a r t i s t : Carl Johns
t i t l e : Exile On Schley Pass
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : Keep
c a t : KR23
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Indie
r l s. d a t e : nov./2006
t r a c k s : 12
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 48,6 MB
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Exile on Schley Pass
CDR | KR23 | Edition of 250
Carl Johns got his start as the songwriter and singer with
the post-modern hillbilly group Noahjohn. From 1999-2004
Noahjohn toured regularly in the US and England, and released
four albums spanning the genres of country, rock, folk, and
psychedelic, including a protest album as Eugene Chadbourne's
backing band.
As of late Johns has released two more pop-oriented albums
under the moniker Charlemagne. The self-titled solo debut came
out in 2004 (Winterlander / Killdeer) and a full-band album,
"Detour Allure" (SideCho), was released last October. Carl is
currently touring in support of "Detour Allure" with various
musicians accompanying.
"Exhile on Schley Pass" is a collection of Carl Johns 4-track
demos ranging from 1999-2004. These include some Noahjohn
songs, some Charlemagne songs, and some unreleased tracks. All
are quite lo-fi basement recordings. This will be a limited
edition of 250 signed copies with screen printed packaging.
Greetings Dear Listeners,At many endeavors Ive been guilty of
plunging in before I actually knew what I was doing. Such was
the case with four-tracking. Admittedly, these recordings are
pretty bad, namely in regards to fidelity and performance,
even by lo-fi standards. All of them were recorded on a very
basic four-track with crappy microphones.
Despite their shortcomings, hopefully other aspects end up
making them worthwhile. In my mind, their value is in their
immediacy and representation of the songwriting process. These
are perhaps the most personal recordings Ive ever made, that
is with the least sense of audience. The spirit in making them
was just to go for it. No second takes. Some songs made it on
to albums, some died. The same goes for arrangements, key
signatures, lyrics, and instrumentation. Exile on Schley Pass
is an album of song sketches, if you will.
Most of these songs were recorded on winter evenings while
intoxicated, depressed, and/or exhausted from working all day.
I recorded all of them alone. The studio for most of the
sessions was my house, also Charlemagnes rehearsal space, on
Schley Pass on Madisons East Side, hence the name, but a few
were done at Studio Friendly (aka The Man House), also
Noahjohns rehearsal space, a few blocks away.
I never expected any of these tracks to be released. The main
reason I made them was to give to my bandmates to learn the
songs. I also wanted to document what I was working on for
myself. For some reason when I record a song, even if its only
a demo, I feel a sense of resolution and inspired to move on
to new songs.
The cassettes sat loose in various boxes in my basement until
Spring 2005 when I started going through them. Many were
unlabled and there were multiple versions of a lot of songs,
so it took a while to figure out what was what.
Out of about
60 cassettes, 28 were at least mildly worthy of including on
Exile. Im not exactly sure why I chose the 12 below. They just
seemed to jump out when I was listening back through all of
them.
Carl Johns, 2006
A few notes about the songs:
1. Ima Clam (1999)
A friend gave me an orange chord organ he found at a yard
sale. I used it on this recording a couple of days later. Ima
Clam eventually became the lead track of Noahjohns second
album, Had a Burning.
2. My Time (2000)
This song became a regular in the Noahjohn live set. We never
released it though. A full-band recording was made during the
Water Hymns sessions, but it just didnt seem to fit with the
rest of the album. I like this version best.
3. Surefire Woman (1999)
The guitar cutting out at the end of this one was an accident.
I like it though.
4. Palm Springs (2001)
This was also a frequent Noahjohn live number. I wrote it
shortly after my first trip to Texas. The phrase Palm Springs
became a Noahjohn euphamism for masturbation.
5. You'll Look for Me (2002)
When I heard Waylon died I listened to The Taker/Tulsa and
then recorded this cover.
6. Bombay in a Bottle (1999)
A good friend of mine jumped off of a building in New York. I
wrote this song a couple of months later. In some ways I feel
like its not finished, but have no desire to finish it.
7. One Friend (2002)
A song from Noahjohn Tadpoles. Not sure why I re-recorded it.
I like this take though. The session was the same night as
Youll Look for Me. The keyboard was borrowed from Noahjohn
violist, Eena Ballard.
8. Black Mirrors (2002)
Noahjohn got an offer to do a high-fi recording on spec at
Minnesotas Pachyderm Studio. I gave them some demos and they
chose this one. The Pachyderm version is still unreleased.
9. Two Steps Ahead (2003)
I like the disjointedness of the clapping part in the middle.
10. Your Scars (2004)
When I put together the first incarnation of the Charlemagne
live band, this was the first new song that I gave them.
11. Two Members Strong (2000)
Another song about hanging out at a bar with a platonic
ladyfriend. It became Two Members on Noahjohns third album,
Water Hymns.
12. Pink and Silver (2003)
This one was written about a series of dreams I had. A number
people have complainted about my rhyming of cherries, berries,
and scary. Those people are stupid.
I would like to give sincere thanks to Ricky Riemer at Science
of Sound and Wendy Schneider at Coney Island for helping me
transfer these moldy cassettes to digital. And praise Jeff
Bell from Keep for asking me to do this project and then
having the patience and dedication to see it through. Its been
nearly two years since he first contacted me about it. These
folks made this release possible. I hope you enjoy it for what
its worth.
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01-Ima Clam [03:27]
02-My Time [03:53]
03-Surefire Woman [02:20]
04-Palm Springs [03:00]
05-You'll Look For Me [02:13]
06-Bombay In A Bottle [04:12]
07-One Friend [04:53]
08-Black Mirrors [04:53]
09-Two Steps Ahead [03:34]
10-Your Scars [04:24]
11-Two Members [03:54]
12-Pink And Silver [02:44]
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43:27 min