Cup of Coffee - Studio Recording

Recorded around 1990, Cup of Coffee was the second of two studio recordings with Art Bennett on Drums. It also was the fifth cut on the last studio release by Birkin Grif called Was Never Was. Pictured (from left to right): Andy Ganse, Art Bennett. Picture taken outside the Willis Street studio in the late 80s.

South of Somewhere - Studio Recording

Recorded around 1990, South of Somewhere was a faster piece for Birkin Grif and one of two studio recordings with Art Bennett on Drums. South of Somewhere was the first cut on the last studio release by Birkin Grif called Was Never Was. Pictured is Art Bennett serving up the beat in the basement of the Willis Street studio.

Unreleased #2 - Potter House

Potter House was a 2 bedroom prefab where Birkin Grif got it's start. The first recordings were done there on a Dokordor 7140 in the '70s. Potter House 1 was the original sketch done to get the idea down quickly. Most of those sketches were rough with bad timing, wrong notes, etc. But, the idea was captured to use later. It was recorded sometime in 1976 or early 1977. Potter House 2 was recorded recently. Pictured (from left to right): Alonzo Powers (playing Fender Jazz Bass), Dave Donnell (acoustic guitar).

News Flash - Gentle Giant Back Together!

I know, I'm as surprised as you are. 3 of the original members; Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, and Malcom Mortimore , have formed a group called 'Three Friends'. They are playing the old Gentle Giant originals and writing new material. Check out their web site at threefriends.net. I also found a good history site for Gentle Giant here. The Three Friends web site and YouTube have
video of them in concert. While I was out ferreting info I also stumbled upon a hilarious video of The Muppets doing 'On the Edge of Twilight'. You've got to check it out. Crazy, man.

What Are They Doing Now #6

Sequential is a recording done in 2007 using loops and samples along with live instruments. The technology of recording has changed dramatically since the 70s. During that period echo was created using tape loops. The only loops used in the 80s (at least for us) were patterns created on a drum machine that were used (through midi) to trigger keyboards. Today it is anything you can record, any digital audio file, or midi all combined together. The male choir voices are samples used in the GForce M-Tron digital emulation of the Mellotron. The Mellotron was a popular keyboard from the 70s. Each key triggered a tape loop to create sound. It was used for strings, choir voices, and other symphonic sounds. Quite the beast from what I've read. I saw a new version at NAMM in 2007. Looked the same. Nice thing about the digital version is it doesn't go out of tune.

Centuries in the Making - Studio Recording

Centuries in the Making is a cut from Birkin Grif's first release, Movement in Egg Flatt. Pictured (from left to right) : Alonzo Powers, Dave Donnell - winter of 1974 -1975. The amp behind Dave is a Fender Bassman with 2 15s. The amp was used for guitar instead of bass. That gave the guitar a warm rich sound over the traditional guitar amp. A small stereo amp was used as a preamp into the Bassman. The guitar was plugged into the left channel of the stereo, the output of the left channel was looped into the right channel, then the output of the right channel tied into the Bassman. S-u-p-e-r Overdrive, man!

Autumn - Studio Recording

Autumn was a cut from Birkin Grif's first release, Movement in Egg Flatt. Pictured (from left to right) : Dave Donnell, Alonzo Powers. Photograph by J Yount & M Lauby

Seventh Day

Seventh Day is a experiment in combining sound and visual. Title relates to Biblical creation. On the seventh day God rested. Animation and sound by Alonzo Powers.

Jester - The Birkin Grif Sound

Jester was a sound sketch done in 1976 that identified the original Birkin Grif sound. Although not much of what was done over the years sounded like it. There was another obscure recording done in 1978 of the same idea called Jester II. This was one of Dave's favorites and is one sketch that will have to be revisited with a new arrangement. Pictured: Alonzo Powers at the Potter house mixin with a old Radio Shack mixer.

Gsquared - Old and New

G2 ( G squared) was the forth cut on Birkin Grif's first release, Movement in Egg Flatt. Another version, called G2 II was recorded Labor Day weekend in 2008. Pictured from left to right and long, long ago: Brian Miller, Rick Walter, Alonzo Powers

Islands Old and New, Live and Studio

Islands was the last cut on the 1986 release Impressions. The video was a June 24, 1989 performance of that version. There was a cut on the 1990 release Was Never Was called Islands II. Then in 2005 there was a unreleased recording called Islands 4. On the credits of the video it lists Dave Donnell as drummer. It actually was Art Bennett. Sorry Art.

