This recording is, by far, my favorite cast recording I've done. I like what I played, how the recording sounds, and I like the songs. The whole Memphis The Musical experience was fantastic.
I remember when David Bryan, the keyboardist for Bon Jovi, said in the control room that he wanted the record to sound like a RECORD and not a cast recording. He came pretty damn close to what he was looking for. Out of all of the cast recordings I've done in my 21 years playing musicals, this one is as close as it gets to not being watered down to typical cast recording levels.
Tick, tick...Boom! My first cast recording. We finished it in 2001 and planned on having a record release party on 9/11/2001. Yeah, 9/11. That never happened. I did like that particular recording because I was brand new to the scene. I just played in the style I was used to on other recordings I had done in the past. It was a good soundtrack, mainly because of the people I worked with. The musicians and the cast were top-notch.
Altar Boyz was fun, but the Roland V-Drums made it not nearly as exciting as it could have been with actual acoustic drums. Nevertheless, it was what it was. The boy band parody was in full effect. It was a great show.
I was determined to play my heart out with the Memphis cast recording. I felt good that day. I fell in love with the Noble And Cooley drums I was blessed to play. Since the orchestra had been together for a while, it was a breeze. On top of that, I knew what David Bryan wanted to hear. I liked how present the music was in relation to the vocals. It's still my favorite recording I've ever done. I'd say that my drumming with my metal band EvilTwins was pretty cool too, but Memphis shows the various styles of music I love to play. Maybe that's why I loved being in the show so much.
Lady Day was a great gig but the cast recording? Ehhh. The recording engineer disappointed all of us who were involved. There are recordings of live jazz records back in the 1950s that sound infinitely better than what we heard. It was such a disappointment because the show was brilliant. The version we did for HBO captured the band's sound and feel on such a higher level. Thank GOD we did that movie.
Ain't Too Proud? I find it more in line with every other cast recording; very vocal-heavy, but the vibe is right. I like how rough and raw some of the vocals are. The cast kicks ass on that recording. I am just not a fan of dialogue breaks. I want to hear songs and not a re-creation of the show in a record. That's just me. I am not a big fan of musicals anyway, so don't listen to me for the top ten all-time greatest cast recordings. I probably couldn't name more than six regardless.
I don't know why anyone listens to cast recordings without seeing the show. It's weird. I know people that do this. As I said, I'm not a fan of musicals, but it's like listening to the audio of a movie without seeing the video. It's odd. I need to know what was happening on stage.
Broadway cast recordings aren't like regular pop albums. The songs tend not to be able to stand on their own, in my opinion. Dialogue breaks, starts and stops for the drama we see on stage, dance breaks…all of the things that slow or stop the momentum of a great song. Even the hottest cast album of the past five years, Hamilton, bugs me. I like the songs when the songs are flowing, but man oh man, can we have a song play all the way through? I guess that's why cast recordings are what they are.
Memphis was something special. I suggest watching the whole thing HERE. Seeing my castmates doing their thing back in 2009 is fun.
Clayton Craddock, the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain't Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University's School of Business and is a 28 year veteran of the fast-paced New York City music scene.
He has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including "Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants, The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.
Follow him on Instagram, Twitter or read more on his website: claytoncraddock.com