by Casey Deal

Episode 202: PJ Morton

“Say So (feat. JoJo)”


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PJ Morton is a singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s the first artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy for the Best R&B album three years in a row. In 2020, he won the Grammy for Best R&B song for his track, “Say So,” which is a duet with the singer JoJo, a platinum-selling artist in her own right. But that version of “Say So” almost didn’t come to exist. In this episode, PJ takes us through his original voice memos, the demos, and the isolated pieces of the final studio recording, as he tells the story of how the track was created, then disappeared, and then got re-created, and ultimately became one of his biggest songs.

You can buy or stream “Say So” here.


Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Moog Model D synthesizer
Quincy Jones
DJ Raymond, bass player

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by Casey Deal

Episode 201: HAIM

“Summer Girl”


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HAIM is a band from Los Angeles, made up of the sisters Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim. They’ve released three albums, and they’ve been nominated for three Grammys. Over the years, they’ve worked extensively with Grammy-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Danielle and Ariel share the emotional story behind the song “Summer Girl,” from HAIM’s third album, Women in Music Pt. III. In this episode, they break down their experience creating the song, along with Este Haim and the song’s co-producer and co-writer Rostam.

You can buy or stream “Summer Girl” here.


Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Cass McCombs – “County Line”
Usher – “Climax”
The Valley
Something to Tell You, second album
Lou Reed – “Walk on the Wild Side”
Henry Solomon, Saxophonist
Bono
Paul Thomas Anderson

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by hrishikesh

Episode 200: Yusuf / Cat Stevens

“Father and Son”


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The legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens released his first album in 1967. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his albums have sold millions. In 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman², a re-imagining of his hit 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. In the song “Father and Son,” he sings a duet between the two title characters, doing both voices. But in the 2020 version, he approached this song in a kind of astonishing way  —  he recorded the part of the father, but for the part of the son, he used a live recording of himself from 1970, taken from a show he played at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. So the two parts are still both sung in his voice, but 50 years apart. In this episode Yusuf / Cat Stevens tells the story of how he created, and then re-created “Father and Son.”

You can buy or stream the 2020 version of “Father and Son” here and the original version of “Father and Son” here.


Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
The West End, neighborhood
Nigel Hawthorne, actor and collaborator
Mona Bone Jakon
Morgan Studios
Chris Blackwell, Former Head of Island Records
Island Records
Paul Samwell Smith, producer
The Yardbirds
Moonshadow, The Musical

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