It seems like Chip Taylor
and Carrie Rodriguez were always meant to be partners in song.
When the veteran singer/songwriter first saw Carrie Rodriguez
play at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin back
in 2001, he was not only wowed by the brilliance he heard in
her fiddle playing, but also sensed a magical presence. He invited
her to join him on some subsequent shows in Texas, and then
on a tour of Europe. During that tour, he invited Carrie —
who had never sung lead before — to step up to the microphone
and sing. The audiences went wild. “I don’t know
how he got me to do it,” she recalls with a laugh.
A long-time fan of the classic country duet sound, Chip was
inspired by the enthusiastic crowd response and teamed up with
Carrie for 2002’s LET’S LEAVE THIS TOWN. Mixing
superb songcraft with musical and vocal excellence, the album
proved to be a country-folk gem on which the veteran and newcomer
shined brightly together. “Hearing her clear voice harmonize
with my rough-around-the-edges one gave me chills. I knew this
was going to be something special,” he recalls.
The pair issued THE TROUBLE WITH HUMANS the following year which
was met by widespread acclaim. In just a short time, Chip’s
singular songwriting style and their considerable individual
talents came to complement each other as if they had been playing
together for years.
In 2003, Chip and Carrie saw guitar phenomenon Bill Frisell
perform at the Village Vanguard and loved it. What took Chip
by surprise was the extent to which a gentle, country-soul feel
had crept into his styling. Following the show, he purchased
as many of Frisell’s albums as possible. “I love
the bulk of his work, but Carrie and I particularly loved his
2002 album, THE WILLIES, especially his tender treatment of
Cold, Cold Heart and Goodnight Irene.”
The collaboration seed was planted. Chip reached out to Frisell’s
manager to see if he might be available to join them for the
new album. With the constraints of a tight schedule, it seemed
unlikely until Frisell and his manager took a listen to the
pair’s previous albums. “As they tell it, they both
became instant fans. We were able to work out a few days during
which Bill could make time to record with us.”
They decided to record RED DOG TRACKS at the “Rolls Royce”
of studios in New York, Avatar. “It was a terrific set-up,”
Chip reminisces. “We were all able to have eye contact
with each other while still being able to differentiate all
of the instruments.” Joining the duo and Frisell for the
session was Jim Whitney (upright bass), Richie Stearnes (banjo)
and Frisell’s long-time percussionist, Kenny Wollesen.
As with their live performances, Chip and Carrie chose to keep
the recording loose, letting the parameters of the songs develop
during the recording. “The band would huddle around the
drum kit as we went over each song. After about 10 or 15 minutes,
we went back to our mics and recorded. Every one of us got lost
in the vibe. This was serious, passionate playing and, for the
most part, what ended up on the final album was the first or
second take of each song.” The only overdub on the record
came as an unfortunate oversight, as Chip explains: “By
mid-afternoon of the third day of recording, we thought we were
pretty much finished with the album. We relaxed and listened
for much of the day, totally forgetting to record one song,
Son Of Man. Bill had already left, so we recorded the song without
him a few days later. After his much-earned vacation, Bill was
able to record his part in Seattle.”
This stream-of-consciousness recording mirrors Chip’s
songwriting style. “I rarely think about what I want to
write about when I pick up the guitar. I just let emotion dictate
nonsense sound and melody. If something comes that gives me
a chill, I’ll let it develop further and try to make some
sense of it.” The result is that the audience feels a
part of the song and performance. It evolves before them, slightly
different everytime as his music springs from the spirit of
creativity, not predictability.
As a songwriter, Chip hit the charts with the rock ‘n’
roll canon, Wild Thing, which became a #1 hit for The Troggs
in 1966. Another one of his tunes, Angel Of The Morning, was
a hit for Merilee Rush, Juice Newton, and — most recently
— Shaggy, whose chart-topping version earned Chip the
status of having the longest span of #1 hits in music history.
In addition to talents as a gambler (he was a professional for
years), Chip was an integral part of the bustling New York pop
songwriting scene in its 1960s Brill Building heydey, one of
the pioneers of the progressive country style that was the grandfather
of today’s alt-country movement.
Born James Wesley Voight (yes, he is the younger brother of
actor Jon Voight), Chip’s passion for music began early
after hearing country songs on the AM radio station in Wheeling,
WV. He decided to pursue music full-time after landing a deal
with King Records. But once he started experiencing success
in the publishing of his songs, Chip followed another muse to
score hits for such notables as The Hollies, Barbara Lewis,
The American Breed, and Billy Vera, among many others. Jimi
Hendrix made Wild Thing one of the showpieces of his live shows,
while Janis Joplin made Chip’s song Try (Just A Little
Bit Harder) one of her signature songs.
Throughout the 1970s, Chip navigated the Nashville country music
network with Waylon Jennings, Anne Murray, Emmylou Harris, and
Bobby Bare covering his tunes. Still, he felt out-of-sync with
the insular community and, by the early 1980s, Chip set aside
his musical endeavors and honed his knack for the mathematical
intricacies of gambling. His prowess at blackjack eventually
led to him being banned from all the major casinos in Atlantic
City and several others in Las Vegas and Europe. He switched
his focus to horse racing and with his partner, Ernie Dahlman,
he became such an accomplished handicapper that the Long Island
Track betting parlor frequently gave them their own room fitted
with a private teller and televised race replay system.
In 1995, everything changed when Chip’s mother became
seriously ill. “Instead of going to the racetrack, I spent
the time with Mom and played her songs,” he recalls. “She
was always my biggest fan.” The experience so rekindled
Chip’s passion for music that he decided to give up gambling
and return to recording and performing. As Rolling Stone commented,
“Las Vegas’ loss is our gain.”
As an instrumentalist, Carrie Rodriguez had already recorded
with Patty Griffin and appeared live with Lyle Lovett before
pairing with Chip Taylor. Raised in a musical Austin, TX family,
Carrie is the daughter of noted Texas singer/songwriter David
Rodriguez and a mother who was a classical and opera buff. She
took up the violin at age 5 and played in orchestra and chamber
groups throughout high school, eventually winning a scholarship
to the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Despite her
classical leanings, Carrie got a taste of traditional fiddling
after appearing with her father and sitting in with the likes
of Don Walser in Austin area clubs. She found Oberlin’s
concentration on the classics too narrow for her adventurous
musical vision so she transferred to Boston’s Berklee
College of Music where she studied with one of her violin heroes,
Matt Glaser. She performed live with The Darlings and appeared
as a special guest of Lyle Lovett at the famed Orpheum Theater.
Following graduation, Carrie recorded a track on Patty Griffin’s
1000 KISSES and performed with a country group in her native
Texas as well as with other bands in Europe. There, she recalls,
she developed her own style of playing that combines traditional
styles of fiddling with more contemporary influences. |
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