The Late Great Kevin Gilbert

Kevin Matthew Gilbert (November 20, 1966 - May 17, 1996):

Alrighty, I am a HUGE fanboy of this guy! He was SUPERTALENTED and died in a REALLY stupid way. I am still pissed off at this dude!!!!! He was a Huge Fan of Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes and ELP. Hope you enjoy the musical journey. if you don't, oh well!

I snatched this from Wiki:

Quote :

Kevin Gilbert was an accomplished composer, singer and instrumentalist who played keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, cello, and drums. His talents also extended to producer. He toured with Eddie Money before winning the 1988 Yamaha SOUNDCHECK International Rock Music Competition with his progressive rock group Giraffe.[2] Producer Patrick Leonard was impressed with Gilbert's performance at the competition and invited him to join him in forming a new band which became Toy Matinee. During this time, Gilbert worked on the projects of several established pop musicians, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Keith Emerson, acting as producer for the latter's album Changing States.

The lone Toy Matinee album (eponymously named) was released in 1990 but effectively shelved by the record company, so Gilbert assembled a new backing band to promote it, eventually getting two successful singles released: "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and "Last Plane Out".

Later, Gilbert was part of the songwriting collective "The Tuesday Music Club" that met at producer Bill Bottrell's studio in Pasadena, California.[3] Gilbert introduced his then-girlfriend Sheryl Crow to Bottrell and his fellow Club musicians and the sessions allowed Crow to workshop new material, leading to the recording of her breakthrough debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. Gilbert co-wrote many of the songs on that album, including 1995 Grammy Record of the Year "All I Wanna Do". Crow later acrimoniously split with most of the musicians in the collective and only producer Bottrell and drummer Brian MacLeod were involved in her follow-up album. Meanwhile the remainder of the collective worked with singer-songwriters Susanna Hoffs and Linda Perry on two more albums.

Gilbert continued to work in television and movie soundtrack work as well as studio work and producing and eventually released his first solo album Thud (1995) as well as partially reforming Giraffe to perform the Genesis piece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway at Progfest '94. Gilbert's manager sent a copy of the recording to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford who were searching for a new Genesis front man to replace Phil Collins. His manager, Jon Rubin, had come to Gilbert's home to tell him that he had managed to get him an audition and discovered his dead body.

Discography:
NRG - No Reasons Given (1984)
Giraffe - The Power Of Suggestion (1987)
Giraffe - The View From Here (1988)
Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee (1990; remastered & rereleased 2001)
Marc Bonilla - EE Ticket (1991)
Marc Bonilla - American Matador (1993)
Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
Kevin Gilbert - Thud (1995)
Various Artists - Giant Tracks - A Tribute To Gentle Giant - (1997) http://www.blazemonger.com/GT/
Giraffe - Giraffe (1999)
Kevin Gilbert & Thud - Live at the Troubadour (1999)
Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming of the True (2000)
Kaviar - The Kaviar Sessions (2002)
Kevin Gilbert - Nuts (2009)
Kevin Gilbert - Bolts (2009)
Kevin Gilbert & Thud - Welcome to Joytown - Thud Live at the Troubadour DVD/CD combo (2009)
Kevin Gilbert Performs Toy Matinee Live (2010)[4]
Various Artists - Supper's Ready - A Tribute To Genesis - "Back in NYC" http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/genesistribute.html
Various Artists - Tales From Yesterday - A Tribute To Yes - "Siberian Khatru" http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/yestribute.html

Official Website: http://www.kevingilbert.com/index.htm

Now onto some music:

NRG - No Reasons Given (1984):

Kevin Gilbert Lead Vocals, Acoustic Grand Piano, Prophet 5, Gleeman Pentaphonic, Roland Vocorder+, Hammond Organ, backing vocals, 6 & 12 String Guitars, Recorders, Vocal Loop Organ, SCI Drumtracks, Pots and Pans, Production Effects

Jason Hubbard Fender Stratocaster, Ibanez Artist EQ, 6 & 12 string guitars, Classical guitar, Roland Juno 60, Backing Vocals, Seiko Digital Percussion, backwards Satanic Messages

Mickey Sorey Kit Drums, Simmons SDS-5, Tympani, percussion, Laugh

Additional Musicians:
Bob Carroll Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Kevin Coyle Saxes
Greg Gilbert Bassoon
Jaque Harper Bass
Kelli & Kerri Mangini Backing Vocals
Ray Otsuka Violins

Produced by Kevin Gilbert and Jason Hubbard
Artwork by Elizabeth Gilbert


Frame By Frame (Bob Carroll sings on this one):


Mephisto's Tarantella (version 2):


If Ever Rain Should Fall:


Welcome to Suburbia:

Feel free to comment, btw. I thought Spec might be interested in the above clips since they are Saga-ish.

You can download the album for free here:
http://www.kevingilbert.com/audio.htm


Continued.....................

I think in between these two Giraffe albums is when I think I first heard him. I don't know when I started listening to Stone Trek on 98.5 KOME("The best in Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion" or something like that) from 9pm - midnite on Sundays, but I listened to it until it was taken off the air in the mid nineties. Since he was from the SF Bay Area, he would always be on the show to push his latest project.

Kevin Gilbert wrote:

The real story behind the name is really dumb. Way way back in the beginning of time I became really good friends with, Robert Ferris. I worked on records for him and he'd help me out. This was when I lived up north and had a studio in Sunnyvale called TRS. It was known as the tree house. I used to work on bands during the day and make eight dollars an hour and record local bands.

At night when everyone went home I did this Todd Rundgren thing and played everything which is what I've always wanted to do even as a kid is record music. I mean the whole idea of overdubbing parts was, "Wow!"

Giraffe started out as a production demo for me. I'd recorded all these songs over the course of four to five years from the time I was 15 until I was 19. I made a rule for myself when I was 15 and I got a job at a studio I said once a year I'm going to finish 10 songs, 45 minutes of music, and call it a record and put it on cassette or do whatever I can do to make it so that I would finish it. Otherwise I'm one of those personality types where I'll keep working on something and changing it and fixing it and redoing this and that and I'll do it forever unless I set myself a deadline and a goal. So once a year at Christmas I'd finish a record, give it to my family as a Christmas present, and put it away and go on to the next thing in January.

So in 1988 the record that I had just finished or 1987 was this really weird thing with all these diverse elements and two of the songs on it were things I had written with Robert, "This One Night" and "The World Just Gets Smaller". There were songs I had written with Robert when we were trying to put a band together, but the band thing didn't work out. As long as they were there, they were part of this other thing that I was doing.

We had a joke when we were trying to start the band what our name was going to be. We were goofing around with all these bands who use their last names and make words out them like HSAS. We were making fun of that whole concept. His initials are RAF and for his solo record that I was working on at the time he was going as RAF. So as a joke I wrote on the master tapes GIRAF and I said, "Hey man. We got a name now!" We used it as a joke for about a year. I just kept seeing this GIRAF written on the side of the tape box every time I'd get it out to work on it. It just grew on me.

If you don't know how we got it, the actual animal giraffe is a cool thing. It had a lot to do with what I thought the music was about, too. This is a very strange record but the longer you listen to it, it becomes more beautiful. It makes sense in it's own way.

