The tracks below,
I post in honor of Jeff Douglas, a true musician.
I hope to recover much of Jeff’s recorded music and post here.
R.I.P. Jeff… April 22, 1965 – March 16, 2013
… recently realized this song was cutting off at 1/4 of the way in. 121415 – fixed.
… Jeff would probably knock me in the head for posting this one, but I really like the guitar work and the band effort. We were simply working through the song to learn. You can hear that Jeff didn’t even have the lyrics down. Its a fact (and evident) that Jeff was influenced early on by Richie Blackmore. This would have been about 1989. Hard To Believe (Jeff Douglas & James Douglas)
… Now this song has some great guitar playing going on. Painful for me to listen to though. We had worked out a heavy rock structure and then recorded it, once again with a primitive home recording setup. A couple weeks later, Jeff told me that he had written lyrics and wanted me to lay down a basic vocal track for reference. Well, after a few beers and working out what should go where, we did. It was supposed to be a temporary vocal track, until someone who could actually sing came along. After the vocals went down, Jeff recorded guitar. I was amazed then by his playing and I still am, thirty years later. Warning… This song requires headphones! House Is Rockin (Steve Ray Vaughan)
… This is a recording from a rehearsal (probably one mic). Mistakes certainly abound. We had began to segue this song from House Is Rockin into Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers (ZZ Top) and then of course right into Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top). I know I’ve said this before, but Jeff’s guitar playing is really showcased in this medley. I mean, both Stevie Ray and Billy Gibbons created large pairs of shoes to fill for a guitar player and I was always impressed by Jeff’s versions of the guitar parts of these songs. It was a lot of fun. Mark Weathers was the bass player, and as justified by listening to this recording, was largely influenced by Tommy Shannon. This was a pretty good band. Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top)
… I listened to this song today (042118), which is the last song in the previously posted medley of ours that begins with House Is Rockin by Stevie Ray. I just thought that this song is a good listen on its own. Again, the recording was just a rehearsal and mistakes are there, but I remember fun going on. Jeff was happy and as a band, we were in a positive mode. I know for sure that Jeff had been playing this song for 20 years and he very much liked playing it. Thanks to ZZ Top for such a historic concrete footprint of a song and Thanks to Jeff for having put his heart into it and doing justice to the spirit of the song. I know Billy Gibbons and crew would enjoy. Happy 2018 Birthday Jeff! Bass & Drums groove (Jeff & James Douglas)
… 070718 – Found this recording last night. Bass & Drums only. Was able to clean up the recording some. Jeff had been playing bass at the time (about 1991) when Andrew Burt was playing guitar in our band at the time, The House Cats. I think this groove shows the exceptional ability of Jeff and I to lock & groove. Jeff had really defined himself as a prolific bass player (ironically). I remember we both felt great about the final. I wish Jeff would have had the opportunity to lay down guitar. As always, listen with headphones. RIP bro!
112318 – Still really enjoying the bass & drums groove. Started up in my car recently through random play. Loved it! Great playing (if I may?) Happy TG Bros!
Psychotic Dogs
** originally posted Nov 2, 2014 – moved to this page on July 21, 2024…
This song developed one morning when Jeff showed me some measures of a bass line that he had written down. As we talked about it over coffee, ideas began to fly and of course that called for another pot of coffee. The outstanding component was that it was a cool riff, but in an odd time. We were trying to make it rock, but not sound stiff. What I always liked is that we never went to the instruments until quite some time later that day. Jeff was quite proud of the fact that he had written the idea before it would ever be played. It was really something when it all came together through amps and at the drumset.
Once at the instruments, it became quickly apparent (at least to me) that the lines were physically difficult to play. I had to play through my parts on drumset, singing the lines in my head until I got it right. But really, having known the parts from paper so well, it was just a matter of mind and body coming together. It really was thrilling. To this day, (almost 30 years down the line) I invite any drummer to play this and tell me isn’t challenging.
The recording equipment was our own and it was rough. No real mics to speak of. If I remember right, it was open-room micing into a Fostex X-15 and bass and drums went down first, sharing tracks 1 & 2. Hopefully, the guitar track would go well and not require dumping all 3 tracks to 4. Much more noise if that were to happen.
As we hammered it out through the day, once in a while could be heard, the crazy barking of dogs Stevie and Sheba outside as they ran the fence line, barking at the neighbor dogs. They liked that, but I don’t think they knew how crazy it sounded. There came the comment that the barks were “psychotic” at some points. Well, it was decided that the song and its players were somewhat psychotic themselves and thus the song title.
The reason for this “article” is maybe for myself, but this song was always referred to by Jeff and I as “the” piece of work. It’s a shame that we never refined it and recorded it properly. But, when you listen to it, there is certainly an unbridled attack of enthusiasm that can’t be denied, and that will stay with me always. When someone works at something from heart, the listener or onlooker can feel it. This song was special to me and I know it was to Jeff. In my opinion, the guitar work was excellent. Listen and enjoy (or not), but do so with headphones to get the effect. R.I.P. Jeff.