David:  “Have you considered playing organ on any of these songs?” 

Tony: “Well, I’m not really an organ kinda’ guy”

TRACK CREDITS

All vocals, acoustic guitar, Fender Jazz Bass, acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3 [a real one, no plug-in], ukulele, harmonica, electric sitar, drums, drum loop arrangements: Tony Galioto

All electric guitars: Tony Galioto, except for …

Fender 6 [“Lucky Star”], lap-steel guitar [“Live Like A King”], solo on the outro [“A Car From France”]: David Houston

Mandolin [“The Real Goodman”]: David Houston

All midi synth embellishments: David Houston

Tambourine, auxiliary percussion, percussion loops, additional drum loop arrangements: David Houston

Theremin [“Everyman’s Sport”]: David Houston

Moog [“Everyman’s Sport”] [Under Your Spell”] [“Live Like A King”]: David Houston

Violin: Angela Galioto-Marquez [“Live Like A King”]

So, about that accordion on track six, “The Real Goodman” …

Being that this song is about musical-co-conspirator James ‘Happy’ Goodman meant accordion, mandolin, and electric twelve-string guitar were required for accompaniment. David Houston played the mandolin, while I created the electric twelve-string by recording my wanna' be Telecaster on two separate tracks, same part, just octaves apart. For the accordion, David found a suitable sound, and then proceeded to arrange a suitable part, and so was I suitably satisfied. At the end of the session, David told me he knew some players he could call should I prefer to use a real accordion. Then, and sometime later, it occurred to me, that since the part was a midi performance, all sorts of manipulations were possible.

For instance …  

“David, would it be possible to substitute the midi accordion with my grandfather’s concertina? I mean, couldn’t we substitute the accordion with samples recorded off of the concertina?” 

David proceeded to explain that not only would the process be very time-consuming, but for all the effort, the results could be disappointing. None-the-less, like myself, he too was into the idea of my grandfather’s concertina being on my recording. 

Antonio Vincenzo Galioto’s concertina goes to Moon Studio.

“David, yikes, I’ve been playing this thing all week. It’s crazy, impossible. I don’t know how my grandfather was able to make music with this thing. Also, dig this, I’ve discovered there are no D or G notes. So what’s up with that?”

David proceeded to explain that concertinas are like harmonicas, and like harmonicas, they are set in particular keys. Unfortunately David’s accordion arrangement incorporated a few of those Ds and Gs. Seriously, the song is in Eb major, so like yeah, we’ll be needing a G for certain. Again, I was advised that the process will be very time-consuming, and results could be all together disappointing.

Five hours later …

Remarkably, between David’s skill and patience, and my tenacity, we sampled all the necessary notes, successfully reconstructing the accordion as a concertina. For those delinquent Ds and Gs, we sampled the concertina’s Db and Gb, and transposed those notes up a half-step. The instrument came from the old country [Ancona, Italy], and so it’s not quite tuned to A = 440. It’s a little more Old World, like A = 441, and so with just a tiny pinch of pitch-correction, Viola!

Four Generations

By way of modern recording technology, my grandfather takes his place here on my recording, along with my father [unlisted track 14, “Shadows and Sounds”], and my daughter Angela, who plays violin on track 7 [“Live Like A King”]. 

Maybe 1966, or 1967, recorded at Story Avenue, in the Bronx, Antonio Vincenzo Galioto and Anthony Vincent Galioto

Track 13, More Edge, and that ‘live’ section at the very end. On January 6, 2018, I did a show in Roseville, CA, at Preston Stepper’s Acoustic Den Cafe. I brought my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder along and recorded my set. That led to yet one more near-impossible request of co-producer David Houston.

As heard at the end of More Edge, mixed in with the studio tracks.