A giraffe it goofy looking, but it's goofy looking for a reason. They have to be that tall to get to the trees. If you've ever seen a giraffe run, there's hardly anything else that looks as graceful as a giraffe running. It looks like it's in slow motion even when it's not. So I added the extra F and the extra E at the end and made this production demo.

This was in 1988 when no one had ever made an independent CD before. I got a bug up my butt that I wanted to hear my songs on CD. So I was like, "Damnit! I want my record to come out on CD!" I had a friend in Silicon Valley who worked on computer and CD ROMS and things and I called him up and said, "You make CD ROMS from computer chips. Is the information that goes on a CD ROM any different from what goes on an
audio CD?" He said, "It's still just one's and zero's." So I said, "If I give you a tape full of one's and zero's that just happens to be audio, you could print a CD ROM for me that I could play on my stereo?" And he said, "Yeah. Absolutely."

I called up a couple mastering places and figured out how I was suppose to do that and in January 1988 I sent him this tape and said, "I want 500 copies." I didn't know it at the time, but it was actually the first independent CD in the world. BAM Magazine, about a year later, did a story on "Now You Can Make A CD" for aspiring bands. They used the Giraffe record as an example. So that's how that came about.

It wasn't suppose to be a band really, it was suppose to be a production demo so that I could come down to L.A. and meet record companies and get gigs. It was really expensive business card. I'd give this thing out and say, "Hey, this is my band. I recorded this and did everything on this."

It coincidentally started to sell, Greg Stone started to play it in San Jose and people started to say, "When can we see this band Giraffe live?" It was always like, "Okay. It's a band." And I got a lot of the guys that had hung around the studio together and we played the stuff on the record. Actually Scotty [Smith] had played some stuff on the record.
We just started playing live and it worked.

I think his biggest talent was making albums sound like they were made with huge budgets at expensive studios. Compare the production on these tunes to any other major label release at the time.


Giraffe:
Kevin Gilbert / vocals, keyboards, bass, guitars
Stan Cotey / guitars, keyboards
Michael Abowd / keyboards
Chris Beveridge / bass
J. Scott Smith / drums

The Power Of Suggestion(1987) only 500 pressed:

The Last Thing On Your Mind:


This Warm Night:



Because Of You(This is one of my favorite songs of anybody):






The View From Here(1988)only a 1,000 pressed:

Progress:


The Way Back Home:


All Fall Down. Very Level 42 sounding:


Air Dance(a beautiful song that I could only find an audio source of):
http://grooveshark.com/#/album/The+View+From+Here/4625257

Waiting For The Rain (and yes, that solo at the end was done on purpose.)

I actually would hear Last Plane Out during the day on the radio. It recieved some decent rotation.

Kevin Gilbert wrote:

That's a common misconception. Toy Matinee, the band, existed for about six months in 1989. We were funded by Pat Leonard who wanted to have a band like Giraffe. He saw Giraffe at Universal Amphitheater and came backstage and said, "Man. I've always wanted to be in a band like this. Let's be in a band." Giraffe at the time, the guys up there didn't want to continue it really. They didn't want to move to L.A. and become professional because they all had other jobs. It was kind of falling apart anyway. So anyway I said, "all right. Let's do it."

I called Brian [MacLeod] the drummer and Pat called Guy Pratt the bass player and we auditioned guitarists and decided on Tim. Then for about six months we hung out like a band and wrote songs together, worked things out, got drunk together and it was the Monkees. We hung out in a beach house and fell in love with the same girls.

Then as the record got close to being done, Pat decided that he wanted to control it as an entity. He wanted Toy Matinee to be his company. He gave everybody a contract essentially saying, "You work for Pat Leonard, Inc." The three other guys, Brian and Tim and Guy said, "See ya," and split. The fellow who had produced it, who I think wanted
to be a member of the band as well, realized that that was never going to happen and went on to produce other records. So we were left with this really cool record and Pat and me and I didn't want to sign to be owned and controlled by Pat Leonard, Inc. They couldn't put the record out unless I signed the contract because I had written the songs with him
and Warner Bros. needed to have the singer on the contract. So we went through a really major legal spell trying to work out contracts that would allow Pat and me to be Toy Matinee. It would allow him the freedom to make other records with other artists and allow me the freedom to make solo records. Because Pat wasn't going to be around and I didn't want to wait around on my hands I want to make records.

So the record came out with just the two of us on it. It came out in June 1990 and it sat on the shelf for about four months with nothing going on. There was no promotion because Pat had gone on to work with Roger Waters. Most of the midwest chains like Toy Matinee under religious music for some reason. [laughs] Someone screwed up. It landed
under religious music so no one could find it.

I don't have copies. I have a 3/4 [tape] somewhere at my old manager's office. I'm trying to get it back. There exists a video bootleg of me that a guy up in San Jose has that there's a bunch of Giraffe and a bunch of Toy Matinee stuff.

The record came out for like four months, did nothing. I went to Warner Bros. and said, "Look. This is my career sitting here on the shelf. It's not moving anywhere. It this record doesn't well anything I'm going to look like a pariah man in L.A. because I made a record with Pat Leonard for a lot of money because with all these people working on it, it cost a lot of money." So I'm going to walk out of Warner Bros., no deal, one record behind me which nobody bought and this huge dept. which is not good. That's not how I work. Giraffe was the most cost effective band there ever was. We made those two records, both of them, for about $10,000. Both of them made money.

Pat was in England, I was here and I convinced the promotion department to give Toy Matinee one more push and that I would go out and shake hands and play an acoustic guitar version of the record, which was not easy let me tell you. Whatever was necessary. So I started doing this and people started responding. Promotion directors that I would talk to said, "Yeah I really like this record but we had been reluctant to play it because we thought it was just on of those L.A. projects." Like some producer gets a bunch of dudes together. "We didn't want to play it because it doesn't really fit our format as an L.A. project. But if it's a band, I'll play it because we think it's a great record."

So I started telling this story, "Yeah, it was a band. We made it as a band." There's certainly more demands as the single, "Last Plane Out" sort of had to fill pockets of popularity there's certainly more demand for it.

Marc Bonilla, who I had met doing work with Keith Emerson, we used to jam on Monkees tunes together just for fun. Two guitars, and we sounded good together vocally. So I said, "Why don't you come with me on these promotional radio tours and it'll make it easier to play 'Last Plane Out' with two guitars instead of one guy. It just makes it a lot easier." It just sort of built up. We got this guy, Spencer Campbell, to play bass with us at one point and Toss [Panos] the drummer joined up and suddenly there was a demand for us to play in clubs. We didn't have a keyboardist and I hunted all over the place for a keyboardist for a long time and this girl at my publishers had sent me tapes of Sheryl Crow. I had know her from song writing. She was the only person who could play "King of Misery", the keyboard part, so I gave her the gig and we went out. She's actually pretty famous. "Leaving Las Vegas" and "All I Wanna Do", both of which I co-wrote.

What I do sort of crosses into a lot of other categories. I have this contingent of people who think of me as a progressive artist and then a whole continent of people who have no idea that I do that. It's sort of like schizophrenic.

