Kracked Earth Releases Pre-Production Instrumental Version of Onwards and Upwards
AOR Prog band Kracked Earth re-visit some of their outtakes, unused and alternate tracks from their music vault and release an instrumental version of “Onwards and Upwards.”
About Onward Upwards Pre-Production Instrumental (feat Doug Scarratt)
Occasionally whilst in the recording studio, a touch of magic happens, and everyone gets transported to another place by what’s being played or sung by the artist during a particular take. Well, this happened while we were recording the album Splash down in Brighton. UK.
Doug Scarratt was laying down his lead guitar for the song “Onward Upwards”, and it was amazing, just one take and that was it. We tried a few others, but none were like this very special effort.
Great we all thought. It’s in the can. We can all relax. Let’s all go home.
But, you see, there was a problem. His part, while brilliant of course, lasted the entire length of the song! There simply wasn’t enough room for the vocal, and just chopping into it just didn’t work.
So, unfortunately, I had to consign what was effectively Doug’s 4 minute solo to the bin.
We then changed the feel completely by getting our good friend Butch Thomas to blow some sax on the track, which worked really well. OK, so what we have here is the pre-production backing track of “Onwards Upwards” complete with the amazing Doug Scarratt in all his glory. Feel free to “Air Guitar” along if you wish, though this is not mandatory. What? Yeah, sorry. Oh yes, it is!
Enjoy.
Andy Kinch July 2017
Musicians on this version:
Doug Scarratt. Lead and Acoustic Guitar
Andy Kinch. Keyboards and Acoustic Guitar
Simon Dennis. Bass Guitar.
Mark Millin. Percussion.
Elyan Fernova. Drums
