Broadside Electric : Their Music : Liner Notes : Amplificata

Amplificata (1994)

Live-in-the-studio album documents the second Broadside Electric lineup at the height of its powers. It was recorded just before Melissa Demian's departure, and her vocals are front and center on an eclectic selection of pieces (ranging from a Swiss carnival march to Italian Baroque opera), anchored by "Tam Lin," "Town of Ballybay," "15 Bricks at the Bottom of the Pond," and the twisted "Acano Mlada Nevesto." Available on Digalog® chrome cassette (CS 1703C). Also re-released on CD in 1997 (CS 1703D).

With Melissa's impending departure from the band in fall 1994, we knew that most of these songs would never be heard again, at least not like this. So we went into the studio with audience, donuts, and juice, and recorded all our songs live in an attempt to preserve the sound and spirit of our concerts. Maybe listening to this CD will remind you, as it does us, of good times spent with good friends.

BROADSIDE ELECTRIC IS:
Melissa Demian:	Lead vocals, Appalachian dulcimer
Tom Rhoads:	Lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, recorder, harmonica, whistle
Jim Speer:	Bass guitar, clarinet, backing vocals
Helene Zisook:	Violin, viola, mandolin, backing vocals

Produced by Broadside Electric and Adam Glickman

Recorded and Mixed 1994 at Chill Factor Studios, Ardmore, PA
Engineered by Adam Glickman

Special guests and Mooing: Lewis Becker, Emily Gavin, Ben Lewis, Brni Mojzes, Alan Rose

Special guests, did not "moo": Mike Ciul, Dan Riles

Cover design by J. Speer
Artwork produced by H. Zisook

Digital Post-Production by Ray Monahan at Digital Domain, Philadelphia, PA

Manufactured by Healey Disk, Ottawa, Ontario

THANKS TO:
Adam Glickman who did the work of 10 men
Rachel Hall for Frejlexs, Han-an-Tow, The Cliffs of Mohir, and other great ideas
Alan Rose for constant equipment loans and years of support and advice
Gail Rundlett for When I Was a Fair Maid and Three Drunken Maidens
Eoghan Ballard for the Irish version of Ar Fa La La Lo
Robert and Marianne Pulver for the tapes from which we took Altfrangg
Brownlow Speer, Frank Herrmann, S.J., and Arthur Madigan, S.J. for Latin translations
Lewis Becker for the juice
The Rhoads and Speer families for their continued support
Paul Grzelak for making it impossible for us not to press CDs of this recording
William the Conqueror for many Norman influences
Tommy Joyner for everything else.

As we re-release this recording on CD, we remember fondly the time we spent with Ray Monahan working on this and two other recordings. We miss him.

The songs are:

1.	When I Was a Fair Maid 6:35 Including: Altfrangg (C. Walliser). Our "Don't ask, don't tell" song. Altfrangg is a Fasnacht Pfyffermarsch from Basel, Switzerland.
2.	Tam Lin 5:20 We took this song from Bronson's The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, then cut away as many of the verses as we dared.
3.	Hal-an-Tow 2:19 (trad. arr. R. Hall, verse 3 arr. T. Rhoads) A Cornish May song.
4.	Robin Hood and the Tanner 5:40 Including: Abandoned Glue Factory (J. Speer). Also from Bronson, also cut. Like most Robin Hood songs, this one tells of Robin's frolics with his friends in the woods.
5.	Three Drunken Maidens 4:44 A traditional song of traditional debauchery, with a tip of the hat to its use as a morris tune.
6.	The Town of Ballybay 6:55 Including: Snug in a Blanket, The Cliffs of Mohir, The Connaughtman's Rambles. A song of loose living that we first heard from the band Boiled in Lead.
7.	15 Bricks at the Bottom of the Pond 5:59 Reels: Old Grey Cat / Oyster Wives' Rant / Miner's Night Out (J. McEuen) / Cold Frosty Morning Set creatively named by audience competition.
8.	Ar Fa La La Lo 3:17 (trad. arr. T. Rhoads) A racy love song in Irish Gaelic.
9.	Rufford Park Poachers 5:54 We found this song on a Martin Carthy record. It chronicles a true event that took place in 1850 in northeastern England.
10.	The New St. George 1:42 (R. Thompson, arr. T. Rhoads) The Albion Band introduced us to this song, one of our favorites.
11.	Rocky Road to Dublin 3:23 A slip jig has nine beats per measure instead of the usual six. We found this one infectious and hard to stop playing.
12.	L'Incoronazione di Poppea 3:37 act II scene xiii (C. Monteverdi, arr. J. Speer) A short excerpt from Claudio Monteverdi's 1642 opera, about 1.68% of it. In this scene, Love succeeds in protecting the sleeping Poppea from Seneca's assassination attempt, then sings.
13.	New York Girls 6:34 Including: Frejlexs, Acano Mlada Nevesto. 2½ years of evolution brought an eastern European twist to this mainstay from our first album. Frejlexs is from Ukraine, Acano from Macedonia.

Unless otherwise, all selections are traditional, arranged by
Melissa Demian, Tom Rhoads, Jim Speer, and Helene Zisook.