 Damaged Goods2000 With all my worldly possessions Sanford-and-Son-ed in the back of Brian Leach's Toyota pickup, I arrived in Chicago about 11:30 p.m. on May 16, 1998. With a welcoming party from Leach and my new roommate, Brian Hunt, I promptly proceeded to lose my mind and the next day, my keys. Such was the first night at my new home - a big loft at North and Oakley avenues, in Wicker Park. I started writing the songs on this CD soon after, with the help of Hunt, Leach, and Christian Moder, who had recently relocated here from Los Angeles. The songs were all done within about a year, but we figured we better try 'em out and see what stuck. So, we did a tour of Germany and Austria to play the new songs and to support the European release of The First Spilled Drink of the Evening in May 1999. But most of the songs were inspired by experiences we all had right here in Chicago. What this means is that if you hear places and names in the songs that sound real, they usually are. Cases in point with the Hungry Brain, the Pontiac Cafe, and Bernadette, a lady I met right on the front step of my new place. It seems only appropriate that we did much of the recording for Damaged Goods in that very loft - some in the basement, some in the main room. We actually recorded on the street corner, so don't be surprised if you hear some cars, buses, or trucks passing by. We also again enlisted Adam Schmitt (and his studio), without whom none of this would have been in any way possible, to produce, fix all the rough spots, and keep us endlessly entertained with his archives of famous studio outtakes. You'll also hear from other folks we enlisted who played horns, strings, and percussion; snapped fingers and clapped hands; rambled drunkenly and yelled nonsense; broke bottles and valuables; and generally made the recording sessions a great time. And so, without any further adieu, here's how they turned out. We decided to call it Damaged Goods. Featuring BRIAN KRUMM BRIAN HUNT CHRISTIAN MODER BRIAN LEACH Brian Krumm : vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo Thanks to: Andy, Jake, John, Judyann, Mary, Nick, Todd, Laura, Sarabeth, Adam, Ludger and Christian of K.G.B., Rüdiger and Trocadero Records, Jörg and Starkult Promotion, Rene and Mint Grün, Stephen Austin Welch for the photography, Michael Roux, Geoff Merritt and everyone at Parasol AND Beatle Bob, Jay Bennett, The Blacks, Blaise Barton and Scientific Mastering, Brass Rail, Jim Cole, Club Lucky, Club Safari of Hamburg, Crespo's, Thomas Crone, Derek and George and The Side Door, Docter, Double Door, Doug and Schuba's, Dave Falzone at The Music Library, Henry Frayne and Lanterna, David Fricke, Brendan Gamble, Ward Gollings, Laurie Grams, Edward Hargrove, The Highdive, The Hogenbooms, The Hungry Brain, Dan Janoff, Howie Kantoff, Rob Krumm, Kyle and Gunther Murphy's, Andy Lund at Rosewood Guitars, Rob Mamola, Rob (Laurie) McColley, Leslie Nuss, Joe Poindexter, Pontiac Cafe, Mike Rader, Rembert and everyone at Glitterhouse Records, Gary Rogers, John Ross and Autoliner, United Record Pressing of Nashville, Vandalia, Rod van Huis, Way Huge, Lisa Yucht AND especially all our families and friends AND of course, all the wonderful people we met in Germany and Vienna, Austria. © 2000 The Great Crusades (ASCAP) |
