Question for Steve Nathan - "Anything Goes"

[Joe Muscara]

Steve,

 

I download the free tracks from iTunes every week and this one by Randy Houser just came up. I'm noticing really nice keys on it, so I look it up. According to Allmusic.com, you and the also great Kevin McKendree are credited with keys on the album. I was wondering which parts you might have played on this track.

 

Thanks!

[jarrell]

I'm curious about whether they tailor the free tunes to people's purchasing record...

 

The latest email I got from the iTunes store I received on 2/10, entitled:

 

"New Music Tuesday: Sade, tobyMac, Norah Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Luke Bryan, and more"

 

... has only one free song, a single of the week from a group entitled " Broken Bells" (it also includes a free video of the week by "Land of Talk." Is this what others are seeing?

 

When I go to the iTunes store, I see a Free on iTunes section, which has about 20 items, about half of which are video (10 Lost episodes, for example), but I don't see any Randy Houser.

[Joe Muscara]

Sorry to cause any confusion. I got the Randy Houser track a long time ago, 11/18/08 to be exact. The current free tunes are the ones you mention.

[Steve Nathan]

I saw your post and new I'd played the piano on that track, but wanted to check th CD before answering. The CD credits only say "Piano" after my name with no mention for the Organ that is clearly present. I was pretty sure it was me on both and gave it a listen to confirm. Weirdly, about an hour later, I get a call from one of his producers, wanting to book a last minute session for next week. Just to be 100%, I asked him to confirm that it's me on both and he assured me that it was.

[Bobadohshe]

Yeah I gave it a listen on iTunes and it sure wasn't free either. Dang! I'll have to start checking that out, free music is a good thing.

[Joe Muscara]

LOL - dang, it sure is nice to go to the source for this. Thanks for replying, and great job on both parts!

 

Your post leads me to another question I wonder about guys like you who do a lot of sessions. Do you have a copy of every album you've been on? When you do have a copy, do they give you one or do you buy it when you're browsing at the music store? I hope that's not too silly to ask.

[Steve Nathan]

I don't have a copy of everything I've played on. I often wish I'd gotten a copy of something, especially the older stuff.

In the vinyl era, you usually had to remember to ask someone at the record company. When CDs became the thing, there were a lot of companies that just routinely sent out copies with thank you notes to all of the players. Nowadays, they're all a little more mindful of the economy, so you have to ask again. Most will stick one in the mail with one phone call.

On occasion, I'll be in a store and see that something I've been on is out, and I'll want it then and there, so I buy it.

 

This and the recent thread about synth sounds reminded me of how hard it was to find an old Mink Deville record I'd played on. It's been "out of print" for years, and was only sold on CD in Europe (Germany), and when I finally saw a copy on Ebay, I lost the auction. I eventually got a copy, but to this day, I still can't remember how I came up with a sound that's pretty prominent on one of the tracks. It's over 20 years old, and I still think it's a cool sound and wish I could re-create it.

[JeffLearman]

Um, Steve ... where would you PUT them all?

 

Folks, he hasn't really done much. Check it out; go to http://allmusic.com (best site I know of for discography) and search for Steve as Artist and then click Credits.

 

There's only 8 pages there. 100 entries per page. Yeah, that's all.

 

However, I do wonder about whether the credit for ukelele and vocals for Godspell in '71 is the same Steve Nathan. ;-)

[Joe Muscara]

Jeff,

 

I saw that a while back. I did wonder where he would put them all, but I wasn't gonna bug him about that, too. I don't need to know about the architecture/layout of his house. He's nice enough to tell us what he does.

[Steve Nathan]

However, I do wonder about whether the credit for ukelele and vocals for Godspell in '71 is the same Steve Nathan. ;-)

 

I have tried 4 or 5 times to get them to remove that credit

 

That "other" Steve Nathan (spells his name with ph, not v) is/was an actor, and was also originally from Buffalo, NY. I once had trouble getting utilities turned on in a new apartment because he owed them money!