Toy Matinee 1990:

Patrick Leonard(Trillion) - keyboards/ backing vocals/producer/composer
Kevin Gilbert(Giraffe) - Vocals/keyborads/lyricist
Brian MacLeod(Wire Train) - Drums
Tim Pierce(Rick Springfield, Bon Jovi) - Guitar
Guy Pratt(Pink Floyd) - Bass

Additional Musicians:

Julian Lennon (backing vocals on "Turn It On Salvador" and "Things She Said")
Bill Bottrell (g/percussion/backing v)
Sal's Clarinet Trio: Con Clarke, Donald Markese, Jon Kip


Last Plane Out:


Turn it on Salvador(a tribute to painter Salvador Dalí. Also, Julian Lennon Sings backgrounds on this song):


The Ballad of Jenny Ledge(a true story, KG was 19 and she was 26 and a Solid Gold Dancer):


Remember My Name(loosely dedicated to Václav Havel):


We Always Come Home (This is just a nice pop song. They don't write pop songs like this anymore):


The Toy Matinee:

After the studio version of Toy Matinee fell apart he put together a touring band that included an unknown Sheryl Crow and Marc Bonilla which he would both work with:

Marc Bonilla - EE Ticket(1991):

Marc Bonilla – electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, synthesizer
Kevin Gilbert – vocals, keyboard, Mellotron, organ, production
Ronnie Montrose – electric guitar, slide guitar
Keith Emerson – piano
Don Frank – drums, percussion
Troy Luccketta – drums
Dave Moreno – bass guitar

This album was recorded in his living room(yes, really, in his living room) down in LA.. Once again this shows his production and mixing skills as this sounds like it was recorded at a major studio.

Quote :

Tuesday Music Club, as you may know, is the name of Sheryl Crow's record because her whole record was written that way. We'd all get together at night, throw musical ideas in, write lyrics and because Bill was working in her record he'd have her come in and sing what we'd written like the next day. So that's the stuff that ended up being her record

The Tuesday Night Music Club was a loose collective of musicians who came together in 1992 for casual recording sessions that eventually became Sheryl Crow’s blockbuster 1993 album of the same name. One can see the roots of the band in two pre-’92 releases – 1986’s critically-acclaimed Boomtown album by the “erratically brilliant” RS David Baerwald alongside bandmate David Ricketts, and 1990’s self-titled Toy Matinee album featuring singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert, drummer Brian MacLeod, and producer Bill Bottrell.
From their work in Toy Matinee, Bottrell had became “a kind of father figure” JS to KG. Bottrell subsequently included KG on sessions for Madonna and Michael Jackson. When Gilbert decided to “start his solo debut, …[he] sublet the space next to Toad Hall, Bottrell’s studio in Pasadena.” JS

In August 1992, Bottrell launched a weekly jam session at Toad Hall. JS As Gilbert recalls, it “‘started when Bill Bottrell…and I got frustrated with the isolation of working alone…We really missed the days when you got together with a bunch of people and just jammed and didn’t worry about whether it’s a great song or not, or you didn’t worry if it’s going to be a hit record or if your A&R person is going to approve. So we started to get together on Tuesday nights to have fun.’” PS

The weekly jam sessions bcame known as the Tuesday Night Music Club and, along with the aforementioned members, included bassist Dan Schwartz. KG described the group as “a collaborative of artists,” CH who, as Baerwald says, “were all good, not to be immodest…we were also all cynical, embittered by the process of pop music. We were trying to find some joy in music again.” JS

MacLeod describes the TNMC as “the brilliance of Bill going ‘hey, I’ve got this great recording studio. Let’s drink some beers and write some songs.’” BM “Somebody would have a topic ‘Did you see on the news today, Bush did this…’ ‘Oh, let's write a song about it.’ So whatever came up.’” BM

KG confirmed the loose process, saying “We get together on Tuesday nights, drink, talk about politics, and make up music. We just write something there on the spot…A lot of times we'll play instruments we're not good at, so it’s a strange funk thing.” CH

MacLeod continues, “Bill would sift through [the music] the next morning while we were all nursing hangovers.” JS MacLeod remembers Fun, a song later on KG’s The Shaming of the True, as the first creation of the TNMC. BM

The lesson to be learned............ Never let a girl into the boys club.

Quite an impressive collective:

Tuesday Night Music Club(1993):
Sheryl Crow – guitar, piano, vocals
David Baerwald(David + David) – guitar
Bill Bottrell(producer from ELO to Thomas Dolby to Michael Jackson) – guitar, pedal steel
Kevin Gilbert – keys, guitar, drums ("Run Baby Run", "All By Myself"), bass ("All I Want To Do")
David Ricketts(David + David) – bass ("Leaving Las Vegas")
Dan Schwartz(Jon Hassell) – bass, guitar
Brian MacLeod(Wire Train, Toy Matinee)– drums

Leaving Las Vegas(He Co-wrote this song and All I wanna Do... won a Grammy, too):

Quote :

"Leaving Las Vegas"'s title was based on a book by the same name by the late John O'Brien, who was a good friend of the song's writer, David Baerwald. However, on a performance of Late Night with David Letterman, Sheryl Crow stated that the song was "autobiographical." This infuriated Baerwald, and the rest of the original Tuesday Night Music Club, who helped write most of the album, Tuesday Night Music Club. Though O'Brien's suicide occurred soon after this incident, his family came forward to state there was no connection [1]. According to Crow, the song was recorded while she and the rest of the band were under the influence of LSD.

He used the money from that to build a studio named Lawnmower And Garden Supply in Pasadena, CA

He played Progfest 1994 under the guise Of Giraffe, performing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. This STILL has not been officially released........

DAY ONE:
Halloween
Kalaban
Echolyn
Anglagard

DAY TWO:
Episode
Anekdoten
Giraffe
Minimum Vital
Sebastian Hardie

Quote :

Anyone who does any reading on Kevin Gilbert will quickly note how he name checks early Genesis amongst his progressive rock influences, specifically “conceptual masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” MO-PA the 1974 double album that was then-lead singer Peter Gabriel’s swan song with the band. In his own words, KG says, “I’d put it right up there with Tommy and Quadrophenia,” CH two albums by The Who that are perhaps the best known and most critically acclaimed rock operas ever conceived.
Gilbert seemed determined to put The Lamb on its proper pedestal. As he said, “I think that’s a great lost piece of work…People have forgotten it, at least in the genre of rock music that is also story.” CH “I used to rehearse that when I was a kid…I’d close the door, I’d put on my leather coat, and I would perform The Lamb from start to finish. I probably performed it a hundred times.” CH

He “had a burning desire to perform [it] in its entirety” MO-PA outside of the confines of his childhood bedroom. This wish was fulfilled at ProgFest 1994, when Kevin, with a reformed Giraffe (containing a then unknown Nick D’Virgilio on drums) wowed the audience with a performance worthy of Genesis themselves.” MO-KG “This show, although never officially released, has become the stuff of legends.” MO-PA

Dave Kerzner, who played with Gilbert at that gig and on KG’s subsequent Thud album and tour, recounts how it came about. “One day I got a phone call from Kevin because he had heard I had a studio filled with vintage keyboards. He wanted to see the various Mellotrons and Chamberlins I had, so I invited him over.” DK

