Nathan Jones Strange Sound Effects

[BayouMotownMan]

I love this song, but there is one aggravating part to it that I have never been able to figure out.

After the first chorus there is, throughout the rest of the song, something that sounds like a gunshot the goes off. Is this to by symbolic of something? I did hear that this sound was created on an organ that had a damaged key and when you hit that key it made a gunshot sound.

Can anyone elaborate on this

[Sotosound]

I love this song, but there is one aggravating part to it that I have never been able to figure out.

After the first chorus there is, throughout the rest of the song, something that sounds like a gunshot the goes off. Is this to by symbolic of something? I did hear that this sound was created on an organ that had a damaged key and when you hit that key it made a gunshot sound.

Can anyone elaborate on this

I've always heard this as a traditional Supremes-style handclap.

[DWSheffer]

Same here, always thought it was an echoed handclap!
Darin

[Boogiedown]

Some of Motown's best studio wizardry for sure !! How about that little vocal snippet at 1:50 ?


Always enjoyed the song on the radio without worrying too much about the lyrics ...[which was true for half the songs on the radio] .... just knew it was about something "green and gold"

[gman]

I've read a interview with Russ Terrana where he said they were experimenting with a fader / phaser and used the track to demonstrate the fader to someone in the studio, and liked what they did so much they decided to add the fader /phaser effect to the final mix. To me, like LADDER on RO, the LP mix of NJ sounds over compressed...like they let the air out...the single mixes are far superior....thank God, they used them on the GHARC CD...that is still my "go to" 70's Supremes CD....I just skip ALL the Webb stuff except IGIMTM

I personally never heard any Supremes single past River Deep on WABC....I loved Nathan Jones....thought it should have been a huge hit....fortunately the UK audience appreciated the JT recordings more than American listeners.

[ralpht]

gman....check out the posted video.


https://youtu.be/lCMaUvoecqQ?si=AMXameggKmi1Gw5x

[Boogiedown]

gman....check out the posted video.


https://youtu.be/lCMaUvoecqQ?si=AMXameggKmi1Gw5x

So Nathan Jones was already in its finished form when the fazing was then added to it .

What are the chances that the originally intended version still exists??
Russ' garage maybe??

Be so enlightening to compare .

[ralpht]

Boog,
I am assuming the master before the phasing was scrapped.

[Boogiedown]

Boog,
I am assuming the master before the phasing was scrapped.

anything else tucked away in the garage or attic??

[ralpht]

Afraid not..Completed mixes were sent to the Tape Library to be cataloged. Unused mixes were destroyed.

[BayouMotownMan]

I'm not talking about the phasing after each chorus, Starting after the first chorus there are gunshot sounds that appear at different times throughout the song with no rhythmic approach. As someone said it sounds like a handclap except that handclaps usually go the duration, or most of the duration of a Motown song. There is one ill-placed gunshot on Nathan Jones heard as the musical break in the middle of the song is finishing. I just don't understand the relevance. Did Jean shoot Nathan Jones?

[Sotosound]

I'm not talking about the phasing after each chorus, Starting after the first chorus there are gunshot sounds that appear at different times throughout the song with no rhythmic approach. As someone said it sounds like a handclap except that handclaps usually go the duration, or most of the duration of a Motown song. There is one ill-placed gunshot on Nathan Jones heard as the musical break in the middle of the song is finishing. I just don't understand the relevance. Did Jean shoot Nathan Jones?

No, but perhaps someone gave him the clap.

[BayouMotownMan]

No, but perhaps someone gave him the clap.

Was this supposed to be funny?

[ralpht]

I listened to the song several times and what was thought of as gun shots is probably some clap sounds on down beats being used as accents. Next time I speak with Russ I will ask him if he remembers what the deal is.

[ralpht]

I must correct myself. Upon some serious listening with the headphones on and volume cranked, I figured what you guys were listening to. The so-called gunshots are what is called a clapboard which is nothing more than a couple of pieces of 2x4 with a hinge, so you could clap them together for a good effect. I also noticed some real hand claps earlier in the song along with some random board claps that defied any meter. Probably a riff that Russ and Frank threw in as a result of the ¨greenery¨ they were consuming. What I found interesting after a few listens was how damn good the song is. I haven´t seriously listened to it since Motown. There are times magic happens in the mixing room. Russ and Frank Wilson were one of those teams right out of heaven. What they had between them was very rare and very special. Now I can´t stop listening to the song.

[lucky2012]

I must correct myself. Upon some serious listening with the headphones on and volume cranked, I figured what you guys were listening to. The so-called gunshots are what is called a clapboard which is nothing more than a couple of pieces of 2x4 with a hinge, so you could clap them together for a good effect. I also noticed some real hand claps earlier in the song along with some random board claps that defied any meter. Probably a riff that Russ and Frank threw in as a result of the ¨greenery¨ they were consuming. What I found interesting after a few listens was how damn good the song is. I haven´t seriously listened to it since Motown. There are times magic happens in the mixing room. Russ and Frank Wilson were one of those teams right out of heaven. What they had between them was very rare and very special. Now I can´t stop listening to the song.

