24 March, 2014: Introduction to "Can You Get to That"

Attendance was poor this session with only myself, Kian, Elica, Tamara and Serena (half of the group) being present.

Despite this we started on a new group song, Mavis Staples' 2013 cover of Funkadelic's "Can You Get to That" from their critically-acclaimed 1971 studio album, Maggot Brain, which Rolling Stone ranked  at number 479 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Funkadelic "Can You Get to That" (1971)

 

Mavis Staples "Can You Get to That" (2013)

Progress was refreshingly swift, following on from the new trend set in our previous session where we learnt Bob Marley's "Time Will Tell".

We stuck to the arrangement as performed by Mavis and unlike our other group songs which are primarily split into solo sections, we sing "Can You Get to That" as shown below:

Key
Solo: Me
Solo: Kian
Ensemble

LYRICS
Verse 1

I once had a life, or rather life had me
I was one among the many
Or at least I seemed to be
Well, I read an old quotation in a book just yesterday
Said "You gonna reap just what you sow,
The debts you make you have to pay."

Chorus
Can you get to that?
Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that
Can you get (well I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that

Verse 2
I recollect with a-mixed emotions
All the good times we used to have
But you were making preparations
For the coming separation
And you blew everything we had

Pre-Chorus
When you base your life on credit
And your loving days are done
Checks you signed with a-love and kisses
Later come back signed "insufficient funds"

Chorus
Can you get to that?
Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that
Can you get (well I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that

Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that
Can you get (well I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that

Pre-Chorus
When you base your life on credit
And your loving days are done
Checks you signed with love and kisses
Later come back signed "insufficient funds"

Chorus
Now can you get to that y'all
Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that
Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that

Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that
Can you get (I wanna know)
I wanna know if you can get to that

The first verse is sang in unison whilst the choruses are harmonised, apart from my solo sections. Also, the first (and only) pre-chorus sang as an ensemble is only sang by myself, Serena, Elica and Tamara in a 3 part harmony in which I sing the tenor part. Furthermore, when I sing the pre-chorus as a solo, I sing it as - arranged in the Mavis Staples cover - in the bass range, an octave below how it is pitched earlier in the song.

As Kian was the only instrumentalist present that day, he accompanied on guitar whilst singing and once we settled the arragement we rehearsed it over with the full song playing beneath before recording just ourselves. Though far from perfect - we forgot certain parts; Kian's solo verse and my pre-chorus - which is evident from the recording we made, it was useful as it provided us an opportunity to listen to and critique our performance so that we could improve and develop it further in the session. 

First recording of "Can You Get to That" (Audio)

After a few more run throughs, we made a recording standing up, which was certainly better due to the song being better rehearsed and also the improvement in posture (standing up as oposed to sitting down) which allowed for better breath support and thus more powerful and resonant vocals.

I was very pleased with the progress made in this session and just wish that everyone in the group could have been there to share it.