“We talked, and I played him some tunes I was working on at the time…He…commented…about how he knew I must be into Tony Banks because I had every keyboard Tony ever used. At the end of our first ‘hang,’ he said ‘You know, we should get a bunch of guys together and play The Lamb’! I just looked at him in disbelief and said ‘Sure, that would be awesome!’” DK

“At the end of 1994, Kevin came to me and said ‘Dave, still want to play The Lamb? I know the perfect place to do it. It’s called ProgFest.’ So I said, ‘Yeah, I am totally up for the challenge but who else can we get to do this?’ Kevin explained to me that he had played with a drummer named Nick D’Virgilio who was a huge Phil Collins fan. He was very confident that Nick could pull it off.” DK

Nick had first met Gilbert at a ski resort gig. He later drummed for Gilbert on 1995’s Thud and was responsible for completing The Shaming of the True after Gilbert died. The Progfest program says that “Nick divulged his Collins obsession and mentioned that he had learned to drum by playing along to The Lamb.” PP

Rounding out the band were Dan Hancock took on the Steve Hackett role and filling in for the part of Mike Rutherford was Gilbert’s ex-Giraffe bandmate Stan Cotey. With two ex-Giraffe members on board, the gig was billed as Giraffe, largely out of Gilbert’s trepidation of having it viewed as a solo project.

The show was at the Variety Arts Center in Los Angeles on 11/6/94. “Widely hailed as a brilliant performance,” MG it was a “brilliant dedication to one of prog rock’s hallmark records.” SF “If you’re a musician, you probably know how impossible it is to perform any song from The Lamb, and musician-wise it’s a fabulous performance (some instrument parts are played ‘better’ than on the original record).” SF

The program does note, however, that “Due to time considerations, this evening’s performance is a slightly chopped Lamb. But…the band assures you the task they did not crave was what to kill and what to save and they’re sorry if they skipped your fave.” PP

Kerzner fondly remembers the performance: “We all got to play one of our favorite records of all time in front of a crowd of several thousand screaming prog fans that knew every note! And most of all, I am happy we were able to provide the background for one of Kevin’s fantasies, to play the part of Rael.” DK

“This concert was a big highlight for me because not only was it the most challenging gig I ever played, but the best feeling I ever had on stage was at the end of ‘Watcher of the Skies’ with that big grandiose ending along with the crowd reaction after. What a feeling that was!” DK

Giraffe:
Kevin Gilbert - Peter Gabriel as Rael
Dave Kerzner - Tony Banks
Stan Cotey (original member of Giraffe with KG) - Mike Rutherford
Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard) - Phil Collins
Dan Hancock - Steve Hackett

Progfest 1994:
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway:


In The Cage:


Back In New York City:


Lilywhite Lilith:


The Lamia:


The Colony Of Slippermen:

Dave Kerzner wrote:

Another one from 1994 Progfest. A tribute to Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. This was a one off performance with Kevin Gilbert, Nick D'Virgilio, Stan Cotey, Dan Hancock and myself (Dave Kerzner) billed as "Giraffe" which was one of Kevin's original bands with Stan Cotey years ago. The gig was a lot of fun and Nick later played with Genesis on Calling All Stations. A special night. Bill Botrell did the engineering and Kevin and I set up the multitracks to record it

Giraffe’s Page In the ProgFest ‘94 Program

Quote :

A 20th Anniversary Tribute Performance of Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway


Keep your fingers out of my eye. The strangest set of coincidences can sometimes push people into doing things they ordinarily would not do. The people concerned are pinned to events I can’t recall too well, but I’ll put them down anyway to watch them decompose and feed another sort of life. The ones in question are all fully biodegradable materials and are categorized this evening as “Giraffe” (i.e. the resemblance is planned, folks). Kevin Gilbert (ersatz Gabriel) is perhaps better known as “the-guy-in-Toy-Matinee-before-they-got-the-guy-from-Mr. Mister.” He ordinarily frowns on impressionists (having had a rather uncomfortable experience with an Elvis Impersonator) but in the spirit of the event has donned a leather jacket for our Lamb’s 20th. Were any of you a fly on the wall of his bedroom ten years ago, you would have witnessed the unsightly spectacle which led unexpectedly to tonight’s performance. Namely, Gilbert, home alone, lights off, leather jacket on, stereo cranking, running around wildly singing and miming to “The Lamb.” David Kerzner (our stoic Tony Banks) is a player, composer and collector of all things vintage - particularly barely usable, antiquated keyboard devices, some of which he is performing on this evening. He too spent many hours of his adolescence playing Lambisms, although he’s not willing to admit he did it alone with the lights off. He has also been spotted recently playing in Kevin Gilbert’s Band, who, it’s rumored, is releasing a record called Thud early next year. Dan Hancock (Hackett) was second aboard the HMS Lamb - he was spotted crouching in a corner of a North Hollywood rehearsal studio cradling a Les Paul and making the most Hackett-like noises. He cites Hackett as his major influence and insists the glasses are prescription. His band Dogpark is presently recording an album, with Gilbert producing, to be released in 1995. Stan Cotey (holding down the thankless Rutherford fort) might be familiar to the hard core collectors in the audience as the guitarist from Giraffe, a band he and Gilbert piloted in the late eighties. Stan, who plays most everything real well, could probably have played many of the musician roles this evening, however it should be noted that the size and shape of Stan’s fingers (long and thin if you must ask) were absolutely critical to the successful negotiation of the ludicrous chord voicings of “It.” Nick D’Virgillio (Collins with hair) was the wild card of the group. Gilbert had only played with him once on a pickup gig in a bar at a ski lodge playing America songs (“Horse With No Name” - geez). But they got to talking and Nick divulged his Collins obsession and mentioned that he had learned to drum by playing along to The Lamb. Coincidence? Divine intervention? Who knew that 3 years later he would be counting out time for this one off Lamb chop. Nick also writes pop songs, sings beautifully, an [sic] we have picked a better Phil? Due to time considerations, this evening’s performance is a slightly chopped Lamb. But enough of my rave, the band assures you the task they did not crave was what to kill and what to save and they’re sorry if they skipped your fave. It’s over to you. Keep your fingers out of my eye. The strangest set of coincidences...

Tribute albums:

This was recorded for the Encomium LZ tribute album but was dropped and released as a bonus cd to Thud:

Kashmir band:
Drums – Satnam Ramgotra
Guitar – Corky James
Orchestrated By – David Kerzner
Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Engineer, Producer, – Kevin Gilbert



Kashmir:


Stanley Snail:
Nick D'Virgilio / hi vox, drums
Mike Keneally / mid vox, guitars
Kevin Gilbert / lo vox, keyboards
Bryan Beller / bass

Sorry, the youtube vid for this was taken down. I hope that these work!

