Recorded at an after hours hang at my good friends house. He has a nice upright piano and we had to manually put the dampener on the strings, but I think it has a cool tone that way. 

Nevermind the mistakes.

Terrible Recordings: Season 1 Episode 3. S1E3. I'll Be Home for Christmas (out in the night)

I Will Survive. What else can you do but stumble blindly forward? As per the mantra of this series, this is a song that I've had in my periphery for a while, but just came across randomly this week. Given the nature of my last post, I found this fitting to lighten the air a bit. So, why don't you join me in donning your favorite cloak and hat and just stumble through this tune here with me. Oh, and in case you didn't notice I'm taking from the Cake version quite a bit, here. Swear word and all. Sorry, chillens!! Forgive the drummer, he is but a machine trapped inside a helpless keyboard. A tragedy of symbiosis, perhaps. Anyway, it was good to let off some steam.

View, share, like, complain, vomit & post it, subscribe, follow into the desert for an extended period of time, you know, download it.


Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 2 - S2E2 -  I Will Survive (From the Centre)

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 7 – S2E7 

Sunny Afternoon (From the Centre) – The Kinks

Has the taxman taken all your dough? Tax Day WAS yesterday, for those of you having sudden panic attacks…maybe it was because your girlfriend ran off with your car..back to her parents place ‘telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty’. No worries though, just keep sippin’ on your drink and lazin’ on a sunny afternoon because the Spring is HERE, ya’ll!! Summer to follow shortly thereafter. Stay tuned.

This weeks Terrible Graphic was submitted by none other than the extremely talented Dara Iya'Afin. Terrible Recordings with Bob Denson first saw her work on display at an art show in Manhattan and was blown away by her style. Next thing you know we commissioned a piece for the Series and here it is!

Her contribution to this weeks ‘Terrible Blog’ here:

"The light in one's eyes shines so much brighter than the light in the sky..."

Info:
Dara Iya'Afin
daraiyaafin@gmail.com
973-851-2216

As for me? Well, I’m about to sail away, unless you give me 2 good reasons to stick around. Maybe you’ll check the series out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/terriblerecordingswithbobdenson to unlock something from the Terrible Treasure Trove by liking a few TRWBD posts, or sharing them, or signing the email list to have the contents of these posts hand-delivered in your email box. Hand…delivered? Those are two different parts of the body, first off, and I was almost de-‘livered’ once. Wasn’t a pleasurable experience.

Keep lazin’ with TRWBD in the background.


Terrible Recordings -  Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 8 – S2E8

Mother Natures Son (In the Park) – The Beatles

So, word on the street is that it’s Earth Day. If only people actually treated the Earth with respect every day. I can go on and on about this…just look up ‘Pale Blue Dot’ by Carl Sagan or ‘The Earth is Fine, the People are..’ by George Carlin for some different perspectives on it.

Anyway, today I took a walk in the park. Branch Brook Park in Newark, that is. It’s got the most Cherry Blossom trees in all of the land..the United States, that is. I managed to find a good spot and sit down to record this amazing Beatles song in honor of Earth Day. It’s almost impossible to do a song like this justice, but I did my best by not rehearsing the song or even warming up before I played it. All in a days work for a Terrible Recording. The graphic was taken in the same spot I recorded the audio…birds a singin’ and everything.
GIG ALERT:

Bob Denson solo show on Saturday April 26th from 9pm – 10pm @ Montclair Center Stage.

Bob Denson was invited to perform a solo ‘acoustic’ show featuring originals and TRWBD fan favorites at the Montclair Center this coming Saturday, April 26th 2014 as part of the Montclair Center Stage series. Thanks go out to Joann Smalls for the invite and the Montclair Center!! The whole show is from 5pm – 10pm and features 3 acts, of which Bob Denson is the last at 9pm. Free admission!! All ages!!! Click the link below to get more details and don’t forget to click the ‘going’ button!

Subscribers to the Terrible Mailing List already have a nice warm spot in their emailbox with this weeks recording, blog and graphic. Jealous? You should be ;-) Go ‘head and become a Terrible Subscriber by signing up over at https://bobdenson.com/terrible-recordings-with-bob-denson for your weekly dose. It’s a great way to unlock the Terrible Treasure Trove, too ;-P Read back a few posts to learn more.


