WALTER BECKER MEDIA

1 9 5 0 - 2 0 1 7 

  • Home

  • Forum

  • FAQ

  • Downloads

  • walterbecker.com

  • More...

    e s t.  2 0 1 8

    WB's 'Hey 19 Rap' of the Week

    To see this working, head to your live site.
    1. Walter Becker Media Forum
    2. Rarities & Unreleased
    3. The Dopest Cut
    Search
    Matthew Kerns
    May 20, 2020
      ·  Edited: May 20, 2020

    The Dopest Cut


    © 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

    13 comments
    Matthew Kerns
    May 20, 2020  ·  Edited: May 20, 2020

    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

    Ben Bueltmann
    May 21, 2020

    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

    hourstuff
    May 24, 2020

    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 :-)

    Matthew Kerns
    May 27, 2020

    @hourstuff That is unfortunately present on the DAT that was in Walter's collection.

    0
    Load more replies
    tomdavidwelch
    May 20, 2020

    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!!

    rob hewett
    May 20, 2020

    per minute, but yeah. just listened to the side by side, fun stuff, thanks for sharing

    Matthew Kerns
    May 20, 2020

    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.

    0
    psue788
    May 20, 2020

    Thanks Matt.

    This is much needed and appreciated.

    halC
    May 20, 2020

    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

    Dan Belcher
    May 20, 2020

    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!)

    Tony Favia
    May 20, 2020

    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!!

    Daniel Klos
    May 25, 2020

    I really like 11 Tracks of Whack as it is, but, man, I really love this version.

    Walter Becker Media Forum