Chapter 6 -- Maggie then The Band
A few miles away, Maggie and Michelle were cuddling closely, kissing each other tenderly and talking quietly.
Sweet, beautiful Maggie, Margaret Tejano is a brown haired, brown eyed, C plus breasted copy of Michelle.
They had been mistaken for twins on more than one occasion, even though Maggie was two years older than Chelly. Mag was also tall, perfectly proportioned, and had a look of elegance about her that seemed to elude Chelly, which isn't to say that Chelly is lacking, but it was just one of those things.
Neither girl was lesbian, but both liked loving with girls. I guess they both observed in their mother that loving another woman was not a bad thing.
Truth be told, every one of the girls were bi-sexual. All had made love with Janell, and each other at one time or other, but the other three preferred men, they just wouldn't turn down a good woman if there weren't an acceptable male around. Very seldom did they find an acceptable male.
Chelly always told Maggie that she was the lucky one to get the tits. Maggie didn't feel that lucky, but it was as it was, and there was realistically nothing she was willing to do about it. Most guys drifted naturally to Maggie while some tried to drift in Chelly's direction. Maggie was much more open to "playing with the boys" than was Chell, so in time, word of mouth had boys lining up for Maggie.
Saying all of that may leave a false impression that Maggie was some kind of "slut". Not in the least, though Maggie was out with the boys all the time, there were very few that ever got into her panties despite what some bragged about in their private circles. If Maggie heard about it, and she usually did eventually, the guy was not only cut off from Maggie, but she made sure that he would have a difficult time finding anyone to play.
She wasn't a prick teaser, or at least that's her reputation. She just earned the respect of most of the guys she dated, and she was known as a girl who knew how to have a good time. Of course there were those that disappeared once they found out she wasn't an easy mark and they "wasn't gettin' no pussy". The "real men", as she saw them, would eventually get some of what she didn't give to very many.
Word is that once Maggie decided to "put it out", it was only the "real men" that could hold on for the whole ride. She was a very active and demanding lover, but would give back for what she got. It paid to "make love" with Maggie, not just fuck her, and in very quiet circles she got the nickname "Hoover". She did enjoy her sex.
Maggie's kisses began moving down Chelly's lithe body, starting with her neck, shoulders and slowly to her breasts. Her tongue was at least as active as her lips letting Chelly know that she was loved and not alone.
"Ohhhh Mags, that's soooo nice. Ahhhhh..."
Each girl was touching the other, feeling her body with tender caresses, each moaning softly while moving closer to climax. Chelly could feel her pussy getting very moist. Maggie was moving very slowly down Chelly's body with her tongue and lips. Chell was trying to return the favor but her tugs against Mag's body went unanswered.
"Mag," she said softly, "Move your butt over and sit on my face sweetie. I want to taste you while you eat me."
Maggie moved her body closer to Michelle's, straddling her head placing her pussy in range of the younger girls tongue. Now they were both caressing the others breasts, licking and kissing wherever they could reach.
Michelle moved her mouth and tongue upwards and licked Maggie's soaking slit from the bottom until she felt the hard little button at the top. Chelly rolled her tongue lightly around in a tight circle. Maggie squealed an extended cry letting Chell know "she'd found the spot."
Maggie responded in kind slowly moving her tongue into and out of Michelle's vagina, tongue fucking the youngster while her thumb circled and worked over her clit.
When Chelly inserted her fingers into her sisters opening and began to move them in and out, the older girl stopped what she was doing, threw her head back, groaned loudly, her body stiffening and beginning to twitch in uncontrollable spasm, vibrate and freeze up.
While Maggie was entering her orgasm, Michelle crept lightly into one of her own.
When Maggie collapsed on top of Chell, her face went right between her legs so she began slowly licking on her sister's vulva again. It took a few minutes for her to recover from her visit to the magical land, but she wanted to make sure her little sister made a similar trek.
Maggie was finally able to raise her body up a bit and concentrate on Michelle's dripping pussy, tonguing it with abandon. Her "victim" moved her hands up starting to tweak her breasts and nipples. She was moaning loudly to let her sister know she was making her approach and to continue what she was doing. Maggie plunged two fingers into Michelle and started working them in and out slowly, hooking them upwards putting some pressure on the fabled "G" spot causing her body to lurch violently in spasm.
The second pass caused Michelle to arch her back and push her pussy up into Maggie's face with some force, clamping her thighs on Maggie's head holding it firmly in place.
