Gary "Hoppy" Hodges and Tom Moncrieff

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Just Curious., Who are you, and how do you know this Gary again? you seem to know ALOT about this.

I'm Ananiah McCarrell, the songwriter and guitarist of Sinai 48.

[David]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

Partly because he's just not that kind of guy.

But that's not a "kind of guy" -- that's just business, Ananiah. Don't you agree? It shouldn't be personal. Business is business. There's nothing at all wrong with asking for a credit and/or a check if your bass or guitar is mixed in to the finished track on an album that's been collecting royalties & revenue since 1979.

Of course, it's probably harder to deal with this after almost thirty years. It should have been cleared up a long time ago, or at least as soon as Tom knew. Look at the credits on SAY YOU WILL. Looooong. Or Stevie's solo albums, my goodness. The woman who puts Stevie's hands into a suitable position for the photographer gets a credit!

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by David

But that's not a "kind of guy" -- that's just business, Ananiah. Don't you agree? It shouldn't be personal. Business is business. There's nothing at all wrong with asking for a credit and/or a check if your bass or guitar is mixed in to the finished track on an album that's been collecting royalties & revenue since 1979.

Of course, it's probably harder to deal with this after almost thirty years. It should have been cleared up a long time ago, or at least as soon as Tom knew. Look at the credits on SAY YOU WILL. Looooong. Or Stevie's solo albums, my goodness. The woman who puts Stevie's hands into a suitable position for the photographer gets a credit!

I agree that they should sue and make it public. I've suggested doing that. Tom and Annie don't think of it the same way that you or I would. It's a philosophy from a different time than I'm from. Personally, I'm a bit of a jerk and I'll jump right into court if someone looks at me sideways, I just about have direct deposit at my local small claims court. For whatever reason, they have decided not to do anything about it. I've asked and the best answer I can get is that it's for personal, rather than business, reasons. For all I know, maybe he has asked for credit. I don't know all of what he's tried to do about it. There are a lot of things from that era that Tom is just not comfortable talking about. What I do know, however, is that there was a promotion to release Buckingham Nicks 2 about a year ago and I forwarded it on to Tom and Annie and they pounced on that one and the project never got off the ground. It seemed the label doing it never got permission to release the tracks. Another label wanted to release the Buckingham Nicks Live tracks and they, again, asked for proper crediting and that project never happened either. Not to blame them, but the shifty people that try to make money in music by releasing things without giving people the proper credit that they deserve.

In short, there are a lot of personal issues that have gove on for more than thirty years that I am not a part of or know nothing about. Tom and I are friends, but we're not close bosom buddies. I don't think he feels comfortable confiding everything to me, especially because I'm a hothead and injustice pisses me off and I get very noisy about things like that. There is more to the story that I am just not privy to. All I know for certain, because I've heard the same thing from too many different people, is that the Fleetwood Mac machine has squashed a lot of people in the past. Also, that Tom said he helped Stevie write those songs.

Also, Fleetwood Mac's machine is fine giving credit to people they like, but if you are no longer a part of the "family" then you will be cut out and spit out. Take for example the version of Long Distance Winner that appeared on Stevie's collection. Gary played percussion on that song, as even the original album states. However, her colletion credits "Lindsey Buckingham" as playing percussion. So, I mean, there is a precedence for cutting people out here.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

I agree that they should sue and make it public. I've suggested doing that. Tom and Annie don't think of it the same way that you or I would. It's a philosophy from a different time than I'm from. Personally, I'm a bit of a jerk and I'll jump right into court if someone looks at me sideways, I just about have direct deposit at my local small claims court. For whatever reason, they have decided not to do anything about it. I've asked and the best answer I can get is that it's for personal, rather than business, reasons. For all I know, maybe he has asked for credit. I don't know all of what he's tried to do about it. There are a lot of things from that era that Tom is just not comfortable talking about. What I do know, however, is that there was a promotion to release Buckingham Nicks 2 about a year ago and I forwarded it on to Tom and Annie and they pounced on that one and the project never got off the ground. Another label wanted to release the Buckingham Nicks Live tracks and they, again, asked for proper crediting and that project never happened either.

