My friend and accomplished writer Marilou Regan sent me an article/interview that she completed with Keith's good friend and sound master extraordinaire Rob Fraboni. It is far too interesting not to share with all of you! I hope you enjoy it. I learned a lot...but I always do when I read Marilou's stories.

[www.loveyouliverollingstones.com]

Very, very nice article this time!
Rob learned his lesson from the days of the Bridges To Babylon album. Don't credit yourself beyond your given responsibilities ...

Wonderful link!

Good read ....
Keith even influenced Rob's dress sense ....



ROCKMAN

Great story. Very enjoyable read. Thank you for posting.
Interesting on making mp3 files sound better (or "feel" better) than CDs.

Interesting credit to Dave Natale for the great guitar sound we've been hearing on recent tours, especially the No Filter gigs.

HBK

Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

Fantastic read. Well done to Marilou for such a great interview. Thanks for sharing it

I'll let Marilou know you enjoyed it, Gazza! She always digs right in and pulls out real gems!

Great stuff, thanks.

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

The same writer published an interview with him in an international Rolling Stones fanzine in which he claimed to have produced more songs of BtB than he was officially credited for. It caused a major problem for him, to say the least.
The responsible writer wanted the owners of the magazine to withdraw the magazine from stores etc., but it was already too late. Besides it would have caused the (non commercial) fanzine a fortune which nobody felt responsible for.

Thank You for this article as it was a very good read .

FANTASTIC read. Thanks to the OP!

Rod

What about these 1996 sessions with Keef, Rob Fraboni, Jeff Sarli, George Recile...?
Is it the "Wingless Angels" project?

"Jeff Sarli and his red-and-black acoustic bass have also hit the road several times over the past 10 years with bluesman John Mooney. When he returned from Branson, Sarli called Mooney in New Orleans, who invited Sarli into the recording studio down in the Crescent City. Producer Rob Fraboni liked the way Sarli clicked with drummer George Recile and Sarli ended up on several tracks of Mooney's latest disc, "Against the Wall" (House of Blues).
"Then George told me he was doing drums on the Keith thing," says Sarli in his seriously cool-cat drawl. "He said I should do it too. I said, `You go tell Keith and I'll hold my breath.' " But Sarli had someone else to champion his cause. Mooney's producer Fraboni was also lined up to produce "the Keith thing." One thing really led to another, and in early May Sarli found himself in a Connecticut recording studio for a tryout.

"I walked in and there was Keith sitting at a piano goofing around," says Sarli. "I just grabbed my bass and we started jamming. The tape was running, and we might get a song out of it. Then he picked up a guitar and he started playing and I thought, `Goddamn, that is definitely Keith Richards, in case you hadn't noticed.' " After hanging out for the day, Sarli headed home. Fraboni called and said that Richards "dug the way I sounded on upright and definitely wants me to play on the record," says Sarli.

The timing is "really strange, because in the past couple of years I've been getting back into the Stones in a big way, and listening a lot to Keith's two solo records and I remember thinking about a year ago, `Man, I'd really love to play with this guy.' Now here it is happening."

So having passed the audition, Sarli's waiting for the studio time to be nailed down (probably late July), and with time to kill, is waiting on calls from D.C. bands for some pick-up gigs. With a laugh, Sarli says he's currently available "for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Just because I get to go play with Keith doesn't mean I don't still need work!"

[www.washingtonpost.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-11-12 17:08 by KRiffhard.

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

Yeah I agree! The 2nd one is much much better, the chorus reminds me of the last bridge (3rd) in Out Of Control where Charlie do that magic step-up.

It's pure Stones magic!

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MadMax

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

Yeah I agree! The 2nd one is much much better, the chorus reminds me of the last bridge (3rd) in Out Of Control where Charlie do that magic step-up.

It's pure Stones magic!

This one? First time I've heard it - never knew to look I guess.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-11-13 01:49 by GasLightStreet.

Thank you for the link. Interesting...

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GasLightStreet

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MadMax

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

Yeah I agree! The 2nd one is much much better, the chorus reminds me of the last bridge (3rd) in Out Of Control where Charlie do that magic step-up.

It's pure Stones magic!

This one? First time I've heard it - never knew to look I guess.

never heard that version before! There's no need for any kind of discussion – it is obviously superior to the released version. I wonder how it comes that nobody realized this and released the other version.
When I listen to the SG bonus disc I always skip 'Claudine' since that version is so silly



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-11-14 17:53 by slewan.

Thank you Mickshick and Marilou Regan for an interesting and fantastically written interview! A treasure to read.

- Doxa

Terrific interview. Much insight there. Great job by your friend.

Whats so "silly" about the released version of Claudine? I just listened to the two versions on Static In the Attic vs the one on the SG release, and think they are very similar, so I don't understand what would be silly about the released version and not about either of these two.

Never heard that long version posted above but could see why that was not released.

jb

That long version of 'Claudine' is simply unreleasable. A loose, incoherent 8 minute jam that goes nowhere being included on a 45-minute album? Its nice to have it on a bootleg but thats where it belongs.

The rockabilly version blows it away.

