Happy Birthday My Old Friend, Kevin Gilbert - 24 Hr Streaming Thud Reunion

[Squids]

Happy Birthday My Old Friend Kevin Gilbert!

20 years ago I played in a band called "Thud", which was the late Kevin Gilbert's solo project after "Toy Matinee" split up. Today would have been Kevin Gilbert's 48th birthday if he was still alive. In many ways, his spirit is still here through his music as well through his influence on others. Working with him had a profound impact on me as a musician and lyricist.

In 1998 I wrote a song about him with my friend Gene Siefel called "Not Coming Down" that later got revised with Simon Collins and recorded for the Sound of Contact "Dimensionaut" album. Now, many years later, I've written another song dedicated to Kevin for my first-ever solo album, "New World". What made this even more special for me is, for the first time in 20 years two other former members of "Thud", Nick D'Virgilio and Russ Parrish, play drums and guitar along with myself on vocals and keys, Fernando Perdomo on bass and special guest Maryem Tollar on "exotic vocals from another land". So, having Russ and Nick together with me on this was like a mini-Thud-reunion for us and it was very fitting given the subject matter of the song. It was also very nostalgic! While I work with NDV a lot, I had not seen or talked to Russ in probably 18 years? So, it really was great to catch up with him and he was thrilled that I asked him to play on it. Maybe we'll do it again sometime!

I wasn't planning on posting any more full songs until my album is out (which is very, very soon) but, since it's Kevin's birthday, I thought it might be nice to stream a pre-mastered version of the song "My Old Friend" just for today, November 20th, in honor of Kevin on his would-be-birthday.

If you aren't familiar with Kevin's music, he was a brilliantly clever lyricist and virtuoso musician. I strongly recommend you check out the latest Kevin Gilbert and Giraffe releases coming from Kevin's estate and look him up on YouTube. The "Thud Live At The Troubadour" DVD gives you an idea of what some of these same combinations of musicians sounded like back then.

Happy Birthday Kevin wherever you are!


Also, here are the lyrics (for those that like to read them)

My Old Friend
(Music and Lyrics by Dave Kerzner)

Hello, my old friend
From the other side of the end
You’ve come to visit me again
Poetic license to pretend

Hello, to the shape unknown
Waiting dauntless on my own
Bare and fragile flesh and bone
I am eager to be shown

Give me reason, give me art
Unearthly wisdom you impart
Crossing over, shaking hands
With someone who understands

Hello, my old friend
From the other side of the end
We both took that drive
To an unexpected curve
With hollow people
Who’ve got a lot of nerve
Restrained what we deserve
In a cloud you observe

Give me reason, give me art
Unearthly wisdom you impart
Crossing over, shaking hands
With someone who understands
Give me courage, give me grace
Spin the dogma that I face
I am tuning to the signs
Etching truth in cosmic lines

So long my old friend
One day we shall meet again

myoldfriendcrop.jpg

[ravensnhokies]

Great song Squids!!! Ethereal and really captures that Thud-ish spirit. Kevin is smiling somewhere with this befitting tribute.

I really love Russ' gtr solo. I'm fascinated that Satchel would be stoked to play on this. Any stories b/c he is an interesting character?

[Jimmy Giant]

Haven't listened to this yet, but expect it to be tops. I miss what Kevin could have given us after all this time and really thankful for what we did get.
I wanted to listed to my Giraffe Progfest CDR yesterday for the 40th annv of The Lamb but the disc went bad. Have to see if that's for sale somewhere.
Thanks Squids. Looking forward to your first CD.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Kevin!

[Bazcrim]

Here in England, Kevin Gilbert was a name that kept cropping up during the 90's via his work with Spocks Beard and the Progfest recordings. I can only imagine the impact he may have had if he became a member of Genesis. For me that is one of the major "what ifs". His name lives on.

[Flightwave]

"Tea for One" is very personal to me. The best song Kevin ever recorded IMO.

[mozo-pg]

Happy Birthday Kevin - Thanks for the track (sounds decent).

[WytchCrypt]

"Lennon never has to sing a Paul McCartney song"

[Squids]

"Lennon never has to sing a Paul McCartney song"

We played that once with a drunk Julian Lennon in the audience heckling. It was at a place called Luna Park. There's a bootleg out there of it and you can hear him laugh realllllly loud when Kevin sings that line.

Btw I am in the middle of mixing but I will chime in on a few things, including some stuff about Russ who is so awesome for making a cameo on this. He wouldn't even let me pay him! He loved it so much and so did I, I have to say. I wasn't planning on releasing anything from my album apart from teaser clips until release but it seemed appropriate for Kevin's birthday and I'm glad I did. I don't have a cover of any of his songs to share (but a lot of people are posting them and I think that's great). However, this song is dedicated to him on the album and I managed to FIND Russ through some asking around. NDV was already playing on most of the album so... it just came together in a poetic nod to our mutual past. It's my pleasure to share it. Thanks for taking the time to listen.

[mnprogger]

very dreamy Dave, as i mentioned in my blog earlier. Thanks.

[eporter66]

Happy Birthday Kevin - I played "Shaming of the True" today. Think about the great music he created and was a part of. Such a shame he passed so young, he surely had so much more to give.

[ytserush]

Any update on the Thud reissue?

[Flightwave]

I see that a 2 LP reissue is planned, but it will only be sold in conjunction with the 3 CD set for $70 total. That's a shame because I would like the LP set only. Maybe they will change their minds.

[trurl]

Killer, killer song. Really has a KG vibe to it. Great job!

