Mike

Can we find out the exact release date,i am sure this was before "The Green Demo" & "Introducing RayCharles LaMontagne".
I love the Hammond organ on the 1st track"Down to the River"
and the slide work on the 2nd track,and there is some great lead work especialy on "Shelter",
& great finger picking blues on "Hobo Blues".
In fact i love the whole album,and i want the MISSING 2 TRACKS!!! PLEEEEEESE

Steve

 youandmeboth   11/1/05

I'm the guy who produced these tracks, and while I can not post any of the tracks, I can certainly answer any questions you might have.

A couple comments. The Hammond on the first track is actually a magnificent piece of software from Native Instruments called the B4. They modeled the electronics of the B3 flawlessly. It really sounds awesome, doesn't it? My brother, Jay, played keyboards.

The "slide" on One Lonesome Saddle isn't a slide guitar at all. I played it straight. I just have a smooth technique and some nice sounding gear. :-)

It's been really cool hearing your thoughts about these recordings. I hoped Ray was going to use some of them on his album but he wanted to start over I guess. He asked me to take down the website (which someone found on archive.org apparently) and bury the recordings, and I have kept them under lock and key. But digital media being what it is, and the fact that there were already some copies out there that had been given away and sold here and there, it comes as no surprise that they have resurfaced.

Anyway, I'm glad to answer any questions I can.

Carl Franklin (11/1/05)

Hi Carl

A MILLION THANKS for you joining the forum,and letting us in on the real story.

What was the Release Date?

So OK,here,s the BIG ONE,whats left in the vault,that you can unlock and share to the fans.

COME ON!!! you will get all the credit!!!

LOL Steve

 youandmeboth   11/1/05

> whats left in the vault,that you can unlock and share to the fans

Well, as I said, there are no bits that I can share. The only way you'll hear them is if Ray releases them, or gives me permission to do so.

Another comment: The recordings were made in the spring and summer of 2002, after the "Green Demo."

Here's a story for you. I was up at the Oddfellow Theater in Buckfield, ME doing one of Mike Miclon's Early Evening Shows. It was Saturday afternoon before the show started, and Ray (who I had met a couple months before at Mike's place) was hanging out with us backstage. He said he had just written a new song and could he play it for me. Well, we sat in the hallway and he laid down One Lonesome Saddle. I was stunned. The only thing stronger than Ray's music was (at the time) his absolutely overpowering self-doubt. He was so self-loathing that Mike and I would joke "Oh yeah, Ray.. you suck, man! Whoever told you could sing, dude?" Of course we were just beside ourselves with disbelief at this walking contradiction.

So go forward a few months and we're back at the Oddfellow theater doing the Early Evening Show again. This one was being recorded by Maine Public Broadcasting, although it never was aired. I don't think Mike was happy with how it turned out, but I'm not sure. Anyway, we got a band together to back Ray as the musical guest. We did a rockin version of Hobo Blues and One Lonesome Saddle.

This is a small 156-seat theater in Buckfield, Maine. If you want an idea of how big this town is just google it or look on mapquest or google maps. If you blink while driving through town you'll miss it.

Anyway, like you, I was an instant fan the first time I heard him sing, and it only took one verse. Although I haven't heard from him since he got signed, I still consider him my good friend. He has the nicest wife and sweetest children... as sweet as they come, and he deserves all the glory he's currently getting.

CarlFranklin (11/1/05 )

THANK YOU Sooooooo Much Carl

For Coming on Board and sharing insights,that we would never have know of.
I really hope you stick around ,and point us in the right direction at times.
One Lonesome Saddle is GREAT and deserves to be heard,both for songrwritng,musicains & Production.THANK YOU

I am sure WE WILL FIND the missing two tracks.

I REALLY hope to read more of your posts.
It has genuinely been a pleasure.

THANK YOU
Steve

 youandmeboth 11/1/05

#1 Mr. Franklin, thank you for gracing us with your presence !!!! Try to stick around!!
#2 DITTO to everything Steve wrote !!
#3 As I watched the ACL interview where Ray says "I hope to be able to look back and say that I wrote at least one song that, you know, will stick with people, that won't just be here and gone, that would be, that would make me very happy, just one." my jaw drops!! Is he serious??!?!? The problem with Ray's music is the exact opposite~ it's near impossible to get it out of my head!! I am certain that I will be listening to his songs 20 years from now.... TIMELESS!!!

 hannahAMYsarah at: 3/7/06

> The problem with Ray's music is the exact opposite

I couldn't agree more. Although his modesty serves him well. Nobody likes an arrogant genius. :-)

You can't say Ray is a phony. He doesn't believe his own hype. He's all about the craft. He stayed at my house while he was recording the demo, and every waking minute he was sitting with his guitar working something out. There were songs we recorded that he was actually mad at the fact that he did them in the first place, and we destroyed them forever.

He's obviously heavily influenced by Bob Dylan. He once told me "Bob Dylan proved that there are no rules [in songwriting]" There's a reference in One Lonesome Saddle to one of Dylan's basement tapes - "Yea heavy and a bottle of bread"

I have so many stories... all good.

CarlFranklin (11/1/05 )

youandmeboth   11/2/05

CarlFranklin (11/2/05)

youandmeboth   11/2/05

> Who played the acoustic on "Hobo Blues"?
Ray did Hobo Blues all himself. I had one mic on his guitar and one on his voice. I remember it took me a while to find the sweet spot on the guitar, but once we had a good sound I just let it roll. I think that might have been the second take. Could have been the first. It's cool because you hear his foot and his breath before he starts singing.

You'll have to ask Ray, but I *think* he had just really recently started fingerpicking when he played that song. I'm a finger picker and he really liked the stuff I was doing. That *may* have pushed him to do the fingerpicking thing, or maybe he had done it but just not considered playing a tune that way... or maybe he was just saving it for the right time.. I don't know. I know I hadn't heard him play that style before I heard that song. Has he been playing fingerstyle on the road? Anyone know?

Originally Hobo Blues was a rockin (and I mean rockin) song. He hasn't really rocked out yet, but when he does... that'll be the beginning of a whole new career for him. He's a GREAT front man for a rock band. You can probably imagine... He's a huge fan of Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye, and you can imagine him taking off the acoustic and grabbing a mic and just getting *down*!!

CarlFranklin (11/2/05)

 youandmeboth  11/2/05

CarlFranklin  (11/2/05 )