Da Capo: 7 and 7 Is

[silentseason]

"7 and 7 Is"
From: Da Capo, side one, song four
-Running time: 2:15
Recorded: June 17 and 20, 1966 Sunset Sound
Written by: Arthur Lee
Lead vocal: Arthur Lee
Lead guitar: Johnny Echols
Rhythm guitar: Bryan MacLean
Bass: Kenny Forssi
Drums: Alban 'Snoopy' Pfisterer
-Released as single EK 45605 along with 'No. Fourteen' in the summer of 1966. It was the groups highest charting single ever, reaching # 33. Unfortunately Elektra's limited resources and national image may have helped stunt is chart potential, among other reasons.
-Last song to have Snoopy on the drum kit, and also the last to have Jac Holzman produce for the group.
-It took 40 plus takes to get this song recorded as the sound the group was trying to get didn't seem to register with what Holzman and Bruce Botnick expected.
-Alot of the song's lyrics are childhood references, with Arthur's own unique slant painting the picture.
-Was originally a slow tempo folk song before Kenny and Johnny turned up the volume and speed level to create the "controlled chaos" that everybody knows.
-The title refers to March 7, which was Arthur and one time girlfriend Anita Billings birthdays.
-The bluesy coda after the atomic explosion was part of an old song Johnny had written years earlier. Arthur promised him co-songwriting credit but did not follow through with this promise.
-Quotable: Johnny on how the songs from Da Capo were not performed live before recording the album:

"With the exception of Revelation, none of the songs were played live before we recorded them. Things were evolving so fast, that most of them were not completely written, or finalized until we were in the studio. Rothschild was not too happy with what [seemed] to be a group that was unprepared. The reality was, that's just how we worked, there were always last minute changes, depending on how things sounded, when played back over the monitors. Both he, and Jac were really bothered by the abrupt change in musical direction. They had expected to release an album more like the first one."

-IMHO: If you listen to this song and can't get excited you might want to check for a pulse.
-Fun fact: Due to the enormous number of takes required to get this song properly recorded, Arthur and Snoopy switched off on the drums during various takes. By around the twentieth take Snoopy had gotten the drumming part down and his final recorded drumming for the band was his best. He ended up with blisters on his fingers for his efforts. Wonder if Ringo Starr ever talked to Snoopy before recording 'Helter Skelter'?

-Lyrics:

When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can
In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone
You can throw me if you wanna 'cause I'm a bone and I go
Boo-bip-bip, boo-bip-bip yeah!

If I don't start cryin' it's because that I have got no eyes
My father's in the fireplace and my dog lies hypnotized
Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way
Trapped inside a night but I'm a day and I go
Boo-bip-bip, boo-bip-bip, yeah!

One... Two... Three... Four!

[BallroomDays67]

There are several takes of "7 and 7 Is" on the "The Last Wall of the Castle" CD, with the last one being take 88!

Arthur had initially offered "7 and 7 Is" to The Sons of Adam. After Randy Holden turned it down, the Sons of Adam instead recorded Arthur's "Feathered Fish."