The Damned Show Ep#16 Recording Generals with Paul Gray
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Get the exclusive The Damned Show t-shirt here the-damned.bac...
Subscribe for more of The Damned Show. Airing now until sanity clauses kick in. Watch more here • The Damned Show
Follow The Damned
/ officialdamned
/ thedamned
Strawberries is my all time fave Damned album. Absolute masterpiece.
Best Damned Bassist of all time !
No contest,and a wonderful chap!
PG always seems like such a nice bloke, and what an amazing talent on the bass (and songwriter to boot!!) great to see him back with the Damned, Black Album and Strawberries (and Friday 13th ep) are classics and Paul's playing is key to that
Pity the they didn't extent Friday the 13th to full length album. Added Nasty to it and it could have turned into one damn classic.
How come the Damned never celebrated "Strawberries" like other albums? It's one af my all time fave albums.
I think with Paul Grey back in the band then maybe next year there will be an Anniversary Celebration for Strawberries (they just need a drummer!) 😀👍🏻
@@CJBrowninLV RAT would be great
@@mikemike7141 - Dave & Capt' & Rat need to make peace .... or it'll never happen.
I can but agree.
Strawberries. The soundtrack to my life.
This is my favourite Damned Show episode so far. What a brilliant insight and demonstration of song writing for The Damned. All done before digital. Truly inspiring. Paul Gray, you are a genius sir!
A masterclass in brilliant pop writing.
Paul, please back up those tapes they are such an important part of your career with The Damned, having heard them I would hate for you to have to tell us they snapped or fell to pieces.
I really enjoyed this you must do some more of these videos.
I second this!
@@vermilliongecko I third it!
I totally agree also! I had digitalised my old band's 4-track recordings some time ago, too!
That was brilliant, lovely Paul - every member of The Damned is like a one-man Damned!
Fascinating back story about the writing and production of this underrated album. From an old geezer who attended a Strawberries for Pigs tour gig, the Newcastle leg which ended up being released as a live album. Much more layered and complex than it seems on the surface. As a certain Swedish pop group might say, "Thank you for the Music"😉
Greatest 😀😀😀 Generals is one of the most beautiful song wrote by The Damned and it talks about the fall of Berlin in May 1945. Unforgetable!!!
I probably saw you with the damned more times than any other damned bassist ,best bassist for miles .
PG’s videos are far and away the best on The Damned Show.
I concur!
I bought Strawberries when it came out and loved it! All the good bands do new things as record their albums. This was a cool look into how PG worked at the time. Rock on!
Paul - that was freakin' brilliant. Thank you for walking us all through your process of recording. So fascinating. Strawberries and Black Album are timeless classics and among my favorite albums of all time.
Best Damned show yet!
I agree! 👍
I agree too!
This and Captain's 'Smash It Up - Pt.1' guitar lesson 😀
Great stuff. I'm always fascinated with demos, and this is no exception.
Nice one Paul Gray - loved Strawberries, loved the Black Album and loved the Wingmen last weekend.
Only just discovered this. It's fascinating! thanks so much for sharing the story.
Great video. Another week of lockdown life saved by the DAMNED SHOW👍
This was FANTASTIC, Paul!! Thanks!! Loved it!! This particular song has always been a key, high-ranking song among the thousands that have crossed my ears. Its anti-war stance is heightened by a real sense of urgency in the pace of the song, recalling what must have been terrible times for so many in WWII. It evokes thoughts of history and one's family and the misdeeds of the political leaders, and much more, and seeing you run through the brilliant way you tracked it, wrote it, etc... All made my day!! Thank you!!
Brilliant episode but the background music as Paul was talking was unnecessary or too loud (as much as I love the song).
Also, Paul's voice is quite low and quiet at times, so the background music made it harder to hear him.
Vermillion 303
Yeah, I was able to make out what PG was saying once the background music subsided. I might have ADHD 🤣
Thoroughly enjoyable stuff. Massive fan of your music. Please back up those tapes. 😎
AGREE!
theres a wee subtitles tab at the bottom 'CC' - might help. cheers
Great video about a great song, Paul's contribution to that record is underappreciated
LOVE THIS SONG !
