The Fence 25th Anniversary Edition

The Tracks:

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1. Tecumseh Valley

Jack: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

Dave: Percussion

Notes: Recorded early in the sessions for this album, this song was brought in by Jack and completed in one day. Dave had never heard the original version of this song and was very happy to act as engineer/producer while Jack committed a fully realized arrangement and instrumentation to tape. "It was amazing the way Jack went about recording this track. He just kept recording track after track with almost no discussion and often getting it on the first take. He knew what he wanted, and I just pressed record and let him go," Dave commented recently.

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2. Baby it's You

Jack: Vocals

Dave: Vocals, acoustic guitars, drums, bass, electric guitar

Notes: Dave brought in this song as a potential track for the album. He first became aware of this song via the Beatles, but this arrangement was inspired by the Elvis Costello/Nick Lowe version. Dave recorded the basic tracks alone, and Jack came in shortly after to add his vocals. Dave's only guitar solo was proudly recorded using his recently acquired 1968 Fender Jazz Master.

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3. The Fence (Instrumental)

Jack: Acoustic Guitars

Notes: While listening to some old recordings on tapes just lying around in Jack's house, Dave stumbled onto this original song. Dave convinced Jack to finish the recording by overdubbing additional guitars and adding some effects.

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4. Psycho

Dave: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards

Notes: Enjoying the fact that the recording studio was located in his house, Dave recorded this song alone over several days early in 1999. The electric guitar sound was created using Dave's Rickenbacker 330 played through a mic'd Pignose amplifier. It was later referred to as his "grumpy" guitar sound.

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5. Good Time

Jack: Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Bass

Dave: Bongos, Tambourine 

Notes: An original composition of Jack's, he created a song that addresses his journey into fatherhood and shifting priorities. This recording was a true collaboration with Jack and Dave, developing the arrangement in the studio. Dave recently commented, "Jack came into the studio with these great ideas, and he would just hammer them out. It was all in his head, and my job would be fitting in parts where I could and running the board. It was great fun, and I loved getting a chance to play the bongos".

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6. Dirt in the Ground

Dave: Vocals, Acoustic guitar, Keyboards

Notes: Inspired by his own nihilism, this Tom Waits composition was perfect for Dave to pick up. Despite its dirge tone, the recording process was tons of fun for Dave to get the chance to play keyboards and to play around with the echo effect on his voice during the chorus. 

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7. Sometimes

Jack: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Bass, Percussion

Dave: Drums, Percussion

Notes: Dave: "As with the song Tecumseh Valley, Jack arrived at the studio with this original song finished and knowing exactly what he wanted. He came in, sat at the drums, and said, ‘Play this beat,' and that's how it started. It was a privilege to watch him build the song instrument by instrument". 

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8. Big Boys

Dave: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Bass

Notes: This one was originally recorded before sessions for "The Fence" began and before the studio was assembled. Dave recorded this track by himself using Jack's drums and a 4-track cassette tape recorder. The recording was later transferred to the 8-track machine, and the double-tracked backing vocals were added. ​

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9. Communist Plot

Jack: Vocals, Flute, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Electric Guitar

Dave: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Drums, Bongos, Xylophone, Bass

Notes: This is an experimental track that aims to blend various musical styles using found instruments, books, and junk mail. During recording, Dave’s announcement that the song was a “communist plot” gave it its title, which was later added to the end of the record after a hidden track featuring Jack’s reaction.   

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10. Dixie Breakdown

Jack: Acoustic Guitars, Bass

Notes: Jack worked on this song and played it at their usual music nights on the stage in Winter Park, FL. He had hoped to add Dave and another guitarist to play the second and third guitars, but they weren't up to the task. As a result, Jack did all the instrumentation himself on the recording. "Good choice! This is one of my favorite tracks on the album," Dave later commented.

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11. Monkey Boy

Dave: Vocals, Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Bass

Jack: Electric Guitar

Notes: Dave wrote "Monkey Boy” after the end of a 5-year relationship. Dave left the solo in the middle of the song for Jack, which elevates the song.

 

12.  Prelude to the Afternoon  of an Apologetic Veterinarian

Jack: Vocals, Barking, Electric Guitar, Bass, Acoustic Guitar

Dave: Bass, Drums, Electric Guiar

Notes: Jack's song about getting his dog fixed and his moral dilemma surrounding the procedure. He had his dog, Thorn, fixed, and she has been immortalized by this song. Thanks, Thorn!

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Hidden Track: Way Down in the Hole

Jack: Vocals

Dave: Electric Guitar

Notes: A favorite on the Winter Park stage, this song was recorded "live in the studio" with Jack belting out the vocals and Dave adding his distorted Telecaster. This track was captured in a single take. 

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Instrumentation:

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Jack: Taylor acoustic guitar, Fender Stratocaster, Cort Bass Guitar, Gretsch Drums

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Dave: Takamine Acoustic Guitar, Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazz Master, Rickenbacker 330, Cort Bass Guitar, Gretsch Drums

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About the Original Recording Process:

Original recordings were done on an 8-track analogue reel-to-reel machine using a tone generator and guitar pedals plugged in directly for effects. Acoustic guitars were recorded onto a single track combining signals from a close mic and a direct input from the guitars' onboard pick-ups and electronics. Due to limited resources, percussion and the drum kit were recorded on a single overhead mic and often bled into other mics used while recording other instruments simultaneously, creating a unique sound that proved challenging during mixing/editing and the subsequent remixing sessions. Vocals were recorded using condenser mics while the performer often sat at the recording deck due to a lack of a recording engineer.

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Sequencing and editing were done using a mini-disc recorder, converting the signal to digital and then used as a dub master to be transferred to CDs, preserving the digital quality.  

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The Remix & Remaster Project:​

In 2022, Dave began researching the best way to approach an anniversary edition of the album. The initial approach was to simply remaster the album, which was performed by Dave using a suite of online tools. Although the result proved useful, Dave felt that the impact was minimal and that the recordings still suffered from some bad decisions made during the recording and mixing. Because the original tapes are long gone and only the dub master was all that was left, nothing else could be done. The project was shelved.

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Later in 2022, a revelation was born. The release of the Peter Jackson "The Beatles' Get Back" documentary inspired Dave to look again at some emerging tech that could help with the project. Using the MAL (a neural network machine-learning software suite), the original mono recordings made during a month-long recording session and film (later called "Let it Be")  "demixed" the audio into individual tracks of the Beatles' voices and instruments, allowing the engineers maximum clean-up tools and remixing that was impossible previously. Although MAL is the property of Peter Jackson's company, similar products were emerging that would allow for remixing of The Fence.

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Dave enlisted the services of the owner of Milestone Audio, Michael Marks. In late 2023, Dave gave Michael high-resolution audio files taken from the original master recording. Since Michael is also a very talented musician, Dave was confident that his decision-making would stay in line with the spirit of the album and only provided "I trust you" as direction for the remixing. Michael started the process of "demixing" the songs, cleaning up tracks as best he could, removing effects and adding new ones, fixing some of the tempo issues, and remixed them into the recordings featured on this new edition. Once the new mixes were approved by Dave and Jack, Michael mastered the new mixes for this collection.

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