[Squids]

Killer, killer song. Really has a KG vibe to it. Great job!

Thanks Fred. Are you talking about "My Old Friend"? Because I only posted that on the 20th, Kevin's birthday. Or are you talking about the old demo for "Not Coming Down" from the stage it was at in 1998? One of these days I'm going to do my version of that song. Just not now for obvious reasons (too close to the other release with SOC). But, in 2005 I recorded Nick D'Virgilio playing drums on it and the original electric cello recording from the demo was played by Cameron Stone (I met him when I played a gig with Lili Haydn in LA). He's like the Hendrix of the cello. There are a bunch of songs from the late 90s that I'll eventually finish and even use some of the tracks I recorded with guys like Lyle Workman, Mark McCrite, Toss Panos and other friends in LA. It's kind of fun collaborating with your younger self too! But, I've put most of those songs on the back burner because I just have too many new things I want to do/say. "My Old Friend", however, was a "trip back" yet written very recently. It's a bit more "Doors" and "Nick Drake" influenced than Kevin would have done (I wasn't trying to imitate Kevin... apart from some of the almost "spoken" word drop offs and dry vocal moments which are things I picked up from him that I do from time to time.) But, lyrically I pushed myself to be as clever as I could. I don't know if I would have written a line like "Spin the dogma that I face" if I wasn't reaching for some "Kevinizing". Haha. His command of the English language surpassed mine (and most people I know). However, if one makes an extra effort and is willing to revise the words of their song it can yield some interesting results. I really like how the lyrics of the album came out. I also realized I prefer to collaborate with others on music much more than lyrics (generally speaking anyway, it depends on the song and people).

Anyway, as far as the music goes, I wrote the musical context which does have somewhat of a KG Thud vibe (even though he didn't use any Roland analog drums in Thud... ironically I DID ask Satnum if he wanted to play tabla on this and he said yes but wasn't going to be back in town in time and actually it's probably better he didn't or it would have been too "Joytown"... which it already nods to enough as it is.). But, what really makes it sound "nostalgic" that way is Nick being Nick, Russ being Russ and me being me. Apart from some minor direction and/or basic mock ups, those guys were on their own and I couldn't be happier with the tracks they turned in. Russ and I were talking about how it really brought us back! It was so much fun to do and to me it was the perfect ingredient to add to a song written in part about Kevin and of course the song is dedicated to him on the album.

That said, I think this will have to conclude my "songs about Kevin" effort as it bookends "Not Coming Down" nicely (at least for me). We weren't vocal enough about NCD relating to Kevin and that didn't feel right to me. (another reason I wrote this new one... some closure on that goal of paying homage to him properly). The main video for NCD has nearly 100,000 views at this point and it would have been interesting who might have been curious to check his music out if Kevin was mentioned in the description. I do love how his music has been discovered by more people around the world over the years (and I'm sure he'd be pleased because the "reach" back then was much more limited). But, he's still under-known for how brilliant he was. Hopefully that will change.

Here's the video for "Not Coming Down" that we did with SOC if anyone's curious. The outro is in a different key than my demo version. I play a "mighty Wurlitzer" in a field for the video (the Mellotron is actually a Miditron... I'm not taking my real Mellotron out in a damp field!).

[trurl]

I was talking about My Old Friend

[Squids]

I was talking about My Old Friend

Ah ok! Great! Thanks for letting me know. Btw I talked to Steve about the possibility of us all doing some shows together at some point next year... kind of like we had originally intended to do last year! That would be a lot of fun.

[No Pride]

Killer, killer song. Really has a KG vibe to it. Great job!

Just what I was going to say! Kudos!

Nice guitar solo too!

[No Pride]

BTW, Mike Keneally wrote a song dedicated to Kevin Gilbert that's also very nice.

Oh... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!

[flatliner]

Reading this thread, I decided to listen to Thud again this past Friday night. Always been a favorite of mine! If you listened closely, you could have heard when I turned the system up for Shadow Self! Just INCREDIBLE!! Toy Matinee CD is a CD I always listen to as a reference CD. What amazing sound!

[rickawakeman]

Love the demo for Not Coming Down, one of my favorite tracks from the SoC disc.

Wasn't SB's "The Great Nothing" written about Kevin Gilbert?

[ytserush]

Love the demo for Not Coming Down, one of my favorite tracks from the SoC disc.

Wasn't SB's "The Great Nothing" written about Kevin Gilbert?

I've always thought there was an influence there, but I don't know if it's ever been addressed.

I was listening to Nuts a few days ago. Good stuff.

[Squids]

I went with Kevin to see Nick play with SB at The Whisky. You know I was almost in SB? That would have been interesting. This was before they got Ryo. They asked me if I wanted to play keys for them. Although, I think Ryo ended up being the ideal fit.

So, here's something interesting that's developed around this song "My Old Friend" that I've dedicated to Kevin. I'm doing an alternate "half unplugged" version as a bonus track for the Kickstarter backers who ordered the big bundles of music and swag that were in the campaign (and I might release some of these as bonus tracks with singles or... not sure yet). Anyway, Satnam Ramgotra is going to play tabla on that version. He's the tabla player we worked with when we did our cover of "Kashmir" (originally intended to be on the Enconium Atlantic Records Zeppelin tribute but got released as a free add on EP with THUD instead). He also joined us for the gig that was filmed for the "Live At The Troubador" DVD playing songs like "Joytown" and some other things. I haven't worked with him since then (almost 20 years!) so this will be fun.

By the way, if you missed my posting of this song I will be posting an album preview sampler either late tonight or tomorrow that will have at least a little bit of it.