...is a guitarist’s recording made for guitar players.

The making of "Cheap Guitars" in Jim's own words:

Most of the music is written for the guitar and most likely would be appreciated (or not) by guitar players. Guitarists are interesting people, but a lot of us wrap too much of our egos into what we do. We constantly compare ourselves to others and think somehow we can do it better. Well, if you are looking for blinding chops and technique, you have come to the wrong place. There’s nothing over 55 mph here.

Guitars. I started out with the idea of making this recording with nothing but cheapo guitars, just to see if it made a difference to one’s ear. Well, for the most part I did, but there may have been a few semi-expensive instruments thrown into the mix. It’s a shame that good-quality American instruments have fallen beyond the financial range of many of today’s professional musicians. Brands like Gibson and Fender have gone well up into the thousands for a good guitar. I have always believed in buying American-made products but there comes a point when you say, “enough is enough.” In recent years I have come across guitar brands like “Agile” that sell for about 1/4 of the price of a Fender or 1/10th the price of a Gibson. They are made in Korea and play and sound just as good as the American counterparts that they are modeled after. After playing and seeing the price tags on these I decided that my loyalty to Fender and Gibson was over. My first Agile, a Les Paul Standard type, is all over this recording. It features a swamp ash body with a beautiful finish and doesn’t weigh a ton. The second, another Les Paul with P90’s, was given to me as gift. It looks great, plays great and sounds great. The status of the Gibson label is the only thing missing. My most recent acquisition is an Agile Tele thinline copy. Its the guitar on Maria Elena. Can you tell it’s not a Fender?

One of my favorite guitars is an Epiphone Casino, the Korean one; the American one is too expensive. The Beatles always said they were great guitars so I finally got one. My main guitar that I use for playing ‘live’ is not a cheap guitar. It’s made by Performance in California. I’ve had it for about 25 years and it’s gone through many changes like tuning gears, frets, neck, switches and 3 tailpieces. It now has a Trilogy bridge made by Hipshot, which gives you the ability to change tunings on the fly. It comes in very handy for playing slide in alternate tunings. The nylon string that I use is made by Yamaha. Funny thing with gut string guitars—I can’t tell much of a difference in the tone of a $300.00 guitar verses $3,000.00 models. I did use one Gibson on this recording, my old J55. It too came at a cheap price. It was a damaged instrument that Gibson used to sell as factory seconds. It had cracks in the side that the salesman warned me would split apart in about six months; well that was 30 years ago and the cracks haven’t progressed. Over the years it sustained multiple injuries like broken off headstock, cracks in the front from when I dropped a phone on it and deep scratches from a dog’s claw as he was attacking me while I was giving a guitar lesson. It still sounds good and can be heard on LIT. My first electric guitar was a 1966 Japanese Zen On, which I bought for $12.00 with the cord. I played it for a few years and sold it to a guy who thought it would be cool to put Gibson pickups on it. Well that was the end of the Zen On until recently I found one in pristine condition on EBay. It’s the guitar on the cover and is buried in the mix on Can’t Hardly Wait. Can’t Hardly Wait also features my Danelectro 12 string, which I think, is the ugliest guitar on the planet but still plays and sounds good. I have always felt that a good amplifier is essential to good guitar sound. Most of the tracks were recorded using a Carr Slant V, which is a great amp. I also used a 1966 Fender Vibrolux and my Princeton Reverb that I bought with my paper route money. Remember when kids used to have paper routes?

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The Songs on "Cheap Guitars"   (Click the song title to hear an mp3 sample.)

Ode to Billy Joe (Bobby Gentry) I thought it would be cool to put a groove to this song and jam on it, so that’s what we did. That's Greg on Drums and Sanman on bass and Glen on keys. Featured guitar here is Epiphone Casino.

Gotta Get Away (Jim Perrini / Larry Mays) This is an old song from my LA days written with my old friend Larry Mays. At one time it had lyrics but those are long gone. The concept of the song was I gotta get away from LA because I am miserable. It’s been recorded a number of times but I never felt like I got it right. Hopefully here we came close. Greg on drums, Sanman on Bass, Glen on keys. The guitars I used were the Agile Les Pauls.

