{"id":8387,"date":"2015-08-27T05:30:21","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T09:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=8387"},"modified":"2015-10-19T12:46:10","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T12:46:10","slug":"the-chocolate-watchband-give-the-people-what-they-want-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/27\/the-chocolate-watchband-give-the-people-what-they-want-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chocolate Watchband: Give the People What They Want (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Chocolate Watchband<\/strong> guitarist Tim Abbott<\/strong> believes that these new versions of the band’s old songs are an \u201copportunity for us to rewrite history, to make it right.\u201d Because any way you slice it, Richard Polodor<\/strong>‘s \u201cExpo 2000\u201d which leads off the new disc, is a pretty ace psychedelic instrumental, well worth revisiting.<\/p>\n

And there was another compelling reason for the re-formed Watchband to record these songs: \u201cNone of these songs were on iTunes,\u201d Abbott points out. \u201cThey weren’t available to the fans. Universal [Music Group] had control of it.\u201d The band initially released the tracks independently under the title Revolutions Reinvented<\/em>, and \u2013 interestingly enough \u2013 right as those versions hit iTunes, Universal decided it was the right time, finally, to make the original versions available, too. \u201cPretty much par for record companies,\u201d Abbott observes ruefully.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>But ultimately, all of the songs featured on I’m Not Like Everybody Else<\/em> have been staples of the modern-day band’s set list for quite some time. \u201cWe’ve been doing these tunes since 1999,\u201d says Abbott. Back then, vocalist David Aguilar<\/strong> rang up Abbott, told him that there was renewed interest in the band, and suggested they get things going again. Their first gig was in San Diego. \u201cThe promoter basically paid us to put the band back together,\u201d laughs Abbott. Fans came from all over \u2013 as far as Europe \u2013 to see the revived Watchband play live. The band were surprised at the positive reception they got. \u201cI knew something was going on,\u201d recalls Abbott, “but I didn’t realize to what extent. When we finished the show, a guy came up to us and said, ‘I want to bring you guys to New York to do a live show. And we want to record it.’ And then another guy said, ‘We want to take you to Rome.’\u201d And all those things did indeed come to pass.<\/p>\n

In the wake of that success, The Chocolate Watchband recorded an album of new material. But Abbott admits that \u201cfans didn’t really embrace\u201d it. He concedes that the band \u201cweren’t thinking about our direction; we just made music.\u201d And while the music may have been worthwhile \u2013 the band’s current website pointedly makes only the briefest mention of its existence \u2013 it didn’t sound at all like the Watchband of old. And that’s what fans want. As Allmusic<\/em>‘s Bruce Eder<\/strong> wrote in his measured review of Get Away<\/em>, \u201ccoming off of a 32-year layoff from music, do you try to sound like who you were, which is to say, as people remember you, or who you are?\u201d Abbott contends that the material was good, and suggests that the band might revisit and re-record the songs in a style more akin to their signature sound.<\/p>\n

That’s what they did \u2013 very successfully \u2013 for I’m Not Like Everybody Else<\/em>. \u201cWe had an experience in New York,\u201d Abbott says, \u201cwhere we brought some of our updated-sounding stuff. And what we found was that our fan base just rejected it. We had done our show, and when we came back for an encore, we did new music. And that was the worst possible thing we could have done! We didn’t know, but it was very educational.\u201d He laughs as he recalls something David Aguilar said to him one night, post-show, after running through a set of the Watchband’s best-loved \u2013 \u201cgenuine\u201d or not \u2013 songs. \u201cWe should have done these songs back then. They’re good!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>The new album takes its title from a Watchband cover of the classic Kinks<\/strong> song. But the lesson that The Chocolate Watchband learned happens to be the title of a later Kinks album: Give the People What They Want<\/em>. Abbott observes, \u201ca lot of bands get to evolve. The Beatles<\/strong>: you watched them evolve. There was an evolution of the style, the sound. But we don’t have that privilege, because we basically dropped out, and then we came back. And so our fan base wants The Chocolate Watchband that they love. They don’t want<\/em> it changed. They don’t want it updated; they don’t want me to shred on guitar. They want to hear it in that style; that’s why they like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Original bassist Bill \u201cFlo\u201d Flores<\/strong> is featured on the album, but had to retire shortly thereafter for health reasons. Music journalist\/author Alec Palao<\/strong> is the group’s official historian, and he advises the group as well. Some of his most well-regarded advice: \u201cMake it sound correct: make it sound vintage.\u201d So both live onstage and in studio recordings, that’s what The Chocolate Watchband does. Abbott smiles when he cites a Belgian reviewer’s concert writeup: \u201cFor just a moment, I felt as if I was 17 years old, at the Fillmore Auditorium watching one of my favorite bands in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n