First up, Elliot Lurie from Looking Glass. We went through Brandy and Jimmy Loves Mary Ann. We tried to convince him that our ending for the former would work, but…no.
After Elliot, we ran through Baby Come Back and This Time I'm in it for Love with Peter Beckett.
The guys from Starbuck came in next and ran their songs while we ate lunch. Their marimbist, Bo Wagner, totally stole the show. He's still a pretty captivating soloist. Afterwards, we talked for a couple of minutes (he's going to email me transcriptions of his solos on Moonlight Feels Right and I've Got to Know)--he's a really nice guy. I showed him my EWI set up and how I deal with the marimba solo ("play as fast as you can in E minor!").
I ate lunch with Walter Egan. I get the impression that I weird him out.
Walter was up next. No problems with his songs Magnet and Steel, Only the Lucky, and Go Your Own Way.
Next up was Gary Wright. Gary was very particular about his songs--wanted to know what parts everybody was playing, what the guitar and clav effects sounded like, and checked the vocal harmonies. I didn't play much (only played the string part, doubling Gary, on Love is Alive), but his scrutiny definitely made me unsure of myself.
I had Gary sign Brandon Still's keytar.
The last guy of the day was Robbie Dupree. We rolled through his two tunes, Steal Away and Hot Rod Hearts, with no trouble. He was exhausted from traveling, so we touched on a few things quickly and wrapped up the rehearsal.
All set for the big day tomorrow! John Ford Coley, sorry we missed you!
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