks each for giving this your time and the posts are sincerely appreciated!

best,
dale

**newsense** · 05-01-2014, 03:08 AM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

Yes, there's gas in the car!

Hey - they stole my tag line !

**runeo** · 05-01-2014, 03:15 AM

Do you know that Steely Dan stole it?

**newsense** · 05-01-2014, 03:17 AM

To continue the conversation from a previous thread - that is certainly one of the guitar solos that has to be played verbatim (or whatever the musical equivalent of that term is) and again you nailed it. So now we know what Larry C might sound like playing a Tele ! Great playing - the whole band are incredibly tight. I've enjoyed going back and listening to your Doobie covers again this week.

**newsense** · 05-01-2014, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by runeo

Do you know that Steely Dan stole it?

I bought the album in 1976, the week it was released !

I remember a Becker and Fagen interview at the time, in which they were bitchin' about the quality of the vinyl pressings for The Royal Scam. I can testify to the truth of their complaints as my version jumped a groove at a certain point in Kid Charlemagne. Even today, when listening to the LLB version and having listened to the Dan's recording (now digitally) thousands of times, I still expect to hear the glitch as if it were part of the song.

**maplebaby** · 05-01-2014, 08:38 AM

newsense - the kind feedback on the solo really means a lot to me, thanks! No way for this player to ever even come close to recreating the magic LC gave us in the original, but working it up added even more respect toward one of the greatest guitarist IMO of the current era. Great story about the vinyl record!

thanks for each post - the kind words and sharing of time are greatly appreciated, dale.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 05-01-2014, 11:59 AM

I just realized I was mishearing the lyrics all these years. I thought I heard:

Did you feel like Jesus
Did you realize
That you were Italian in their eyes

Made sense to me!

**Patrick2** · 05-01-2014, 01:24 PM

Another great cover of another great tune. Once again great guitar work. Were these all done the same day? I noticed everyone's wearing the same clothing.

**maplebaby** · 05-01-2014, 11:21 PM

thanks Patrick2...please know your feedback means a lot and i greatly appreciated the kind words sir.

Yes all shot in one evening. We pick an artist, a set list, then work on parts for 30-60 days generally. We rehearse one evening and then shoot the vids the next.

With SD the material was obviously much more complex, so we picked the set list about 4 months out - charted the horns and BGV's, assigned guitar parts and we all began to work. We rehearsed the rhythm section alone once, then rehearsal with full band and shot the next night. We make 3 passes at each tune for the video team to get all the shots we have to choose from, we also have the audio tracks from each pass to choose the best from.

Again, please know i greatly appreciate your kind words and thanks for your interest, dale.

**fep** · 05-01-2014, 11:48 PM

Great guitar playing, great everything. Amazing you did it with one rehearsal. Studio musicians?

**fep** · 05-01-2014, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by newsense

So now we know what Larry C might sound like playing a Tele !

Larry C on a Tele sounds like... Larry C

**maplebaby** · 05-02-2014, 06:40 AM

thanks for the link - loved it!

we rehearsed the rhythm section then the whole band - then shot videos. We had the set list picked about 4 months before we rehearsed so we all woodshed our parts and when we get together there's very little to tweak since for the most part we are trying to capture the original recording. We work out endings and any little nuances that we may differ on and then we shoot. None of us are 'studio' players in that we do this as our primary income... we all have other jobs...that said we've all recorded quite a bit in many different configurations.

thanks for your interest,
dale

**newsense** · 05-02-2014, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by fep

Larry C on a Tele sounds like... Larry C

Naw....surely that's just a 335 inside a Tele body !

**Doctor Jeff** · 05-02-2014, 02:34 PM

Nice work again!

I think I read somewhere that LC played a Tele on that song. He frequently plays a Tele on tour - says he prefers it for blues and bebop licks. (His bio also mentions he was shot in the throat and almost killed in 1988...didn't know that, glad he recovered.)

**maplebaby** · 05-02-2014, 02:46 PM

i saw him live shortly after he was shot, which happened in his home. he lost a vocal chord as well as the ability to sing and i think took significant rehab to play again. I can't imagine having to learn twice to play like he does!

thanks again for giving this a look,
dale

**fep** · 05-02-2014, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff

Nice work again!

I think I read somewhere that LC played a Tele on that song. He frequently plays a Tele on tour - says he prefers it for blues and bebop licks. (His bio also mentions he was shot in the throat and almost killed in 1988...didn't know that, glad he recovered.)

I remember that as I was a big fan of his before it happened. I searched out all the information I could get my hands regarding the shooting and his recovery. He was a singer, at least on a few of his tunes, before the incident. He lost half his vocal chords and had little or no use of his left arm and hand after the shooting. He went through a grueling and long rehab.

I went to one of the first shows after his recovery (was it a year or years later? can't remember). I remember him whispering in a very weak voice his appreciation for all the support he had gotten from his fans. Then broke into his first tune... there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

**maplebaby** · 05-03-2014, 05:45 AM

great story - thanks for sharing, and so thankful he survived that incident. That tour he called HIP - helping innocent people - i had the bucketlist privilege of meeting him that night - Terry Trotter was still his keyboard player and LC and band were nothing short of amazing.

**bluemusic4us** · 05-03-2014, 10:50 AM

Not bad for a bunch of good ol' boys from Kentucky.

When are you coming to Chicago?!

You would do well at Fitzgeralds or Wire . . .

**fumblefingers** · 05-06-2014, 12:52 AM

yep, shot in his driveway in Hollywood.

Hollywood isn't what people think it is. And it's worse now than it was then.

Even Beverly Hills has homeless people and hustlers shaking you down on Rodeo Drive when you're shopping, or just out for a stroll. When you go the the pharmacy a couple of blocks away from there you have more shakedown artists and beggars, day and night. They come out of the shadows to surprise you when you're with your woman.

Still, I like LA for some reason. Go figure.

**maplebaby** · 05-06-2014, 01:04 PM

fumblefingers - thanks for the post and insights. These days LC is just down the road from me in Music City - saw Robben Ford one night in Nash and Mr. C was in the club watching him as a fan as well. Very cool.

best,
dale

**Doctor Jeff** · 05-09-2014, 05:57 PM

I listened to Royal Scam again today for the umpteenth time. What a great album in every way, what tasty guitar licks. Each one is a masterpiece.

While the music doesn't have the "band" feel of Countdown to Ecstasy (because they were all hired guns, not a working band), and the instrumentals aren't as stretched out as those of Denny and Skunk on the former album, RS is still IMO the high point of the Dan's output. Each instrumental makes a concise statement. Every note is exactly as it should be. Perfection.