I KNOW THE WAY by William “Bill” Carbone

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I Know The Way by William "Bill" Carbone
I Know The Way by William “Bill” Carbone

Note: The studio’s name was Devonshire Studios, Stix Hooper did not play drums, there was a substitute at the last minute, lost records preclude having the information.

Recorded in 1972 at Devonshire Studios in Hollywood, California, my partners and I: Ron Brown, Bobby W Boyer, and William S Davidson put together an amazing ensemble of Los Angeles’ musical talent. Ron Brown did the lion’s share of the work—from the inside, he was a working, studio Fender-Bassman—sometimes working three, three-hour dates in a single day. Ron Brown also played (Fender bass) for Stevie Wonder’s Northern California gigs. He also is credited on many of Dinah Washington’s recordings. Ron hired first-rate keyboardist, Joe Sample of (Jazz) Crusaders fame, they worked many gigs together. Also from the Crusaders: Wilton Felder, Wayne Henderson, and possibly, Larry Carlton (uncertainty because of lost records.) *Al McKay, from The 103rd Street Watts Band (partly managed by disgraced comedian, Bill Cosby) to Earth, Wind & Fire, to The Al McKay All Stars; one of his songs was on Obama’s public, list of favorites. *FYI Ron Brown, Bobby Boyer and I did some recordings with Al McKay in the 60s. Also, the amazing, first-call, Los Angeles guitarist/musician, Dean Parks, was there playing my acoustic, Martin D-35 guitar. Dean has an unbelievable discography. Among the songs on which he played are: (the main, guitar part on) Michael Jackson’s BEAT IT, and—one of my favorite songs (the talk-box guitar part on) Steely Dan’s HAITIAN DIVORCE. Check out Dean’s discography. We hired the string-section from among the students at UCLA’s School of Music. Altogether there were around two-dozen players: rhythm section, strings, horns, keys etc. etc. etc. Glenn Pace was the principal engineer. FYI The great producer, Bones Howe, was there in an advisory position. We touched greatness once again in 1974 when I had the 2″ 16-track tape copied/transferred at Caribou Ranch Recording Studio in Nederland, Co. Kismit brought us to Caribou the same week that Elton John was recording his Caribou album, one of my kids snacked from EJs buffet-table.

I wanted to Show Off the song with different mixes. Originally the song was a vocal—I still have the vocal version. Here are two instrumental mixes, both on SoundCloud:

FYI The late, Chuck Edward Weiss, aired this song around 1974 when he had a program on Denver’s KFML radio. One of my earliest life dreams was ‘to listen to one of my songs on the radio—while driving down Colfax.’ Thanks Chuck! I was somewhere between Colorado Boulevard and Downtown Denver when I heard my song. What a thrill!

I STRONGLY suggest wearing Ear Phones to capture
all of the nuances of the music!

I Know The Way, Instrumental with Violins and Cellos Opening by William “Bill” Carbone
I Know The Way Spotlighting the 12-String Guitar and Electric Guitar by William “Bill” Carbone
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