Neil’s “Cold Eyes On You"

This version of “Cold Eyes On You” is the first song by Neil that we’ve completed in The Shed since September 2023 (and only the second since October 2020). It features most of the current lineup: Louise Nadin (bass), Mick Nadin (backing vocal), Peter Reid (drums), John Drews (electric piano) and Neil Porter (guitar and vocal).  Graham Brown had a note from the doctor ….. or his mum or something apparently.  Pretty much totally live (vocal was replaced due to recording issue), and mixed on Neil’s new Mac Mini setup.

In Neil’s words:

“Of late I’ve realised that the lyrics were inspired by a party in the late 70s at a friend’s place on Scotland Island in Sydney.  Midnight swimming off the house wharf struck me as being a pretty stupid thing to do at the time.”

Here's the link:

Cold Eyes On You

©Neil Porter 2017

If you go swimming on a moonless night

Make out your will just spell my name right

Big fish swimming and it’s great and it’s white

It won’t take much just one little bite

Way down deep but just out of sight

Not really friendly and not that polite

Swimming around with not much to do

He’s got his eyes on you,

Eyes on you

Chorus: 

He’s got his eyes on you

Cold eyes on you

He’s got his eyes on you

Cold eyes on you

Leave me the keys to your fancy car

I’ll take it for a drive but I won’t go far

Or if you’re riding on your motor bike

I’ll take it for a spin, it’ll be alright

Just don’t worry you can stay where you are

I’ll be heading off to the nearest bar

Riding around with not much to do

I got my eyes on you,

Eyes on you

Chorus:

BRIDGE:

You dive down deep while the world’s asleep

It can be it’s own reward

Trick or treat while they’re counting sheep

There’s no time to get on board

SOLO

Chorus: 

We can kill two birds with just one stone

I can drive you to the beach you’ll be all alone

No moonlight in the pitch black sky

Dive right in now don’t be shy

Big fin slicing through the water unseen

I know where you’re going ‘cos I know where you’ve been

Feel a bit guilty to be having this dream

I got my eyes on you,

Eyes on you

Chorus:

JOHN DREWS BACK IN THE PBGB SHED FOR 'LOSE THE ATTITUDE DUDE'

Pete wrote the lyrics for 'Lose The Attitude Dude' many moons ago. For some reason or another it never got to see the light of day. But at a Sesh a few weeks ago we dragged them out and started fiddling.

John Drews who we hadn't seen in The Shed for a year or so, but who has made brilliant contributions to many of our songs (click on The Musos tab above, then click on John's name to check out his style) happened to be in The Shed again on the day and helped set the tone.

Wasn't long before we had an arrangement together and the song started to take shape.

The story line is about those angry buggers who seem to enjoy bothering people. Pepped up on something or other, ice, meth or whatever, they throw tantrums in your rearview mirror, flashing lights, generally carrying on like dangerous pests. Or they'll be hassling people just trying to enjoy a relaxed wave or two. Then there's the filthy rich and powerful who can't stop whingeing about the basic human rights afforded those less well off. Really ??

Anyway, we egalitarian Shedders thought we'd take the piss. Have a moan ourselves.

Good fun.

Take a listen............click HERE. Hope you like it.

Pete wrote the lyrics and played drums

Mick Nadin sang and played harp

John Drews played the keys

Neil Porter played guitar and did all the production work

Louise Nadin played the bass

GUS WASHBOURNE AND ROB SMALLWOOD RETURN TO THE PBGB SHED TO JOIN THE RANKS IN 'THE BATTLE FOR LOVE'

.

It has been quite a while since the PBGB crew last posted a song featuring Rob or Gus, but during the gestation of Battle For Love they both turned up and tuned in.

And it so happened they both played on the version we decided would be the keeper.

The song had been in the making for a while. It all started with a set of lyrics and drum patterns from Pete. Rob contributed up the main riff. We decided to throw some chickens into the mix, and generally pieced it all together..........as we do.

Really fun to play (after all it's only rock and roll and we like it)  the Battle For Love is another soap box lament.............subject matter extremely obvious but ever topical as tyrant after tyrant continue to rain  terror and grief over vast swathes of the planet.

Where the hell is James Bond when we need him??

Anyway, hope you like it - click HERE to listen.

Pete wrote the lyrics, set up the groove, and played drums

Mick Nadin sang it and played the harp

Neil Porter played guitar and did the mixing and production duties

Louise Nadin played bass

Rob Smallwood played guitar

Gus Washbourne played guitar

MICK NADIN AND THE PBGB SHED CREW PLAY EIGHT BALL

Mick has a habit of keeping sets of lyrics in his trick bag. If we run out of songs to do we can usually rely on Mick to pull out a lyric sheet which we just pick a groove for and work away hammering it into shape.  Such was the case with Eight Ball which we sorted out licketty split. Went from a lyric sheet to a completed recording in the one session.

It's a fun song that tells its own story. We liked that Mick turned on an exaggerated Aussie accent when he sang it. That sort of set the tone for us, taking us back to a mid eighties Sydney pub rock vibe.

