Just yesterday, I posted about the collaborative effort of Jace Everett and CC Adcock on the Season 3 finale song of “Evil”. Below, is the video for the mini-documentary that has now been released by HBO showing how the recording came to be.
Click here to read the interview with Jace Everett and to enter to win a Season 2 soundtrack CD. It’s easy to enter. All you have to do is to just answer a question in the comments area.
The True Blood Season 3 Finale episode airs on September 12. I’m having trouble believing that Season 3 is almost over because it seems like yesterday when we were all waiting patiently for the season to start.
While a finale episode is always bitter sweet, I think this finale might be a bit sweeter than usual, because it includes as its title song, a collaboration of two great True Blood musicians.
Also, as a special treat, the Vault is running a contest where you can win a True Blood Season 2 soundtrack CD. See the contest rules below.
Inspired to remake a classic blues tune, True Blood’s music supervisor, Gary Calamar and CC Adcock came up with the idea to remake, for the finale’s title song, “Evil“.
Jace Everett, the writer and performer of the show’s title theme song, Bad Things, was asked to join in and work with CC to create a new version of the classic blues song by Willie Dixon, which was recorded and made famous by the great blues artist, Howlin’ Wolf. CC Adcock, the musician who wrote Bleed 2 Feed, which is on True Blood’s Season 1 soundtrack, and who has appeared with his band playing at Arlene and Rene’s wedding in Season 1, got together with Jace and fellow producer, Mike Napolitano to record this great new version.
Below is the mini-documentary about this collaboration recording, presented by HBO, showing how the recording came to be.
Jace Everett
Since the resulting recording of “Evil” by CC and Jace is the title song of Season 3′s finale episode, it seemed appropriate to find out more about it. Recently, I had a chance to speak to Jace Everett about the making of the song and that interview is below with a bit also thrown in by Gary Calamar.
Can you tell me how the song and the collaboration with CC Adcock came to be?
Gary Calamar (music supervisor) and CC Adcock were bouncing some ideas for a “classic”song to use this season for trailers. Much as they used Dylan’s song “Beyond Here Lies Nothing” for last season. Howlin’ Wolf was one of the blues greats they had in mind.
How did you and CC get together on it?
CC and Gary thought it would be cool to get me involved. They called me up and CC and I spent a couple of weeks bouncing ideas back and forth. The whole production style, while certainly a collaborative effort, was really the brain-child of CC and Mike Napolitano. Mike engineered the track and had some great ideas to augment where CC and I envisioned it heading.
Tell the fans a bit about the origin of the song?
This is a classic blues written by Willie Dixon. Willie wrote so many songs that are now considered standards. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and others all recorded his tunes. To say nothing of the fact that white boys like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and countless others have been aping Willie’s tunes ever since. Now I guess CC and I are getting in on the action!
Can you tell me about the experience of making the recording? When was it recorded and where?
I flew down to New Orleans and spent a couple of days with CC bouncing from studio to studio. The track is a really good mixture of raw and loose musicianship and some cool loops and sound design. I really like the mixture of technology and raw humanity we captured.
I understand that a mini-documentary is being aired along with the season finale. What was the filming of that like? When did you do it?
CC had the good sense to get a camera crew there for the weekend! We just documented the event. It’s all shot on location in New Orleans.
Tell me what you think of the song Evil and does it fit in any of those made up music categories?
It’s an amazing song. The Howlin’ Wolf version is simply untouchable. It can’t be improved. Hopefully, we showed our respect and merely put a 21st century spin on it.
It’s, as a song, as pure a Blues number as you can get. I think where we took it is maybe a little “post-modern”, if you will.
What do you think of when you hear the word “Evil”?
Besides Dick Cheney? I don’t know. There’s the cartoon version of evil; pitch forks, horns and the like. Then there’s the real-life evil; the crap we humans do to one another through selfishness, laziness, greed, and religious fervor.
I guess I prefer the pitchfork! Far more manageable! LOL!
What do you think of True Blood’s big success?
Well, having spent a little time with the creators, cast, and behind the scenes folks of the show, I couldn’t be happier for them. They are a good group of people. I think it’s a real hoot of a show. Funny, sexy, scary, addictive. Obviously, it’s been good for me, too. Here’s hoping for another 10 seasons and the 3D Imax movie in 2014!!
Do you and CC have any plans for future recordings together?
Nothing concrete at present, but it would certainly be something I’d like to do. We have a lot of similar taste in music, but still approach things a little differently. It’s a nice mix that I hope we’ll explore in the future.
