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| Chris Houston's great new Paranoid Bubble album has contributions from Mary Margret O'Hara, Randy Bachman, Michael Fonfara, Herbie Spanier & other pals. |
Chris Houston's latest album release Paranoid Bubble is a collection of recordings made over a period of years in various cities with an enormous cast of celebrated musicians including Guess Who and BTO guitar god Randy Bachman, Toronto vocalist extraordinaire Mary Margaret O'Hara, session keyboardist Michael Fonfara, jazz trumpeter Herbie Spanier and Sun Studios rockabilly guitar slinger deluxe Roland Janes! And how the heck does Chris Houston get all these credible singers and players to record his often unhinged experiments in unpopular song? Well, they each happen to be a close personal friend and have been for ages. And when Houston calls them for a session, they know it'll involve something they probably wouldn't try recording themselves and also that whatever goes on, it'll be a good time. Here are a few of Chris Houston's memories of recording with the people who helped create the music you'll encounter on Paranoid Bubble which follows below.
Mary Margaret O'Hara
"When recording Mary Margaret I always do multiple takes so there's a Sea of Mary's voice. She naturally orchestrates the song in her mind as she goes so when all the takes are used – with no editing – it makes sense. You don't mess with genius from planet Mary Margaret – you're just grateful. She would do these crazy chicken sounds and created a barnyard of insanity. Once a week, my late father would ask me when are you going into studio with Mary Margaret. Daddy always had good taste in music."
Michael Fonfara, Herbie Spanier and Terry Wilkins
"We recorded 'Hello Satan' at Elvis Monday downstairs at the Drake Hotel before renovations. The acoustics of the room were stunning. Terry Wilkins nailed all his parts on the first take. We were on the road so we were tight Herbie's horn really galvanized us. I think it was last time I played with him. Michael Fonfara did his dubs playing Curly Bridges' Hammond organ. Everything was very rushed. I can't believe the results. Thank you William New!"
Randy Bachman, Charlie Haas, Robbie King
"Recording with Randy Bachman is always fun. Trying to figure out different ways of tapping into his genius is challenging. Randy can send lighting bolts down your spine but to get that on tape can be a challenge. I usually try to set up series of accidents. For whatever reason, nobody showed up on time for this session so I had to reinvent everything. I ran some of my drum machine patterns and rolled the tape without giving Randy any direction. He thought we were on acid and wanted to check our eyeballs. But eventually he got into it and suddenly proclaimed, 'this is genius! This how Miles Davis works!'
"When Charlie Haas came in, his hyperactive approach to steel guitar actually saved the day. Randy would pump out a lot of different melodies just to see how the Charlie would react and each note Randy played, Charlie would answer with his steel guitar. Robbie King showed up later on and overdubbed his organ parts on the tracks we had cut while Randy sat off by himself reading a magazine. As soon as Robbie King started tearing into the Hammond organ, all the jaded engineers jaws dropped. The Robbie demanded that I get Fonfara to play Hammond too. After we finished up for the day, I apologized to Randy for all the confusion early on, he said 'Chris, it doesn't get any better than this!'"
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