Backstage Spotlight™
November 2003 Recording Engineer Obie
O'Brien - Page 6
Obie: I’m trying to approach this box set-- which I totally think is going to
flip people out--as, this is not going to have the hits, it’s going to have stuff
that nobody has ever heard. I truly have found songs that no one—nobody—has
heard. And I think people are going to freak when they hear some of this stuff.
MBADC: I’ve always been more of an album cuts person, so I’m really looking
forward to it.
Obie: I’ve got some great alternate versions of stuff like early demos that we
did that are so different from the final version—different lyrics, different
melodies, just a whole different vibe about them. I’ve got songs that for whatever
reason never made it to the final cut that you listen now and go, "Man how did we
miss this one?" I mean that’s my [feeling]. Over the last year and a half I went
through every tape that we had in our locker from this band from day one. Studio tapes,
rehearsal tapes, live tapes. Outtakes. Some of the tapes were physically degrading and
falling apart, and the thing you do is you bake them, and then you get another couple of
passes out of them.
I archived everything—all the early stuff--to 48 digital and to hard drive and
cataloged everything, where it came from…I’ve got some songs from ‘84 that
are just like little tiny demos that never went any farther, I’ve got a couple songs
that are so cool, with guys playing with the band—horn sections, harp players,
friends of the band doing stuff, just knocking stuff down. I’ve got such a great box
set from these guys. I’ve got stuff from them playing cover songs at a show, just
doing the sound check...Man, it was just a ridiculous undertaking. You can’t believe
it.
MBADC: I can imagine. So what is the criteria when you’re looking?
Obie: I’m just looking for a cool factor about the song. Something unique about
it. Every song has to have something. You know? It just has to have something unique. And
you know, for better or worse, here’s the way I look at everything when I do stuff
like that: I think if it were The Beatles when I was 20 years old, and somebody said,
I’m going to put this Beatles record out, what do you want?" And this is what
I’d do. I was such a fan of the Beatles. I still am. I listen to The Beatles every
day.
MBADC: I listen to them every Sunday. It’s good Sunday music.
Obie: Yep. I mean, there are so many stations that do Breakfast with the Beatles or
whatever. But, that stuff is timeless. And I think the same way of a lot of this
band’s songs. I think "Wanted Dead or Alive" is one of the songs
that’s going to be a timeless rock song. I don’t know, with any of the
contemporary artists out there, if 25 years later you play the songs, you’re going to
go, "Jesus, that’s like bellbottoms…" I think Bon Jovi has enough
songs that are just timeless, they’re like classic rock songs. And no matter when you
play them down the line, you go, "Wow, this is still a cool song." I can never
imagine "Wanted Dead or Alive" not being, like, a cool song to play. I think
it’s such a cool song. And that’s what’s cool about this band. You know?
It’s not a disposable thing that you’re not going to play it, or you play it in
five years and go, "Oh man, that sucks." And I think where you really see that
is, you see it in the people that come to the shows. You get people 10 years old, you get
people 70 years old. That’s the truth!
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