Gael MacGregor's Blog, page 3
September 13, 2013
Trust Me
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Words & Music by Barry Coffing, Gael MacGregor & Sam Winans
© Barry Coffing Songs, MacMusic Magic & Betsy Winans Music
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Trust us! 
Another case of Sam getting the ball rolling. 
He was playing a short progression/groove on the piano one day when Barry & I came into the studio for a different project’s session.
Never one to waste an opportunity, Barry started humming some stuff and we weren’t sure where it would be going, but he said, “It’s gonna be a good one—trust me”.
We all started laughing and I said, “I guess we have our title”.
I said I wanted something that could be viewed in more than one way⎯not just a man/woman song, but maybe a tongue-in-cheek dialogue from God to all of us. We thought it would be fun to create a double entendre song turned upside down.
It took a lot of crafting and we threw out a LOT of lyrics before we all agreed on the ones that would make up the final song.
It took awhile before we completed the horn tracks, but it was definitely worth the wait. Sam & Dave Blumberg put together a really sexy horn arrangement and Dale Penner mixed the track, giving the low sax a terrific vitality & prominence that really cements the sassy, bluesy groove.
Gael
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CREDITS:
Produced by Barry Coffing
Engineered by Chris Hufford & Bobby Ginsberg
Mixed by Dale Penner
Recorded at Tempo Studios—Hollywood, CA, USA
Mixed at Hipposonic Studios—Vancouver, BC, Canada
Horn Arrangement by Sam Winans & Dave Blumberg
Guitars—Michael Lent
Bass—Osama Afifi
B3 Organ—Greg Mathieson
Piano—Mark Mathieson
Drums—Gary Ponder
Harmonica—John Mirani
Horns—Mark Hollingsworth, Rusty Higgins, Wayne Bergeron, Andy Martin, Sal Lozano & Rick Baptist
Background Vocals—Gael MacGregor, Ramona Wright, Julie Chadwick, Barry Coffing, & Jane Fontana
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Southern Soul
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Words & Music by Barry Coffing, Gael MacGregor & Ramona Wright
© Barry Coffing Songs, MacMusic Magic & Cosmotion Music
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Southern Lady
in training 
This was the song that basically gave us the new name for the genre we seemed to be creating: Southern Soul—a mixture of country, good time rock & roll, R&B, blues & gospel.
It continues the themes of independence, confidence and fun times, ever reminding the listener that “I won’t do things that I might regret, but I might do things you won’t forget”.
Gael
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CREDITS:
Produced by Barry Coffing
Engineered & Mixed by Chris Hufford
Recorded & Mixed at Tempo Studios—Hollywood, CA, USA
Horn Arrangement by Sam Winans
Guitars—Michael Lent
Bass—Osama Afifi
B3 Organ—Greg Mathieson
Piano—Mark Mathieson
Drums—Gary Ponder
Harmonica—John Mirani
Horns—Bob Clark, Clay Jenkins, Tom Whaley, Dave Stambaugh, Beverly Dahlke & Sal Lozano
Background Vocals—Gael MacGregor, Ramona Wright, Julie Chadwick, Barry Coffing & Jane Fontana
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Lucky Love
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Words & Music by Gael MacGregor, Ramona Wright & Barry Coffing
© MacMusic Magic, Cosmotion Music & Barry Coffing Songs
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Mama & Daddy
a REAL “Lucky Love”
This was our one tribute to traditional country (with a little kick of pop).
I’d written the song years before we tweaked and recorded it, but it retains the original flavor and didn’t stray too far from its original feel-good country roots.
The funniest part of recording this was when Barry ‘fired’ me as a backup singer. He said we were getting too much “waxy, Gael buildup” on the track, so he, Ramona and Julie took over on the backing vocals.
Gael
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CREDITS:
Produced by Barry Coffing
Engineered & Mixed by Chris Hufford
Recorded & Mixed at Tempo Studios—Hollywood, CA, USA
Guitars—Michael Lent
Bass—Osama Afifi
Piano—Mark Mathieson
Drums—Gary Ponder
Harmonica—John Mirani
Background Vocals—Ramona Wright, Julie Chadwick & Barry Coffing
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Lock Your Pocket
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Words & Music by Gael MacGregor, Sam Winans & Ramona Wright
(with a thanks to Stuart Weinstein for the title & inspiration)
© MacMusic Magic, Betsy Winans Music & Cosmotion Music
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No pockets to lock!
This song actually developed from a real incident. Some years before, Ramona, Barry & I were in a band that did a song called “Lock Your Pocket”. The guy who wrote it wanted to ditch all the lyrics and asked Ramona and I to pen some new ones. He said a friend of his was in a bank, set his briefcase down for a moment to make a transaction, and when he went to pick it up, it was gone. His comment? “I gotta remember to lock my pocket from now on.”
With that inspiration, Ramona and I wrote some lyrics and (of course) the band promptly broke up.
Fast forward to the studio with Sam Winans (our string & horn arranger and studio owner) playing a bluesy & fun guitar progression during a break. I started humming some melody ideas and realized that our old “Lock Your Pocket” lyrics would fit really well, so starting fooling around with them. Sam made a few adjustments to the progression, and a new “Lock Your Pocket” was born in about an hour. Sam & Mike Lent put together a kicking arrangement, and I recorded a final lead vocal in 22 minutes.
Barry was mad ‘cause I beat his prior studio record.
The horns were recorded well after the initial sessions, and we were quite fortunate to have Dale Penner (producer/engineer for Nickelback’s breakout CD, ‘The State’) taking care of the final mix.
Gael
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CREDITS:
Produced by Barry Coffing
Engineered by Chris Hufford & Bobby Ginsberg
Mixed by Dale Penner
Recorded at Tempo Studios—Hollywood, CA, USA
Mixed at Hipposonic Studios—Vancouver, BC, Canada
Horn Arrangement by Sam Winans
Instrumental Arrangement by Sam Winans & Michael Lent
Guitars—Michael Lent
Bass—Osama Afifi
B3 Organ—Greg Mathieson
Piano—Mark Mathieson
Drums—Gary Ponder
Harmonica—John Mirani
Horns—Mark Hollingsworth, Rusty Higgins, Wayne Bergeron, Andy Martin, Sal Lozano & Rick Baptist
Background Vocals—Gael MacGregor, Ramona Wright & Julie Chadwick
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