Riddums by Willie Painter

Life Is But A Dream

If you were into live music in the Triangle back in the 80s, chances are you heard a band called the Flying Pigs. Playing everywhere from Raleigh's mammoth Music City to the cozy confines of the Hideaway Lounge on the Duke campus, the Pigs were part of the wave of bands that seemed to form overnight in this area. A sort of circuit formed for local groups. Places like Cafe Deja Vu in the Cameron Village Subway (Raleigh), Halby's Delicatessen in Forest Hills (Durham), and the Cave on Franklin Street (Chapel Hill) were ready to give unknowns a chance, and if your band impressed the regulars on a weeknight, a coveted Friday or Saturday gig might be offered by the management. Who else remembers "jam night" at P.C. Goodtime's or the snow falling softly outside Free Advice on Hillsborough Street while the Fabulous Knobs rocked the house inside? Just us old folks, I guess... but I digress. The Flying Pigs were an integral part of the scene back then. Formed in late '82-early '83, they were a four piece band fronted by Pat O'Connell, who sang, played rhythm guitar, and wrote many of the songs on the band's playlist. O'Connell is a Connecticut native who moved to Durham in 1975 to attend Duke. I always heard traces of Byrds-era Roger McGuinn in the Pigs' tunes, as well as Peter Buck of REM's jangly guitar lines. It was melody-driven music with lyrics that were clever and articulate, no small feat. The Pigs, like many bands of that era, are no more. There is, however, a compilation CD called "Desi" (released in 1997 on Sonic Trout records). An earlier disc, "Mexican Divorce", is currently out of print, but will be available soon (see below). Pat has just released a solo effort called "Dream Life", where he's identified as P.J. O'Connell. Recorded at Durham's Overdub Lane studio with Wes Lachot, "Dream Life" features former Pigs Robert Truesdale and Bill McCarthy, as well as former Fabulous Knobs Jack Cornell and Terry Anderson, along with other regional artists. Pat and his wife Kathy, who played violin in the Durham Symphony, moved to the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts about 15 months ago, where he says he's "presently in the witness protection program". I recently spoke with Pat O'Connell about his new release and the music scene in general.

What time frame did it take to write these tunes? Were some of them songs that you'd already written, or were they all composed at about the same time?

Most of the songs were written fairly recently. There are two older Flying pigs songs ("Artist Too" and "Giving Up On You") and a couple of hybrids, time-wise: songs that were started a while back, but recently revised and finished ("Nashville" and "Hardest Job"). On the two cover songs, "Please Give Me Something" was new for me. The Pigs used to cover "The Wayward Wind". The arrangement for "Wayward Wind" was borrowed from an old 45 by an obscure Texas band, The Royal Rhythms, that I picked up from one of my all time heroes, the late great John Swain, who ran the most amazing record store in the world, The Record Hole on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Swain was an encyclopedia, he knew every small independent blues, rockabilly, r & b and country record ever released. I spent many hours and most of my income there and have in mind about 900 obscure cover [tunes] from Swain's 45s that I'd love to record. Lightnin' [Wells] will back me up on this and I suspect that you already know of The Great One and spent some time at The Hole, Willie. You, sir, are correct.

How long did "Dream Life" take to record?

Did you work and take a break for a while?

The tracks were recorded in spurts over the course of about 14 months. Our baby daughter, Elsbeth, was alive during most of the recording (she was seven months old when she died). I brought her to the studio on several occasions while we were mixing and recording overdubs. The basic tracks were recorded fairly quickly; the band rehearsed the songs in the studio and cut the tracks the same day. I was blessed with great seasoned players and quick studies, and I think it gives the record a fresher, live feel. And most of the musicians had played with Wes or myself on past projects and that lent a fairly relaxed atmosphere.

Would you do another project with Wes Lachot?

