Today on the Afternoon Show, Kevin Cole will be debuting a new 78 rpm single by The Head and the Heart. Recorded using all vintage analog gear by Seattle's groove-O-matic, who operate under the premise that "Recordings made from 1953 to 1965 tend to sound better than recordings made before or since," the new single features a song from the band's regular playlist. "Josh McBride" was originally written by one of their friend's about her boyfriend, the actual Josh McBride, and put to music by The Head and the Heart's Josiah Johnson. It has since become a live staple, and they've even played it live on KEXP before. With groove-O-matic's Charles Bork, they've also applied this new vintage treatment to "Honey Come Home," from their 2011 debut, and offer it as a B-side to "Josh McBride."
Listen to the new version of "Josh McBride" today at 4PM. On January 15, you can pick up this special 10" 78rpm, through Electric Records, the 78 rpm division of groove-O-matic (which incidentally releases only on 45rpm).
Here's engineer Charles Bork on the session:
The tracks on the record came from the first of three H&H sessions. Unlike numbers two and three, the first session developed spontaneously — Jon and Josiah had come by to check out the studio with no recordings planned. We did a couple of tests and they loved the sound. The recording was recorded with one vocal mike and one guitar mike. I recall Josiah really liked the way the vocal blended in the RCA 44-BX--the microphone shown on the record jacket. Studio V has an echo chamber and we used it. I did a live mix which was captured on a 1956 Ampex full-track tape recorder.
And here are two live versions of the songs:
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