Paul Grey is an amazing artist
4:42 The bass guitar riff sounds similar to the Stranglers' track, 'Down in the Sewer'. Thanks for the song-writing history on 'Generals', Paul, it's a classic Damned track, definitely one of my favourites.
Brilliant PG#1.
We love Generals, almost as much as PG#2!
Paul, you are a genius! So glad you are back with the Damned.
Love that song!
Thanks for giving us the time for sharing this insight into the making of such a great song and also had the great pleasure of meeting back in 92 at the Ipswich dome gig.PG “The bass king”👍👍
This guy's a Damn good bass player...thanks for uploading.
We want Damned action figures!!!
That was a treat. Thank you Paul! Also reminded me of when I used to spend hours recording at home on my old Yamaha MT8X. Unfortunately all of my old master tapes, and I do mean *ALL* of them... were destroyed while I was moving to a new place back in 2003. Hundreds of hours' worth of recordings, just gone forever. I can only imagine how many recordings you must have from over the years. Hope to see and hear more. Cheers!
I would have paid good money to hear this on a Strawberries deluxe edition. This is awesome! Thanks Paul for giving this to us for free
I came back to this video as I like to recap and listen to the stuff that really interests me, I think The Damned should put out an Album of demos, I for one would definetly buy it, and I know The Damned fans and collectors would be falling over to buy one.
🖤 Strawberries (album) The Dog is my favourite track! Thanks for sharing Paul Grey (we know already, "Dave's Not Here!") 😀👌🏻
Brilliant I love generals and strawberries .... Got to be a tour surely
Great video. Cheers Paul.
This is really interesting stuff, I always wanted one of those 4-track cassette Teacs, so compact. Thanks for filming this!
"Strawberries" is a masterpiece. I'd love to know what kind of Console(Neve, Trident, Helios, etc.) and Tape format(16/24trk -2") it was tracked on.
Brilliant. Enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing Paul.
MOST EXCELLENT 🎯🙌‼️🪿🌺
Marvellous stuff. Great to see how it's all put together and a wonderful song one of The Damned 'most underrated! Top man PG.
Mind = Blown! Thank you, Paul! :-) Brings back memories of recording my own 4-track demos in the early 90's, which then was Heaven on Earth to me, especially after it having taken a very long time to talk my much older brother into lending his Teac/Tascam recorder to me :-)) I don't think I was actually quite as excited when I started working with Cubase, only 7 years later!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Paul. Brilliant to see you explaining the background of my favourite song Generals! I truly enjoyed watching this.
Wow, what a find! Thank you so much PG for sharing this, just brilliant to see and hear the process 😊
...hang on a minute...Hot Gossip? Never knew you gents were dance buffs... 🤔😉
Awesome!
Nice one Paul, glad to see you are still at it 👊
Fantastic that, even the retro kit is bringing back memories, reckon I should dig out my Dr Ryth8, can't remember it sounding so well
You recorded these well, they still sound great. I never anything out of my Portastudio sounding that good.
PG thanks mate, big fan since the Hot Rods, P bass, Rick, Performer, nice!
Thanks for the background on Generals, PG. I love that song! My hubby and I were thinking about looking into computer programs for recording but this info is very enlightening. Thanks for the info! One year ago was a great show in Chicago that we will never forget. (: Glad your tour was last year and not this year.
Lovely stuff Paul. Thanks for sharing.
Brilliant trip through the history of the track. I'm sure Strawberries was released a month before Channel 4 started?
I really love the lyrics, it's possibly the only rocksong ever written on the fall of Berlin in 1945. A classic!
thanks Paul
Would love to see a release of these demos.
Paul. You should release that demo. It sounds great, plus it's a real "must have" part of history. Lots of love from old chum Fester
Thank you very much for sharing! Lovely!
I love this, it's amazing how you managed to having still sounding good after all that bouncing down. Love that track and that album. I had a Fostex 4 track in the 80s with a Roland drum machine and bought the Tascam 8 track when they brought that out. So this really takes me back. Your fantastic sounding bass makes a big difference though. Thanks for this upload. Made my day, seeing your gear and hearing your stories. 👍
Love it Paul
this nuts and bolts presentation of how generals came together is something i would enjoy watching for every song the damned made. also, strawberry dross...
when the summer comes...you know we're va-ga-bonds
when the summer comes...we'll smoke pot and be freeeeeee
That was fascinating Paul...I still have a fully working Tascam Porta One from the 1980s which has been sitting in its box for at least 25 years...I can clearly remember the train ride to London to buy it for quite a lot of money....About £400 if I recall !!...Had forgotten just how much fun they were to use...
