© 1992 Zeon Music
Vocal: Walter Becker
Drums: John Keane
Bass: Neil Stubenhaus
Guitar: Dean Parks
Keyboards: John Beasley
Saxophone: Bob Sheppard
Engineer: Roger Nichols
Recorded at Signet Studios, Los Angeles, 1992
In case you're wondering it's alive and well
That little habit that you left with me
Here in the suburbs where it's hard to tell
If I got the bear or if the bear got me
How did you know that it would take me down
Down to the bottom of the wine dark sea
Where you were waiting there to bring me 'round
Where you knew all the dopest cuts to be
Drowned at the bottom of your mystery
Down in the bottom of the wine dark sea
Saw your old lady in the park today
The legendary smile is wearing thin
Behind that guessing game you make her play
Now that she knows that she could never win
I guess you're never gonna take her down
Down to the bottom of your little black heart
Lay with her naked on the cold hard ground
To watch the sunrise in the dopest part
Down in the bottom where your lifeline shows
Down in the bottom where nobody goes
I like the feathers and I love the hat
I like that little gypsy tune you're humming
I guess I'm happy now we've had this chat
Oh yeah I'm really glad I saw you coming
There in the corner of the eastern sky
The tortured angel of your rising sign
Darkens the evening with his one good eye
An evil omen of the dopest kind
Down in the bottom where your demons fly
Down in the bottom of the eastern sky
Down in the bottom where your lifeline shows
Down in the bottom where nobody goes
Drowned at the bottom of your mystery
Down in the bottom of the wine dark sea
My initial thoughts on this track: I think this is great! I mean, this track kind of proves to me that WB made the right decision. DITB is one of my top 5 WB tracks, and I think this lacks the "edge" of the album version. Not in a bad way, but in a confirmational way. He could have done a more Steely sound, but it wouldn't have been as propulsive, as lean, as impactful, as what he DID do. I mean, to me this version sounds slower, even though it is a percent or two faster in tempo than the album version.
There's a story of how during one rehearsal for the 93 tour, Erskine increased the tempo to some song by one - ONE - beat per minute, and at the end Walter commented that it felt like the band was rushing. So he for sure knew that he had slowed the tempo down here while still making the song feel like it moved more.
For reference, this is both tracks, with vocals starting the same time. So after the album intro, when the vocals come in, signet is panned left and album is panned right:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ju0gkgbce3wjhp8/down%20in%20the%20bottom%20mix%20l%20r.mp3?dl=0
And because it would drive me crazy otherwise, here it is tempo matched. Turns out the difference is actually half a beat per second. I mean damn. I could tell the difference immediately, but damn. Half a beat per second is so small, but it really matters here.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8r72rgu1lyuhwbh/down%20in%20the%20bottom%20lr%20tempo%20match.mp3?dl=0
Matt
Having heard the Erskine story from Erskine (he did a clinic at my school): the tune was Peg, and I believe the response from DF was "Don't ever do that again" haha
Thanks Matt! I'm loving this version just as equally as the original; can't stop playing it. So wonderful to have both!
Quick question - there's an ever so minor sonic glitch at the 2:58/9 mark. Is that present on the master or did a gremlin get introduced during the transfer to this site? Not a big deal, but you know how those of us in the Dandom universe love perfection :-)
@hourstuff That is unfortunately present on the DAT that was in Walter's collection.
Great to hear this version! Thanks for posting this Matthew. Haha that anecdote is great about Walter hearing that it was a beat faster!! What an amazing ear and sense of timing he had! Another level!!
per minute, but yeah. just listened to the side by side, fun stuff, thanks for sharing
Right you are...I got to typing and lost track of what I was saying. 1 per second would of course be immediately noticable to anyone and everyone.
Thanks Matt.
This is much needed and appreciated.
Thanks very much for posting. Feeling a little down at the moment. This is just the tonic. One of my fave WB songs. Thanks Matt
Thanks as always for sharing. I really enjoy this version, but I surprisingly agree that the album version is better even though this one has real drums (and I really love the sax stuff in this version). The palm muted electric guitar here instead of acoustic guitar makes things darker and less snappy, and additionally the bass guitar doesn't have the midrange bite that Walter's does in the album version, which removes a lot of the string attack sound and takes away some of the percussive feel of the bass. Finally this whole recording sounds dark (especially the drums), since it didn't get a proper mastering to get the balance quite right. One thing I suggest trying is to adjust the EQ on your music player to add some highs, pretty aggressively in fact, I started bumping up the highs at 6khz and set 12khz pretty high. Once you do this, the whole song sounds sharper and more energetic, the hi hat and snare suddenly have new weight and propulsion, and it brings it closer to the vibe you get from the actual released version. (Just remember to set your EQ back to normal when you're done so the next song you listen to doesn't attack your ears with an ice pick!)
Man! What a joy to hear this version. I’m sure Walter had his own perfectly valid reasons for using the other version on his album, but all I can say is, I love this one and already I think I prefer it. It rocks in a way that the other doesn’t, and the sax just blows me away! So maybe he didn’t care for those things so much... but again, just Wow. It reinforces my belief that a full-band version of 11ToW would be so sweet. Thanks to D-Mod as always for agreeing to surface these treats!!
I really like 11 Tracks of Whack as it is, but, man, I really love this version.
The production on the actual Tracks of Whack makes sense to me. As I said before, it was a bit more grunge in spirit. A bit more rough cut than Aja and more fitting for the times. But honestly, I enjoy this "Steely Dan" take on Down At The Bottom too. Either would have been fine for me. It's the melody and the lyrics (aka the spirit) that matters most to me and Down At The Bottom is one of his best