SUNDAY 18th DECEMBER 1994

Safe & Sound rehearsal 4
Recording: ‘Come together’ (jamming take)
Recording: ‘Day tripper’ (jamming take)
Recording: ‘Jabba the Hutt’ (takes 6 1/2; 7 1/4; 8 1/8; 9 1/16; and 11+ [the final celebration])
The Classroom – 13:30-17:00 – P: Yann. Present: Dude, Stef, Goubs, Fabz, Seb.

This rehearsal is important for many reasons. It is the first reunion of Safe and Sound since the departure of Yannbass and Nicki and the events of summer ’94. Then, it is also the first appearance of Fabz on drums; poor lad. Another ” premiere ” on this afternoon: it has been decided to record absolutely every rehearsal, every single piece of music or conversation around music, in order to create a sort of “Conceptual Continuity” (not to say a “Virtual Merchandising Possibility” … that means bootlegs, you idiot… ), and also to make us regret (or laugh) when we’ll be 60 years old. Here’s a guide of what happened: Goubs only arrived at 15:00. It seems that the day before a party was held at Eric’s, and that he held it more than the others. So only Stef, Dude and Fab were there first. Yann was obviously present all the time, and Seb came later after Goubs. We tried to cover ” The ocean ” from Led Zeppelin, because it was what we had decided to do for the first encounter with Fab. We played it two or three times but it hasn’t been recorded, unfortunately. Then we went into several covers and jams, including ” Come together ” and ” Day tripper “, but Fab wasn’t very keen on jamming, so, (thanks to him, indeed), we started working on a song Stef and I wrote together. (That only succeeded three times!!! This is the third attempt). Several takes were recorded, under the very clever working tittle of “Jabba the Hutt “. (The numbers of the takes aren’t the real numbers, of course. What a scoop!). The first one is called number 6 ½ (!!!), and lasted 6’30”. It featured some improvised vocals, and a very good solo by Stef. The next one is a wrong start, called 7 ¼ , leading to take 8 1/8, which is 7’24” long. But the structure was still to be fixed. Then came Goubs and things started to accelerate. Another take, called 9 1/16 and lasting 6’58”, allowed Goubs to be introduced to the song, and then a very long time was taken to elaborate a correct structure for the piece. (No solos, arpeggios in the chorus, etc…). A lot of mumbling and silly playing can be heard on the tape. (including infamous jokes!) At the end of the session, the band went into what was called take 11+, the final celebration. It has been established that every session should end with a jam, deserved or not. This incredible take lasted 14’42”! At the end of it, Stef and Dude led some crazy deviations on tunes like Vasoline; Boys keep swinging; etc… . The boys couldn’t even resist to play a song from the ” Nicki period “, “Desperate people”, although it was decided not to play such music for the moment. (The event can be heard on the tape, followed by a funny ” collective imitation ” of Nicki’s voice) This take, and the previous one, was also simultaneously recorded on the 8-track machine, in case of an eventual ” historical take “. (Maybe next time). This recording has been released in 1999 in Safe & Sound Rehearsal 4.

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