DAY 5 “Thoughts On The Albums” : ‘THE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE BACK IN DRAG’ (2011)

This mini album started as just a fun thing to do in Tim Bovaconti’s little home studio with him primarily on bass and Kyle Sullivan on drums. I had these songs on the side and really didn’t see a home for them on a major record. I thought it would be cool to do something Sun Records style, the 3 of us in the room playing live (like pretty much all of the albums I’ve made) but we also had the tape echo effect on everything while we were recording. It wasn’t intended for release but when I heard the aftermath it sounded like an album. It came out as a digital download through Maple Music here in Canada during the Holidays.
The song “You Got Away From Me” ended up being a bit of a fan favourite and its music video was aired on Canadian television such as CMT on their roots show (which would throw in other rootsy Canadian acts like Blue Rodeo and even Joel Plaskett). All the songs had been written in 2011 except for “Never Wait” which I wrote when I was 16 or so. I came up with the chorus of the opener “You Didn’t Bury Me Deep Enough”(with the “you gotta dig, you gotta dig” response) in the shower. Only time that’s happened! I also liked having it fade in, which meant the album started that way too. I loved how Bob Dylan’s ‘Love & Theft’ record started off that way. Two of the songs (“Ragged Rag” & “Coffin Blues”) were recorded solo in a bathroom, to get that natural echo effect. “When The World Is Ending” is a bit of a terrifying rockabilly number when I hear it now.
I sketched out the cover, I tend to go in more eerie directions when it comes to my drawings, most of which no one ever sees. I would sketch another cover for one of my side project’s releases, The Bop Fi’s – ‘Don’t Lose Your Beauty’ about five years later. Might write about those ones too.
This is a good short and sweet listen and some folks have emailed me hoping for a vinyl release. I’d like to do that one of these days.
‘The Good Old Days Are Back In Drag’ is currently available as a download on Bandcamp, which will be waiving their share of revenue June 5th. Consider buying it on that day if you don’t have it already. Stream and listen now:https://jerryleger.bandcamp.com/album/the-good-old-days-are-back-in-drag

Source: Jerry Leger