It's always been one of my favorite Supremes recording, ranking with the classic DMF/HDH hits. It should have been a much bigger hit.

[BayouMotownMan]

I must correct myself. Upon some serious listening with the headphones on and volume cranked, I figured what you guys were listening to. The so-called gunshots are what is called a clapboard which is nothing more than a couple of pieces of 2x4 with a hinge, so you could clap them together for a good effect. I also noticed some real hand claps earlier in the song along with some random board claps that defied any meter. Probably a riff that Russ and Frank threw in as a result of the ¨greenery¨ they were consuming. What I found interesting after a few listens was how damn good the song is. I haven´t seriously listened to it since Motown. There are times magic happens in the mixing room. Russ and Frank Wilson were one of those teams right out of heaven. What they had between them was very rare and very special. Now I can´t stop listening to the song.

Somebody once told me that Motown had an organ or a piano with a damaged key or something. When a person would hit that key it made that gunshot sound. I just don't know what it was to signify

You mean BG allowed pot smoking in the studio?

[Sotosound]

Somebody once told me that Motown had an organ or a piano with a damaged key or something. When a person would hit that key it made that gunshot sound. I just don't know what it was to signify

You mean BG allowed pot smoking in the studio?

I heard that the guys were both Popeye fans and that they both loved wilted spinach.

[gman]

Thanks Ralph...I believe that was the clip I saw and got my printed memory from!!!!

[ralpht]

Bayou, there was no broken key on either the piano or organ. as far as weed at Motown I am attaching a clip many here have seen which addresses the question.

https://youtu.be/BMt18phyFZs?si=eKdZjt5vZipc8r0e

[bradsupremes]

What's interesting is how well "Nathan Jones" charted in some regional markets. Much higher than the national charts. It's surprising how it stalled #16 on Billboard, but went top 10 in both Record World and Cashbox. In the larger markets like Los Angeles it went to #4 and in Chicago it went to #3. In some mid-size markets it went to #2 in St. Louis, #5 in Portland, and #7 in Denver.

[ralpht]

I would like a record with those klnd of numbers any day of the week.

[ralpht]

I heard from Louvain Demps of the Andantes. They were on the record.

[BayouMotownMan]

The original question I have about Nathan Jones didn't really have to do with technology. It seems producer Frank Wilson was giving out a subtle hint as to what the singer was trying to say about Nathan.

To me, the story in this song is that Nathan Jones became the lover of our heroine. Winter's passed, spring and fall. Each season is three months so perhaps our heroine is about to give birth to his child. You said you had to get away, to ease your mind. Seems to me that means that when she broke the news that she was pregnant, he deserted her.

The gunshot sounds perhaps have a subtle meaning that this is perhaps similar to Vicki's The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia two years later. At the end of that song it reveals that Vicki is the murderer. I'm thinking that this happened to Nathan Jones and the lyrics of the song is where the singer is justifying her actions. I still say the loud claps sound more like gunshots and they have no rhythmic pattern. They just appear in different parts of the song, go away, then come back.

[Sotosound]

The original question I have about Nathan Jones didn't really have to do with technology. It seems producer Frank Wilson was giving out a subtle hint as to what the singer was trying to say about Nathan.

To me, the story in this song is that Nathan Jones became the lover of our heroine. Winter's passed, spring and fall. Each season is three months so perhaps our heroine is about to give birth to his child. You said you had to get away, to ease your mind. Seems to me that means that when she broke the news that she was pregnant, he deserted her.

The gunshot sounds perhaps have a subtle meaning that this is perhaps similar to Vicki's The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia two years later. At the end of that song it reveals that Vicki is the murderer. I'm thinking that this happened to Nathan Jones and the lyrics of the song is where the singer is justifying her actions. I still say the loud claps sound more like gunshots and they have no rhythmic pattern. They just appear in different parts of the song, go away, then come back.

I've never gotten that vibe from the track.

To my lugholes, it always sounded as though our NJ simply made his excuses and b*ggered off for a year.

Summer also passed between spring and fall but I suspect that either an extra season didn't fit the music or our heroine passed through some kind of time portal and missed out on summer because of this.

Whichever is the case, ol' NJ rolled up wanting to get back in with his babe but she was having none of it as he'd just spent a whole year showing how little he cared for her.

[ralpht]

Actually. Frank had nothing to with the writing of the song. It was written by Kathy Wakefield and Leonard Caston. Not sure if either of them were having a problem of some sort.

[ralpht]

The goal of successful production is to have people talking about it. It seems to me, Frank pulled this one off.

[BayouMotownMan]

The goal of successful production is to have people talking about it. It seems to me, Frank pulled this one off.

Indeed he did, Had Nathan Jones been released a year earlier it would likely have done better. Motown was beginning to pull support on the group at this time as they headed west. Diana's career was sputtering and there was no way Gordy was going to let a new group of Supremes overshadow Diana as a solo.