ROCKIN' author tapes GM Exhibit voice-over at historic Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA

(above) Yours truly, at Fantasy Studios
(above) Jesse Nichols, Fantasy Studios engineer (and gearhead)

(above) creating the MP3 file for transmission to Detroit

(above) Jesse w. ROCKIN' and his Chevy-in-progress

(above) Jesse w. Nina Bombardier,

longtime Studio Manager at Fantasy, and ROCKIN'

(above) yes, Creedence famously recorded at Fantasy

-

-
And so, after lo these many years of working in the Bay Area rock & roll scene (most of these 30 or so years spent as VP/Sales at Winterland Productions, Sony Signatures, and Signatures Network--the great merchandise firms) I finally walked through the famous Fantasy Studio doors in Berkeley . . . to record.

-

Next week, a major exhibition based on ROCKIN' goes up at the General Motors Heritage Center in Detroit (this is by corporate invitation only; not open to the general public). This is a huge honor for the book, as the exhibit is wholly devoted to images from the book placed in relation to some of GM's classic rock & roll-era cars which they pulled from their vault to flesh out the ROCKIN' theme.

-

I'll share photos with you next week. As you can imagine, I'm tremendously excited, and personally honored as well, by the opportunity.

-

So, Joe Schulte, one of the great Detroit communications guys--who's masterminded the exhibition--asked me to do a voice-over that kicks off the GM's ROCKIN' expedition-through-time. He'll add a music bed now that he has the MP3 file which engineer Jesse Nichols helped me create there at Fantasy.

-

Hey, and I'm proud to say we did it in one take!

-

Studio Manager Nina Bombardier and her staff ooohed over the book, so I'll be dropping some more copies off next week for her, the studio lobby waiting area, and potential clients.

-

Then, she told me that Jesse is a gearhead, which he confirmed by walking me out to his Chevy-in-progress, which should be finished in time for the next Billetproof car event in Antioch, CA (which astute readers of this blog will remember as the site where ROCKIN' was first unveiled by book designer Brent Rector to me and James Hetfield, among others--a historic day indeed).

-

So a great morning in Berkeley! Wonderful friends old and new, a historic studio and building, memories of Creedence, be-bop and classic jazz, and the legacy of Stax-Volt (the original archives for these great labels is housed at the Fantasy vault), and huge anticipation for the GM exhibit about to open.