Anyway, have a listen by clicking HERE

Hope you like it as much as we do!

Mick Nadin wrote the lyrics, sang the song and played Harp

Louise Nadin played Bass

Neil Porter played the Guitar and did all the production work

Graham Brown played Percussion

Pete played Drums

GRAHAM BROWN RECKONS IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON !

A new song fresh  from the PBGB Shed, This time with lyrics by Graham Brown. 

Click here to have a listen: Move On.

Graham tells us that "the lyrics echo a common refrain about how to approach life i.e. ‘Forget the past. Focus on the future’. 

 We  often feel trapped by circumstances beyond our control and don’t know quite how to deal with them.  Sometimes they’re only imagined or self imposed.  The only way out is to move on….put it all behind you because there may be nothing you can do to change the circumstances. 

 So much of what we think, believe and feel is influenced by the media, political spin, ‘alternative facts’ and the views of others that its hard to separate fact from fiction anymore.  We need to recognise how manipulated we are and find a way to cut through the confusing and divisive clutter.  Lets move on and get back to what really matters and what’s clearly visible.  Just follow the sun."

Quite the philosopher that Graham Brown !

It was a fun song to piece together. All started with the lyrics. Add a drum feel, lock the bass and percussion in, sprinkle some guitar lines across it. Bring on the sax and vocals. Garnish with some background vocals and then MOVE ON !

Thanks Graham.............great fun

Photo (left to right)

Neil Porter played the guitar and produced it for us

Mick Nadin sang and played the harp

Louise Nadin played the bass

Pete played the drums

Graham Brown wrote the lyrics and played the sax and percussion

SEEMS MICK NADIN JUST "CAN'T GET ENOUGH"

It's been a long time coming, but we finally have a new song ready to post.

Mick came into The Shed a while back with a set of lyrics that we thought were really good.

About the lyrics, Mick says "Observing human behaviour is a hobby of mine - my observations of people with addiction problems leads one to contemplate just what they are going through. The fuse for Can’t Get Enough was lit purely from thoughts about being in love with an intensity of passion similar to alcoholism. The metaphors in the song abound so that no matter whether you see it as a love song or a spotlight on the thoughts of someone with an addiction, the lyrics are hopefully powerful and a cause for reflection".

Anyway, we started fooling about, putting down some basic grooves that we thought might fit the mood. 

It was pretty clear we wanted to take a laid back approach, as the lyrics are poignant and, well, gentle.

After laying down the basic rhythm tracks, we added Mick's vocals, Graham's sax and Neil's guitar solo.

Voila !

We are really happy with the way this song sounds. It was a lesson in discipline for us, as playing songs at such a slow pace demands far greater accuracy than something played very fast. 

Anyway, we like it, and we hope you like it too.  Have a listen HERE.

Mick Nadin wrote the lyrics, sang, and played the harp.

Louse Nadin played the bass.

Neil Porter played the guitar parts and did all the production work

Graham Brown played he saxophone.

Pete played the drums. 

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT 'CACTUS JACK'?

It's only rock and roll. Well, rock and roll, all mixed up in a crusty cocktail shaker with a  dash of down home Southern US of A bar room blues belted out in a smoky room full of misfits and mayhem. 

Sort of. Actually written and performed in The Shed in Pambula Beach NSW. But we wouldn't want that to put a damper on it.

 

See, some of us just love the sort of music pumped out by beat up bands that have been on the road forever, drifting around the deep South of the US, scratching to make enough to get to the next gig. Boys behaving badly, never really growing up. Drinkin’, popping pills, chasing women around dirty motel rooms. Dreaming of 'making it'. That's what they do. That's all they know how to do. Life is just getting up on stage and then filling in time before getting up on stage again.

 

Anyway..............gritty bar room blues PBGB style.

 

Start with a feel from the bass and drums. Add a grungy guitar riff and a few sassy sax licks. Throw in some harp highlights, and serve with suitably sounding lyrics. Stir that up for a while then turn on the recorder.

 

Voila !  Cactus Jack !

 

Have a LISTEN here.

 

We had great fun cooking this up so hope it is to your taste.

 

Mick Nadin and Graham Brown wrote the lyrics

Mick sang 'em and played the harp

Graham played the sax and percussion

Neil Porter played the guitar and did all the production work

Louise Nadin played the bass

Pete drummed

IT'S COLD OUTSIDE AND NEIL IS 'SHAKIN' ALL OVER

 

100% live take from the PBGB Shed!

Neil has had a spell of writer's block for quite a while but he seems to be back on track again now. Good to hear.

A couple of months ago Neil brought a new song into The Shed. It was his intention that we do our very best to record the song in one hit, absolutely 'live in The Shed' as it were.

Well we played through it a few times over three or four weeks and reckoned we were ready.

So on went the recorder, and within a couple of takes we had it down.

The story is easy to follow.Neil's lyrics can be easily heard and interpreted.

Shakin' is a fun song to play and we really enjoyed putting it all together. We hope you enjoy listening to it!  Here's the link: Shakin' Cos It's Cold Outside.

