Well You Needn't (Good Guys Cover)

Louie Morand - Guitar
Lenny Swanson Bass
Bob Elchert - Drums

This song and particularly, this version, has a bit of a story behind it. Back in 2003, I was invited to do a live audition for one of Berklee College of Music's World Scholarship Tours. I was super excited for the opportunity and was going to make the most of it. The audition consisted of site reading and playing along to a song of your choice.

I came up with this arrangement of Well You Needn't because I had always thought the melody and Monk's quirkiness really fit with a second line, New Orleans kind of groove. I hired musicians to go into a studio and record the piano and bass tracks, so I could play along to them at the audition.

Here's where it gets crazy. I was living on the west coast and the audition was at the Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle. Given the school and the location, I was not at all worried about technical issues. I walk into the auditorium and find a drum set that looked like they had just picked it up from a garage sale. Some of the hardware was broken, causing a rack tom to be completely in my way. I spent he entire 10 minutes that was allotted to looking at the site reading material dealing with this crappy drum set.

Even so, the site reading part went pretty well. The nightmare really started when they played my backing tracks to Well You Needn't. We were in an empty auditorium. The song playing through the speakers they had on stage was as if I were in an echo chamber. I could not hear any definition and everything just sounded like mud. I was really hard to play along to.

I was totally devastated because I had put so much effort into this audition and knew I was not going to be offered a scholarship. Sure enough, I got a letter stating as much. I was inconsolable for a few weeks before deciding I was going to try again and learn form the bad experience.

I applied again and sent in my recorded audition. I was invited again to do the live audition. I hired live musicians this time in case the sound was wonky. That way we could at least react together as a group. Fortunately, the audition was at the Hilton in Seattle this time. It was in a carpeted banquet room with not a lot of empty space. Needless to say, the acoustics were much better than the previous year.

This time, I did a samba arrangement of Blue Bossa. The audition went pretty well. In fact, some of the instructors joined in. I was offered a partial scholarship to Berklee. The funny thing is, is that after all of that effort, I decided to stay on the west coast. I was studying Jazz at Portland State University under accomplished pianist, Daryl Grant. I was also studying drums with the Motown legend, Mel Brown. Additionally, I was in several bands and was having fun playing up and down the west coast.

I ultimately ended up with a B.A. in Latin American Studies and. minor in Jazz Studies from PSU. I then got an M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. My undergraduate studies allowed me to study music in a different way - as a tool for cultural preservation and social justice.

Anyway, this version of Well You Needn't has been covered by several bands I have been in over the years. This version was recorded a couple of years ago in my basement studio by my band, the Good Guys. I really like this version and appreciate what Louie and Lenny were able to add to it.