“I know that one,” June said, smiling.
“Satin Doll,” I said automatically.
“Are there words for that one?”
“Yeah, but I’m not familiar with them.” I did a repeat of the first verse and sang the part I knew.
“… Out cattin’ that Satin Doll…”
I continued playing the song again, and when it was clear that those were the only words of the song that I knew, June started to laugh.
“I like that middle part.”
“Yeah,” I said, continuing to play. “It’s kind of famous.”
“Is that swing, too?”
“Jazz. I heard Archy’s uncle play that song in Chicago once when I was younger.”
“Are you thinking of recording that song? Archy might like that one if his uncle performed it.”
I tried to figure the logistics for that song. Unlike the rundown I played before, this particular song was well suited for the jazz band. “Perhaps,” I said, smiling at my lovely friend. “Would Archy think that I’m trying to compare myself with his uncle?”
June seemed surprised that I’d even think that. “Of course not!”
I became aware of a knock on the door. Instinctively, I turned around and glared at the DND switch, but I saw that it was off. I forgot to turn it back on when June came in before.
June saw my reaction, and jumped off the bench and went to the door.
It was Sherry.
“I’m sorry, I was wondering when June would be coming out. I didn’t mean to interrupt…”
I shook my head. “That’s all right, Sherry. The DND light wasn’t on.”
“Oogie forgot to turn it on, but he wasn’t recording.”
I didn’t mention to June that I wasn’t always recording when that light was on, but I didn’t think it was pertinent.
“Want to come inside, Sherry?”
Sherry looked at June before she answered me. “Sure.”
With Sherry in the studio, June acted a bit different. “Can you play Girl From Ipanema for Sherry?”
I shrugged and immediately played the intro, using the same key that I had used when I played in Purdue.
Of course, this was a singing number, although I could also do it as an instrumental. However, I think I knew what was June’s intentions were.
Sherry had sounded a bit wistful when she heard that Kristen and I did a lounge act in Indiana, and I think June was going to give Sherry a taste of what I sounded like at the time.
The keyboard and guitars from the trip hadn’t been set up in the studio yet, although I had already hooked up one of the new amplifiers to the mini organ. Despite that, the truth of the matter was that I was most comfortable using the older equipment that was already set up.
I looked at the two girls from time to time as I sang the song. A lot of the time, Sherry had her eyes closed, almost as if she was imagining herself in that lounge during our performance.
At the end of the number, the two girls broke out in applause. I gave a tiny bow while still seated on my bench.
I moved my bench to where my electric piano was set up. “Could you guys give me a hand? I want to replace this keyboard with the one standing up on the side of the room over there.” I pointed to the new Yamaha keyboard, which had a voice I wanted for my next number.
The girls let me disconnect the wires from my old keyboard and pick it up before they took it and placed it next to the new one. Then they brought the new one over.
Of course, the new keyboard required a different power cord, and a special adapter to fit my old amplifier. However, I found that it was easy enough to simply use the connector for the mini organ.
I played a few notes and fiddled with the gain on the amplifier to get the right volume. Finally, I played the introduction to Elton John’s Crocodile Rock.
Both girls smiled as they recognized the famous song.
As I was singing this, I remembered Kristen’s excellent bass accompaniment at Purdue. In my mind I could still hear her playing a near perfect walking bass line to the song.
June started laughing as I sang the “Nah-nah-nah” parts, breaking me out of my reverie, and which also broke Sherry up. Even I started to laugh and I ended the song.
“You have a great gift,” Sherry said, still giggling. “Your voice almost sounds just like Elton’s.”
June nodded her head in agreement.
I realized that this keyboard, with the setting that still had the masking tape marked “Eerie” would be perfect for a song that I had tried recording a couple of weeks earlier.
“Would you girls like to hear me accompany myself using the tape deck?”
Both girls’ faces lit up. “YEAH!” they said together.
“One second…”
I went to my tape drawer and it took me a couple of minutes to locate the one I started. I had some notes on paper that said cryptically “134 / X1 Vocal / X3 trumpet / 4 Piano.” This meant that I had three of the tracks recorded, but I wasn’t satisfied with tracks one (vocal) and three (a stupid attempt at using the trumpet to do a rundown, which didn’t fit at all).
I threaded the tape onto the open reel and patched my microphone to track one, and the Yamaha into track three.
As a test, I played a C-minor arpeggio on the highest end of the keyboard and found that the sound wasn’t perfect, but it was better than any other keyboard setting that I had tried in the past.
I turned to the girls and warned them to be quiet as I was going to be recording this particular song.
“Which song is this one?” Sherry asked.
“You’ll find out,” I said, grinning.
“Did you play this one at Purdue?” Sherry asked.
“No,” I admitted. “I think you’ll like it, anyway.”
Sherry nodded.
I turned on the tape and quickly got back to my bench.
The piano track played the intro, and I started singing: