I’m not really able to fully explain what brought me off the sidelines with this whole idea. I will say that one night I was on the internet, tired and bored of ebay and Sudoku and decided there were better ways to spend my time. I googled The Cotton Patch Gospel to find out who held the license. Up came Dramatic Publishing. http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/
Several days later I got up the nerve to contact them and ask if there was any way I could record the sound track for use in live productions. I was told in clear and certain terms: NO. And they meant NO. When asked how one would go about getting permission, I was told that permission could not be granted.
While sometimes a positive attribute, and sometimes negative, I don’t take “NO” very well. This is especially true when it concerns something I have brainstormed about for a long time. Where to go….? I “googled” for Tom Key (author of the libretto) and easily found his contact information. I sent an e-mail describing my brainstorm and asking how I could get permission to give it a try. In about an hour and a half I got a reply!
Tom Key:
“It was very humbling and rewarding to hear about what Cotton Patch Gospel has meant to you and your creative response to it.”
Not only was he humbled that I would be willing to invest the energy, he provided me with the contact in the Chapin organization he used when dealing with the musical portion of the show. Off went another e-mail.
Wait…., wait…., I know it was just days, but it seemed like a long time. A second e-mail and then a reply! Yes, both requests were received, just unique enough that a quick reply was not possible. This would have to be thought through, run by the legal department, etc. “Be patient, we see what you want to do.” I took condolence in the fact that the initial response was not two letters in the form of “NO”.
It took two months (during which my less than patient side emailed two times to let them know I hadn’t died) before I received an email granting special license to record a musical soundtrack (to be used only in properly licensed presentations) of The Cotton Patch Gospel! That was an exciting and scary day – I’d look like a dork if I couldn’t pull this off!
In October I met with the Directors of the 5 Food Pantries in our county to see if they were receptive to the idea of a fundraising, one-man version of the show to be performed during the Lenten season of 2011. All were excited about the possibility but knew ultimately the decision would need to be made with their boards in conjunction with finding venues, volunteers, etc. I set my sites on working with the music right after the New Year.
January was the start of the whirlwind – two months of basement recording, learning enough 5-string banjo to get by (the 6-string just didn’t sound right), trying out some other instruments to supplement the mandolin covering the fiddle parts (getting the harmonica, penny whistle, saxophone, & clarinet in the mix), and trying to keep track of what had been done on what songs… and where it was on the hard drive.
I realized it was time to start singing the vocals and I knew I needed a better acoustical environment for that. The lower level of our church has a tile ceiling and curtains that can be pulled to make a 20 x 30, relatively sound absorbing, space where I could open up the voice without too much echo. I set up there for several recording sessions.
I never knew how hard it would be to sing harmony with yourself, listening through headphones. None of the voices really sound like you, and by the time you are adding the third or fourth voice, it’s hard to tell which note you are singing. My apologies Harry! Time was running short, and about 65% of the backup vocals were done in one “marathon”, 9-hour recording session. The “Hot Gospel Quartet” shows the shape of my voice near the end of that day. I did, however, finish that night with the high B at the end of the opening song. That’s the highest note I sang on the recording. Harry wrote in an optional high D but I would have had to do that earlier in the day!
With the recording behind me, and about 3 weeks to opening, I figured I had better get to the video portion of the show. I had purchased a digital SLR camera which also shot high definition video. The decision to go with the SLR came after talking with our son Aaron’s college roommate, a fairly accomplished music video producer. Learning how to get it set, running, and getting back into the frame took a little practice. The first takes were dismal. I decided to put a full length mirror behind the camera as a reminder that I was “being watched”. I think that helped!
The size of the files for high-definition video is really staggering. I soon realized that I could quickly fill a 4 GB card with just a few takes, and then I had to wait while they loaded on the computer. I ended up with 2 – 4GB and 1 – 8 GB card to keep the process going. I tried to keep notes through this time (what character was dressed in what, who had what hat on, was anyone singing lead for the second verse???? etc.) but some things fell through the cracks. I could have used a secretary…. what am I saying – I could have used a producer and camera man! Since I had yet to learn how to run a video editing program I decided getting too compulsive about the video takes might be wasted time. As a result almost all the video footage is first and only take.
Learning a new computer program, in a whole new area/discipline, on a project of this magnitude, with a deadline looming….. let me just say prayers were answered. I’ll leave it at that, since I’m not sure I could tell you how I did it, or if I could do it again without re-learning most of it. Several times I said “Lord, if you want this show to have video…its up to you!” and crawled to bed. In the end I had a blu-ray disc burner overnighted from California to my hotel room in Chicago where I was at a conference. I was able to get a completed disk with sound track on Thursday 3/24/11 – three days before my dress rehearsal, and a week before I opened. Just in time to finish learning the libretto.
The show opened, on schedule, March 31st, 2011 to an audience of about 70 people in my small rural church – Willow Springs Mennonite. They had agreed to be the sponsoring organization on the license for the show about 5 months earlier.
Working with this show has opened up opportunities to meet Tom Key and Harry Chapin’s brother Tom and daughter Jen. Tom and Jen are intricately involved with WHYHunger and I was humbled by this introduction to their staff after making CPG Food Project’s first donation:
An email from Jen Chapin to the WHYHunger office:
“Through 8 performances around the Midwest of his innovative one-man production of “Cotton Patch Gospel” for which my dad wrote the music, Phil has raised over $9000 for hunger-relief efforts. We shared a delightful show at Goshen College in Indiana , during which he presented me with checks for almost $3000 for WhyHunger. Aside from putting on a powerful, earthy show, Phil knows how to rally a crowd and inspire them to give generously!”
With those whirlwind months behind me, I’m just glad the band stays behind me throught the show as well! I do watch a few numbers from the front row and the band is still making the same mistakes as they did on opening night. At least I make different mistakes each show!
Hey, thanks for taking the time to read through all this. I hope you enjoy the show and that it challenges you to use your time and talents to make a difference in this world we’ve been given the opportunity to pass through.