Album Notes

THE DOUG DRAGON PROJECT 2009-2010///
The last time my bro Doug and I recorded a studio album, it was 1969. The album was titled “BFI” by The Dragons, recorded at Sunwest Studios in Hollywood and engineered by my high school friend Donn Landee. The tapes were shelved and finally released on a british label, NinjaTune, 37 years later (that’s another story in itself)! Now it’s 40 years later and the duo decides to do it again… Why? Why not!
Doug lives on Maui and I am at the old Steve Miller studio in rural Williams, Oregon. How did we do it?
Doug recorded his basic tracks (keys, lead vocals, drum loops) on Maui with various engineers. He then sent the tracks to me in southern Oregon to do the rest. I really had no idea where I would take the project; he left the production totally up to me. When he finally heard the rough mixes, he was blown away. I pulled from every musical resource that was available and it was a challenge since I was new to the area. I was far away from my L.A. talent pool! Luckily, there were some excellent musicians here in southern Oregon and I roped them in for overdubs. A real find here in the Applegate valley was the local trio of Duke Davis (sax), Mikey Stevens (trumpet and guitar) and the late Brett Claytor (keys). They all did fantastic work. Did I mention Jessie Kennemer from Grants Pass? At 17 years old, he kicked ass on guitar on a couple of tunes. At the time, I was sharing the studio space with producer/engineer Charles Button and he contributed some great bass parts and helped record my drums. What I couldn’t find here, I relied on my old buddy Tay Uhler for help. We went back and forth on the net transferring tracks. He played some great guitar parts and helped round up the background singers. I travelled to Tay’s home studio in Santa Monica, CA. to record the the duo of Terrie Dixon and Ivana Gomez. They were great to work with. Anyway, after almost a year and a half, the project is finished. Both Doug and I are proud of what we all did. Don’t expect perfection; I don’t believe much in “computer manipulation”. This recording is loaded with “human moments”. Enjoy.
-Dennis Dragon