Tele and amps

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Headless Horseman

Image result for legend of sleepy hollow disney
https://sanoma.bandcamp.com/track/headless-horseman

Imprinted on my mind from childhood are the cartoon images of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  A headless horseman terror galloping a massive black Clydesdale through the haunted woods in villainous pursuit of the poor sap Ichabod Crane.  At some point, the flaming jack-o-lantern explodes into a wall of flames and a Skeletoresque cackle erupts and echoes out into the darkness.  Ichabod was never seen again.
I didn’t read Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow until this past Halloween and I couldn’t put it down.  The Disney caricatures paved the way for this spooky short story to further capture my imagination.  The song had been written and recorded by this point, so the inspiration was mainly the image of a decapitated night rider and the sound of the hoofs of a raving red-eyed specter horse pounding the cold, dead earth.  The mood and boom-chicka tempo of the song make room for the humor found in the animated interpretation. 
This was a fun song to record.  There are multiple whistling tracks, ominous group ah’s, and we hit a mallet against a metal sheet to get the clap of thunder/rifle fire noise.  The guitar influence of Travis and Dallas Good (Sadies) comes through on the solo and Nick’s trumpet carries the melody of an epic night chase through Sleepy Hollow.

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