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georgie48

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

The same writer published an interview with him in an international Rolling Stones fanzine in which he claimed to have produced more songs of BtB than he was officially credited for. It caused a major problem for him, to say the least.
The responsible writer wanted the owners of the magazine to withdraw the magazine from stores etc., but it was already too late. Besides it would have caused the (non commercial) fanzine a fortune which nobody felt responsible for.

Any idea if that BTB Fraboni article is online?

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georgie48

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

The same writer published an interview with him in an international Rolling Stones fanzine in which he claimed to have produced more songs of BtB than he was officially credited for. It caused a major problem for him, to say the least.
The responsible writer wanted the owners of the magazine to withdraw the magazine from stores etc., but it was already too late. Besides it would have caused the (non commercial) fanzine a fortune which nobody felt responsible for.

Was that Sticky Fingers Magazine ? I used to have a subscription around that time but don't remember that at all. I was a bit surprised in the recent interview where he says “(Producer) Don Was asked me to use the mics and setup Keith and I used for the stuff that he was going to record,” - is that why he implied he did more production than he was credited with ?

BTW I got here after bumping into the recent interview by accident. The stories about Claudine and digging out "Start Me Up" were interesting. So it was STILL a reggae sounding song during the Some Girls sessions, probably the "Never Stop" we know, I never believed it came from the B&B sessions as has often been claimed.

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

Gotablouse, I believe the name of the Magazine was Stones People Magazine. I have kept quite a few because I was a subscriber. I loved it, it full of amazing photos and articles with tidbits that could not be found anywhere else..that was it's charm!

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gotdablouse

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georgie48

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GasLightStreet
Funny to see that Fraboni thinks the released version of Claudine sucks. Because it does! With the mention of it possibly for a compilation album perhaps they were considering it for SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES.

How did he credit himself beyond his responsibilities with BRIDGES? I don't get that at all.

The same writer published an interview with him in an international Rolling Stones fanzine in which he claimed to have produced more songs of BtB than he was officially credited for. It caused a major problem for him, to say the least.
The responsible writer wanted the owners of the magazine to withdraw the magazine from stores etc., but it was already too late. Besides it would have caused the (non commercial) fanzine a fortune which nobody felt responsible for.

Was that Sticky Fingers Magazine ? I used to have a subscription around that time but don't remember that at all. I was a bit surprised in the recent interview where he says “(Producer) Don Was asked me to use the mics and setup Keith and I used for the stuff that he was going to record,” - is that why he implied he did more production than he was credited with ?

BTW I got here after bumping into the recent interview by accident. The stories about Claudine and digging out "Start Me Up" were interesting. So it was STILL a reggae sounding song during the Some Girls sessions, probably the "Never Stop" we know, I never believed it came from the B&B sessions as has often been claimed.

While we know Start Me Up was recorded in 1977 the Chris Kimsey article states that it was started in 1975. Of course, the same article says Start Me Up was recorded in 1978, which only points out that they didn't pay attention to what Kimsey said or Kimsey gave the wrong year because apparently the January and March 1978 sessions were mixing and editing for SOME GIRLS.

Nothing on [www.nzentgraf.de] hints at Start Me Up being started in 1975. Maybe it's one of the "funky jams" that didn't get a title but it seems to be established that it was Never Stop as a reggae-esque song in 1977.

[www.soundonsound.com]

They definitely chose the right version of Claudine. Too much work remains to make the long version sound good. There are some interesting things going on there, though.

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Gazza
That long version of 'Claudine' is simply unreleasable. A loose, incoherent 8 minute jam that goes nowhere being included on a 45-minute album? Its nice to have it on a bootleg but thats where it belongs.

The rockabilly version blows it away.

Exactly. It's clearly an unfinished, early try-out. Bootleg material, nice to have, but official release quality? No, absolutely not. If Fraboni actually meant this version as being "superior" to the released one, I have to seriously doubt his judgement and executive producer qualification.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-02-03 19:32 by retired_dog.

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retired_dog

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Gazza
That long version of 'Claudine' is simply unreleasable. A loose, incoherent 8 minute jam that goes nowhere being included on a 45-minute album? Its nice to have it on a bootleg but thats where it belongs.

The rockabilly version blows it away.

Exactly. It's clearly an unfinished, early try-out. Bootleg material, nice to have, but official release quality? No, absolutely not. If Fraboni actually meant this version as being "superior" to the released one, I have to seriously doubt his judgement.

There are probably more versions.

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DandelionPowderman

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retired_dog

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Gazza
That long version of 'Claudine' is simply unreleasable. A loose, incoherent 8 minute jam that goes nowhere being included on a 45-minute album? Its nice to have it on a bootleg but thats where it belongs.

The rockabilly version blows it away.

Exactly. It's clearly an unfinished, early try-out. Bootleg material, nice to have, but official release quality? No, absolutely not. If Fraboni actually meant this version as being "superior" to the released one, I have to seriously doubt his judgement.

There are probably more versions.

That's possible, indeed, that there's still an uncirculated "holy grail"-version (the version that beats all other versions!) of "Claudine" in the vaults...
...until that appears one day, I tend to trust the artist's judgement, though.