Swatkins - "Gotta Give It Away (If You're Gonna Keep It)" | Color Red Music by Color Red

While routing through Denver this January, Swatkins and his all-star lineup were invited into Color Red Studios to lay down a track. Swatkins had the freshly half-baked track in his mind and showed the group his late-night demo, which elicited grunts of approval. From there, the band members crafted the rhythm tracks together in a ground-up collaborative effort. Michelangelo Carubba incessantly wore metronomic headphones throughout the day to lock in the pocket on drums. Andre Zapata translated the demo’s Moog bassline flawlessly on the low end. Craig Brodhead displayed effortless chemistry interlocking his phased rhythm guitar with Swatkins’ wah clavinet. Michael Elson added icing on the cake, lacing the track with a shimmering layer of gospel organ. Swatkins and Morea Masa honed goosebump-inducing vocals on the spot as the rhythm section recorded live. After tracking at Color Red, the tune was sent to the horn-led group The Huntertones for Jon Lampley (trumpet), Chris Ott (trombone), and Dan White (saxophones) to lay down some funky swagger while Jans Ingber (formerly of The Motet) peppered it up with percussion and Swatkins locked it down with a Moog solo over the bridge and his signature talkbox stylings on the outro. The end result is a soulful, feel-good magnum opus imparting the belief in the power of generosity to overcome material greed.

Produced by Josh Fairman

Credits:
Steveland Swatkins - Keyboards, Vocals
Michaelangelo Carubba - Drums
Craig Brodhead - Guitar
Michael Elson - Electric Organ
André Zapata - Bass
Moorea Masa - Vocals
Jans Ingber - Percusssion
Jon Lampley - Trumpet
Chris Ott - Trombone
Dan White - Saxophone

Tracking Engineer - Josh Fairman
Color Red Studios

Mixing Engineer - Josh Fairman
Scanhope Sounds

Mastering Engineer - Doug Krebs
Doug Krebs Mastering