Michelle let out quite a powerful moan. "Oh god yes, Mag, right there. Shiiiit. Aghhhhh. Oh fuccckkkkkkk meeeeee!"
Maggie smiled to herself knowing she'd given Michelle some much needed release from the emotions of the evening. As soon as her sister finally collapsed back on to the bed trying to catch her breath, Maggie lightly moved her tongue very slowly over Chelly's dripping pussy keeping the orgasm going for a while longer. Chelly's entire body was shaking intensely as all her muscles seemed to be in spasm.
Chelly's legs flopped open and to the side releasing Maggie's face from its captivity. Once released, she quickly reversed her position putting her face directly above. Lowering slowly, she kissed Chelly's lips softly.
When Chell felt her sisters probing tongue making soft, gentle pushes into her mouth, she opened up, took Maggie's tongue into her mouth, and began to suck it like it was a cock. Both girls were wrapped in each other's arms tightly holding on. It had been a long time since they had made love to each other like this, but in each of their minds, they made notes that they needed to get together more often.
In another room, now rubbing herself more forcefully, Judy had a very big smile on her face, listening to her daughters love each other. She was rapidly reaching the "promised land" herself and was debating joining them for an all girls threesome. It's not like they haven't done it before, but Judy thought that it was best to let the sisters love tonight. There would be other opportunities to get the three of them together.
Judy reached her peak stifling her moan so she didn't "disturb" the girls in the other room. After slowly coming down from her self-induced high, Judy just let herself drift into sleep. It had been an interesting day.
As the time moved forward, Maggie suddenly had something that was said earlier blast back into her head, startling her momentarily.
Sensing her sister's start, and pulling her face back, "What," whispered Chelly?
"What did you mean when you said you'd all be living together? It just dawned on me what you said."
With a smile in her voice Michelle filled her sister in on the last few day's activities, and the prospects for the future.
Maggie hugged her tightly and Michelle could feel wet drops falling against her face.
"What Mag? Why are your eyes leaking?"
"Oh Chelly. I'm going to miss you so badly, but I'm so happy for you that all of your hard work may finally pay off. I know people have always told all four of you that you needed to "get a job" or concentrate on something serious, but I knew you guys would find something good sooner or later."
"Bob is so right, you guys are incredibly talented. I hope it all works for all of you, but you're my baby sister, I love you, and I'm going to miss you terribly!"
Michelle tightened her grip on her sisters body, hugging her more closely and whispering, "Thanks Mag. I hope you're right. I'm going to miss you too, but it sounds like Bobby's place is pretty big so you can come visit any time you want. I'm sure Janell, Hey, or Maryanne won't complain if you were to make an appearance. If you wanted, you might even get a shot or three at Bob, who knows. Since I won't have Bob all the time, I'm going to want more of this Maggie -- often!"
"With a smile, "Chelly, you guys are going to be working. I don't want to interrupt."
"We'll worry about it when the time comes. I don't think you hanging around will affect our focus any. Bob is going to have us working some long hours every day because he wants to tour. You visiting may be just the excuse we need to take some needed time off. Besides, you can sit in the booth and listen while we do our thing. Maybe when Bill's there he'll teach you some sound engineering. If you do good maybe he'll give you a job."
"I don't know about that Chell, I don't have the ear that you guys do. It would be fun to learn. But as a job, I don't think I could ever get good enough."
"Don't sell yourself short Maggot, you can do anything you set your mind to," Chelly said with a big grin." I've seen you do it! Your, 'I'll try anything', attitude is one of the things that allowed me to think about this whole thing with Bob seriously. I just figured, shit, what's the worst that'll happen. It won't work, then I'll just pick myself up and figure out something else. With Bob leading, I don't think there's that much chance of total failure. He seems pretty confident."
"I'd be confident with you four too. You know his rep, so if he thinks it'll fly, you guys better polish your wings," Maggie commented with a warm smile.
"Anyway, Billy is going to be reviewing the recording of today's practice and I guess he's going to make some kind of recommendations to Bobby about direction. They seem pretty tight and I know Bob has a lot of respect for Bill. They've worked together in the past, and it seems like they're on the same page of the book, so we'll see."
Silently each withdrew into her thoughts and in a short time both were sleeping comfortably in each other's arms.
Life would be getting even more interesting very soon!