Terrible Recordings - S2E8 - Mother Natures Son (In the Park) - The Beatles

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 9 – S2E9

Back in the High Life Again (From the Centre) – Will Jennings/Steve Winwood

This is an old school song for me. Again, one I’ve never covered, but have periodically blasted in my car when I was feeling really good/bad/ugly. It really makes me think of my parents because they, like most good music I listen to, turned me onto it. 

I started to try it as just a piano tune and I wasn’t feelin’ it. So, I plugged my keys and acoustic guitar into the PA and kept the volume…reasonably low. I swear. 

Something you should know about the album (of the same name) that this comes from, and the Arc of a Diver album, is that Steve Winwood basically played all the instruments himself. So, with that in mind I decided to try it with my loop pedal, acoustic (clean/distortion), and my keyboard. As I remark at the end of the recording, “If Steve Winwood can play all the instruments, why can’t I?

Favorite Lyric:
It used to seem to me
That my life ran off too fast
And I had to take it slowly
Just to make the good parts last
But when you’re born to run
It’s so hard to just slow down
So don’t be surprised to see me
Back in the bright part of town.
*snare crack*

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 9 – S2E9 - Back In The High Life Again

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 10 – S2E10 - 

Lean on Me (From the Centre) - Bill Withers

I was inspired to terribly record this song because of a documentary I recently watched called "20 Feet From Stardom" that catalogues the lives of several of the backup singers we've been singing along with our whole lives. Incredible story. Go watch it on Netflix or something. At the end, they do an incredible arrangement of this song that has a really cool reharmonization..which I did not attempt in this version.  

What I DID attempt, however, is to use my BOSS RC-300 loop pedal to record loops in that last for different lengths. It didn't work...lol. These things happen. You can hear it stutter (hey I do that too!!) a bit at one point and instead of re-recording it like any sane person would do, I'm putting it up here for all to hear. Why not?? Sometimes it's good to swallow your pride. Believe me, you'll hear me using these pedals the right way...at some point.

Anyway, the pic is of one of my favorite instruments..I also happen to own it and that makes me very lucky and very happy. It was recently set up by George Goumas of The Fretworks. If you do not know this man, you are TRULY missing out. Seriously. Not only does he do the best work I've ever seen, he is a really, really, really awesome person. He's right up the road, too. South Orange,  NJ to be specific. Call him up if you have an instrument that has strings on it and it needs work. I like to call him my 'guitar doctor', in jest, but the truth is the guy is a master luthier and his work is incomparable. Check it out!! http://thefretworks.com If you're lucky, he'll take you on as a new client. If not, as Mr. Withers says, there's always tomorrow.

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 10 – S2E10 - Lean on Me (From the Centre) - Bill Withers

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 11 – S2E11

Sweet Pea – Amos Lee

A fun one that is actually from this century!! Yayuh!!! A fan reminded me that basically everything I’ve posted on this page leans to a previous generation, which is something that I didn’t do on purpose, but doesn’t really surprise me, honestly. You kids and your fancy new music..

I’m sure some of you are trying to figure out where you’ve heard this song and it’s easy to explain. It was in a commercial not a few years back and might’ve actually gotten some airplay, too. Who knows?? Not me, sweet pea…I’m not a frequenter of frequency modulation radio unless I’m in a store somewhere.

As for the Terrible Graphic, well, I think it speaks for itself. I dedicate this song to that bag of baby sweet peas, to whom I sang the song for.


Favorite lyric:

"Woo!!"

Terrible Recordings – Sweet Pea by Amos Lee

Terrible Recordings - Season 2 Episode 12 – S2E12

I Hope This Helps – Anthony Walker

I am very pleased to record a song by Anthony Walker this week. It was a great way to cap off this 2nd season of Terrible Recordings with Bob Denson. Not only is Anthony an incredibly talented composer and performer, he is also someone I consider to be a great friend of mine. By a matter of some luck and planning, Anthony and I will be sharing a bill this weekend!! That hasn’t happened since…I don’t remember when, honestly.  

Follow Anthony: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.walker.735/
Check out his music: http://www.reverbnation.com/anthonywalker

Montclair Center Stage is featuring Anthony Walker and Bob Denson between 6:30pm and 10pm. We will each do an extended set alone and play a shorter set together. It is outside.

