Liner Notes

The Ricochet Project

T. C. Sweeney

Produced by T. C. Sweeney and Bryce Chicoine

Engineered by Bryce Chicoine

Recorded at BCM Studios, Claremont, NH between 6/1/92 and 9/21/92

c. 1992, Off The Wall Productions

Dedicated to the memory of Robin McKenna

Notes by Rick Clogston, March 2006

1 - Clandestine Caty - T. C. Sweeney – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - rhythm guitar and bass

Rick Clogston - lead guitar and vocals

Bryce Chicoine - drums

This is sung by a character we invented in the studio who we named "Sludge," loosely based on British punk-rocker Ian Dury. When it was time to put down the vocals for Clandestine Caty, the rhythm tracks were all done. TC handed me the lyric sheet and informed me that this song should have “a back-alley feel.” Then he left the room, and the tape started rolling. As the headphones filled with the intro, I tried to figure out what the flying heck he meant.

I decided on what kind of person I might expect to find in a back alley, and sang the lyric on the sheet from that perspective. What you hear is that first take. When the track finished, I went into the control room and found TC and Bryce (Chicoine, the producer and owner of BCM) practically rolling on the floor with laughter. It turned out that what TC wanted was a kind of Jon Bon Jovi-style vocal, but he loved what I did, so we kept it. In fact, Sludge would soon take on a life of his own.

For the outro, Bryce set up a contact mic on the floor and we knocked over a pile of already-damaged old drum gear. At the very end, it’s TC yelling, “Kill him! Kill him!”

2 - Rainbow's End - T. C. Sweeney, Lisa Egan and Jim Kelley – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - bass

Rick Clogston - lead guitar and vocals

Lisa Egan - keyboards

Jim Kelley - drums

TC wrote the music for this in 1973. About 15 years later he let Lisa and Jim write lyrics for it. Although he liked the result, he later felt he could improve on them. Lisa prefers the song with the lyrics as she and Jim wrote them, but this is TC's revision. Lisa’s original demo appears later on.

The solo is me on a Gibson ES-330 guitar and Fender fretless Jazz bass, in a call-and-response pattern. We discussed what the solo should be for some time, and experimented with several options that took it way over the top. Trouble was, the arrangement was already so dense that it changed the character of the song, so it was decided we’d try something that stayed very deep within the pocket.

3 - Lost In Her Love - T. C. Sweeney – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - bass

Rick Clogston - lead guitar and vocals

Bryce Chicoine – drums

This is a love song that TC placed in 1863 Boston. It actually got a little airplay on WPNH Radio, Plymouth NH, on their Homegrown Music show. TC wanted me to double the bass line on guitar, but I was laying down the rhythm guitar track at the same time as I sang the vocal. This was intended to be a scratch track, which would later be overdubbed, but TC liked it, so here it is.

4 - Wild And Free - T. C. Sweeney – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - bass

Rick Clogston - lead guitar and vocals

Bryce Chicoine – drums

When it was time to do the solo, Bryce asked me what I wanted for a sound. At that time, I was listening to a lot of Living Colour, so I told him I wanted it to sound like Vernon Reid, drunk. He nodded, and went to work. He plugged my Ibanez Roadstar through a wah pedal, a pro-co Rat distortion pedal, and from there into a pair of old Fender Vibrolux amps. What you hear is the first take. Wild and free, indeed.

5 - Dark Dawn Rising - T. C. Sweeney, Tom McNamara – c.1992

T. C. Sweeney - lead guitar and bass

Rick Clogston - vocals

Jim Kelley – drums

This was meant to be the first part of a trilogy of songs. The sight of the burning oil fields in Kuwait after the first gulf war inspired this song. TC credited himself with writing the whole song, but Tom McNamara assures me that the lyrics are from a poem that he wrote, and TC put it to music. He had the music for the other two songs in his head, but as far as I know never wrote them down. Once, he played the music for the second song for me, at which time he, Tom McNamara, and I hammered out most of the lyrics in an afternoon. These lyrics are probably in his personal papers, but I'm afraid I've forgotten the music.

6 - You're No Good - T. C. Sweeney and Jim Kelley – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - guitar, bass and background vocals

Rick Clogston - vocals

Jim Kelley - drums and background vocals

TC was so happy with the performance by "Sludge" on Clandestine Caty that he asked that the same character do this song. The whole thing at the beginning was added later. In the intro, there is supposed to be a response to Sludge’s lines, but TC didn’t want to mess with it.

7 - Promise Of A New Day - T. C. Sweeney – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - lead guitar, keyboards and bass

Rick Clogston - vocals

Jim Kelley – drums

This is one of my favorite songs that TC wrote. We felt it needed the descant background vocal, which was taken directly from TC’s lyrics. I love the smokin’ solo that TC lays down.

8 - Rainbow's End Reprise - T. C. Sweeney, Lisa Egan and Jim Kelley – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - bass

Rick Clogston - guitars, congas and vocals

TC wanted to try an unplugged version of this song. Once again, the scratch tracks passed final muster.

9 – Better Than Fine (Hey, Honey Mama) – T. C. Sweeney – c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - guitars, bass

Rick Clogston – vocals

Jim Kelley – drums

I originally sang this under protest. I didn’t think it was TC’s best work, and I didn’t care for the lyric in particular. I agreed to lay down one take, which he later intended to have somebody else replace. After TC passed away, I thought it only right to include it, because it was what he would have wanted. Now, after hearing it again all these years later, I think it’s actually pretty good. Sorry, TC. I was wrong.

10 - Rainbow’s End – Original Demo – T. C. Sweeney, Lisa Egan, and Jim Kelley - c. 1992

T. C. Sweeney - bass

Lisa Egan – vocals, keyboards

Jim Kelley – drums

This is the original version that TC, Lisa, and Jim recorded, with the Egan/Kelley lyrics. The only change from the other version is the vocal, which I did with TC’s revised lyrics. TC used a rough-mix cassette of this to convince me to do these sessions with him.