A CPR Trio cover.
After wrapping up our first original, “Mischievous Smile“, back in March of 2022, Peter, Chris and I started discussing our next project. We decided to record a cover rather than another original, and several suggestions were considered. In the end, Peter’s suggestion of “You Don’t Know Me” won out.
“You Don’t Know Me”, written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1955, was a big hit for Ray Charles in 1962, and has been recorded by many artists over the years, from Patti Page to Elvis Presley to Michael Bolton to Ray Stevens. The version that perhaps most influenced our recording is Willie Nelson’s from 2006.
Still, we didn’t want our version to be perceived as a Willie sound-alike attempt, so one evening, the three of us met in my (still mostly furniture-less) living room to listen to as many version as Alexa could offer up, including this uke-forward gem from Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.
March 21, 2022.
Within a few days of that meeting, Peter came up with a beautiful arrangement that we all decided would be our template. We met a few more times in my studio in the weeks that followed to work out the details, such as tempo and instrumentation, and Peter recorded a “guide track” of just acoustic guitar that was to be our starting point.
Sadly, before any drum track was recorded, Chris, our great friend, neighbor, and drummer — the ‘C’ of the CPR Trio — passed away in June following complications from surgery.
It wasn’t until early in 2023 that Peter and I decided to return to this project and complete it.
This is pretty much a Peter showcase. He sings lead, brilliantly. As I noted, he took care of the initial arrangement, then taught me the chords, which I transposed into something I could understand in order to lay down the piano track. I then worked out a fitting bassline and recorded it, and then Peter added the real guitar tracks. The wonderful lead guitar line you hear throughout is entirely Peter’s creation.
In our final sessions, Peter recorded his lead vocal track, and I added a couple of harmonies. The mixing and mastering process followed, as did the obligatory exchange with my friend Brian, whose critique and suggestions I will always solicit before anything I record goes public.
On this recording we have a drum track that I programmed using native GarageBand drum samples, Peter playing rhythm guitar on his Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin (outfitted with twin P90 pickups) and lead guitar on his Ibanez Classical with nylon strings and a Fishman pickup, and me playing my Squier Classic Vibe ’60s Jazz bass and Roland RD-88. All instruments were fed directly into Garage Band. Peter sings lead, and I add a few lines of harmony.
With this final recording featuring only Peter and me, why is this attributed to the CPR Trio? Chris was present for all of our early sessions, and he contributed many suggestions that led us to the arrangement and instrumentation you hear. He was foremost in our minds with every track Peter and I recorded. And if, when you listen to the song, you let it play all the way to the end, the last little “buddah-bom” you hear is in fact Mr. Chris Pardue, a snippet I lifted from an earlier CPR Trio recording.
Of course I heard the lyrics as you noted from other artist. But the guitar and the whole instrumental part of this version is beautiful!! The harmony is beautifully done too. I think Peter did a great job on guitar. I had to listen a second time to get the “snippet “ from your departed friend Chris. Nice way to keep him with the group.