Gary Calamar has already told me that his eight year old daughter, Zoe and two friends did backups for the song and it is their voices at the end saying “Evil”. He said that CC sent him a demo and that Zoe and her two friends recorded their part in LA and it was sent back to be added to the song. Is this the way it went? Do you have anything to add?
Yea, my bit was done by then, but I think that’s how it went down. you know, with modern technology, it’s truly astounding what can be done in the recording world. Napolitano deserves big kudos for wrangling it all together.
What do you think differentiates this version of the song from the original?
Well, it’s louder! CC had the conceit to make a record that a young hip-hop fan could dig. You know the blues of the ’50′s and ’60′s was, at the time, “race music”. It could be argued that hip-hop started that way. Now, of course, hip-hop is ubiquitous. From jazz, blues, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and now hip-hop, black Americans have really invented the bulk of popular music. Then us crackers water it down a bit and make it safe! CC and I love the classic blues music. However, a lot of young black kids aren’t even aware of it. It became gentrified and adopted by white boys. I think CC wanted to bring the two worlds together. A lot of my friends in the hip-hop world are big fans of the show [True Blood] and I’ve gotten some really good feedback on the track from that angle.
Gary also mentioned that the acoustic recording of Bad Things would be available on Itunes, is this true? Or will it be elsewhere too, other than your acoustic album, Old New Borrowed Blues?
Yes, the acoustic version of “Bad Things” is also on the Season 2 soundtrack available at ITunes.
WIN A SEASON TWO SOUNDTRACK CD!
In honor of this collaboration, two True Blood fans will be chosen to win a CD of the Season 2 soundtrack. See contest rules below:
Last night I attended an event here in Santa Monica, California at the new mall, Santa Monica Place called SunSets at Santa Monica Place. Hosted by KCRW, the local PBS radio station, it’s a happy hour on the Dining Deck that will be held each Friday until the end of September from 5 to 7pm. The events are to not only support the opening of the new mall, but also to help KCRW’s Fund Drive.
You too, can support KCRW, by clicking here or click on the KCRW image.
At this week’s Happy Hour, True Blood’s Music Supervisor, Gary Calamar was the guest DJ where he spun a live set for those in attendance.
When I first saw True Blood in September 2008, I immediately was drawn to the eclectic music on the show. I was so impressed that there were all kinds of music represented from gospel, to hillbilly, to rock to you name it. Most of the music was new to me and it heightened my imagination. I immediately went and downloaded as much as I could of the music from that season and have continued to do so ever since. Shortly thereafter, I started listening to Gary’s Sunday night show on KCRW which can be listened to online at KCRW.org. Every week there is at least one song I’ve never heard and find fascinating. Because of all of this, and ever since I interviewed Gary last fall for the Vault, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to meet him.
At last night’s event, as soon as I arrived I immediately went up to Gary and introduced myself, he was very kind and spoke to me even though he was busy working the event. He was also nice enough to sign my Season 1 Soundtrack CD, on which he wrote, “To the True Bloodiest True Blood Fan”. He then, reminded me that the Season 2 CD is also out and I plan to purchase it as soon as possible.
Not wanting to take up too much of his time I walked around awhile taking photos and then, finally went up to him again asking if we could take a picture together and he graciously agreed.
We spoke about the music on the show and especially Season 3, which I think is the best season yet. He mentioned that we can look for even better music to come in the last four episodes of Season 3. I’m so looking forward to that!
I have met and spoken with many of the cast and crew members now, hell, I even had Stephen Moyer come to my apartment, but one thing I’ve noticed over and over and it is how kind, giving and just plain nice everyone on this show is. True Blood may have the best ensemble of people working on a show ever, in my opinion. Gary is no exception and I look forward to listening to his show again each week, discovering new music through him and seeing what he comes up with for the music in Season 4.
Having had his Season 1 True Blood CD be nominated for a Grammy last year, I know that Gary is bound to be nominated again for Season 2 and for Season 3 because his talent of finding the best fit for each scene is just amazing. For example, this year, here are a few of his choices that I was really impressed by:
There are countless others I could mention, but then this post would never end.
IFC.com’s Brandon Kim has written a fun article which, I’m happy to say, quotes my interview from last fall with Gary Calamar.
They have a cool suggestion of a song they want Gary Calamar to consider as an obvious inclusion in the show. We think its worth a listen and pretty cute. No pressure Gary!
