I was approached by Renaissance before they did their
"Keats" release, and they were asking for help regarding
"bonus tracks". The first thing I pointed out to them
was that there were eleven Keats songs across the previous
two releases, so I sent them on their way to secure rights
to all the songs.
Later they had the idea of adding interview tracks and
came back to me. I had already interviewed
Ian for The
Avenue, and the in-person interview was on tape (recorded
in Las Vegas and Milwaukee). My idea was to take the
original tapes and have them edited.
Someone (I can't remember who) thought it would be better
to do it from scratch. Usually the interviews that aren't
done in person for The Avenue are done by phone, and those
too are recorded. In this case, it was felt that the high
quality of the CD might reveal any imperfections a recording
of an overseas phone call might have. So someone (again my
aging brain can't remember) decided that since
Alan and
Ian
both have studios they could do their end in their own
studios.
The questions. I wrote the questions and faxed them to
Alan and
Ian.
The two were then given the chance to add/delete
any questions (I don't recall them changing it at all).
The interviewer. Originally it was supposed to be my voice
asking the questions, but Renaissance decided to use someone
else. Whoever it is took my original question sheet and
recorded them. The questions and answers were merged
together, and the rest is history.
I could have flown to England to do it all in-person, but
seeing that Renaissance never even gave me so much as a free
disc, I doubt they would have paid for my flight.
- Steve Martin (editor of The Avenue) |