The Zig Gazette

The Zig Gazette
Vol. 7 #19
The Zigs’ website is TheZigsBand.com
We are also on MySpace/thezigsband

The Zigs are: Jim Ziegler, Bill Raffensperger,
Frank McPeters, Jim Downing

“Are we having fun yet?” - Zippy The Pinhead

Saturday: Stampedes – Cookson OK.

Gazintas
We got buckets of feedback on the last Gazette. Was it something we said? We got a note from Joe Johnston in Nashville and a call from Fez in Flordia.
Responses to “Best Cover Songs” included Bonnie Raitt’s “Runaway”, Aerosmith’s “Walking In The Sand”, and Van Halen’s “You’re No Good” (also done well by Ronstadt and originally by Betty Everett)
Don Bingham mentioned the Rascal’s cover of “Good Lovin” which was originally by The Olympics. Another guy thought the Grateful Dead improved on the Rascals version. Hmm. We would also add “Ruby Baby” by Donald Fagen.
B.B. Kong, he of the LA studio monkeys, asked “I’d like to share that one with about 2,000 people if you don’t mind.”
So he posted it on a web forum frequented by recording industry types: Womb.Mixerman.net. About 150 people read it overnight, almost as many as get the Gazette. We were not allowed to promote The Zigs in that venue, but if they happen to write in maybe then we can snag them. At last count there were close to 400 hits on it.
The webmaster took issue with our comparing Madonna to Larry Bud Melman. “We know it’s popular to bash some acts, but we have standards of decency here, pal. Melman doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
Zig Book Club•
About Mixerman, Kong gave us a book in 04 entitled The Daily Adventures Of Mixerman. An LA engineer took on a big project, recording a new rock band for a major label. He kept a daily diary and posted it on line, then put it out as a book. It is hilarious, literate and informative. He does not reveal the names of the company, the execs, the studio, the band, or even some of the popular equipment he doesn’t like. All engineers should read this book if they haven’t already, and music lovers will get a big kick out of it.
In a way, Mixerman is a traditional engineer. By that we mean that a good engineer who must know electronics, acoustics, what all the equipment does, and how it does it. He must also know music technically and intuitively. On top of all that he must be diplomatic; the business is full of misplaced idiots. His diary shows us what he’s really thinking.
This is an American classic, and anyone involved in recording or the music business should read it. In the end, he sums up what he probably knew to begin with about how things have gone wrong; a bunch of pinheads get a $2 million dollar advance and waste a tremendous amount of studio time getting nothing done. It’s a write-off for someone.
Reading Levon Helm’s book, he mentioned Henry Glover of King Records, one of the first to record The Hawks. Glover wrote quite a few hit songs. Who’d’ve thunk the guy who wrote “Drown In My Own Tears” also wrote “California Sun”? He also wrote “Peppermint Twist”, “Sticks And Stones”, and “It Ain’t The Meat” among many others.
In movie news, there was a great new documentary on PBS last week. If you missed it, you can buy it and not just from PBS. It’s “Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story.” It’s unanimous in this band anyway that Stax is our favorite record label of all time. We even have a brick from the original building which we kept in Beef Studios while we recorded Jukin’ At Joe’s. It was our mojo. Stax recorded Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, Sam And Dave, Isaac Hayes, Bill Cosby, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Albert King, Mel & Tim, The Mar Keys, Richard Pryor, The Bar Kays, The Staples Singers, Johnny Taylor, and Booker T. & The MGs. Holy mackerel, Andy!
Saturday: Stampedes – Cookson OK.
MEDIA WATCH
Dick Gagle had a comment on the ultimate disclaimer : “Nothing is better than our product.” You know, as, “Nothing gets rid of a headache like Advil.” So, you’re just as well off using nothing. Evidently nothing is better than just about everything.
That said, The Zigs are the most effective band you can buy.
GIG WHORE
John Hoff called at 2:30 Saturday morning. “Need a keyboard player tonight. Give me a call.”
So a few hours later I’m with Big Daddy at Emilio’s Piano Bar. What? For some reason, Emilio really digs The Blues Kickers. Well, it is a good group, but it seems an odd contrast.
Emilio is a flash pianist in the Roger Williams/ Liberace mode. He played for Prince Charles’ 50th birthday, by order of The Queen and Elton asked to sit in. Elton is allowed to ask to sit in, but the rest of you aren’t.
Emilio sat in with us on Oreo Cookie Blues. On breaks, he played two keyboards and did lots of standards and even some Scott Joplin.
The food is allegedly phenomenal and reasonable if you make $250,000 a year. If you’re like us, you could split an appetizer.
FLOTSAM
Speaking of recording, our auxiliary bassist, Mike ‘Mad Dog’ Johnson, is building up a formidable studio out yonder at The New Sand Burr Ranch. The Dog recorded our Mooney’s New Year’s gig last year and it’s pretty good if we do say ourselves, and we do. We might just edit it down to a manageable length and issue it as your Zigs Live Party record.
We also have a big deal coming up next week. The Muskogee Park Department, Dr. Pepper, The Muskogee Phoenix, First National Bank and Muskogee Regional Medical Center present Tulsa Sound Legends The Zigs at Spaulding Park Thursday August 16th at 7 PM. That’s what it says here. Mike is going to record that gig too, and he has even drafted an assistant engineer. Mike, of course, has Injun Ears. Two of them.
We are getting so famous we have even started snubbing ourselves. Bill is hardly speaking to himself. This month we’re in Ketchum, Cookson, Vinita and Muskogee. Is this tour being booked by an oil company? So when are we going to play in Tulsa? See Matthew 13:57.
Check out your editors latest legitimate journalism here:
http://tulsatoday.com/DFEST Web Music Seminar
Saturday: Stampedes – Cookson OK.
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