Ron Thal:
It was the end of 2005 and I had just finished a month of touring Russia & Europe for the Bumblefoot 'Normal' album. I've always loved old Motown music and lounge music, and was itching to put out some cover songs. While playing local shows around NYC in early 2006 and preparing to tour Russia and Europe again in May & June, I was compiling a list in my head of songs I'd like to cover, the first being "Bernadette" from the Four Tops.
We started recording April 27th, Dennis Leeflang (Bumblefoot drummer) laid drum tracks and we started on music tracks. And isn't it funny how plans can change - I planned on recording and releasing these songs soon after, instead I got a call from Guns N' Roses to join the band and start rehearsing the next week for a comeback tour starting the week after.
I had my first rehearsal with Guns on May 3rd, our first show was 9 days later. The Bumblefoot tour had to be put aside, and GNR hit the road touring Europe, finishing July 29th in London with a show at Wembley, a surprise acoustic club show at 4am, another show at Wembley the next night, and flying home the 31st.
The following week I laid the vocals to Bernadette. A friend was in the mixing room and hit record for me, watching me through the studio window - I did one take of vocals. I remember holding a sheet of printed lyrics in my left hand, my right hand switching between grabbing the back of the mic and holding the top of my head to keep the headphones from flying off, I was singing so hard. They commented how much my hand holding the lyrics was shaking and shuddering the whole time I was singing, from adrenaline. A quick punch-in or two, a double on the bridge, done.
I then laid the end solo with the 'Flying Foot' guitar, poor thing all battered and bruised from the tour. I used my Line6 VettaII 2x12" combo amp, the one I used for the Bumblefoot 'Normal' album - it's the same one I brought to rehearsals and used for the first GNR shows in NYC, four shows at the Hammerstein. I remember after the last of the shows, getting my Hyundai out of the lot and pulling up behind the venue on 35th St., carrying my amp out and putting it in the trunk while chatting it up with fans waiting outside the back door of the venue. That's what ya do after a gig, ya put your gear in your car, right?
Touring resumed, US & Canada September 'til December, recording Chinese Democracy on breaks, prepping in LA in early 2007 for Spring/Summer touring, toured, then took a break end of the year. At that point I started working on the 'Abnormal' album, and was going to include Bernadette on it. I re-recorded the rhythm guitar track through a Splawn head & Marshall cabinet, and mixed/mastered the song along with the rest of the songs for the album, finished in June 2008. But I decided not to put Bernadette on the album, wanted to keep 'Abnormal' all-original, no covers.
In 2009 & 2010 the focus was GNR, rehearsing, touring, meanwhile technology was evolving making it easier to release single songs digitally. So now seems like the right time to release the song, and others, this way. 'bout time.
I'm releasing the song in MP3 (320kps), AAC, and higher-quality formats FLAC, MP3 HD, Apple Lossless and WAV ('Source Audio') which come bundled with an MP3. Instrumental mixes are available in both formats as well.
For guitarists, I made a "Player Pack" that has a transcription of the entire lead guitar track as a PDF file - musical notation, TAB, fingers, picking, and helpful hints. To accompany the transcription, there's a 'Backing Track' mix with everything except the lead/solo guitar parts, in WAV (44.1kHz/16-bit) & MP3 (320kps) format, so you can play along.
And for the studio savvy, a "Producer Pack" of 44.1kHz/24-bit Stereo WAV files of the mix 'stems' - there's a file of drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals and backing vocals that you can load into your multi-track software and play with levels, making your own mixes.
I hope you enjoy the song, in all its forms - thanks for checking it out. And big thanks to songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland for all the great music they've made over the years, and the Four Tops for performing it so well and inspiring this cover. ORDER
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