Siberian Khatru:
http://www.last.fm/music/Stanley+Snail/_/Siberian+Khatru
http://www.we7.com/song/Stanley-Snail/Siberian-Khatru?m=0

Mike Keneally wrote:

Public opinion seems to be running about neck and neck on this tune. For everyone who considers it a highlight of the CD there's someone who can't see the point of us doing such a note for note version. It wasn't really discussed that much...there was no rehearsal at all, we all knew the song so we just convened at Kev's studio and recorded it. We did have to learn the Bruford quote in the middle and decide to stick "Heart Of The Sunrise" at the end. Those two items, along with my guitar solo, are the main signifying characteristics that keep it from being a carbon copy of the original. A defense could be made on those grounds - to my ears it's something of an art statement when we hit that weird chord at the end of the second "river running right on over my HEAD" and veer off into "Sahara Of Snow" land (that was Kev's idea by the way) after several minutes of stultifyingly accurate tribute. Others have enjoyed the accuracy of the new version on sonic grounds - it's like hearing a beautifully remixed and mastered of the original. I'll take my primary comfort in having met Chris Squire several weeks ago, at which time he told me it was his favorite song on the tribute album. For me, that will do. (The name "Stanley Snail" is derived from our corruption of one of the lines in the song. One semi-concentrated listen will turn it up)

Kevin Gilbert - Vocals, Bass, Keys
Mike Keneally - Guitar, kalimba, bell piano and recorder
Nick D'Virgilio - Drums
Back In NYC, Supper's Ready - A Tribute To Genesis

Nick D'Virgilio wrote:

putting out this tribute record was so impressed with the version of the Yes song that they asked Kevin to do a song for the Genesis tribute record. Tribute records were very popular at the time. But this one was right down my alley. My favorite band and covering one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite records. What a combo!

We went over to Bill Botrell's studio around the corner from Kevin's. Bill produced the Sheryl Crow record Kevin wrote and played on, along with the Toy Matinee record, along with a lot of other famous people. I am not sure why we went there but we did. It was a very beautiful place in the theater district of Pasadena. Kevin had an old beat up Gretsch kit that I used on that session. We made the drums really dead and I hit them as hard as I could. I remember that the cymbal stands kept moving away from me as I bashed them.

Mike Keneally wrote:

Since Nick D'Virgilio is on drums, all that keeps this from being Stanley Snail is no Beller on bass (Kevin plays bass on the tune - he also sings lead which marks it as a Gilbert solo venture). Those who were dragged by the Yes-mania of "Khatru" should be pleased with this interpretation, again largely the work of Gilbert arrangementally. Kevin sings the hell out of this, and I think the sound of the track is unbelievable. The "off we go" section is supposed to sound like a grade school band practicing. Overall I think this album is a better listen than the Yes album - other participants include David Hentschel, Pete Bardens, Crack The Sky (a really weird version of "I Know What I Like") and John Goodsall doing "Carpet Crawlers" (Toss just happens to drum on that track) as well as all the Magna Carta regulars. I'm also honored that the track I'm on is positioned between Annie Haslam and Richard Sinclair, both legends and both sounding absolutely superb.

Fugue, a tribute to Gentle Giant(this song later ended up on his Shaming Of The True album):

Jon Rubin wrote:

When Kevin and I were on tour in '95, we stopped by a record store in Boulder CO. Pasted on the wall was a Gentle Giant poster. Kevin badgered the owner into letting him scrape it off and take it home. It was framed and hung in his studio until his death.

Contrary to rumor, this was not Kevin's last song. The Suit Canon, or Suit Fugue as it was sometimes called, is part of Kevin's concept album, The Shaming of the True. This is a story of a young man, Johnny Virgil, who is hell bent on success in the music business. The story follows him as he is chewed up and spit out by the very thing he coveted. The Suit Canon is the chorus of record execs (A&R, Promotion, etc.) as they seduce Johnny. All the voices are Kevin.

One more note. When I turned Kev's computer off for the last time, 90% of the email was Gentle Giant related. Kevin loved GG and was way into this project. I know he is proud and honored to be included.

Kevin Gilbert was an artist that I have heard of, but never heard. Thanks for not only the clips, but also the history lessons.

metalken wrote:

Kevin Gilbert was an artist that I have heard of, but never heard. Thanks for not only the clips, but also the history lessons.

Hey! Thanks for reading and replying.... I really do appreciate it!!!!

chewie wrote:

Hey! Thanks for reading and replying.... I really do appreciate it!!!!

Sorry it took so long to reply, but there was literally hours worth of reading and listening in your previous posts.

metalken wrote:

chewie wrote:

Hey! Thanks for reading and replying.... I really do appreciate it!!!!

Sorry it took so long to reply, but there was literally hours worth of reading and listening in your previous posts.

It's cool!!! That's why I started slowing down on posts.


On a side note:
I was watching an interview where he talked about Peter Gabriel's third album heavily influencing the first Giraffe album. When I relistened to the song "This Warm Night", I could totally hear the PG atmosphere in it.

I think it captures the tone of Security more than PG 3!!!!


Compare..........

Thud(1995)
Kevin Gilbert - vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass , drums (5, 7), cello
Bill Bottrell - backing vocals, guitar (3), pedal steel guitar (7)
Brian MacLeod - drums, percussion
Dan Schwartz - bass (1, 3, 7, 8 )
Robert Ferris - backing vocals (4, 6 )
Skip Waring, Toby Holmes, Jay Mueller and Bruce Friedman - brass section (9)

Kevin Gilbert wrote:

We're going to do a video for "Joy Town", which is probably the first single. It's very alternative. It doesn't have much at all to do with things progressive. It's just a really good lyric though I don't know how your readership will respond. There are things on this record that I think they will love and there will be things on this record that they will be fast forwarding over forever. Sort of like an Emerson, Lake and Palmer record.

What I'm trying to do is, and I'm actually consciously trying to do this, is de-stigmatize progressive music by integrating it with things that I do that are not progressive and that are largely considered to be a good idea in 1994. Where as progressive music is not generally considered to be a very good idea. By throwing in a song like "Shadow Self" in with some of these other songs that are going to go straight to KROQ and the credibility that working on Sheryl Crow's record gives what I do, it introduces a whole contingent of people to the fact that music can be more than just fashion or more than just anger. That's all.

Just from working in the industry, there's a big stigma about that if you do a song that's eight minutes long and you're not a metal band, that they largely consider that to be a bad idea and not worthy of being invested in. Because Dream Theater slides by as a metal band, they get promoted and that's considered a good idea. But any number of bands that have made pretty cool records that aren't that hard edged, they'll get hurt.

Nick D'Virgilio wrote:

I met Kevin at a local ski resort. Very much by chance or by the grace of God. However you want to look at it. I met this other drummer at a jam. I can't remember his name. All I remember is that he lived in Pomona, CA. He got called for a gig up at Mountain High. That's the name of the resort. The gig was for no pay but was for free ski passes. He didn't want to do the gig so he gave the guys my number. The guys are Kevin Kaiser and Charlie Bolis. They own a company called Vertigo Recording Sevices. They put in all the wiring and maintain some of the biggest recording studios in Los Angeles. Well they did Kevin's Studio, Lawnmower and Garden Supply. They called me about the gig and I happened to not be working that weekend and I love to ski so I decided to go for it. Another thing that enticed me about the gig is that Charlie told me that he had invited all these famous musicians up to jam. One of those musicians was Kevin. I was a very big fan of Kevin's music at he time. He had a band called Toy Matinee that I really loved. That record is still amazing today. That was the first time I had heard of the drummer Brian Macleod too. Well the only big musician that showed up to the ski resort to ski and jam was Kevin. He was the only one that excited me to be honest. He came up there with Sheryl Crow. They were dating at the time and recording her first record "The Tuesday Night Music Club". Coming up to ski was a little break from the recording. To make a long story short Kevin and I talked about the music we liked and we had a lot in common. I tried to keep in touch with him after that but he didn't return my phone calls. Until he called me to be apart of the Progfest gig and that gig is how I got to play and record with Kevin from that point on.

