From left: Paul Staack (eventually joins Silver Laughter), Mick Orton, Craig Hute and Dave Neumann (the one that got away).
On this site, I have often spoken of the great musical opportunities I’ve had during my lifetime. The first was with the band, The Contents Are: and the second was with Silver Laughter.
Recently another old friend of the band, The Contents Are:, found Dave Neumann and sent him a copy of one of the studio songs we did in Pekin, IL. Wade Calvert was a big supporter of ours and happened to find a 9 song studio demo we recorded somewhere in his collection. The tape was old, but the 9 songs were successfully recovered to digital format, and then Dave took them into a local studio to get them remastered.
Over the course of the next month or so, I will be releasing the various studio versions of these songs which were written and/or recorded during my formative years as a rock musician. This first is a studio version of the song, “All Around”, which has been posted previously in a live version. I wrote it with Neil Young in mind as we were big Crazy Horse fans during those days.
I must say, looking back, all those years on the road playing night after night with Silver Laughter really strengthened my voice. This version was even double tracked, and it still sounds weak compared to some of the work we did on “Sailing On Fantasies”. That’s Craig’s excellent wailing on the lead guitar as the song nears the end and fades out. I think Dave came up with the repetitive guitar fill during the verses.
Mick Orton
Golden Voice Studio
Note from Wade Calvert – Friend of the Band. Apparently we recorded at a studio called Golden Voice in Pekin Illinois. Wade said, “This was what their brochure looked like. Still haven’t found my pictures of the actual studio.”