Brandon Kim writes:
The show’s music has teeth. Everyone knows Jace Everett’s “Bad Things” now, the series theme song. Cobra Verde’s cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Play with Fire” was cool too, though I would still prefer the original. Perhaps it was a budget choice.
“HBO gives us a nice budget but it isn’t unlimited,” Calamar said in an interview with True Blood-Online. “We always need to keep an eye on the finances. So far I think we have a nice balance.”
I have a suggestion for Calamar — who is also a KCRW radio DJ, and so I suspect he would know Unrest’s “Suki” if he heard it (spelling doesn’t matter when you’re only hearing it). It breaks the rules a bit, but as I’ve pointed out they’re already doing that and no other song is so ready made for Sookie and the plight of a sun shy vampire in love with her.
Click to the right to listen to the song:
To read this entire article, go to: IFC.com (Independent Film Channel)
We always like to speculate about the music that will be the title of each episode. Here’s the song that made it for Episode 3.07 that we saw tonight “Hitting The Ground” by P J Harvey/ Gordon Gano.
I have to say that I like this song with the same title better by Ben Brousard.
I’m a huge fan of Jace Everett and also of Gary Calamar.
I was privileged to meet Jace in Philadelphia in early June and I managed to snag an interview with the very talented Gary Calamar last fall.
In the article below from the KCRW Music Blog, Gary talks how Bad Things became True Blood’s title song and also about Jace performing on the Santa Monica pier tomorrow. If you’re in town, I suggest you go!
Jace Everett will be performing at the Santa Monica Pier this Thursday, July 22 alongside Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux and Italian superstar Jovanatti as part of the free Twilight Dance Series starting at 7pm.
KCRW is presenting the show and Gary Calamar, who is not only a KCRW DJ but a music supervisor for big time TV shows like “True Blood,” tells us how Jace’s song became the theme for HBO’s hit show:
“Jace Everett wrote and recorded THE PERFECT song for the opening theme for True Blood, although we didn’t realize it at first.
Alan Ball, the creator of the HBO show “True Blood,” told me a little bit about his writing habits. He said he will work on a script for a while and when he needs a break he’ll take a little trip to iTunes do some exploring and $99.00 later will get back to his script.
It was on one of these excursions that Alan found Jace Everett’s “Bad Things” for his then new series True Blood. We all thought it was super-cool but wasn’t sure it was “the one” . Second guessing is second nature for me. So, I as music supervisor of the show, went on a search for some other options, and found some bloody fantastic songs. We listened, we grooved, we dug, but in the back of our minds we were all still humming Jace’s “I Wanna Do Bad Things With You.”
Soon it became very clear that Jace’s song was ‘the song”. It’s perfect. A devilish blend of sex, menace, romance and humor…and it kicks ass. In a way i think it helped Alan and the writers find the unique tone for our show. I think “Bad Things” will go down in television history as one of the best tv theme songs…right up there with Green Acres and Mr. Ed.
Jace is in town and doing a show at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday. I hope to see you there.”
source: KCRW Music Blog
The APM Music Podcast Series which features candid interviews with composers, music supervisors and industry insiders discussing the business of music for pictures, takes you inside the world of music production with topics such as composing and licensing for music used in film, television, trailers, promos, video games, new media, radio and more.
The Film & TV Music Podcast #66 with Gary Calamar - True Blood’s Music Supervisor
Listen to the podcast with Gary Calamar
Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Gary Calamar about his role as Music Supervisor for HBO’s True Blood.
SHOW NOTES:
0:03 – Intro – Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Gary Calamar.
1:35 – Gary Calamar on how he got the True Blood job.
3:08 – Gary Calamar on the difference between Six Feet Under and True Blood.
3:58 – Gary Calamar on the Southern influences of True Blood and its impact on the music.
5:13 – Gary Calamar on how True Blood has changed his approach to other work.
6:09 – Gary Calamar on Alan Ball as a songwriter.
4:49 – Gary Calamar on the end credits music of True Blood.
9:11 – End
The Film & TV Music Podcast #67 with Nathan Barr, True Blood Original Music Composer
Listen to the podcast with Nathan Barr
Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Nathan Barr about composing for HBO’s True Blood.
SHOW NOTES:
0:03 – Intro – Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Nathan Barr.
1:25 – Nathan Barr on how he got involved with True Blood.
2:00 – Nathan Barr on how he won the job for True Blood.
2:25 – Nathan Barr on his inspirations for the music in True Blood.
3:13 – Nathan Barr on how he composes the music for True Blood and the benefits of playing his own instruments.
3:50 – Nathan Barr on the recurring sonic themes in True Blood.
