Muldaur, Fleming and Lomax - Page 2

Fleming gained engineering experience working at a DC studio that specialized in transferring old acetate discs to tape for the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and other government agencies. There he learned to respect the sanctity of an original source - “You don’t clean it up, you don’t EQ it; maintain the integrity of the original.”

Fleming moved to New York in the late-’80s and joined B.A.L.L. with musician/producer Kramer. Fleming maintained his low budget production schedule as well; producing friends, and friends of friends for a six-pack and a smile.

Teenage Fanclub was his big breakthrough in 1991. He had produced the band’s God Knows it’s True EP in 1990, and then took the young Scots to Liverpool to record for their major label debut. The result is a holy fusion of Big Star pop rock sensibility, Rust Never Sleeps-period Neil Young guitar, and Dream Academy-creamy vocals on chunky, mid-tempo rockers like “The Concept,” “Pet Rock” and “Star Sign”; and on dreamy numbers like “Guiding Star.”

Fleming’s next major projects were with two atypical Seattle bands: Screaming Trees and the Posies. The Trees, led by beefy singer Mark Lanegan and the Connor brothers, Gary Lee and Van, packed the punch of the grunge bands but with much greater finesse and attention to songs. Sweet Oblivion features the insinuating radio hit “Nearly Lost You” with great wah-wah lead guitar from Gary Lee, the emotive acoustic number “Dollar Bill,” and groovy rocker “Butterfly.” Lanegan’s husky vocals and Gary Lee’s guitar shine throughout.

The Posies’ Frosting On the Beater carries pop rock to its heaviest conclusion; with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow’s ringing British Invasion harmonies chased by their own slashing guitars down a path both sweet and pungent on the sensational “Dream All Day,” and the Badfinger-esque “Solar Sister” and “Flavor of the Month.”

The latter two, as well as many other Fleming productions, were at least partially recorded at Fleming’s favorite studio, the “analog heaven” of New York’s Sear Sound. Sear and Fleming neatly coincide: the best of the musical past filtered through a modern mentality, delicately balancing power and grace.

Fleming’s best work as a musician is to be found on Gumball’s Revolution On Ice (co-produced by John Agnello); Fleming’s reedy vocal and guitar power the excellent title track and “Freegrazin.’” A nice organ intro from Malcolm Riviera provides variety on “With a Little Rain.” Fleming’s tunes are memorable and his production, built from the drums up, never gets in the way - an apt summation of his fine career.

More on Fleming's activities over the last few years here, here and here.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

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