Kevin's record Co. "PRA" was looking for ways to get his record Thud some legs. So they decided to make an EP to go along with it. Kevin had recorded a version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir when he heard there was a Led Zep tribute record being made. His version was awesome but didn't make the tribute record. So he put it on this EP along with some different versions of songs from Thud. Those are the songs I recorded with him. Is any of this making sense? We ended up getting the opening slot opening for a singer songwriter named Jonatha Brooke. She was/is managed by the owner of Kevin's record label. That was the first time I did my one man band thing. Me and Kev ended up touring the country in a Winnebago promoting that record and EP. I ended up playing for Jonatha because of that tour. I got so many of my gigs because of playing and being involved with Kevin. He gave me my break so to speak. He became one of my great friends also.

This was when I started learning about recording and what it took to make great sounding records. I Started using my Gretsch drums a lot in the studio and realized how great of a drum kit I really had. Those are the drums I used on the track "Waiting". The other tracks are acoustic versions where I played a Djembe and other percussion instruments.

Quote :

He was a potential producer as many later found out, for the Dream Theater album that became "Falling into Infinity" and he also mixed and did some producing on the 1st 2 Spock's Beard albums(The Light and Beware Of Darkness)

Jim Rigberg of Planet Mellotron wrote:

By all accounts a musical prodigy-capable of playing any song he heard on any instrument handed to him-Gilbert possessed an impeccable sense of melody and a biting,cynical wit.

Anyway, Thud is a somewhat 'lost' masterpiece (like many others before him, Gilbert, ironically, developed a following after he died that he couldn't swing while alive). Each song is expertly written, arranged, played, and produced. The stand-out, both from an overall and a 'Tron point of view (for me, anyway) is Shadow Self, a mini-prog epic about the devil inside us all. The chorus of this song includes the most sinister sounding 'Tron choirs under equally sinister chanting. Sublime. The 'Tron on both Goodness Gracious and Shrug is almost as good; both tracks have perfectly thought-out flute melodies that are repeated throughout. The former track also ends in some great polyphonic 'Tron flute-meandering, much like the reprise of Strawberry Fields Forever. Shrug scatters some interesting spooky block string chords here and there, as well.

Though I can't positively identify it as 'Tron, the 'organ' in Waiting sounds suspiciously like it's being generated via tape; it is the most unstable sounding organ I've ever heard. However, given the presence of strings, flute, and choir on the remainder of the album, I admit it seems unlikely that Gilbert had another frame with organ on it. On the other hand, he was a vintage keys freak, so I guess it's not out the question. There may also be 'Tron brass mixed with real brass in All Fall Down.

Overall, this is prog-pop heaven and should be purchased immediately. It also happens to include three amazing 'Tron tracks. If you like this, you must also get Gilbert's posthumously-released The Shaming of the True (*****), his ode to the smurfed-up music business.

Shadow Self(Late For Dinner):


Tea For One:


Tea For One (Live Version):


Joytown(Live Version):

The Tears of Audrey(Live Version):

Bass, Vocals, Producer – Kevin Gilbert
Drums, Vocals, Producer – Nick D'Virgilio(Spock's Beard)
Guitar, Vocals – Russ Parish(Fight, Danger Kitty, Steel Panther)
Keyboards – David Kerzner
Percussion – Satnam Ramgotra


Waiting:


When You Give Your Love To Me(a very tongue-in-cheek-song):

He was working on this very dark album and The Shaming Of The True before he died:

The Kaviar Sessions(released 2002/recorded 1995-96):

Nick D'Virgilio wrote:

This was Kevin's final project just before he died. We started the band together with drummer Brian Macleod. At the beginning it was Kevin on everything, me on bass, and Brian drumming. I had been playing bass for a long time but never with other players like that! It felt very natural though. Being able to jam with Brian like that was fantastic. Some of the funnest recording sessions of my life were doing this record.

Side note: Brian MacLeod is one of the world great drummers. I have learned so much about groove from him. He is awesome.

Kevin and Brian had a couple of songs they recorded for fun, like the one entitled "Pretty" on the record. When they realized what they recorded was great they decided to make more of a band. I was asked to come in and jam and that's where that started. In the beginning of the band we were playing mostly funk songs and being very R&B about it. We would listen to bands like War and the Funky Meteres and try and steal grooves and things. Then, as time wore on and we played more, the band and the music kind of morphed into what you hear on the record. Kind of a dark rockish kind of thing. Kevin decided he wanted to be some kind of comic book character and wear a gas mask on stage so nobody would know that it was him. Everybody would wear rubber or latex. I landed the Tears For Fear gig right in the middle of all this and I didn't (luckily for me, I don't like to wear rubber, not my kind of thing ) have to dress up. But a lot of what I helped write and what I played was kept and built upon. While I was gone Kevin filled out the band with Susie Davis (keys), David Levita (guitar), and Paul Ill (bass).

The songs on this record are dark and very powerful. The production is amazing. Kevin was such a great engineer and mixer. He had golden ears.

Excerpts from an interview of Dave Levita by Wayne Perez:

Quote :

WP: How did you meet Kevin?

Levita: I met Kevin through Susie Davis. She brought me over to Lawnmower and Garden Supplies Studio. Kevin and Brian were hanging out. They told me to go set up in the studio and while I was making noise just getting sound, they were recording unbeknownst to me. Some of that actually made it on a track I think.

WP: How was the general feel in and around the Kaviar sessions?

Levita: The Kaviar sessions were very exciting! It was the best, fattest, funniest, darkest music and all ideas were encouraged. Kevin was the baddest engineer and the atmosphere was so free. Kevin really knew what to say or not say to get the coolest stuff. He made me sound like I could play and made everything sound like Led Zeppelin or better. Brian MacLeod is so essential in his playing and raw as a swollen ***ina!

WP: So when you first went to the Kaviar sessions, all the songs were pretty much set?

Levita: Everything already sounded explosive. I just got to put some icing on. The thing about those sessions was the spontaneity. The pissed off attitude in a good sense and the power of everyone's personalities. It was all so unexpected. Kevin really instilled a gift of confidence in me as did everyone. The bond between us just was there. Rarely did anything take long to record although Kevin was meticulous about sound and mix… the best.

WP: Was this more of a band-style recording or did you all record your individual parts separately?

Levita: When I got there everything was practically in place. I know Nick played bass and guitar on stuff. There was no attempt at recording everyone at once.

WP: Do you have a favorite of the Kaviar songs?

Levita: I can't really pin a favorite but "Sultan" is pretty special. Especially the Susie advertisement end with our soft porn jazz approach.

WP: Did you come up with all the guitar parts for Kaviar? Which is your favorite riff?

Levita: Pretty much anything that I played I came up with. My favorite riff is Kevin's rhythm track on "Sultan," the first thing you hear.

WP: What guitars and set up do you mainly use in the studio?

Levita: I use mostly a Mustang, but I'll play anything that's there if it sounds good. Lots of pedals and any good amp. There are so many. Or sometimes I will just plug in direct.