Thinking about starting a band, each of the girls had her own thoughts and concerns, but all were totally excited about the prospects and in the meeting they had two days later they all committed to each other to do anything and everything they could to make the endeavor successful.
As they had predicted, Maryanne and Janell's parents offered to help them pack if they needed it. It wasn't that their parents wanted to get rid of them, they were just so enthused with the prospects that their daughter's musical talents and the hard work they've been doing the past few years may ultimately pay off. None of the parents, including Judy, had ever seriously considered that rock and roll would be where their classically trained children would aim their talents. Heather was the only one of them that didn't have formal classical training and Jan didn't have much.
After their private meeting they all got together with Bob in attendance. They let him know of their commitment to the task he had set out for all of them. They also let him know that they wanted him to play the bass for them so that Maryanne could concentrate on all the other things she brought to the group.
Then the subject of parents came up.
Bob sat at the table and just listened to the two girls describe their parent's reaction, and that the support they had always received didn't waiver even a little. They let him know that one of the big "selling points" was the fact that he hadn't sugar coated anything and they already had a handle on the prospects of failure and that it was going to be a lot of hard work to be successful. He smiled as they all became more and more excited about the prospects of "maybe being able to be real musicians."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ladies, you already are real musicians. Trust me, there are a lot of highly paid people that are already in music today that could only wish they had your talent."
Then with a wry grin, "Don't let that go to your pretty little heads though, because we still have a lot of hard work to do before we can market ourselves. There's a big difference between having the talent and the marketability of that talent! We're talking about entertainment here and you four have never had that experience. It's a whole lot more than just standing on the stage and playing your music. You have to have some polish, pizzazz, and some showmanship. That's part of what I'm going to drill into you every day while we practice. Stage presence is very important."
They looked at him with nodding smiles all around. They were all ready to begin their grand adventure. They couldn't wait.
Part of the discussion was timing, when they would all be ready to move. They talked about the music, and Bob let them know he'd already put out feelers the day before while he was at the studio listening to the master recording of the weekend jam session. He also told them that the sound that was coming forward was nearly studio quality, and that Billy had already mixed some down to a "final cut", which says a lot about their abilities to play their music live. It wasn't planned that way, but they played it that way. Billy said that he probably wouldn't even need any fill-in pieces, so it should be good to go.
"So, you guys want to take a quick trip north to check out the place? I was planning on leaving in 2 days," and with a lustful grin, "I think Heather has volunteered to keep me company, but I'd love to have the rest of you keeping me company as well."
Heather raised her hand like she was in a classroom and shyly asked, "Bob, can I say something?"
"The floor's yours, Sweetie."
Heather looked at each of them then said softly, "I just want to say to everyone how much I appreciate your tolerance of me attaching myself to Bob."
"You don't have to say anything to us Hey. It's been what, a day and a half and we can already sense a difference in your outlook on life," Michelle interrupted with a smile. "You seem like you're so alive now. There's a bounce in your step that wasn't there yesterday, even your smile is different. Maybe nobody else notices the little stuff, but I sure do. I still feel your grief Hey, but I sense a path to reconciliation. You have hope now that wasn't there Saturday morning."
After a short pause, Chelly continued, "No sweetie, you don't have to say a word. You latching on to Bob is not a big thing to the rest of us. We know it's a big thing to you, but it's nothing you have to worry about."
The others we nodding their heads in agreement with what Chelly had said. They all had big smiles on their faces as well, so it was obvious to Heather that there wouldn't be any "problems". She hadn't expected any from this group, but she wanted the air clear.
"I know Chelly, but I just want you to know that I love you so much and appreciate what you did personally. I know it had to be really hard for you, and I feel you Chelly."
"I appreciate everyone else too," she said looking at each of the girls. "I want you all to know that it's my intention to share at some point because I know we all love each other and that it won't cause any problems. I also know that none of you would stab me in the back, you're just not that way."
All the girls' eyes got as big as saucers and there were multiple gasps all around as they looked at each other. While making eye contact with everyone, Chelly and Heather both noticed that Janell was blushing brightly.
"It's only if you want," added Heather. "Nobody will be bothered, or think you're weird if you choose not to. Jan, I know this may be making you a little uncomfortable, and I'm sorry I just want it on the table."
"It's ok Hey," Janell said softly. "Shit, you never know do you?" That caused a few eyebrows to rise around the room but Jan just giggled.
