Motorcycle Madness

Two new releases on compact disc!

Hello everyone,

Just a quick post letting you know that I have decided to release two new installments from the “Motorcycle Madness” recorded saga. “Motorcycle Madness: Rehearsal Demos, November 4th 2022” and “Motorcycle Madness: Studio Day 1, November 28th, 2022”. If you are a fan of the original album(s), then these two new albums are meant for you. They are currently for presale. Release date is March 23, 2026. You can secure your copies now, by going to my website store, and preordering yours today. As with all Maraqopa Records releases, these are limited edition.

https://damienjurado.myshopify.com

Motorcycle Madness: Rehearsal Demos, November 4th 2022 (compact disc)

1. Saint Gregory Hotel (Rehearsal Demo)
2. Bergamot (Rehearsal Demo)
3. Joseph Billy Gwin (Rehearsal Demo)
4. Leopard Man (Rehearsal Demo)
5. Song for Billy Hurst (Rehearsal Demo)
6. I Was A Teenage Kook (Rehearsal Demo)
7. Ralph A. Hughes (Rehearsal Demo)
8. Disliking the Spoons (Rehearsal Demo)
9. Passing the Elephants (Rehearsal Demo)

Motorcycle Madness: Studio Day 1, November 28th, 2022 (compact disc)

1. Saint Gregory Hotel (Take 1)
2. Bergamot (Take 1)
3. Joseph Billy Gwin (Take 1)
4. Leopard Man (Take 1)
5. Song for Billy Hurst (Take 2)
6. I Was A Teenage Kook (Take 2)
7. Ralph A. Hughes (Take 2)
8. Disliking the Spoons (Take 2)
9. Passing the Elephants (Take 1)

I placed an advertisement looking for musicians to play on a new album I was recording called Motorcycle Madness. Everyone involved was meeting each other for the first time.

My instructions were simple: play along and have fun. If questions came up about the songs, I asked them to consult each other instead of me. I tend to like everything, which isn’t always helpful.

We ran through each song a few times, took breaks, and moved on. What none of us knew was that the engineer downstairs was recording everything. I didn’t find out until later in the day, and I chose not to tell anyone.

We met again the following day and played through the songs once or twice more—still being recorded. That night, I took the recordings home and listened. It was immediately clear to me that this was the album. The rehearsals were the record.

On day three, I returned to the studio and told everyone we were finished.
“But we haven’t tracked anything,” someone said.

“We tracked two days of rehearsals,” I replied. “And it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. Congratulations—we made an album.”

I assembled the final record from the best performances across those two days. That’s what became “Motorcycle Madness”.