Still got 'em

This one was recorded over a fairly short period of time for me (a few months). I used a lot of different musicians because I tried to pick the most appropriate players for the style of each song. At the time, I was fortunate in having a good stable of keyboard players, who all had very different styles. For the songs with organ, I naturally picked the "Baron of the B-3," Dean Germain. Ready for Saturday Night is a jazzy swing number, so the perfect choice for that song was Kevin Wilder, aka "Doctor Monkeylove," a man with jazz chops to burn. Joel Brodsky's walking bass was a great choice on that one, too. We recorded that tune at Morrisound in Tampa, because they have a nice grand piano. On Mr. Miracle Meets His Match, I wanted a rootsy, honky-tonk piano, so I tapped Devin Rice. He recorded the part at his house on a funky old upright.

There were a couple of lost tunes from these sessions. While at Morrisound, we also recorded the instrumental song What A Scene, with Kevin playing the grand piano. At some other point, we tracked a version of the tune with Dean Germain playing organ. At mixdown time, I decided I didn't like either version of the song - it just wasn't up to the quality level of the rest - so I left it out. A live version of that song later appeared on Live in Fribourg.

The rest of the tunes were recorded at Panda Studio in Clearwater, with George Harris working his usual voodoo. If I remember correctly, back in those days we still used a 24-track tape recorder to record the basic tracks (drums, bass, guitar, keys), then transferred to ProTools to do the overdubs. In fact I do remember correctly, because I now recall an evening when the recorder went wild, with tape spewing out on the floor - we got no recording done that night.

I had planned to have my old buddy and blues hero, Rock Bottom, play harp on some of the tunes, but sadly, he left us just before I started recording (inconsiderate of him, I know). So that's why I featured a dedication to him so prominently on the cover (and mentioned him in the lyrics to Another Train Song). Fortunately, my other all-time favorite harp player, TC Carr, was available and did a fantastic job. Tim Eddy's horn arrangements and Sugar and Spice's backing vocals were some thick and rich icing on my cake. Mr. Miracle Meets His Match, a duet with Sandy Atkinson, has turned out to be my most popular song ever - lots of listeners, DJs and pundits have told me it's their favorite.

I recorded the slide parts with "Louise," a Univox ES-355 style hollowbody (in open G, as are all my slide parts). That Word I recorded with my Guild acoustic. On all the rest, I probably used my Mexican Strat.

I'm especially proud of the cover on this one. The two pictures represent the "before" and "after" scenarios described in the title song. I had a limousine, a private plane, etc, then I decided to start a blues band! Devin Rice shot the pictures (in an alley in downtown St Pete, and a rented limo) with a medium-format camera which (despite the name) has a much larger film format than an ordinary camera (120mm instead of 35mm), and thus much higher image quality. We took the negatives to a service bureau, who scanned them at 1200 dpi, then brought the files into Photoshop to design the cover. These pix are so sharp and clear that I was able to blow one of them up to make a 11x17-inch poster, and it still looks fantastic.

All songs written by Charlie Morris. All guitar and lead vocals by Charlie Morris, except on Mr. Miracle Meets His Match, which is a duet with Sandy Atkinson.
Basic tracks on Ready for Saturday Night recorded at Morrisound Recording Studios, Tampa FL. Engineer: Tom Morris.
Everything else recorded at Panda Studios, Clearwater FL. Engineers: George Harris & Brian Seachrist.
Cover design & photos: Devin Rice.

1 - Still Got 'Em (3:54)
Drums - Tom Telschow
Bass - Mark Irvin
Organ - Dean Germain
Bone - Frankie J. Thompson
Sax - Tim Eddy
Sax Solo - Dave Cotton
Trumpet - Rob Scharer
Horn Arrangement - Tim Eddy

2 - Cain't Hep M'sef (2:36)
Drums - Tom Bell
Bass - Mike Chavers
Organ - Dean Germain
Bone - Frankie J. Thompson
Sax - Dave Cotton
Harp - T.C. Carr
Backing Vocals - Sugar and Spice

3 - Mr. Miracle Meets His Match (5:26)
Bass - Mark Irvin
Vocal - Sandy Atkinson
Comments - Sugar and Spice
Piano - Devin Rice

4 - Ready for Saturday Night (5:01)
Drums - Tom Bell
Bass - Joel Brodsky
Piano - Kevin Wilder
Bone - Frankie J. Thompson
Sax - Tim Eddy
Trumpet - Rob Scharer
Horn Arrangement - Tim Eddy

5 - Another Train Song (3:16)
Drums - Tom Bell
Bass - Mike Chavers
Harp - T.C. Carr

6 - The First One (3:31)
Drums - Tom Telschow
Bass - Mark Irvin
Organ - Dean Germain

7 - Not Much Glory, Not Much Gold (3:29)
Drums - Tom Bell
Bass - Mike Chavers
Organ - Dean Germain

8 - That Word (4:43)

9 - Jenny (5:13)
Drums - Tom Telschow
Bass - Mark Irvin
Organ - Dean Germain
Bone - Frankie J. Thompson
Sax - Dave Cotton
Backing Vocals - Sugar and Spice