"Hey, that's a cool thought," then looking at Bob, "At some point all of us may want to take a turn, at least once," Chelly chuckled. "But Hey, your need is what's paramount in our minds. We've never been alone in our lives the way you have, so I don't think any of us can truly appreciate what you have been going through."
All the others nodded in agreement. They've all been able to sense the difference in Heathers attitude or demeanor or whatever it is that has changed for the positive in the two days she and Bob have been together. It was subtle, but they could all see it, even if she didn't yet.
Bob got their attention again, "Heather and I have discussed her offer, and I'll tell you quite honestly it is one hundred percent her idea. I wouldn't have even thought to suggest it. I'm generally a very monogamous kind of guy, especially when I love someone the way I've fallen for Heather. It's never happened to me before, so even though I wouldn't have suggested it, I'm willing to support her in any way I can, so if that's her feeling, I'm good with it."
Then looking around the room, "None of you ever have to worry about offending me whatever it is you decide. You are all very beautiful young women and I'd be a liar if I said I wouldn't want a roll in the hay with all of you, but you have to understand that I'm head over heels for Heather."
"When the time comes," he continued looking at each of the women, "It will be totally up to you individually, and I don't want any bullshit going on. I don't expect that you will play those kinds of games with each other, because you all love each other very much. I just wanted to make it clear."
"There won't be any bullshit Bobby," Michelle stated with all the others nodding.
"Just to let you know, there really is a hay barn down on the south forty and it has, I think, Five tons of fresh hay in it to roll around in," Bob said with a big grin.
They all just shook their heads, but laughed, a roll in the hay? Maybe.
Heather looked around the room then added emotionally, "I really need him you guys. I guess I didn't realize that I needed someone that badly until I actually had him the first night before the jam. Nothing happened, but it made me realize just how empty I've been since the accident," then turning to Michelle, "And Chelly, I'm so grateful to you that you were able to see that."
Michelle smiled, but Heather continued, "I feel so much more complete now and I felt it that first night we were at my house. I know you all love me and I love all of you, but somehow Bob made me feel loved in a very special, very different, very complete way."
The girls chuckled and Maryanne quipped, "Yeah. I'll bet," which brought big laughs from everyone. It caused Heather to turn a bright shade of red, which was accentuated by her beautiful blonde hair. She was doing the wild woman look today so it was down and flowing.
Bob decided to come to the rescue, "Ok guys, enough of giving Heather a hard time..."
Janell laughed, "We figured you'd be giving her the hard time Bob."
That brought even more laughs, and caused Heather to turn an even darker and brighter shade of red.
"Sheesh... I can see that you need a fucking thick skin to hang around with you four," Bob observed shaking his head.
"Ok...Dammit. Who wants to take the trip north with me and Heather?"
All hands went in the air, so Bob reiterated, "We leave day after tomorrow. Since you all want to go, maybe we should fly up to San Francisco, and either rent a car, or I can have one of my friends bring a helicopter down and leave it there for us."
"You have a helicopter?" asked Maryanne.
"Uh, yeah. I actually have four helicopters and two airplanes." Then as kind of a second thought he mumbled to himself, "If we're going to tour, it might be a good idea to lease or buy a jet. Flying commercial is such a cluster fuck, and I never want to be late for a gig."
The girls all looked at each other with surprise.
"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked looking around the room.
"No, it's just that you've never mentioned it before."
"Well, the subject never came up before and now that there is a need for transportation, it's on the table with everything else. The damned table is getting a little crowded," he added dryly.
"By the by, if you want, we can plan on staying for a few weeks or so. We can stay longer if you want, but you should get back home to let your folks know all is well, you're there safe and sound, and make sure the movers got everything you need. We need to set up all the equipment that was put on a truck yesterday and should be at the house being unloaded as we speak."
"Can we play a few jams while were there Bob," asked Janell?
"Absolutely. If you guys want to do that we can get things set up in a few hours because I already told my contractor what was up and asked him to do a cursory set up of the equipment when it gets there. The only thing he won't place is your drums Janell, but he will take them all out of the travel cases, set them on stands and the drum carpet for you."
Janell nodded, "That's ok Bob, it'll only take me an hour or so to set things up the way I want them, and it'll be really nice to not have to dismantle them each time we're done."