4:49 – Nathan Barr on the unique instruments he uses.
5:50 – Nathan Barr on his collaboration with Lisbeth Scott.
6:35 – Nathan Barr on what else he’s working on.
7:46 – End
The Film & TV Music Podcast #65 with Jace Everett musician and writer and performer of True Blood’s title song “Bad Things”
Listen to the podcast with Jace Everett
Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Jace Everett on HBO’s True Blood theme song.
SHOW NOTES:
0:03 – Intro – Ann Donahue, Senior Editor at Billboard, interviews Jace Everett.
1:05 – Jace Everett on how he got involved with True Blood.
1:55 – Jace Everett on how he found out that Alan Ball had chosen his song.
2:29 – Jace Everett on the excitement of hearing the news and what it meant to his career at the time.
3:16 – Jace Everett on how the True Blood inspired his new album
4:00 – Jace Everett on the inspiration of “Bad Things.”
4:54 – Jace Everett on his current tour.
5:12 – Jace Everett on the fan reaction he has received.
6:14 – End
Looks like Snoop Dogg has a thang for our Sookie!
Rolling Stone reports that True Blood producers have lined up an impressive roster of artists to contribute to an eclectic soundtrack. Beck, Robbie Robertson, Eels, M. Ward and Bob Dylan are among the fourteen artists who are contributing old and new material; Elvis Costello has re-teamed with Lucinda Williams (who he collaborated with on her 2008 album Little Honey) for the new track “Kiss Like Your Kiss.” “It’s a love song, but it has an atmospheric, moody quality to it,” says Williams of the tune.
“Who isn’t a fan of nakedness and vampirism?” Elvis Costello jokes when asked to sum up the appeal of True Blood.
While most soundtracks typically feature previously released material, producers have been ratcheting up their ambitions for soundtracks to movies like the Twilight series, corralling top artists to contribute unreleased material. The same ambitions went into the making of the True Blood soundtrack. When Williams was approached to contribute, she turned in a rough acoustic demo of the song to show’s music supervisor Gary Calamar. Calamar worked closely with Williams to shape the song and suggested she collaborate again with Costello as well the show’s in-house composer Nathan Barr, who added cello melodies. Barr believes the final version fits in well with the dark mood of the show. “Cello is central to the scores that I write,” he says. “If there’s not some cello or heavy guitar, it won’t sound like True Blood.”
True Blood hasn’t yet wrapped filming the entire third season, so it’s not clear what scene will feature Williams and Costello’s song. But Williams hopes it will be featured in a racier scene to match the tune’s sultry vibe. “I want it to be a totally hot, steamy, lustful scene between Sookie and Bill,” she says. “That would be perfect — Bill comes back, and they have torrid sex. Yes!”
Since wrapping up her contribution to the soundtrack, Williams is hard at work writing and recording her next album, which is slated for fall release. She says the as-yet-untitled disc will include tracks like “Copenhagen” (about her late-manager Frank Callari’s heart attack) and “Seeing Black,” a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt. But she finds that she’s often distracted by her love of True Blood. I’m really into it,” she says. “I got to find out what happens next!”
Even though True Blood‘s third season doesn’t begin until June 13, you can spend the time while you’re waiting listening to a live stream of Season 2′s CD of music that is due out later this month. Click below on the link to hear the entire album online.
As we reported last week, new songs from Beck, Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello, and the Band’s Robbie Robertson; covers by M. Ward and “Bad Things” theme song singer Jace Everett; plus classic tracks from Bob Dylan, 13th Floor Elevators, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Eels, Chuck Prophet, and more are included on the CD.
Here’s the complete track listing:
1. “Howlin’ For My Baby” – M. Ward
2. “Evil (Is Going On)” – Jace Everett & CC Adcock
3. “Bad Blood” – Beck
4. “How To Become Clairvoyant” – Robbie Robertson
5. “Shake And Fingerpop” – Jr. Walker and The All Stars
6. “Frenzy” – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
7. “Kiss Like Your Kiss” – Lucinda Williams with Elvis Costello
8. “Gasoline And Matches” – Buddy & Julie Miller
9. “You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)” – Chuck Prophet
10. “You’re Gonna Miss Me” – The 13th Floor Elevators
11. “Fresh Blood” – Eels
12. “The Forgotten People (Bon Temps Remix)” – Thievery Corporation
13. “New World In My View” – King Britt & Sister Gertrude Morgan
14. “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” – Bob Dylan
You can also purchase the CD by clicking on the link below.