WP: Tell me what really sticks out for you regarding these songs: "Death Orgy 9000"

Levita: I could barely find anything to play cause it was so full already.

WP: "Picnic"

Levita: "Picnic" was kind of the first song for me and cemented me playing in the band. It just fit. We were all laughing 'cause it was so stupid and easy and everything was funny. It was the first time I was encouraged to play out of tune.

WP: "Ghetto Of Beautiful Things"

Levita: "Ghetto Of Beautiful Things" is such a nasty track. It did what Marilyn Manson did but four years earlier. I didn't play on that track it was done already.

WP: "Pretty"

Levita: Brian's drums on "Pretty" just Smurf smurf poo up!

WP: "Fall In Love With Me"

Levita: I like it more than Iggy's. What can I say?

WP: "The Sultan Of Brunei"

Levita: "Sultan" was so fun! Especially recording all the fake George Benson wah guitar at the end.

WP: "Making Christy Cry"

Levita: Kevin took one of my guitar bits and used it as a vocal part. Just one of his many inventive approaches.

WP: "Broken"

Levita: "Broken" was the last recording and the last time I saw Kevin alive. We recorded really late into the night and used a vocoder which we had a little trouble with cause I'm a little retarded…sometimes. I was only really around for Kaviar and a little bit of the rock opera [The Shaming Of The True]

WP: Tell me a little about each band member.

Levita: Kevin was doing everything. Brian, besides being the engine, also steered the direction of everything in the sense of taste and honing of ideas and basically co-created the music. Paul added an unpredictable element to the band and truly avant-garde in his thinking. Plays bass so dirty sometimes it spoils you. A very sick man! Susie's spoken word stuff is some of my favorite on the record. She plays everything so well its not fair. She was the only one who really looked good in gaffer tape. I am eternally grateful to her for bringing me in. Nick D'Virgilio must be mentioned as well. He was the silent member of the band who played "Fall In Love With Me" and other stuff. He's probably the most versatile musician I know. He makes me jealous!

Death Orgy 9000:


Picnic:


Ghetto Of Beautiful Things(WARNING LANGUAGE):

"Ghetto" ended up on "Shaming", but it was originally intended for this album.

Indian Burn:


The Sultan of Brunei:


Broken:

Supposedly the last thing he recorded before he died, hence the incomplete lyrics. He was going to finish them the next day.

Here's some various stuff and projects he was involved in:

Tired Old Man:


KG with Jonatha Brooks:


Toy Matinee in Japan:

Toy Matinee members Kevin Gilbert and Marc Bonilla perform acoustically during a promo tour of Japan in 1990.

Toy Matinee Unplugged Pt.1:

First meeting of the touring band members of Toy Matinee: Kevin Gilbert, Marc Bonilla, Spencer Campbell, and Toss Panos.


Kevin Gilbert in "Angel 4: Undercover" (1993)

Kevin used the name Kevin McThespian as his stage name. Kevin is the bass player. Russ Parish is the 2nd guitarist. Toss Panos is the drummer. Freakin hilariously BAD!!!!

Spock's Beard - The Light (Live) Nov 12 - Progfest '95 - Los Angeles, CA:

Kudos to Kevin Gilbert for the sound on this one. It really captures the band in a way that many youtube live videos don't do. KG ran the soundboard for the Beard at this show.



I know that this is just a silly pop song, but Tina sings the HECK out of this tune. Kevin Gilbert wrote this in a bid to save Sheryl Crows first(and still unreleased, I beleive) solo album:

Sheryl Crow - All Kinds of People (1991-92 Unreleased):


Tina Turner:


John Farnham:


Anita Hegerland(I have no idea who this singer is maybe someone can let me know):


Keith Emerson - Changing States(1995)

Kevin Gilbert: Bass, drums, tuba, guitar, produced, engineered, mixed and composed.
I think that he was under contract with a different label which is why he doesn't sing on this album.

Rumour has it that, Sheryl Crow wrote this for Kevin Gilbert after his death:

He was found dead on May 17, 1996 at the age of 29 in Los Angeles from apparent autoerotic asphyxiation. Yeah, I'm still mad at him............

Shaming Of The True: A Rock Opera(released 2000/recorded 1995-96):

Story:
The album follows the career of a singer/musician named Johnny Virgil, which follows an arc common to many big rock and roll bands/stars. It starts out promisingly, but he is lured into the common trap of record-company exploitation and seduced by fame and drugs/alcohol. He becomes more and more burned out and withdrawn as his career becomes larger than life, feeling like he's losing touch with his humanity, until the whole thing culminates in a breakdown. He goes through a period of disillusionment and depression but eventually makes peace with himself. A number of clues (last song title, lyric "End of a long days life," reprise of train whistle in distance, etc..) may also indicate that Johnny dies penniless on the street or takes his own life.

Parade:


The City of the Sun:


Suit Fugue (Dance of the A&R Men):


Water Under the Bridge:


The Best Laid Plans:


Certifiable #1 Smash:


A Long Day's Life:


Johnny's Last Song:

John Cuniberti wrote:

Notes On My Experiences Mixing The Shaming Of The True by John Cuniberti

In 1995 I was introduced to Kevin Gilbert by his manager and friend, Jon Rubin. I was called in to confer with Kevin about recording gear — in particular digital vs. analog equipment and drum micing techniques. Kevin also had questions about some recordings I’d made. Although Kevin was a very good engineer and had a great studio, he liked to collaborate in some areas and often worked with other engineers at different studios. Apparently he was unhappy with some of the results he’d been getting at his own studio and liked the work I’d done with drums on a Joe Satriani record. The questions about technical matters turned out to be a sort of audition. I guess I passed, as Kevin and Jon hired me to work with them a few days later.

The work we began would become Kevin’s rock opera, The Shaming of the True. I began working as a recording engineer on this project at NRG studios in L.A. in 1995. This was my first insight into the way Kevin went about recording his music. The process could be described as extremely creative, open-ended, chaotic, or the only way an incredibly intense musical prodigy was capable of working. Bits and pieces of song ideas appeared — a bass track here, a synth track there, scratch vocals with piano, etc. There were no track sheets or notes on the technical information and song titles, just a lot of interesting music.

We recorded Nick D'Virgilio’s drums on the songs Smash and Water Under The Bridge. Nick’s performance was spectacular, and I was thrilled to be working with him and with Kevin. I felt I’d gained much more than simply a new client, I saw the beginnings of a friendship with two very talented people.

Sadly, I never saw Kevin again after those sessions. Like most people who were fortunate enough to know Kevin, I , too, was shocked to hear of his death. But this event didn’t end my involvement with Kevin and his music. Instead, Kevin’s tragic departure intensified the process of making the album in a way I could never have predicted.

Jon Rubin contacted Nick and myself a few months after Kevin’s death and asked us to finish, archive, and catalog all of Kevin's recordings for his estate. As mentioned above, Kevin never felt it necessary to label his tapes or make track sheets, a general and usually essential practice in commercial studios where dozens of takes of many instruments and musical phrases need to be organized and put together to mix and construct final pieces. Only Kevin knew the shape, the final plan, for the project. Only he knew what fragments would be arranged in what order, how they would be pieced together and how all the scattered parts would be used, if at all.