"Oh that's another thing, I'll have two additional sets of equipment for touring plus spares by the time we're ready. What I'm going to want you all to do is break it all in so that it's just as familiar to you as your 'studio equipment' is going to be. I don't want to have to break down the studio when we head out. That equipment will be strictly for studio work."
Then looking at Heather, "That doesn't include guitars Hey, we'll carry our every day axes with us, but there will be spares that we'll need to break in. When I toured the last time with the band, I had eight Fender Jazz bass guitars with me at all times. I actually had to use one once, so it was nice to have it handy." Then with a smile, "They were all different colors so I could tell them apart, but I love my hot pink Jazz."
After the chuckles died down a little he continued, "We're going to sit down and come up with about ten different play lists that we can work with. What I was thinking about touring is that when we do a show it should be a minimum of three, forty minute segments, with maybe ten to twenty minute breaks between sets. During the breaks the background music will be some of the same things we're playing so the audience can get a feel for how good you four really are. Bill will be in control of that so all he needs is our play list and he'll make sure he sets up the house music appropriately."
"Don't exclude yourself Bob," Maryanne pointed out smiling.
Bob looked at her seriously, "Maryanne, realistically, with the exception of all the multitudes of things that you bring to the band, this group doesn't need me. You are a very accomplished bassist in your own right, which reminds me..."
They all looked to see what he was thinking; so far they were liking everything he was talking about.
"Something I thought of to demonstrate your individual versatility."
They looked quizzically but were listening attentively.
"During one of the sets, without losing a beat or playing around on the stage, I want us to be changing positions and instruments while we continue playing."
"Huh? How do we do that?" asked Janell.
"Well it's going to be an interesting logistic Jan. Let me run this by you to see what you think. If you have any suggestions let me know, but we won't be working on this for a few months, and may not do it on the first tour or two until we get it down to a science. It is going to take a lot of practice, and I mean a lot. It may not be something we can pull off, but it will be so bitchen if we can!"
"What I have in mind is that we'll start a medley and we'll all be playing our normal instruments, or not," he said with a big smile. "I'm thinking about maybe a six or seven song medley where we don't stop. Just segue from one to the next, so we'll have to choose the tunes for the best transition as well as things that won't be over complicated for any of us to learn other instruments. I don't want it to be a burden or a big hassle, but a demonstration that any of us can play any of the instruments on the stage, well, within reason."
He definitely had their interest but he saw confused looks as well.
"Ok. So during the first number, about half way through, Maryanne, because you're really the pivot point on the moves, you'll pick up a bass and begin playing along with the tune, matching every note with me but once I stop you can change it up any way you like."
"Once you're playing, I'll set my bass down and move back to a second set of drums, which I'll start to play right along with Janell. Once I've got that going, then Janell, can move to either keyboards or Guitar, whichever is more comfortable. Say Janell starts on the keyboards, so that when she's picked that up Chelly can pick up a guitar and begin to play along with Heather. Once that is matched up, then Hey can put down her guitar and pick up a bass or perhaps move back to Janell's set of drums. Probably bass would work best on the first switch around, so Heather picks up a bass and begins to play along with Maryanne. When that's matched, Maryanne can slide back and take the other drums, then I can move to keyboards or Chelly's guitar, and basically rotate instruments until we've each had a shot at one of the other instruments all the while keeping up with the music and the vocals. By the end of the last tune in the medley we're all back where we belong."
Chelly spoke first, "Bobby I don't play the guitar, or the bass or the drums. I've spent my whole life behind a keyboard."
"Honey, you're an extremely talented musician, there's a simple solution to that problem you know."
Michelle's eyes grew as she realized he was suggesting that everyone learn to do everyone else's parts, at least for that medley. Learning certain parts for a specific medley makes it a lot easier because each one doesn't have to learn how to be an expert at the other instrument, but only needs to learn one small part. It's a difficult process, but it can be done, and these girls are so talented, Bob has no doubt they can eventually pull it off. Maybe not well enough to do it during a show, but it'll be fun to do in the studio if nothing else.
He had four faces showing him "deer in the headlights", puppy dog eyes, including Heather. He tried to stifle the laugh, but failed miserably.
"Can you play all the instruments Bob?" asked Maryanne knowing that she would have no trouble doing what he's suggesting. She could already play every instrument on the stage.
Bob smiled at her and replied honestly, "No I can't Maryanne, and I'm guessing that you are the only one that could pull it off today. I'm going to count on Chelly to teach me some keyboards, I've done guitars and drums, but I've never done some of the multitudes of things you play, so I'm going to lean on you to teach me to play the saxophone and perhaps some of the other things you do."
