Day 2 started about the same. Berry sat down at the console, Russ and I stood. He would ask for this echo or reverb and use terminologies I was not familiar with. When I saw a moment I wouldn't break his concentration, I started to ask questions. What is this? What does that do? Why use this instead of that? Etc. Then I'd leave him alone and just listen and study what was happening to the sound. I waited for him to miss one thing that I believed was important, or would sound better another way. [[Note: I may have totally screwed up the mix that everyone heard, but I LIVED with that 8-Track Master tape for 14 hours. I knew where all the little problem areas were.) However, I wanted him do his mix and not be interrupted. At the same time, it wasn't my place, not yet anyway. I waited patiently to hear 4 little words. Russ was helping him with compression and limiting, etc. Then after the 5th mix, he was smiling confidently and then turned to me at last and said:
BG-"What do you think? [[BINGO! Those 4 little words were music to my ears.)
DR-"There was a snare beat you keep missing just before the second verse."
BG-"Where?” he said in a tone that was a little like "What are you talking about".
DR-"Play it back from the first chorus and I'll show you." When it came to the part, I said "THERE". [[I still refrained from touching the faders since he was at the controls. I just had to be patient.)
BG-"Yea? So . . .? What?"
DR-"I thought you heard it"
BG-"Heard what?" [[This seemed like a little bit of a 'cat and mouse' game, but I didn't want to push him. Finally, he said:
BG-"What are you talking about? Show me!"
That did it.
DR-"Do you mind?"
BG-"Here, sit down". He got up and I sat down.
This would be better anyway, I thought. With him standing, he could just listen and hear the difference. I had Russ play the tape from the first chorus again. I let it play the way once through just the way he had it mixed it. "Now," I said, "check this out!" I asked Russ to rewind the tape and play it again. This time when it came to the part just before the second verse [[Diana is singing, 'different from the rest') I slammed up the fader on the snare for a split second. WAP! Berry said, "That's great, play it again". Now he was watching my hands on the faders. I did it again. "Excellent!" he said, then I started to get up and Berry said, "No, stay here. Russ, get us another chair." From that point on, we were inseparable at the console.
Side by side we mixed for hours at a time. I soaked up every little bit of knowledge I could from Berry like a sponge. I even stayed after Berry left and continued to mix a few. I even spent time talking to Russ.
He would show me the correct use and application for various types of echo and reverb, limiters and compressors, etc. I remember when BG and I were mixing, the rest of 'The Clan' stopped by at different times to check on Berry and 'The Bad Guy'. However, the ice had begun to melt. Everyone could see I was going to make sure it was right this time. You could just tell, this record was going to be great. Then, something strange happened. I had started early on one session, and had made a few changes and found another 'goodie' [[Note: 'Goodies' were the great little parts in the track or production, that were just lying there, waiting to be found and then featured in the final mix so they would stand out). Berry walked in and just listened to what I was doing, instead of sitting down at the console.
He said:
BG-"Did you put that on tape?”
DR-"Yes"
BG-"Well let me hear it back". [[When the playback was done, he smiled.)
BG-Almost, but you forgot one thing". [[He seemed so proud as if to say 'Got Cha!" He made another mix as I watched. Then, we played it back.)
BG-See? You forgot to bring up the strings there?
DR-You're right. Not bad, but . . . you blew it!”
BG-"Bull Sh--! Where?"
DR-Move over a minute. [[I made a mix an showed him another 'goodie'.)
BG-Damn. That's good.
Well, it was like this. The two of us in friendly combat, shooting each other down, picking each other up, right down to the end of the line. There were times we felt we had the final mixes. Berry ordered acetates cut. Then, we went down to QC room and played them back on the turntables. Acetates had white labels with all the info regarding the mix. The title was followed by the mixing engineers initials in parenthesis, then the date, master number, etc. One acetate was placed on each turntable. This process was called 'A-B-ing". We would cue up both turntables, let them go and switch between the output of Turntable "A" and Turntable "B". Then these acetates were given grades just like in a QC meeting. 1 to10, 10 being the best. Most of the final mixes [[acetates) brought to the QC room to check out, consisted of one done by each of us. There were some that were even done by both of us together. Those acetates had both of our initials typed on them as mixing engineers. i.e. [[BG/DR). We intensely competed 'to the death'; or should I say, ' for the life' of the next Diana Ross and The Supremes release.
He knew deep inside, how I felt. I would have given anything to undue the wrong I had done that one black day when I walked into the QC meeting with that first mix of "Love Child". We had such great fun working together. I was working beside one of my idols. I had learned so much; it was time for me to give back. I even taught my 'teacher' a few tricks. We used to laugh and joke when the he was grading our acetates on the turntable. "Well, this one sounds good [[referring to my mix), but this one has this little ‘goodie’. Etc. [[Referring to his mix.) Then he would write the grade in pencil on the label. "I'm going to give this one [[mine) a "8". However, this one [[his) I have to give an "8-1/4". I would shoot back, laughing so hard, "What? Hey, come on man, where did you get that "1/4" crap! Let's go back down, I can beat that one". Back down to the room we'd go, both squeezing a little more 'juice' out of the tape and into the mix.
When it was finally over, we sat in the QC room, our acetates on the turntables. Berry always put his on the left and mine on the right. We both swore this would be the last. Back and forth, back and forth he switched the monitor from Turntable 'A' to Turntable 'B'.
'Mine has got the guitar lick here, but yours has got that string gliss", he said as we both laughed. "I don't care BG, you call it.” I said. I felt confident that both mixes were just as great. "Well, I'm going to give this one a "9" [[referring to my mix the right) and THIS one [[referring to his mix on the left) a "9 3/4". That was it. It was over. "Mark down the mix, and give Billie Jean the number. Then, have a couple more acetates cut for me." Berry started to leave, and then he turned to me, shook my hand and said, "Deke, you were a 'dead man'. Everyone in the group was out for your blood, but you came back! You did one hell of a job". We congratulated each other, said good-bye and then Berry walked out the door. I just stood there for a minute, alone in the room. The memories of that fateful day I came to the QC meeting with that 1st mix of "Love Child" flashing in front of my eyes. I walked over to the desk and picked up both the discs off the turntables, and walked over to the door. I turned and took one more look at the empty room and I began to see ghosts of all the producers talking and laughing in their seats. It was almost like a kid's classroom before the teacher walks in. I had a feeling this room would haunt me the rest of my life. It was starting to already. My chest swelled and let go one last sigh of relief. Then I turned off the lights, and walked out the door.
The End? …. Not quite.
I kept those 2 final acetates for myself to remind me of this special moment in my life. When I finally got ready to leave Detroit to go back to LA, I looked at the discs one more time before I put them in my bag. I laughed to myself as I looked at the grades Berry had written on our final mixes: "9" on my mix and a "9 3/4" on his mix. Then, I saw something that suddenly put me in a sort of trance. I had to look twice. Examining the discs carefully, I discovered that the mixing engineers initials on both discs were the same [[DR). In other words, the 2 final mixes that Berry graded that day, were both in fact, my mixes. Was this some mild form of 'Sweet Revenge'? No, not at all. Let's just call it a miracle. Until now, it is the one secret I have kept to myself all these years. I never even told Berry.
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I hope you enjoyed taking this ride with me down Memory Lane.
Thank you all, so much . . .
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