Thanks Paul you Rock!!!!
what a treat! loved everything about this
A true Legend here !
My favourite episode of The Damned Show so far!
That was so great, thanks a lot, PG. Could we have some more, please?
Absolutely fantastic ...fascinating seeing how the song came together....I noticed on one of your bass videos a tape that said rock field outtakes would like to here them too ...
Really great, thanks Paul
Fantastic,loved Strawberries!
f#n hell i never knew you wrote that , wicked !
Thanks for taking the time brilliant 👌👌
That’s brilliant mate, always loved that song and didn’t realise you were the force behind. Really interesting story. My cousin and I used to record using a tascam we had a ball but none of it made it beyond the bedroom 😂
Thanks for taking the time to record this. A great insight on how this song was put together. Can we have some more please. 👍
Nice one Paul
Love you !
Love this stuff!!!!
great insight.. thanks Paul.
Fabulous, thank you
Absolutely amazing and insightful thank you PG!
Excellent video and great to hear Generals in it's original demo form. I love 4 track recorders, I still have my trusty Tascam 464 in the loft, I used cassette based recording for years and in a lot of ways I prefer it to using a DAW just for its ease of use and warmth of the recordings. Please make a hard copy of those cassettes, they are too valuable to lose.
Brilliant, thanks
Fascinating. Loved that.
I found this video fascinating. I still have my Tascam Portastudio 414 (Mk2 I think) in the loft. You're right, they have a lovely immediacy when creating songs and that tape just sounds so warm and natural. They are great for demos and bouncing the tracks means you have to get really creative and think about what you are doing.
Can we have a version without the music at the beginning as it is a distraction from what you are saying. It's like a lot of films now...too much music! 😉
Thanks for the great video! 👍
I still use my 4 track for drums and bass, the compression and warmth is awesome and I cant get the exact same thing with tape plugins and as Paul said they have knobs and sliders.
I came back to watch this video again as I like to recap on things that really interest me, wouldnt it be a great thing if The Damned put out an Album of their demo's?
Thanks Paul, great insight on recording
That is one great demo :) 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Please upload your mix of this demo! I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we'd love to hear it.
Lucky you!
Very cool
Nice one PG. I had one of them and bounced and bounced and bounced until the cows came home.
I have that very same 4 track Tascam
More Paul Gray please as best one so far! Generals was a brill song!Have to give Monty the elbow like as his ones were shite sorry😂
Very glad to see PG!! Let's hear some demos!!! Let's talk pipes smoking, Dave!! I shan't stop with the request! Haha!!
Off to a riot! I will charge into battle with the world's greatest band on my headphones!!!!! That's right.......The Magnificent Damned!!!!!
chainsaw barbarian
You off to Minneapolis?
@@SpiritOfOrange haha! Los Angeles!
chainsaw barbarian
🤣 You’re safe for the time being. Hopefully it won’t spread down south - stay safe 👍
@GretschDog get bent.
One of the greatest baseplayers
I absolutely love the Damned would love to see Dave on this show
Get Moose on here too
@@patkelly3966 That's another story , another great line up with Kris Dollimore and Rats last stand for the great underrated Beanstalk Album 🥁🔥🐀♠️🎸🎸
@@@wernerrotten4662 I'm very curious about the Moose story now Werner. Care to share?
@@patkelly3966 Moose was Damned Bass player between 92-95. I saw this line up once in Krefeld, Germany and was many times screaming: Burglar....Rat came back with a Guitar and played this rare Song . I remember a very good Show and a another great Damned line up 🥁🐀🎸♠️
@@wernerrotten4662 Are you a New Model Army fan too?
Paul Grey national treasure
Is there possibly a demo like that of 'Stranger On The Town', too? :-)
Superb. I had no idea this song was completely written by PG. Which others were?
Pleasure and the Pain, for one.
