• Songs
  • Apologies to P. F. Sloan
2015/10/10 02:32:07
Bert Guy
The Bert Guy Five re-imagine Secret Agent Man:
 
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=587673&songID=13224423
 
All crits and comments welcome
 
Cheers,
 
Bert
2015/10/10 16:58:03
gruverider
Good sounding nylon guitar. And I like the flute too.
 
much enjoyed!
2015/10/13 03:48:36
synkrotron
 
Hi Bert,
 
I wasn't sure what to expect, but then the Bond theme kicked in... Made me smile that did haha...
 
Not sure if there were a few "timing issues" in one or two places... 
 
Mix sounded good to me
 
 
2015/10/13 17:09:25
kevinwal
I love this song. In fact, our band performs this song quite often, and it's in our catalog because I threw a hissy fit to get it in, and now it's a crowd favorite. It's nice to be right once in a while. :)
 
Anyway, I like the laid-back style of the arrangement and the casual vocals, it's nice to hear someone revisit an old classic with a new approach. And a flute solo! Yeah, man, I wanted to snap my fingers when it was over. :)  The mix itself sounds very clean with a really nice separation of instruments that blend nicely together, so you don't have too many issues there. The vocal sounds pretty in-your-face to my ear, but not so much that I don't have some doubts about recommending you dial them back. I think a just a bit of reverb on the vocal is worth trying given the low register and soft style you're featuring, it might sound pretty cool. Please note that I'm very likely full of beans here.
 
I will agree with the previous post that there are a number of timing issues with various performances in the song that tend to damage the vibe you're going for here and which dampen the flow of the song in places. I can totally empathize with struggles like that because it's something I've had challenges with too and metronome work is a big part of my practice routine. In any case, judicious dubbing of timing mistakes would help quite a lot.
 
This is an impressive mix, though with a great sound.
2015/10/19 01:27:56
Bert Guy
Hey Guys,
I am a little slow getting back to you.
 
Gruverider: thanks for listening and the kind words.
 
Synkotron : thanks for the kind words @ the mix- that's not usually  my forte. And yes, there are timing issues for sure, esp in the 2nd verse. The biggest culprit is Berto Tipo Cuatro on nylon string guitar- he's all over the place. I'm going to have to re-record a lot of his part.
 
Cheers and thanks again,
 
Bert
2015/10/19 02:02:46
Bob Oister
Hey, Bert,
 
Very cool and interesting take on an oldie but goodie!  I remember watching the original TV show when I was a kid.
 
Really great job on all the performances, it's got a fresh, smooth vibe and a nice clean sounding mix.
 
Nice vocals, I really love the piano breaks and the guitar and flute are also well done.
 
Good stuff, Bert, it's always fun to hear a stylized version of a classic!
 
Have a great night!
Bob
2015/10/19 04:40:19
synkrotron
Bert Guy
Synkotron : thanks for the kind words @ the mix- that's not usually  my forte. And yes, there are timing issues for sure, esp in the 2nd verse. The biggest culprit is Berto Tipo Cuatro on nylon string guitar- he's all over the place. I'm going to have to re-record a lot of his part.

 
Ah... Right... I wasn't too sure.
 
Give me a shout if you redo this
 
cheers
 
andy
 
2015/10/21 01:22:27
Bert Guy
kevinwal
I love this song. In fact, our band performs this song quite often, and it's in our catalog because I threw a hissy fit to get it in, and now it's a crowd favorite. It's nice to be right once in a while. :)
 
Anyway, I like the laid-back style of the arrangement and the casual vocals, it's nice to hear someone revisit an old classic with a new approach. And a flute solo! Yeah, man, I wanted to snap my fingers when it was over. :)  The mix itself sounds very clean with a really nice separation of instruments that blend nicely together, so you don't have too many issues there. The vocal sounds pretty in-your-face to my ear, but not so much that I don't have some doubts about recommending you dial them back. I think a just a bit of reverb on the vocal is worth trying given the low register and soft style you're featuring, it might sound pretty cool. Please note that I'm very likely full of beans here.
 I will agree with the previous post that there are a number of timing issues with various performances in the song that tend to damage the vibe you're going for here and which dampen the flow of the song in places. I can totally empathize with struggles like that because it's something I've had challenges with too and metronome work is a big part of my practice routine. In any case, judicious dubbing of timing mistakes would help quite a lot.
 
This is an impressive mix, though with a great sound.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kevin,
Thank you for the kind words, esp @ the mix. Yes, there are some timing issues, and I will clean them up as best I can.  I decided to run the whole mix through a 'small room' reverb hoping that would give it a natural feel.
 
And yeah, I've loved this song since I first heard it as an intro to the 1964 TV show Secret Agent. I think P F Sloan's droning modal guitar riff really caught my ear. I saw Johnny Rivers a few years back at Boulder Station in Vegas. The SAM riff was the intro as JR came on stage and he saved an extended playing of the song for the climax of the show. BTW, that was an outstanding show. 

Cheers,
 
Bert
2015/10/22 00:00:30
kevinwal
I love JR but I've never seen him live. My other favorite by him is Memphis. I think if you dialed back the vocals just a wee bit and softened it with delay or reverb you might like what you hear. Then again, maybe not.
2015/10/31 01:44:15
Bert Guy
Bob,
Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I wanted to do something completely different with SAM than the original version. I went for a jazz feel, which is not much of a stretch as the song was modal to start with.  
 
Cheers,
 
Bert
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