Cherry Beat - Recording Sessions (Part Fifteen - The Band's First Reunion)

August 1998
Fourteen years after the band Cherry Beat split up, the leaders of the band Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby got together to discuss a possible band reunion. All those past years without playing together as a group had certainly seemed to ease the tensions that had happened between them in the late 70's - early 80's.

While they knew that a band reunion would not be easy, they felt that it could certainly be possible, provided they were willing to work together, and provided they were able to get some additional musicians to play, unless either Torquil Dohrn, the band's longstanding lead guitarist, or Devon O'Connell, the band's longstanding drummer were willing to rejoin the band.

Both fellow ex-members of Cherry Beat were invited to rejoin the group, but both Torquil and Devon turned down the opportunity to rejoin. With Gregory Dogan back as the band's producer, and Chudley Maron - who was also the band's original producer - back as the band's music supervisor, the band knew that until they could find more band members to join, they would need to either play all the instruments themselves via overdubbing, or employ session musicians.

8th September 1998
With Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby back together as a group, the band held their first recording session in over fourteen years on this day. As a warm up, they recorded a couple of cover versions on this day, instead of original compositions.

The said recordings were a cover of a Rockabilly song "Rock This Town" written by Brian Setzer and originally recorded by Stray Cats. And an old 50's song "Judy Drownded" which was written and originally recorded by Irving Burgie.

"Rock This Town" was completed on this day, while future overdubs would be needed to complete "Judy Drownded".

The main reason "Judy Drownded" wasn't completed on this day was because the band was unsure exactly what instruments were played in the original recording, and they felt that to record a decent version of their own, they needed to use a similar lineup of instruments.

Luther Canup and Percy Duncan, two session musicians that had previously performed on certain past Cherry Beat recordings would play on the band's recordings of "Rock This Town" and "Judy Drownded".

6th October 1998
A handful of session musicians were brought in to add additional instrumentation and backing vocals to "Judy Drownded" on this day. Most of these session musicians had never performed on a Cherry Beat recording before, but there were a few familiar faces from previous recordings.

25th October 1998
British musician Milford Ekdahl is now officially a new member of Cherry Beat, in which he joined as a guitarist and keyboardist. As Peter and Sam both pointed out, Milford wasn't involved in the group's original incarnation, so he had nothing to do with the conflicts and tension that resulted in our breakup, so it was nice to have a new addition to our group, though it would never be the same without Torquil and Devon.

29th November 1998
Former Cherry Beat drummer Devon O'Connell subsequently agrees to rejoin the band, after turning down recent invitations to rejoin the group from August until late November. With three of the core members of Cherry Beat back together, along with a fourth new member, the band felt that even if it wasn't a success, they would at least be able to record a new album.

4th January 1999
This was the band's first official recording session for their thirteenth album. Gregory Dogan would serve as a co-producer for these recording sessions, with Chudley Maron serving as the band's music supervisor.

On this day the band recorded a new composition "Mochaccino Springs" which was written by Sam Whitby, although both Peter and Sam later claimed that it was Peter who put together the ultimate version of the song, as well as contribute a lot of the music, though the initial draft of the lyrics were written solely by Sam.

Peter said that it was Sam's song, and that he may have put together the final draft of the song, and he may have contributed a lot of the music, but it was primarily his work, and it was his concept. The song was described as an attempt to write a song with a mild Indian flavour, but also with a dark and moody feel to it.

This would be the first recording by the band to feature Milford Ekdahl as a Cherry Beat. Ironically even though Sam was the primary composer of the song, it was Peter that would serve as the song's co-producer along with Gregory Dogan.

8th January 1999
Session musicians Ivory Copenhaver, Elnora Jardine, and Ezra Wichman respectively add tabla, tambura, and sitar overdubs to "Mochaccino Springs" on this day. Royce Shoop

10th January 1999
Peter McDonald and session musicians Tracey Lessman, Ned Morphis, Emma Picou, and Morris Savala record cello overdubs while Ciera Batz, Royce Shoop, and Duncan Utsey record double bass overdubs for "Mochaccino Springs" on this day.

11th January 1999
Peter McDonald records a harmony vocal for "Mochaccino Springs" on this day, while Sam Whitby records a backing vocal and a fuzzed electric guitar overdub. Sam's lead vocal was also double tracked on this day.

12th February 1999
The band recorded a new composition "Ocean Ripple" on this day. It was written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Sam Whitby. This was the band's first recording to feature Milford Ekdahl on backing vocals.

19th February 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. A dreamy psychedelic rock song "Mortar Skies" which was written solely by Peter McDonald.

27th February 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. "Paintball Attendant" which was written solely by Sam Whitby. The song would become the titular track for the band's thirteenth album. Like "Mochaccino Springs", "Paintball Attendant" would feature Sam Whitby as the primary songwriter, but Peter McDonald as a co-producer.

4th March 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. "Striped Cone" which was written solely by Sam Whitby.

18th March 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. "Palette Knife" which was written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Milford Ekdahl. This was the first Cherry Beat composition that would credit Milford as a co-writer.