What Are They Doing Now #5

704 was recorded in 2003 as a rough idea for a band piece. It ended up being a improvised acoustic guitar duo. Pictured: Alonzo Powers

Night Rain - Studio Recording

Night Rain was the opening track on the 1984 release All Wet. It is a cinematic piece crafted with layers upon layers of sound.

Unreleased #1 - Journey

In the late 80s we recorded Journey during one of our improv sessions. Later in 1993 it was recorded again as a cut on The Cheeze Stands Alone, An Adventure in Guitar Singularity. This needs lyrics if anyone is inspired to write them. Pictured from left to right: Dave Donnell (with his back to us), Alonzo Powers (sippin somthin good), Nel Larson (servin um up).

Turtles Revenge - Studio Recording

Turtles Revenge was the second cut on the 1983 release Movement in Egg Flatt. Pictured from left to right: Dave Donnell, Alonzo Powers

Turtles Revenge - Live June 24, 1989

Turtles Revenge was the second cut on Movement in Egg Flatt.

What Are They Doing Now #4

Birkin's Bolero was the fifth track on Movement in Egg Flatt, Birkin Grif's first album. A variation, Birkin's Bolero II, was improvised and recorded in September 2008 with Brian Miller sitting in on guitar. Pictured: Dave Donnell

What Are They Doing Now #3

A good idea that was never pursued, Ancient Days (Take 1) and Ancient Days (Take 2) were recorded sometime in the 80s. It's possible the idea was first conceived in the 70s but there is no recording to prove it. This was another version recorded in September of 2008, Ancient Days II.
Pictured: Dave Donnell taking a break while setting up to record, Labor Day weekend 2006.

What Are They Doing Now #2

Yesterdays II was recorded over Labor Day 2008. It is another version of the previous post done in 1976. Pictured: Dave Donnell

In the beginning - Dokordor 7140

It was strange to find the previous video on YouTube. I bought that same model 1/4 inch analog tape deck in 1976 and began accumulating instruments to overdub with it. There were 4 separate recording tracks to work with. Before this we were recording back and forth between 2 8-track analog tape decks. This was a major step up in quality. Here is a sample of a recording from that tape deck - Yesterdays. A piano, bass, Electrocomp 101, and Elka Rhapsody were used to create this musical rough sketch. Pictured: Alonzo Powers (Notice the Dokordor 7140 to the left)

Dokorder 7140 - The Deck that started it all.

All Wet - Studio Recording

All Wet was Birkin Grif's second album. Pictured from left to right: Dave Donnell, Alonzo Powers

All Wet - Live June 24, 1989

All Wet is the fourth track from Birkin Grif's 1984 release called All Wet (so named because all of the tracks were about rain in some way).

Bop - Studio Recording

Bop was the third track on the unreleased 4th album Was Never Was. Pictured from left to right: Dave Donnell: Electronic Drums, Alonzo Powers: Bass, Andy Ganse (in the dark): Keyboards.

Bop - Live June 24, 1989

Bop was a track from Birkin Grif's unreleased 4th album, Was Never Was.

What Are They Doing Now #1

Blues For Mahan is one of many recordings done at their annual Labor Day reunion. Pictured from left to right: Don Einan, Dave Donnell

Monkey Bar Swing - Studio Recording

Monkey Bar Swing was the second track on the 1986 release Impressions. On the studio version all instruments were played by Alonzo Powers. Quite different from the live version.

Monkey Bar Swing - Live June 24, 1989

Monkey Bar Swing was a track from Birkin Grif's third album, Impressions.

Those Days Are Gone - Studio Recording

Pictured (from left to right) :
Dave Donnell: Drums and Percussion
Don Einan: Bass
Alonzo Powers: Guitars and Keyboards

Those Days Are Gone was the third track on the 1986 release Impressions. The trio recorded it in their studio to a Tascam 80-8 analog tape deck. Contrast that with the live recording in the last post where Don Einan is playing guitar instead of bass.

Those Days Are Gone - Live June 24, 1989

Those Days Are Gone was a track from Birkin Grif's third album, Impressions. It was written about friends and family who had died recently (in the 80s) and one of the few tunes with lyrics.

Lyrics are:
Loosing Track
The days and weeks
Fly by
Summer days soon turn to fall
Winter calls
No more the words to say
Goodbye
Moments lost we never shared
Those Days Are Gone

Move ahead
But not forget
Inside
Picture's there
And though you're gone you're near
Remembering the many years
So clear
Like yesterday when you were here
Those Days Are Gone

Day One

It was 20 years ago today Sargent Pepper and his band did ...... wait that's another story completely. I digress.