It sounds like the vibe was right. The vibe was totally conducive to experimenting. I've worked on and off with Wes for a long time. He produced both of The Flying Pigs' CDs. With "Dream Life", these were not really "road tested" songs; rather, they were built from the ground up in the studio... Wes is a versatile musician. He can play anything, except drums (I think), and he doesn't suffer sour notes gladly. He has a vast array of vintage instruments, and he's a bona fide Brian Wilson/Beatles/Dylan/NRBQ disciple, and of course, we're both nuts, so as with all serious projects we had some fights and major disagreements. I think that helped the finished product overall. Wes also brought in two musical friends from his circle to help on the project: Dan Davis, who plays drums on half the record, and Clyde Mattocks, from Kinston, on pedal steel. Both [were] total pros who contributed a lot to the songs. I also want to mention Brent Lambert at The Kitchen mastering studio in Carrboro. He's great, very versatile, and added a lot.

What are (former Knobs) Jack Cornell and Terry Anderson up to?

Are they playing with a band?

I was a big fan of Jack, Terry, and [guitarist] David Enloe. There is a reunion planned for The Knobs, sometime in late spring 2001, I think. Terry has a new album coming out any day on Not Lame Records. Al Anderson from NRBQ plays on it. It'll be his third solo release. I love Terry's drumming-- a total great feel like Mr. [Charlie] Watts. We travel in the same musical orbits. I gave Chandler Davis from The Incredible Casuals a demo of Terry's song "College Girls" and the Casuals recorded it as a CD single. One side of Jack's family is from Cape Cod (his grandmother lives here), and he's currently playing with several bands in the Raleigh area, including the great surf kings The Slackmates. "Elsbeth" is a beautiful instrumental, obviously named after your daughter. Thank you. I wrote that song in a weird open tuning Wes showed me, something he called "cello tuning". And Clyde Mattocks contributes a lot to that piece on pedal steel. In the studio we listened to the David Crosby/Byrds number "Laughing" from Crosby's first solo album, "If I Could Only Remember My Name...". [It's] a great production with Mr. [Jerry] Garcia playing a beautiful, wide, desert landscape-type [pedal] steel part, and we told Clyde we were looking for a similar feel. I think he nailed it.

Are The Flying Pigs going to do any gigs in the future?

I believe The Pigs will play together again. The first Pigs CD ("Mexican Divorce") is sold out, but will be available again soon in CD-ROM format through the websites (www.theflyingpigs.com, www.pjoconnell.com). I stay in touch with Bill McCarthy, an incredible player and a good friend, but there are no immediate plans [ for gigs]. With friends like NRBQ, the Boomers, Lightnin' Wells-- folks who have been doing this seriously for 20 plus years-- I view it [music] as a life-long project. I miss Carolina and hope to get back there very soon to play. How can people get a copy of "Dream Life"?

The official release date has been pushed back to January 8, 2001 (Elvis Presley's birthday). It's currently available through Miles Of Music (see the back cover of any issue of No Depression magazine) or either of the websites.

How long have you known the guys in NRBQ?

I've known NRBQ since I was 16. As president of the student council, I hired them to play at my high school in the fall of 1974. They are now paying me back. We've recorded ten new songs at Soundesign Studio in Brattleboro, Vermont, where Terry Adams lives. The last NRBQ album, and the last Sun Ra Arkestra album were recorded at Soundesign. We plan to record three or four more songs and have the record finished by summer 2001. The players are Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato, Tom Ardolino, Chandler Travis, T-Bone Wolk (the bass player from G.E. Smith's old "Saturday Night Live" band) and myself. Joey and Chandler have contributed songs to the project. The way I see it, Terry Anderson gets Big Al [Anderson], and I get the rest of the band...

Do you think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone?

Lee Harvey did not act alone... now let me ask you: did Secretary of State Katherine Harris act alone?

PJ O'Connell Dream Life Sonic Trout Records (ST 1698) From the ethereal "Elsbeth" to the rockin' "Please Give Me Something", Pat O'Connell shows his versatility. His choice of supporting players is dead on the money for the most part. Shades of the other Elvis (Costello) are felt in "Lucky Guy", while "Anymore" sounds as if it lasted another half hour after tape stopped rolling. Standout: "That's Gone" ****

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