The deer in the headlights turned into surprise and respect. Here is a professional musician, who is one of the premier players of his chosen instrument, and he's talking about learning the rest of the bands parts so that he can help accentuate THEIR talents. "The World" already knows and saw his talent when he was only fourteen.
"I also had another switcho-chango idea," he said with a smile.
The girls all gave out mock groans, but were paying attention to what Bob was saying.
"Ok... We play Dueling Banjos yes?" and getting nods continued, "Ok, Maryanne starts out with the banjo, or guitar and we can swap that around too because I know you both can play the whole thing. Hey, you are on the other instrument call it the Guitar for the first run through. When you're a little more than half way through, when the audience can see you both wildly playing each instrument to perfection, I'll jump in and say something like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it, hold it," and you guys will slowly stop playing and look at me like I'm crazy, and hell maybe I am for thinking up this shit."
They all chuckled at his self deprivation, but he continued, "Once you both stop, I'll say something like, 'you have it backwards, what are you doing?' Again you'll look at me like I'm crazy, but each will walk to the middle of the stage, and Maryanne you hand Hey the banjo and Hey you hand Maryanne the guitar. Then you walk back to your spots, maybe even a couple of chairs front and center, shaking your heads in disbelief then as soon as you signal you're ready Jan will tap the cadence as usual and you'll start the number all over again -- each with a different axe than you started with."
They looked at him like he was crazy, but Maryanne said, "That one is doable, Hey and I can play both instruments on that song, so it might be fun."
Heather was nodding her head, agreeing, "We can probably do that in shows immediately unlike that mess you described first."
"I have the same kind of idea for that Mason Williams number also, what's it called, Uhhh yeah, "Classical Gas". One of you starts, and somehow it's not the right one, then you hand the guitar to the other and walk away while she starts playing. Hell, I can even play that tune, so we could do a three-way. Maybe I could start it then one of you taps me on the shoulder and shakes your head making me stop. Then you say something like, 'gimme that thing'. Then you sit down and start to play it, then the other does exactly the same thing."
They were shaking their heads, but laughing. They all agreed that those two scenarios were workable without a whole lot of extra effort. They'd just need to practice the transitions and Bob would have to work on his six-string finger picking.
"I also want to accentuate Maryanne's violin. There are a couple numbers that we can do that have good fiddle playing. 'The Devil goes down to Georgia' is one that comes immediately to mind. If we really want to do it up, we can have Chelly do the violin part of the Devil on the synth."
He looked around the room at astonished faces. They knew that left on their own they wouldn't ever have thought of these kinds of routines, and it is the kind of thing that would cause audiences to go crazy.
It's called showmanship!
"I'm sure there are other instances we can find. Oh, Yanni's 'Within Attraction' would be a really good one. Maryanne can probably do both of the lead parts while Chelly does the rest of the orchestra. At the "Acropolis Live" concert Karen Briggs played the main lead, and Shardad Rohani who was conducting the orchestra as well, did the battling part. It was awesome."
The girl's mouths were all hanging open by this time. He was full of big surprises, but they were excited about learning to do all the different things Bob was talking about.
Then with a big smile he finished with, "I've even given a bit of thought to a name we can call the band," he said looking at each girl.
"Oh brother," said Heather hesitatingly with a chuckle, "After all of those ideas, I'm almost afraid to ask."
"Oh come on now, do you think I'd come up with something outlandish? Oh ye of little faith," he laughed.
Seeing nods from all four of the girls he put a mock hurt look on his face while everyone else started laughing.
"Ok Bobby, lay it on us," winced Michelle with humorous trepidation.
"Let me tell you how I came up with it first," he said to focused faces.
Now that he had their undivided attention, "I was sitting in the mastering booth with Billy, while he was mixing your jam session into a CD quality master."
They all looked at him with surprise. It was just a usual Saturday play session it was no big thing. It wasn't even that well organized. Each weekend one of them was assigned to come up with that weekends playlists. Last weekend it was Maryanne's turn to come up with the playlists, so that's all they had done. It certainly wasn't anything that they would have considered that special.
"Yes ladies, that jam session was good enough that he made a CD quality mix on some of the tracks we played. There are others that he only needs one or two of you to re-play a part so he can mix it in. He said he can live without it, but since we're going to be in the studio, we could do it and send it down. Or just do it and wait for him to make the trek up. He gave me a list, so one of the things we can do while were "home" is a few fill-ins."
