Tom Jones the Musical Demo Sessions
A few weeks ago I went into recording studios in NYC and LA to record demo songs for my new musical Tom Jones the Musical. I’ve been writing behind the scenes posts about the songs and the singers. This is the second to last installment.
The Whole World Has Evil
The song “The Whole World Has Evil” is our introduction to the show’s antagonist, the priggish Blifil. I suppose you’d be a prig, too, if your name was Blifil. I wanted the song to sound different from the upbeat songs in the show. I felt it needed to sound gritty. Since the songs are all inspired by the 1960s British Invasion, I zeroed in on something The Animals could have recorded.
My buddy Kevin Chamberlin
Kevin Chamberlin
I’ve known Kevin longer than I haven’t. We met at the McCarter Theatre when we were both in our early 20s. We became fast friends and I love him dearly. (Someday I’ll write about the trip Kevin and I took to Norway, which involved a British touring theatre company, a water bed and an extremely low ceiling).
We were children when we met.
If you don’t know Kevin you haven’t paid attention to Broadway. He’s been nominated for three Tony Awards, three Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award. He’s been in Disaster!; The Addams Family; The Ritz; Chicago; Seussical; Dirty Blonde; Triumph of Love. And if you have a tween girl, you’ve seen Kevin as Bertram Winkle in the Disney sitcom Jessie.
I told Kevin that Kerry Butler had come in to record a song and did it in one take. That was a throw down for him. He was determined to equal One Take Butler, if not get it in half a take. Kevin came in with fantastic ideas and a great take on the song. You see, that’s the thing about working with extremely talented people. They can make you look better than you actually are.
The aforementioned Kerry Butler
We did a take and he could have been nominated for another Tony. It was amazing. But being the perfectionist that he is, he wanted to play around with the song a bit and we did a few more takes.
I’ll let Kevin and Kerry fight about who was the better one take singer. All I know is they were both amazing.
The Song
Here’s The “Whole World has Evil.” Let me know what you think of it.