Hit or Miss on The Black Album was Paul's. Recordings exist of it being played by Eddie and the Hot Rods.
I think Billy Bad Breaks was his too.
Brilliant PG really enjoyed that, where's Dave?
Was that guitar line nicked from "Lucifer Sam" by Pink Floyd?
I've run my own studio for 30 odd years now. For the past twenty years it's all been software based: Cubase initially and then Pro-Tools when the studio was in its own premises and we moved on from an analogue desk and a reel to reel recorder. I use Logic now which I much prefer to Pro-Tools.
Like most people of my age group, I started out on Porta Studios (it would have been around 1983) and this post took me right back. I used a Tascam 244 originally and also had a Dr. Rhythm (which was housed in a little silver / grey plastic carrying pouch). Actually, thinking about it, I started out with a Porta Studio model by a company called Texon which wasn't that great I seem to recall. I seem to remember the sound quality of the 244 was really good (The Texon wasn't that good). I've still got cassettes somewhere recorded on both machines.
Great fun!
Just a tip Paul, given your stated preference for working at a tangible desk as opposed to manoeuvring a Mouse: You may already be aware but, Behringer (and probably other companies) do (or did) an interface console that attaches to your computer so you can manipulate everything in your software via hands on nobs and sliders like an analogue desk (with the added advantage over the old analogue desk I used to operate in as much as these Behringer faders are automated given that they sync to your software).
They're 8 track desks but you can move through the other tracks of your recording in banks (8 at a time). They also have the capability to be slaved together so you can connect together as many as you wish if you prefer not to work in banks.
Each desk is probably around 14" square and 3" deep.
I'm not a great fan of Behringer in general but I purchased one of these off eBay for around £100 whilst I got used to the transition from using an "hands on" physical desk to the digital set up we all seem to have moved onto now. I've had it since 2012 and its hasn't let me down yet so it's reliable irrespective of being cheap.
Hi Beefheart.
Interested in what you said about Cubase . Pro tools and logic.
Thing is used a amstrad Studio 100 4 track which was a 4 track two tapes decks. A record player on top and a radio and a DJ input thingy.
I still have it. And I I recorded stuff on there I just wish id have done digitally. But maybe I could clean them up with audacity or something better.
I'm currently using Cubase but was thinking of moving to Pro Tools but you've now moved onto logic.
Logic is out of the question for me cos I'm not buying a Mac. I'll stick with a pc thanks. What did you not like about Pro tools. How do you compare your preferences between Cubase and Pro Tools. Cheers 👍😎
twistedspanner For me, Logic is much more "user friendly" for those of us - like myself - that are musicians first and "engineers" only out of necessity in as much as we've had to learn use the "tech" in order to record our music.
(I distinguish "engineers" from "musicians" in the sense that the "engineer's" "instrument" of choice isn't a guitar or drum etc, but the "tech" itself and, as such, their primary interest is in the "tech" and the recording process itself over and above just using this "tech" as a means to an end in order to record their music).
Protools I always found almost the opposite of this: it always felt like "tech" designed by the technically minded for other technically minded people to use.
Simply put: Logic, to me, feels like a recording suite designed by musicians for other musicians to use. Protools feels like a recording suite designed by engineers for other engineers to use.
I've not used Cubase for over twenty years but, back then, I never got on with it because it was so dismally dowdy looking and so graphically dull that it felt like something knocked together in a failed 1970s Communist state! It's probably very different now.
Part of the problem may have been that, having always used analogue equipment, Cubase was the first digital software I'd ever used so my distaste may have been partly due to it seeming so alien to me at that time.
@@beefheart1410 Back in 2001 I went on a logic course using old Mac's. Problem was it was a waste of time cos everyone on the course was using PC's at home. No one had a Mac. I started a backing track on the course and a few years later finished it with a mate who had moved from Cubase and pc to logic and Mac. I just wish logic worked on PC. (It used to years ago) I need to move away from Cubase soon but stay on pc. Some people recommend Reaper cos it's easy? I hate the technical side of recording cos I'm just a guitarist. so I think Pro tools ain't for me. It took me ages to learn Cubase I don't want to start a sharp learning curve at my age. There ain't enough hours in the day.