This is the only CD for the Slutpuppies, but was not a release. I feel as though I should briefly explain the CD cover first before I get into the songs. A good friend of mine (Nick Catanese of Black Label Society) was telling me about this dream that he had one night. "I was in an Old Western Saloon" said Nick. "When I went to leave the saloon, I walked through the double swinging doors and instead of seeing a horse tied to the post outside, there was this World War II aircraft. You know, the kind that had markings on the side of the plane for each of it's missions? Only this plane had Seven St. Bernards on the side." I told him he was pretty strange, that the dream had no real meaning other than his wild imagination and that it would make a great Album Cover. Well, 'lo and behold I decided to gather some recordings of the Slutpuppies and put them on a CD titled "7 St. Bernards" and proceeded to create an image of Nick's dream. I didn't want to make the image too realistic (because it was a dream), but I think if I were to re-do the image today it would have been better.
Well, on with the CD. This was the second project that involved myself with Mark Anthony (Mark Anthony Band, Officer Green). This is more of an EP with only 4 songs on the disc. The first two songs are the same tune, but different versions. The first track is "I Feed" (version 1). Description: An Alice In Chains style rocker that highlights Mark Anthony's power guitar sound. Production Note: Version 1 of "I Feed" was recorded before the band had a name and before I became the Bass Player. Joel Kleiber (Officer Green) was the original Bass Player. I showed up in the studio to help out with the production and when I heard "I Feed", I immediately heard a background vocal line that would fit perfectly in the song. I tried to get Mark to sing the line but he just said "Why don't you sing it?" I hesitated because I didn't want to step on any toes but eventually agreed. The end result was a touch of Alice In Chains. In fact, what led me to that BG vocal line was the AIC style that the song emulated. The song was recorded in a basement studio and the final product reflects that. The second song is "I Feed" (version 2). Description: More electrifying and heavier guitar sound with a premium production sound elevates this version of the Slutpuppies staple tune. Production Note: Version 2 of "I Feed" was re-done after I had joined the band and after we kicked Drummer Dan Vasco out of the band. We were doing a follow-up to the 1996 release of The Powerhitters, which was going to be a full-length CD of all original material from local Pittsburgh bands. We were trying to decide whether we should hire a drummer to play one of the tunes or whether we could pull off an original using a drum machine. I tried to program my Yamaha 7560 (I know, it's old) with the beat of the original version of "I Feed" but no matter what I tried, it still came off sounding fake. So I started experimenting with different beats in hopes to write a new song. I was on the verge of something pretty cool and wrote the intro. But when the drum sweep came in, I suddenly heard the riff from "I Feed" being played, only at a different pace. I tried it out and it fit like a glove. I finished re-writing the song and then came the hard part - selling it to Mark. To my surprise, he was willing to try it. We headed to AFM studios in Beaver, PA to start the recording. After some snags recording the drum machine, we finished the song within a few hours and got a killer recording. The mix-down was a little rougher, but I think the finished product will speak for itself. I always said it's kind of a Movie Sound Track version of the song. The next song is a live track of a cover version of KC and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight". Description: Disco is dead and we proved it by rocking this once classic of the dance floor. Production Note: This was recorded at our very first gig which was at a birthday bash at a Firehall in Rennerdale, PA. Although we were ready to fire Dan after this show, we managed to catch a few good tunes on tape. The quality is not that good, but the performance is not that bad. Finally we come to "Plexiglass Toilet". Description: A re-make of a hidden track of Styx' from the Serpent Is Rising album. Production Note: While we were at AFM to record version 2 of "I Feed", we recorded "Plexiglass Toilet" just for fun - as a hidden track of our own for the upcoming Powerhitters CD. Unfortunately, the wrong vocal track was used (I wasn't there for the mix-down) and I sang a wrong word or two on the version that was finalized. When I wanted to re-mix with the correct vocal line, AFM decided to pack up the truck and move to Beverly...Hills that is (actually Hollywood, but close enough) and the CD never got finished.
Please click on the titles of the songs to get a listen to some excerpts of these tunes. Enjoy them!