Nick began the huge task of cataloging the tapes, some dating back to the early eighties, and eventually created a computer file for us to evaluate. Jon Rubin, Nick, and I were able to determine that we had on hand at least five CDs of unreleased Kevin Gilbert material. I am happy to say that as of this writing all of Kevin’s tape library has been cataloged and archived, and all the material to be released has been mixed (if necessary) and mastered.

The first project that we undertook in early 1997 eventually became Kevin’s rock opera The Shaming of the True. Those of us who took on the task of finishing this work decided to use Coast Recorders in San Francisco. The fact that the studio had an automated vintage Neve console and that I managed the studio made it the likely choice. Kevin loved the sound of the Neve, and I was sure he would have insisted on it as the mixing desk.

The constant question of what Kevin would have done haunted me throughout the entire project. In most cases, I collaborate with the artist on all aspects of the mixing. So instead of a detailed collaboration with weeks of decisions made by an artist, all we had to go on were rough mixes on a DAT and a handwritten note of Kevin's with what we believed was the last running order of the opera. I remember at one point being upset about a mix, not knowing what Kevin had intended and feeling hopeless. Someone said, “Kevin f….d up and he doesn’t get to be here. So do what you feel is right for the song.” With that in mind, I got on with the job at hand, always referring to Kevin's rough mixes as a kind of blueprint and never venturing too far from them.

Song-by-Song Notes

Parade: There are two versions of this song. One was recorded with footsteps keeping time, and one was recorded without. Because Kevin used the second version on his rough mix, I assumed this was the one he wanted to use in the final version. The intro synth chaos was never found on the 24 track, so I pulled it off Kevin's rough mix.

City of the Sun: The cross fade into this piece is a combination of about 20 tracks of TV and radio shows all mixed together and faded up. I really liked what Kevin had done without fader automation, and it took me a long time to equal his rough mix. What a great song and production! After spending a day mixing this song, I put on Kevin’s rough mix and was floored at how good it was. I learned again that I couldn’t venture too far from the rough mixes. There are some backing vocals on the rough mix that aren’t on the master 24 track. Did Kevin have a slave reel with more vocals that we never found? We’ll never know.

Suit Fugue: This shows Kevin’s brilliance as a songwriter, singer, and producer. I loved mixing this and look forward to mixing it again in 5.1 surround.

Imagemaker: This was the first track Jon Rubin asked me to mix. It was a test to see if I could improve Kevin’s rough and finished mixes. All involved agreed there was an improvement, and I got the green light to do the rest of the record. When I told Jon I used Dolby SR on the two track mix, he told me that Kevin hated SR. Out of respect for Kevin, I mixed the rest of the record on BASF 900 +6 @ 30ips.

Water Under The Bridge: This track was incomplete when Kevin died, but was a necessary element to the production. The vocal was a scratch recorded as a guide. I had only one vocal chorus to work with, and moved it around to complete the lead vocal. Nick did a great job of doubling the lead vocal and adding harmonies. I asked Tommy Dunbar (Jon’s partner from The Rubinoos days and a collaborator and friend of Kevin’s) to play a simple George Harrison style guitar solo to complete the song.

Best Laid Plans: There is no doubt that Kevin was paying tribute to some of his mentors on the production of The Shaming of the True. In this case, it must have been Elton John. As a fan of early Elton John recordings, I was thrilled to mix this classic rock production. To get the feeling of this piece, I spent equal time listening to Kevin’s rough mix and referring to Elton’s Madman Across The Water.

Smash: Early on, it was decided that Smash could not be a part of the rock opera. Kevin never sang a vocal on it, not even a guide. There was some talk about a Kevin Gilbert sound-alike singing the song, but that never happened. It was only after working on the Kevin Gilbert Live At The Troubadour CD that I thought it possible to pull Kevin’s vocal performance from the live show and apply it to the studio version. After many hours of digital editing, we had completed the song portion but left the rap (story) section out. We thought it would be clever to have someone else do that bit, so we hired a comedian named Bobby Slayton. Bobby was great and very funny, but in the end we went back and pulled Kevin’s vocal from the live recording. If you listen carefully, you can hear the Troubadour audience in the background.

Staring into Nothing: One of my favorites tracks. The crucial elements: flanged bass on the intro, drum and guitar sounds, monks, backing vocals, reverbs from hell. This track took me three days to mix, and it was worth it. This is maybe the best work I have ever done. There was a problem with some leaking time code on the right channel intro piano track. The piano track was a guide for vocals and was never replayed by Kevin.

Fun: As with most of Kevin's recordings, the use of processing (i.e. compressors, EQ, and distortion) was applied at the time of recording. Unlike most producers, he knew what he wanted and laid it down processed as a raw element. If he decided later he didn’t like the sound, he would just do the recording again. I am sure this practice led to the confusion regarding track sheets and tape box notes. The vocal processing on Fun had serious sibilance problems. There were also three vocal performances on the 24 track. We used Kevin's rough mix to sort out what vocal he wanted to use, when he wanted it to be used, where he would have wanted it. I mixed this song four times before I felt I got it the way Kevin would have wanted it.

From Here To There: This might be Kevin’s finest vocal performance on the CD. I still get goose bumps when I hear it. The end is down right creepy.

Ghetto of Beautiful Things: This song was a late arrival. We knew it existed only because we found a mix Kevin made of it to DAT. In my opinion, the mix was not good enough to go on the CD. The master was found at the last minute and it was the last to be mixed. When mastering the CD, I decided to replace the drum intro I had mixed with Kevin’s original. When we tried to cross-fade the two intros together, the tracks were a bit out of phase with each other. Jon and I liked the effect so we left it in.

Long Days Life: Mixing this song was like mixing three songs. In fact I had to mix it in sections or I would’ve gone crazy. I no sooner got a mix I liked than the arrangement would change and guitar tracks would turn into vocal tracks and a percussion track would turn into a keyboard track then back again. Kevin would often put many different instruments on the same track. He had a 24-track tape recorder and a pair of 8 track digital recorders locked up for a total of 40 tracks. But that still wasn’t enough for this complex and beautiful production.

Way Back Home: This cut was bare bones. Only drums, a piano, and a guide vocal track. Nick D'Virgilio, who worked on this cut prior to Kevin’s death, is the person most responsible for its completion. Nick knew what Kevin wanted regarding instrumentation and vocals. Nick decided to finish the track knowing how important it was to the opera. I am certain this must have been very difficult for Nick since he had been so close to Kevin and was now working at Kevin’s studio without him. Nick did a great job, and I know Kevin would have approved. The guitar solo is one of the high points of this CD, played by David Levita. Nick doubled Kevin’s guide vocal track to help reinforce it bit.

Johnny’s Last Song: Kevin wanted this last song to sound as down and out as Johnny Virgil must have felt. He recorded it outside the studio somewhere, onto a portable cassette player. The guitar was some old beat up junker. It was then transferred to the 24-track and sound effects were added. Kevin recorded the wonderful rain track himself. The faraway train whistle, that always leaves me with a sense of sadness, was another stroke of brilliance on Kevin's part.

A final note: There are two other songs that may have been part of the rock opera but were pulled at the last minute by Kevin. They are The Best of Everything and Miss Broadway. Miss Broadway appears on the Thud Live CD, and The Best of Everything will be on a forthcoming compilation of unreleased solo material.