LIT  (Jim Perrini / Sandy Bandes) This is a song from the Lemon Isis CD that I wrote with Sandy Bandes. There is only a hint of Sandy’s melody here and her lyrics are missing. I hope she is not disappointed. She wrote some great lyrics for this song but you definitely don’t want to hear me sing them. The acoustic guitar part played on a Gibson J55 is physically impossible to play in standard tuning but tune your guitar CGCGCD and slap a capo on the third fret and you’re on your way. I got the idea from Patty Larkin, a great singer songwriter and fantastic guitar player.  That’s the Performance guitar doing the electric stuff. Greg is on drums and percussion and Sanman on Bass.

Klughless (Jim Perrini) Another song taken from the Lemon Isis CD that is one of my favorite compositions. Most of it was written in about 15 minutes while I was waiting to leave for my cousin’s wedding. That day was one of the hottest days of the year and we blew the engine on my wife’s car on our way to the wedding. At least I got this song out of it. Klughless is actually 3 different songs glued together. I think you can easily distinguish the parts. That’s Don Gardner on drums me on guitars and bass. We recorded while the other band members were on break in one take.  That’s the Yamaha nylon string and a Squire Precision Bass.

Maria Elena (Lorenzo Barcelata) As a kid I remember watching The Ed Sullivan Show; featured were two guys with guitars called Los Indios Trabajares. The story was that these guys found guitars on a trail in the jungle and taught themselves how to play. They were all dressed up in Indian suits and played a beautiful version of the song Maria Elena. My mom once told me that Maria Elena was her favorite song so this one is for her. Sanman on acoustic bass, Jack on drums and Glen on Keys. The featured guitar is the Agile Tele.

While my Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison) You can’t say enough good things about George Harrison…great guitar player, great song writer and great guy… probably, I never met him. We recorded this in one take, I just yelled out “While My Guitar Gently Weeps..ready 1 2 3 4” Greg was saying “what..what .. what are we doing??? I said, “ just play 1 2 3 4 “ Sanman is on Bass, Greg and Jack on drums, Glen on keys.  Featured guitar is the Yamaha nylon string.

Can’t Hardly Wait (Jim Perrini / Michelle Vechionne) This song started out as a ballad, kind of like John Lennon’s “Julia”. I gave it to Michelle who wrote some lyrics for it. We did record it with 3 part harmonies but we never played it in public. I thought it would be fun to put a Ventures instrumental twist to it so here it is. Greg is on drums, Sanman on Bass, Glen on keys. Featured guitars are Epiphone Casino and 1966 Zen On and Danelectro Ugly Twelve.

U Name It (Jim Perrini) E7#9 my favorite chord, all over the place. This is my attempt at sounding jazzy.  Every once in a while I feel the urge to cross the line and play outside, but I always end up back inside. Sanman on bass, Glen on keys, Greg on Drums. Featured guitar is the Epiphone Casino.

Don’t Call Me Norman (Jim Perrini / Larry Mays) Another song from my LA days. I always thought this would be a good song for The Allman Brothers to do. Duane has always been a heavy influence on me and I still feel his passion in his playing can’t be matched. This song has been recorded a few times but I never felt it reached its potential. Sanman on bass, Jack on drums, Glen on keys  Featured guitars are the 1966 Zen On, Agile Les Paul and the Performance guitar on slide.

Mr. Sandman (Pat Ballard) Call me a cornball, but this song is fun. I put it last so that you would think of me when you can’t get the melody out of your head. Sanman on bass and Jack on Drums.  Featured guitar is the Epiphone Casino.

 Cheap Guitars  

Greg Bal • Drums and Percussion

Don Gardner • Drums

Jack Kuhn • Drums

Glen MacDermott • Organ & Piano

Sandy (Sanman) Winnerman • Electric & Acoustic Bass

Yours Truly JP • guitars

All songs used with permission

Photos and CD Design: Laura Gardner

Recorded at: High Sign Studio, Ringwood NJ

Produced by: Jim Perrini

Correspondence: jim@jimperrini.com

Ode to Billy Joe

Gotta Get Away

LIT

Klughless

Maria Elena

While my Guitar Gently Weeps

Can’t Hardly Wait

U Name It

Don’t Call Me Norman

Mr. Sandman

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