In short, there are a lot of personal issues that have gove on for more than thirty years that I am not a part of or know nothing about. Tom and I are friends, but we're not close bosom buddies. I don't think he feels comfortable confiding everything to me, especially because I'm a hothead and injustice pisses me off and I get very noisy about things like that. There is more to the story that I am just not privy to. All I know for certain, because I've heard the same thing from too many different people, is that the Fleetwood Mac machine has squashed a lot of people in the past. Also, that Tom said he co write those songs.

Oh, so it's Tom's fault that BN hasn't been released on CD?? Tell him THANKS.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

What I do know, however, is that there was a promotion to release Buckingham Nicks 2 about a year ago and I forwarded it on to Tom and Annie and they pounced on that one and the project never got off the ground.

Buckingham Nicks 2? Do you mean the original album remastered and released on CD or an album of stuff they had recorded post the first albuum and prior to joining Fleetwood Mac? Why would Tom and Annie "pounce on that one"? Were they on it? I didn't realize that Annie was in the picture until the Magnet and Steel era.

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Oh, so it's Tom's fault that BN hasn't been released on CD?? Tell him THANKS.

No, Tom never performed on the original album. I said BN II, which is the other stuff that eventually made it onto The White Album and Rumours, as well as on solo albums, such as "I Don't Want to Know", "Monday Morning", "Rhiannon", "Sorceror", and a bunch of others. There was one cool tune called Heartbreaker (Circles in Time) that never seemed to be recorded in a studio. Some of their earlier songs are on the Live Collection. The reason that album didn't get off the ground isn't his fault either, the company that wanted to release it thought they could do it without getting anyone's permission. Once Tom & Annie called them and said that Tom & Gary wanted credit and compensation for their work, the label stopped. Annie wasn't on the album, but she manages Tom's business affairs. Tom is the studio genious and Annie runs the administrative end of things. Not to say Annie has no genious of her own right, but that's the way they divy up the work. Annie actually has a degree in Politcal Science from Georgetown, so she is more familiar with the business end of things. Also, Annie came in the picture back in her Georgetown days when she was in a band called "Sageworth & Drums" with Walter Egan in the late 60's or early 70's.

BTW you do have Tom to thank for those great sounding BN songs that most people got from Buckinghamnicks.net. He remastered the album, so it sounds great. They want this stuff out as much as anyone.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

No, Tom never performed on the original album. I said BN II, which is the other stuff that eventually made it onto The White Album and Rumours, as well as on solo albums, such as "I Don't Want to Know", "Monday Morning", "Rhiannon", "Sorceror", and a bunch of others. There was one cool tune called Heartbreaker (Circles in Time) that never seemed to be recorded in a studio. Some of their earlier songs are on the Live Collection. The reason that album didn't get off the ground isn't his fault either, the company that wanted to release it thought they could do it without getting anyone's permission. Once Tom & Annie called them and said that Tom & Gary wanted credit and compensation for their work, the label stopped. Annie wasn't on the album, but she manages Tom's business affairs. Tom is the studio genious and Annie runs the administrative end of things. Not to say Annie has no genious of her own right, but that's the way they divy up the work. Annie actually has a degree in Politcal Science from Georgetown, so she is more familiar with the business end of things. Also, Annie came in the picture back in her Georgetown days when she was in a band called "Sageworth & Drums" with Walter Egan in the late 60's or early 70's.

BTW you do have Tom to thank for those great sounding BN songs that most people got from Buckinghamnicks.net. He remastered the album, so it sounds great. They want this stuff out as much as anyone.

Oh...thanks for the clarification. Was "Gold Dust Woman" part of BN 2?

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Oh...thanks for the clarification. Was "Gold Dust Woman" part of BN 2?

I honestly don't know. I'm not sure what all was supposed to be part of BN II, I just know a few things based on their tour and stuff I've heard. Tom will probably do the Q & A, so you can ask him for sure.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

BTW you do have Tom to thank for those great sounding BN songs that most people got from Buckinghamnicks.net. He remastered the album, so it sounds great. They want this stuff out as much as anyone.