Check it out:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1415864958692216/

This tune is the last on his acoustic EP “The Sea Goes on Forever” which is close to the only actual ‘CD’ that I still listen to, these days. “When Strangers Say Hello” and “This City Won’t Sleep” are his full length band LP releases. I HIGHLY recommend you check his stuff out. Seriously. Go. 

Follow Anthony: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.walker.735/
Check out his music: http://www.reverbnation.com/anthonywalker


Terrible Recordings –I Hope This Helps – Anthony Walker

Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 1 – S3E1

Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise - The Avett Brothers

Welcome to Season 3 of TRWBD. Again, the mantra here is to plop a cell phone down somewhere, turn on the voice recorder app, and play/sing a song that is out of the comfort zone…and preferably, has never been attempted by the performer. Now, a bit of a secret is that the RECORDING is playfully ‘Terrible’, not that the performance is. Although, by the nature of playing such random music, who knows what will happen?? The idea is to stretch out and not mind the imperfections.

Here is a song by the Avett Brothers that I’ve never tried before today. Oh, and it’s from this century!! Is this what Einstein meant when he talked about being relative? ;-P Seriously though, great song and very moving lyrics. I like to think this weeks 'Terrible Graphic' catches what it is to be on the street with a head full of doubt. I know I can't see much when I feel that way.

GIG ALERT:
Bob Denson: Solo show at Tierney’s Tavern Music Festival. Sat. 5/31/14 @ 2pm.

https://www.facebook.com/events/657402210982286/689469584442215/

Bob Denson will be performing an ‘acoustic’ solo act on guitar/loop pedals at Tierney’s Tavern Music Festival this coming Saturday, May 31st @ 2pm. I am honored that I was asked to play at such an event for a great local establishment. It’s really going to be awesome, so you guys should all come out!! ALL AGES (til 8pm) and FREE (12pm – 1am) with 19 bands playing.

Favorite Lyric:
“…decide what to be and go be it.”


Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 1 – Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise - The Avett Bros

Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 2 – S3E2

I’m From New Jersey – John Gorka

This song should be the anthem of the great Garden State. It’s a tune that I’ve admired from afar and if I’ve played it before, it’s been years. As usual, just put the phone down a record it Terribly to see what happens.

John Gorka is a wonderful baritone voiced singer/songwriter that was actually born in Edison, NJ!! Pretty cool. Perhaps my favorite line is the one about the tolls on the parkway. That is what inspired this weeks ‘Terrible’ Graphic which was actually taken on the Parkway itself during some of its famed traffic. At least there was a rainbow.


Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 2 – S3E2  I’m From New Jersey – John Gorka

Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 3 – S3E3

Gone – Jack Johnson

A nice short tune that I’ve always admired, but never really played. The lyrics are really meaningful to me. It’s all about being yourself and accepting who you are without reservation. Keep the bridges open, keep your mind shining on.

The Terrible Graphic is of a butterfly exhibit I went to this weekend and I think really symbolizes the purity of just existing and being who you are. If the birds don’t wanna sing, let the butterflies.


Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 3 – S3E3 - Gone - Jack Johnson

Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 4 – S3E4

Summertime – George Gershwin

Welp, it’s almost summertime, people. In fact, it technically starts on Saturday, but I guess the weather just wanted to get a jump-start today. I decided to try singing “Summertime” this week and to give it a go in the style of Sam Cooke. Loop pedal solo included…free of charge ;-)

This ‘Terrible’ Graphic was snapped on a bit of a road trip over the Delaware River on a nice sunny (almost) summer day. I hope the livin’ is easy for everyone this summer.

Terrible Recordings - Season 3 Episode 4 – S3E4 - Summertime - George Gershwin

Bob Denson subscribes to duality. What is the sun without the moon? Good without evil? Good recordings without bad recordings? 

He is a multi-personed conscious being who has too much to say on too many instruments to two too many people. Give me the lever of song, this page to make my stand, and I will move the world.

UPDATED EVERY TUESDAY!!
Musicians! Contact me to be considered as a featured guest on '2 for 2uesdays!!' We'll meet up, throw down, and maybe the listeners will throw up!! (Ok, that was bad, I'm outta here)

BobDenson

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