Just The Same Way She Loves You

“The kid’s got pipes!”

Herbert was ebullient. Rolie wasn’t so sure. “There’s something not blending.” he muttered. Perry didn’t blend with anything. He was blasting away like a trumpet. He was supposed be singing back up vocals, but he was taking over.

“Just the same way you love me!” Trumpet. We need saxaphones.

“What are you talking about? The kid’s gold!” Yeah, and he’s got a good manager.

Perry came out of the session all sweaty and fake shy. “Should I pull it back? Is it too much?”

“No no. No. It’s just, as a response, people are gonna know it’s you.”

Herbert laughed. “They’ll know it’s you before Fleischman does.” Fleischman was the other singer they’d brought in to pop things up. He’d kept his own manager. Rolie liked Fleischman, but here they were cutting tracks behind his back. So was he the singer, or what was the deal with Perry? Herbert put his arm around Perry. “It’s like when Michael McDonald sings with Steely Dan. Only in a higher register. And better.”

“I just want it to blend.”

“So I should pull it back? I can.”

“No. No. Like I said. No, what if, instead of saying ‘just the same way you love me’ you say ‘just the same way she loves you.’ Kind of a call and response.”

“So I’m singing about you, not…not myself.”

“Right! There’s definitely two different voices. It’s like you’re a character, commenting.”

“Right. You’re the lover, and I’m like…his friend.”

“Yeah, I think that’ll give it a bit more of the dynamic. You get to be your own voice. I think it raises your profile in the song a little.”

“Yeah let’s try it.”

Perry went in and sung his part in the third person. Nailed it in three takes. There were drinks and celebration.

During mixdown, Baker, the engineer, noticed the flubbed line. “He says ‘That’s the same way you love me’ that time. Should we set up a session for him to punch it in?”

Rolie sprawled out on the couch. Schon was half passed out in another chair. They’d been mixing for hours.

“Or I could probably splice one in from one of the other takes.”

“Naw. Leave it. It’s…I don’t know. Organic.”

“But he’s not the friend. He’s the lover. He’s screwing your girl, man!”

“Well, let him be the singer. Kid’s got pipes. Let him screw the chick for a line.”

“Okay.”

And that’s how Rolie became the keyboardist. Stuck it out til 1980. It was a gig.

--Dan Kilian
--------------------------------------------- Beatles Guitar Band
--------------------------------------------- The Human Fly