So someone actually found/has the masters? Ken Caillat said that while they had the multi tracks, the masters had been lost.
Thanks for all the info.

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

So someone actually found/has the masters? Ken Caillat said that while they had the multi tracks, the masters had been lost.
Thanks for all the info.

Again, I'm not really sure what they had. I wasn't born yet! LOL!

I'm not sure how one would have the multitracks and not the masters, because those are usually the same thing. Typically, when recording, you record each "voice" on a separate track, then all of the "voices" are mixed down to a single track that is then "mastered", or sometimes the original takes of each "voice" is called a master track. So, if one had the multi-tracks, it would be easy to make a master out of them. But, like I said, I'm not really sure what was available.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

Again, I'm not really sure what they had. I wasn't born yet! LOL!

I'm not sure how one would have the multitracks and not the masters, because those are usually the same thing. Typically, when recording, you record each "voice" on a separate track, then all of the "voices" are mixed down to a single track that is then "mastered", or sometimes the original takes of each "voice" is called a master track. So, if one had the multi-tracks, it would be easy to make a master out of them. But, like I said, I'm not really sure what was available.

I might not have the verbiage right but that's what Ken said in his Q&A. Agian, thanks for the wealth of information and for fcilitating the Q&A with Tom. I'm really looking forward to it.

ON EDIT: I got it backwards. Here is a linki to what Ken said:
http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/...aillat_qa2.htm

[Sorceress]

"To date, all of the members have not yet met one another. They have a dynamic that transcends even geography."

AJM, what does this mean? This statement is found near the very bottom of the home page of the site linked in the first post.

http://www.sinai48band.com

[ajmccarrell]

Well, to explain that, I have to go back in time....

As a teenager, I really didn't listen to music with words. For all intents and purposes, I was a classical musician. In 1998, I had done a solo guitar album with a studio guitarist named Evan Groom. I had a lot of fun working on it, so in 2000 I wanted to do another one. The hitch this time was that I had started attending college and I was exposed to pop music and started writing pop songs. The real clincher for me was when my then Step-dad brought home "The Dance" and I saw Lindsey's solo take on Big Love. I now thought it was possible to do great pop music AND be a great solo classical guitarist. However, mid project, Evan died.

So, after a variety of personal problems, I started recording pop songs with a girl I knew from a coffee house where I hosted a radio show that showcased acoustic music in 2005. We had recorded a 14 song demo that she ended up using to get signed with Columbia records without telling me, and she later lied to me about it. Fortunately, I owned the rights to the songs so she never got off the ground. That was really the catalyst to form Sinai 48. If my demos were good enough to get her signed, I wanted to form the "ultimate band" as a slap in the face.

Anyway, I read Gary's Q & A session and noticed he did drum work on the side. I always thought his drum work next to Lindsey's guitar on Crystal was one of the greatest moments in music in the last 40 years. I wasn't sure how it would work for him to be in Branson, Mo and me in Tacoma, WA. My brother told me about this band called "Postal Service" that mailed digital tracks to each other to work on. So, I bought a bunch of cheap gear and lots of candles and began doing the rhythm guitar tracks.

I called up Gary and talked to him and he was enthusiastic about the idea of working by distance. He said he had a friend, Charlie Chalmers, with a studio that is used to doing distance-web recording. So, he layed down the drum tracks and mailed them to me.

Here's where I more directly answer your question: Gary and I recorded about 10 tracks (2 of them didn't make it on the album) before I ever met him face to face. He also had ONLY heard my guitar tracks when he did his drum parts. You can really tell his genious based on that. He and I did "Kiss the Rain" together in person, as well as "Everyone Has Secrets", but the rest of it was done without ever hearing the whole song. The same goes for Tom, he hadn't heard the entire song when he did his bass-work. Alex, our singer, was the only one who heard the songs.

So, what I was getting at is that we haven't all met each other. Alex has only met me, I have met Alex and Gary, Gary has met Tom and Me, and Tom has met Gary. We've never all been in the same place all at once, or have even met all of the other band members. However, if you listen to a track like "Only One", you would never guess that we had never had a rehearsal or really sat down to talk out the arrangment. It just....happened.