Tad Lathrop and Don Giller: Home Demos, 1972-1984

This is a collection of home demos Tad and I had recorded either alone or together from 1972 until 1984. Five are instrumentals, two include vocals.

Most are complete compositions we would record solely to preserve their existence. Also included are some early run-throughs before we were satisfied with the songs' constructions.

The video here is sparse, no visual distractions. Just the music.

1. Jackie, 1978 (Tad only, two guitars)
This was one of the fruits of Tad's mentorship with jazz guitarist extraordinaire Dave Creamer in San Francisco in the late '70s/early '80s. Tad's melodic and chordal strengths are at their peak here.

2. Love Is Easy, November 28, 1972.
An early Tad vocal composition that we recorded in my college dorm at Antioch in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the evening before we performed it and other songs of ours in concert.

3. Margo's Theme, 1983 and 1984
Another work of Tad's. Two versions: I recorded Tad going through an acoustic run-through in my NYC apartment on September 7, 1983, as I would eventually figure out what I should play during the song's bridge.
The second version is our completed arrangement, again recorded at my place a year later on November 16, 1984. I would later add snippets of Tad's playing from subsequent recordings at Tad's place in Brooklyn. We included this on our 2006 CD, "Red Horizon."

4. Sparky's Theme, 1975 and 1984
A piece of mine that I had been working on for nearly a decade. Again, two versions: The first is me playing the main theme but coming up against a roadblock on what should follow. Recorded October 25, 1975, in my San Francisco apartment.
The second version has the song coming to completion with the roadblock lifted, thanks to Tad's exquisite counterpoint. Recorded in my NYC apartment on October 18, 1984.

5. Night Will Find a Way, 1978/79, 2003
Tad recorded this song of his in San Francisco in either 1978 or '79, overdubbing a harmonica over his guitar and vocal. I then added a guitar part in my NYC apartment on April 25, 2003. No sonic enhancements.

6. Tad's Song, May 18, 1974
Tad was about to leave San Francisco for points East, but before he left he recorded this in a warehouse converted into an artists' community called Project One.

7. Watermelon, February 24 and November 28, 1972
A work by Leo Kottke. Two versions: The first was one of the first pieces we had recorded together, here on February 24, 1972, in a different college dorm room of mine. Recently unearthed, I felt it had a warmer, softer tone than the second version from the same evening we had recorded "Love Is Easy" nine months later on November 28.
In that second version, we were more confident, the arrangement slightly different from the earlier one. Except for a botched ending on my part, this was a stronger, tighter performance though not as intimate as the first version.

All music but “Watermelon” Copyright ©️ Stomp-on-Henry Productions and Decent Interval Music.