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Hard
Earned Smile |
"This is a remarkable
album about connections--the connection to personal
history and heritage, the connection with other people,
and that trickiest of connections, the one between
head and heart."
- Jan Brick, WERS-FM Boston, MA
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Songs:
Dark
& Deep
Hope
All
Right
Stupid
In Love
Grey
Eagle
Butter
Flying
Change
In Me
Michael's
Song
Bicycle
Man
Butler
Street
Hard
Earned Smile
(P.O.
Boogie)
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Early
in 1997 David's Jeff Tarayla, a songwriter and
producer from New Jersey, flew down to North
Carolina to begin the process of making David's
new record. The two of them sat in David's living
room with a DAT recorder and laid down simple
versions of the songs that were in the running,
then spent three days talking about them; deciding
which ones to record, how they should sound,
what instruments, players and effects to use.
A few weeks later David traveled north to for
step two. The primary musicians got together
and rehearsed for three days, then they pretty
much moved into the studio, TraxEast
in South River, NJ . They spent twelve to fifteen
hours at the studio each day, starting around
noon and working well into the night, and eight
days later Hard Earned Smile was all but finished.
Support
from David Wilcox, Bill Mize, Chris Rosser,
David Hamburger, and Tom Prasada-Rao, adds to
the solid rhythms and sonic depth of the record.
Fans recently voted Hard Earned Smile
their favorite of David's recordings on davidlamottefan.com.
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"...a broad, mature
and human record, brimming with characteristic
hope... but with the grounding and aural framework
to make it indelibly real."
- Mountain
Xpress
"We spend a lot
of time sifting through singer/songwriter CDs
looking for substance. We found it on Hard Earned
Smile."
- Mark Keefe, P.D., WNCW-FM
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Guest
Artists:
Mr.
Bennett, bass, harmony vocals, mandolin,
requinto guitar, harmonica
Dave Bush,
drums
Tim Carbone, violin
Edno, percussion
Jim Gilheany, fretless bass
David
Hamburger, electric guitar, dobro, pedal
steel
Rick Lewis, organ
Bill Mize,
acoustic guitar
Tom
Prasada-Rao, harmony vocals
Chris Rosser,
piano
Jeff Tarayla,
a.k.a. 'Lucky', shaker, harmony vocals, electric
guitar
David Wilcox,
harmony vocals
Stephanie
Winters, cello
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And
by the way...
...many people
who have owned this record for years don't know
that there's a hidden track on it. I mean
really hidden. It's not one of those tracks
that comes on several minutes after the record
ends (like you might hear on S.S. Bathtub if
you're patient), it is tucked in before the
first song. I know that doesn't sound possible,
but it's there. Here's how to hear it. When
you first put the CD in press play on your CD
player, then hold down the scan (not skip) backwards
button and watch the time display, which will
show negative numbers. When you see the readout
get to about three minutes and fifty seconds
let your finger off and you will hear the song
P.O. Boogie. Don't let it go too far, though,
or it will go back to zero and you'll have to
start over. The recording was a rough one we
did in the studio on the spur of the moment.
One take, one microphone. The producer walks
in halfway through and starts playing shaker,
then walks out and shuts the door at the end.
Hope you enjoy the little bonus.
- David
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