 From Neil:

"For a while now I’ve been wanting to get PBGB to the point where we could comfortably record songs totally live in the Shed - ie, no overdubs, no replacing tracks and no fixing bits that “weren’t quite right “

I wrote “Shakin’” with that in mind, and haven’t been disappointed.  I was pretty adamant that we needed lots of practice, and that I didn’t want to record it until everyone was able to play/sing their part/s consistently well.  I’m happy to say that I think we did that.

Lou turned in a solid bass performance here (as she has for our next song).  

Mick added a perfect harmonica riff and solo and sang what may be the first PBGB live harmony vocal in living memory.  Pete and Graham got the drums and percussion just right.

Thanks team PBGB - I knew we could do it".

Credits:

Neil Porter - Writer, Guitar, Vocal, Production

Louise Nadin - Bass

Mick Nadin - Harmonica, Backing Vocal

Graham Brown - Percussion

Peter Reid - Drums

PBGB PURLOINS THE SOUNDS OF THE KALAHARI

Pambula Beach is a long way from Southern Africa and the mighty Kalahari desert, but we were making sounds in The Shed one day and decided that they were a bit on the African side. We liked that, so from there on we decided to stick with our interpretation of 'African', and name the song Kalahari (have a listen). 

Perhaps part of the background to this is the fact that Graham has, since his early teens,  been drawn to Latin and Afro Cuban rhythms, particularly the percussive sounds of congas and bongos. You see Graham has African roots and as a kid loved the raw energy of African music including as presented by bands like Santana and Osibisa. All good fodder for a song like Kalahari !!

 

Inspired, Graham  bought his first set of congas when he was 16. Still has 'em !

 

Graham says "The mid 1970’s was a great time for music in Cape Town where I grew up. Weekends were spent jamming  in local hotels and at outdoor concerts, and  we used to hang at a surf break  called Victoria Bay (half way between Cape Town and Jeffrey’s) ...….camping out on local farms with boards, bongos, guitars, harps and a commitment to having total fun. This was the era of Jethro Tull, Bowie, Hendrix, Audience, Yes, Steely Dan, Caravan, Rare Earth etc etc.

 

As you can hear, there is quite a bit going on in this song. There are layers (upon layers, upon layers) so this is far from the songs we often punch out 'live'.

 

We started with three grooves on the drum kit. Added bass lines. Threw in a dash of guitar here and there. Put down some percussion pieces. Spiced things up with some piano lines from our Fender Rhodes. Added some salty sax. A tad more guitar and various other instruments (including karimba, bouzouki, Hammond organ) via midi.  

 

All in all we figure this might well be the most layered song to ever emerge from The PBGB Shed !!

 

It's been a while coming but we're pretty pleased with the result and hope it evokes Africa in the minds of listeners.

 

Neil Porter did all the production work and played guitar and keyboards

Graham Brown played the sax and percussion parts

Louise Nadin played the bass

Neil Burnham played the Fender Rhodes piano

Pete played the drums

JOHN DREWS IS BACK ON PIANO, AND GRAHAM BROWN DEBUTS ON SAX, ON MICK NADIN'S "CUTTIN' LOOSE"

Cuppla weeks back, we had wrapped up Mick and Manny's 'Potential' (see post below) and were close to packing up. Mick said he had a new set of lyrics pretty much ready to go, so we started messing with it based on an acoustic piece of Manny's.  It sounded pretty good right from the get go and we thought we might focus on it the following week. 

What was different was that Graham Brown, until now the PBGB percussionista par excellence and frequent songwriter, was tootin' on his saxophone. Graham has been learning sax for a while now and indeed has taken it on stage a few times with the Bega District Big Band. But he has not, until now, brought his sax into The PBGB Shed. Well he has now, and you can expect to hear more of it on future PBGB ditties.

 

Meanwhile, before the following week rolled around we got a phone call from our old stompin'  brother John Drews. John said  he'd like to drop by The Shed sometime and say hello. Well we hadn't had a visit from John for three years or so, so we said "Sure, absolutely, come on down" .  Sure enough, the following Monday there was John's van at the Shed door and in he came with his new electric piano. Great !

 

We put two and two together, and realising that John would latch on to Cuttin' Loose lickety split we decided to spend the afternoon trying to get it down. And we did just that. Three, maybe four takes, and there it was !  Well, in truth, Graham was away on the day so we added his sax part the week after. 

We were very pleased with ourselves. It was great to see John again and we loved the spice he added to Mick's song. And Graham did a fine job on the baritone sax.

 

See what you think..........click HERE for a listen.

 

The song is pretty self explanatory.........the lyrics tell the story........."Cuttin' Loose from this crazy world, worn out scene, hit the track, ain't comin' back, won't look back". Everybody gets the blues sometimes !!

 

Mick Nadin wrote the lyrics and sang

Manny Aigner wrote the original music

John Drews played the keys

Graham Brown played the sax

Neil Porter played the guitar and produced

Louise Nadin played bass

Pete played the drums