Still Great But Bernard Purdie & Joe Macho Jr. Are Sorely Missed
by Liberalscum
In April of '68, while touring with his band in support of their debut album (released earlier that year), Orpheus leader Bruce Arnold was instructed by producer Alan Lorber to prepare songs for a follow-up LP. The sessions would take place at Mayfair Studios in New York and the resulting album would hit the stores that summer.
Due to a fast approaching deadline, Lorber is said to have suggested the group re-record The Left Banke’s "Walk Away Renee" and The Zombies’ "She’s Not There". However, Arnold remembers it differently. “I heard ‘Walk Away Renee’ on the radio and I liked the chorus.” Shortly after, he began working out an arrangement for the group. “I pretty much altered every note of the song’s melody and turned it into a group a cappella performance.” Bruce also recalled that “She’s Not There” came about in the studio. “Jack [McKenes] started playing that opening riff on the guitar. I liked it so I worked out an arrangement and we recorded it with Jack and me sharing the lead.” Arnold remarks, “Fans still ask me about my electric guitar solo on that song. I was listening to a lot of jazz at the time – mostly Miles Davis. I think I was also very influenced by ‘Flute Thing’ [The Blues Project]. I wanted to do something like that and I think you can hear it in the solo.”
These two fantastic covers, together with some alleged “leftover” material intended for the first album, served as the foundation for what would become Orpheus Ascending. The songs believed to be recorded for (but not appearing on) the first album were all Arnold-penned tracks. These included "I'll Fly", "So Far Away In Love" and "Just A Little Bit" (the latter two songs were also recorded by the folk group, The Villagers). Arnold mentions being surprised that the first album included only nine tracks, which suggests these three songs may have been recorded during the first album sessions at Bell Sound Studios in late 1967. Some have theorized that Alan Lorber intentionally saved this material for the group’s second album but this has not yet been substantiated.
One glaring issue with this theory, however, involves the album's "new" rhythm section. Unlike on the group’s debut LP, the drums and bass on Ascending are definitely not legendary session players, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and Joe Macho Jr. The sloppy cymbal-heavy drumming style is that of Harry Sandler (a self-professed novice) and the steady-stream-of-notes bass belongs to Eric Gulliksen. So if the aforementioned theory is correct, it seems somewhere along the line, Lorber decided to dump the two session players from the three backing tracks. But why?
From recent information, which has appeared online, we know that although Lorber had no intention of using either member on record, Gulliksen and Sandler had begun bitterly complaining to Arnold and as a result, the two were allowed to record. Thankfully by 1969, Arnold had gained more confidence in his authority as a composer and began to produce his music much the same way his followers, Donald Fagan and Walter Becker would do in the coming years.
Although Bernard Purdie and Joe Macho Jr. had an extremely tight and professional sound on record, the same cannot be said for Harry Sandler and Eric Gulliksen. Orpheus Ascending still featured Lorber's brilliant orchestration coupled with Arnold's unique arrangements, fabulous singing and intricate guitar work, but alas, the album was too often muddled by a weak and rather sloppy rhythm section.