21st March 1999
Peter McDonald double tracks his lead vocals on "Ocean Ripple" and "Mortar Skies" on this day. Sam Whitby would do the same with his lead vocals on "Paintball Attendant".

It was during this same session that Sam records and double tracks a backing vocal overdub for "Ocean Ripple". Devon O'Connell recorded percussion overdubs for "Ocean Ripple", "Mortar Skies", "Paintball Attendant", and "Striped Cone".

25th March 1999
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and Milford Ekdahl record paintball gun overdubs for "Paintball Attendant" on this day. It was during this same session that session musicians Eleonore Hinojos and Katy Taranto recorded violin overdubs, while Neal Nobriga and Tracey Lessman respectively recorded viola and cello overdubs.

31st March 1999
Sam Whitby records a Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass Guitar overdub for "Mochaccino Springs" on this day. Peter McDonald was busy at the time so Sam seized the opportunity to record a bass guitar overdub using Peter's bass guitar for "Mochaccino Springs" himself.

5th April 1999
Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby respectively record cello and electric piano overdubs for "Ocean Ripple" on this day. They were joined by session musicians Leticia Angert, Eleonore Hinojos, and Katy Taranto who contributed violin overdubs, Jeremiah Dibernardo, Daryl Laffoon, and Neal Nobriga who contributed viola overdubs, Emma Picou and Morris Savala who contributed cello overdubs, Ciera Batz who contributed double bass overdubs, and Weston Montufar who contributed golden harp overdubs.

8th April 1999
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and session musician Percy Duncan respectively record Danelectro Bass Guitar, Acoustic guitar, and Ludwig Drum Kit overdubs for "Striped Cone" on this day.

13th April 1999
Devon O'Connell records himself blowing through a straw into a steel pan with water to create a bubbling effect and adds it as an overdub to "Ocean Ripple" on this day. The song was now completed.

18th April 1999
Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby record backing vocal and acoustic guitar overdubs for "Mortar Skies" on this day. Devon O'Connell and Milford Ekdahl respectively record tambourine and acoustic guitar overdubs. Chudley Maron and Gregory Dogan respectively record electric piano and lowrey organ overdubs.

Session musicians Stacey Cuyler, Elnora Jardine, and Dino Tunison respectively record clavinet, tambura, and harmonium overdubs for "Mortar Skies" during this same session. Session musicians Chauncey Dehoyos and Gregorio Wuensche recorded zither overdubs.

23rd April 1999
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Devon O'Connell, Milford Ekdahl, Chudley Maron, and Gregory Dogan respectively record 6-String Bass Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Maracas, Electric guitar with Tremelo, Grand Piano, and Castanet overdubs for "Mortar Skies" on this day.

4th May 1999
Peter McDonald records a slide guitar overdub for "Mortar Skies" on this day. The song was now completed.

9th May 1999
Peter McDonald and Milford Ekdahl record keyboard overdubs for "Palette Knife" on this day. Sam Whitby records backing vocal and grand piano overdubs while Chudley Maron recorded a hammer dulcimer overdub, making "Palette Knife" the first Cherry Beat composition to feature a hammer dulcimer.

13th May 1999
The band recorded a cover version of "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" which was written by Shel Silverstein who had passed away three days earlier. The band knew the song well before Shel's passing, but it certain that they had chosen to record their own version of the song as a sort of private tribute in his memory.

Marianne Faithfull had recorded a new wave version of the song more than a decade earlier, but Cherry Beat saw recording their own version of the song, which wasn't intended for immediate release as an opportunity to revisit the power pop style of some of their earlier songs, while taking a slight break from recording their thirteenth studio album which was already destined to become a psychedelic and experimental rock album.

19th May 1999
Devon O'Connell added some drum machine overdubs for certain parts of "Mochaccino Springs" on this day, while Milford Ekdahl used a music sequencer for additional effects. If Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby weren't 100% satisfied with the master recording of "Mochaccino Springs" before, they were almost certainly satisfied now. Sam Whitby later said that the opening and ending instrumentation and sound effects were loosely inspired by The Sisters of Mercy's "No Time to Cry". "That's why the style of the song is somewhat darker than a lot of our other recordings" he said.

"But we had to keep the Gothic style to a minimum since it would have sounded out of place alongside the other songs that we recorded in 1999". "It also has a mild Indian flavour to it" added Peter "And a psychedelic feel to it, which a Sisters of Mercy song would never have, so "Mochaccino Springs" never really ended up sounding like The Sisters of Mercy, but we were looking at the instrumentation of "No Time to Cry" when we decided how we were going to do "Mochaccino Springs".

23rd June 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. A psychedelic rock song "Stained Glass" which was written by Peter McDonald.

7th July 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. A psychedelic rock song "Mosaic Tiles" which was written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Milford Ekdahl.

13th July 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. A pop rock and soul song "Craquelure" which was written primarily by Devon O'Connell, with input from Sam Whitby.

20th July 1999
The band recorded a new composition on this day. A psychedelic folk rock song "Diffuse Glow" which was written primarily by Devon O'Connell, with input from Peter McDonald.

25th July 1999
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and Milford Ekdahl respectively record clavichord, slide guitar, and mellotron overdubs for "Mosiac Tiles" on this day.