Singled Out: Jeff Christie's One in a Million

Music veteran Jeff Christie just released his new album "Here And Now" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the track "One In A Million". Here is the story: After a tough year of personal ups and downs and trying to fulfil some difficult deadlines, I upped and found myself nestled in a beautiful old hotel overlooking the sea in Italy, the first real holiday for some time. I needed to unwind, relax, enjoy some sunshine, good food and wine. After a few days of this, the heat started to become a bit oppressive and one afternoon I wondered around inside of the hotel and discovered a grand piano in the corner of one of the lounge bars. The area was empty of people so I sat down and opened the lid to find it perfectly in tune and started tinkering. Before long, and as usual, whenever I sit at a piano a few random notes or chords will often morph into some semblance of a tune and if I allow myself not to get distracted eventually a song emerges. Sometimes I work laterally and it may be a title that comes to mind first, especially if it hooks into the few notes that I'd already been doodling with. That's exactly how this song was born.

I had been thinking back on my life and the people that I was indebted to for either their love and support, or for showing me what the real meaning of a life well lived meant. What is it that transforms some people into great humanitarians that put others before self. Is it a gene that we're born with or is it a gradual life journey that leads to a conscious decision to always try and do the right thing, without resentment but with generosity of spirit. I was fortunate to know a couple of people like that in my own life experience. Letting my memories run for a while the words One in a Million, One of a Kind leapt out and now my horse was out of the starting blocks.

I sat there for an hour or so and wrote down some words, by which time a few people including some lobster red Brits drifted into the bar and I stopped for obvious reasons. Back in the room I probably finished most of the lyrics with the basic tune firmly fixed in my head. Over the next couple of days whenever that piano area was people free, I'd go over it till I'd basically finished the song.
Back home I put down a basic note-pad demo and when I got round to the actual recording, I worked out the feel with drums and bass and acoustic and with that foundation stone laid it was just a question of building the track up adding piano, Hammond organ and some more keyboard and then layering some guitar riffs to existing bass riffs. Next up were the vocals, I like to first do a pilot vocal so I can see what harmonies and back-up vocals might work then I try and get a decent lead vocal. Once that was in the bag, I tracked up the harmonies and left it alone for a few days without playing it because giving it some space allows listening again with fresh ears. I thought it might be fun to try and get a thunderclap sound onto the track around the same time as I sing thunder and lightning mid-section of the song so I found a fairly decent 'thunder sound' on my keyboard and 'played' it in at the right moment and was surprised to see how good it sounded.

The only thing left was to get some kind of solo on the tail-out of the track and I really felt a sax solo would be ideal so I got hold of Snake Davis who lives in Yorkshire and is a widely respected musician with an impressive cv and had a couple of facetime calls with him where I basically sang the solo I wanted and he played it back to me over the phone until he had it down. He recorded it at his home and sent me the files and then we just slotted it into the rough mix and that was the track completed. It sounded great and then it was just about getting the right mix which I think I've got as every time I listen there's nothing I would change. Of course the thing about mixes is you can go on forever and at some point you've got to call a halt or you end up going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole.

I love working like this and building the track up bit by bit or sound by sound. It's like building a house, first you need a solid foundation which in this case and usually is tight drums and bass plus a piano or guitar to form the rhythm section, then comes next section of walls, floors and roof i.e. the orchestrated instrumental arrangement and vocals, then finally the paint and furnishings i.e. the mix and mastering process. I don't work fast and like to mull over any given song and mix sometimes making changes along the way. For me the song is king and it deserves the best clothes I can dress it in.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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