Sunday February 17 2000 ...Deniz Tek walked in with his guitars as Colter was finishing up. There was only time for brief hellos before the next shift started. Deniz had suggested that he might like to play on some Brain songs. When I offered up some songs that he could add guitar to, he leapt at the chance.

All Fall Down could be one of the highlights of the new album, but it still lacked the solo the song needed. Richard Booth had a go at it when he was here, but he didn't have enough time to develop his ideas. We had recorded this one and Cloud Maker during rehearsals for Terrastock. Richard Treece played a stunning solo on the latter. Deniz came prepared with a clever riff to add to the end solo section. I asked him if he could transpose that pattern to fit on the verse. The song took a sudden Flamin' Groovies flavor.

 

The Known Sea is another song that was started just as we were completing work on Tiny Crustacean Light Show. This was one of nine or ten tracks I took to London in September 1999. Malc Morley played a bit of the Third Man Theme on this one. All that was lacking was a guitar solo at the end, to help resolve the complex structure. Karen had finally sung a long discussed vocal line the night before, to give Deniz a melodic hint.

 

Say Farewell was written by Dave Walker in the the style of a Pink Floyd type blues number. We've played this arrangement live, but our attempts to record it fell short. Dave and I had also recorded a much faster version. Ken Whaley and Malc both worked on this during the '99 London sessions. By the time I brought this back to the band, everyone was attached to the slow version, and couldn't get their heads around this performance.

 

Only Treece, who doesn't play on it, and myself were interested. I always envisioned a second guitar line to go along with what I'd played. Colter agreed that it needed another part to fatten up the sound. Deniz could not see why the guys had a problem with the song, and launched right in. The mission was simple: play the guitar.

 

Three songs down, and the evening was still young. In the last few weeks, it's become apparent that despite all our pleading, Jim Kehoe wasn't going to come around and finish up his song known as "Speed". This is yet another track from the Tiny Crust sessions. Speed was on the short list for that album until the very last minute. This is a fairly amazing track, unlike anything else we've done. Not wanting to abandon it, I decided to write a new set of lyrics. After cutting a guide track, I had Jeff and then Colter try singing it. None of our attempts were a complete success. After a listen, Deniz said "I can sing that one easy". It only took a few passes to nail this .The song will appear on the next album as "Where's Jim" or possibly "The Ballad Of Jim Kehoe". Only on a Donovan's Brain record would you find Deniz Tek and Richard Treece playing together.

 

...read more at Donovans-Brain.com