To the blank looks he added, "A fill in is a part that 'could be done better' so you just play that part a few times. Then you send it to the producer and he mixes the improved part into the original and voilą, perfect sound. Not to worry, I'll show you how we do it when we get there."
The girls all nodded, but still had strange looks on their faces. Bob would get very used to those looks over the next few years as he continually introduced the girls to new concepts. Things they would have never thought of on their own.
Then looking at each of the girls he said, "Billy thinks that if we put out an album now, we'll get a lot of name recognition and the quality of the live music will be known before the tours instead of vice versa. He's convinced that if we put the cart in front of the horse it will work to our advantage. The horse'll be really pissed off because he's pushin' instead of pullin', but that's the way it goes sometimes. He thinks that with proper promotion, your tours can be like a sharks feeding frenzy. Best of all, he's willing to take on that whole thing, leaving the rest of us to just play music."
All four of the girls were looking at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws. An album? They hadn't even thought that far ahead yet. They were still trying to get used to the idea they now had the best instruments they had ever played. They would soon all be living together so that they could concentrate on their music, they were going to start working in a "real studio" and take on live tours. Now Bob and Bill are talking about doing an album, a CD of "real Music". What would be next?
They'd find out "what's next" during their second show, but that's jumping ahead a little. We wouldn't want to do that now would we?
"He's already got signed releases from most of the artists that we need. The two holdouts are assholes and one is a freaking greedhead. We'll just cut them out of the frenzy. It'll be their loss and I guarantee you they're going to come back on their knees trying to jump on the bandwagon once it's no longer tied to the hitching post." [Did someone mention "The Allman Brothers Band?"]
Bob continued, "The royalty will be one percent of what we make on a CD or a tour to be divided by all of them rather than one percent each. They will get some money even if we don't use their music on a CD or a show. It's giving us license to use it if we want instead of having to go out each time we want to include something and get a specific release. That's a good thing for us. That's a very good thing!"
"I don't know how he pulled that one off, but after hearing the demo Billy mixed, I guess they all realized that you give them the possibility of making a lot of residual dollars, while putting their music into the ears of a whole new generation. Those are things they never considered."
With a smile, "That's a good thing! AND, you may be able to do a few cameos doing shows with them on their 'comeback tours'. Many of the groups don't have all of the original members around anymore for various reasons." Then as an afterthought, "We may even invite some of them to join us on the stage for their music to give it some real originality. We won't be matching vocals because we can't, but if we can get someone that did the vintage music to join us on their tunes, that's just another feather in our caps and theirs. Ha, plus they still get paid because we used it."
"Anyway, while we were sitting there listening to one of the final mixes, Billy looked over at me and said, 'Shit Bob, these girls can play'."
"So that's the name, 'These Girls Can Play'?"
He got blank looks so he said again, "These Girls Can Play. Tee-Gee-Cee-Pee can be the logo and identifier."
"I think it'll have to grow on us," commented Heather. Looking at the others skeptically, "We're going to have to come up with something better if we don't want that one."
They all nodded and laughed. "Actually it doesn't sound that bad," Janell observed. "The logo is catchy, and the name points to us, but it leaves you out Bob."
"Yeah, I did that purposely Jan. This whole effort is to illuminate the talents of you four women. I want to continually push the qualities of you four. I've had my fifteen minutes of fame. I'm just there to fill in on bass, and as I've said before, and now that I think of it, we may do a set with me sitting on my ass doing nothing or playing something else while Maryanne plays the bass. She's going to have to teach me how to play some of those things for the switcharoo medley, so it can just carry over."
Looking around at all of them, "She's that good you guys. If I could find someone to replace her at doing what she does, I'd move out and have her play my parts, remember the Gary Wright number? In many ways, she's even a better bassist than me! In all of my music experience I can't think of anyone that can match what Maryanne can do. No one."
They all looked to her with a smile while she blushed a nice shade of pink, and whispered, "Thank you Bobby. I appreciate that."
"It's the truth sweetheart, but I'm kind of glad I don't know of anyone, because I'm going to enjoy the hell out of playing with all of you. For me, it'll be an honor to be on the same stage as you four. This whole deal is all about you, not me!"
"Now let's get some rest and be ready to take out of here.