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OPB’s Oregon Artbeat, and
several high-quality videos
are online that, according to
Magee, “was a good way to
let people see what we’re
like.” The Pain’s sound was
eerily similar to a compila-
tion called the Atlantic
Rhythm and Blues series, a
multi-CD box set that cele-
brates soul and R&B music.
“That’s the sound we were
going for, if we can hit that
level, then I’m going to be
very happy about it,” Magee
said.
Magee said the instrumen-
tation for the band was some-
thing he had in mind from
the beginning, because he
wanted to recreate the sound
of 60s soul. So having horns
and female backup singers,
and a rhythm section with
organ and piano was essen-
tial.
“The general picture was
planned and then certain
people fell into place later, as
we started performing. And
now we’ve been a solid line-
up for well over a year,”
Magee said.
But this band did not want
to get classified as a typical
bar or wedding band, so
Magee made sure when the
setlist included cover songs,
they are so obscure that they
may sound like original
music.
“Our show is about one
third original. Ural has a his-
tory of writing and record-
ing, for the most part in the
mid 60s to the early 70s, when
he was active in studios
working with other collabo-
rators, with people such as
Mary Wells and Brenda Hol-
loway. The covers are chosen
very specifically to match
the sound and power of what
he can do with his own
songs, but not make it sound
like a typical cover band, so
we don’t play hits,” Magee
said.
Magee said that since he’s
a record collector and self-de-
scribed “deep soul lover,” his
record collection was used to
find material that would suit
Ural’s voice and the band’s
classic sound.
“Essentially, if you’ve
Hood River News, Wednesday, February 11, 2015
never heard us before, you
might not be able to tell the
difference between the songs
that are covers, or originals,
and we’ve designed it that
way,” Magee said.
Ural Thomas’s best known
record among collectors is
called “Pain is the Name of
Your Game.” His work histo-
ry includes playing on the
same circuit as James Brown
and writing songs for artists
like Hank Ballard.
“It’s a song that’s collected
in the soul world, and there’s
people out there who know
and love the song, especially
in Europe, and England. He’s
got a live LP that came out in
the early 70s on the Revue
label, and it was done in
Seattle with a backing band
of teenagers that were really
talented players. He played a
concert and they put it out
on album, and it’s really kind
of bizarre,” Magee said.
“And then he’s got some
stuff with the doo-wop band
the Monterey’s, that he did
even before all of this. He did
a song called the “Push-Em
Up,” and that’s really limited
in number of copies, and I
believe only came out on a
45. Ural wouldn’t be seen as a
prolific artist, but definitely
a collectable soul artist that
fits in that niche of northern
soul or deep soul,” Magee
said.
Magee said that he can
only imagine what kind of
energy Ural had when he
was in his 20s, based on his
high energy contributions to
the band today.
“He moved to the North-
west when he was five, so
he’s a Portlander, for sure.
He’s never really stopped
doing music, he’s just done
things that has been either
collaborations, or he hosts a
jam at his house that he’s
done every Sunday that’s
been going on for 20 years.
He’s stayed active, but for
years he really didn’t have a
name for himself on stage —
you know, he would play in a
Cajun band playing wash-
board and singing, or he’s a
guest artist with some kind
of project. He’s always
stayed engaged in music,”
Magee said.
Magee said the band is
currently making a record
and the process is going “re-
A3
‘Steelhead Revival’
shows at Festival of
the Fly on Thursday
Submitted photo
URAL THOMAS AND THE PAIN play River City Saloon on Friday,
Feb. 13. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Thomas’ first
stint in music, decades back, had earned him opening gigs for Ste-
vie Wonder and James Brown. He released a series of singles in the
1960’s, including “Pain is the Name of Your Game.”
ally well.”
“We’re going to record a
number of Ural’s songs from
his past. We’re not going to
recreate the stuff that was
done well, because it stands
alone and it’s really good, but
we’re not trying to one-up it
or recreate it,” Magee said.
“The new record should be
done in about a year, and it’s
being done completely live,
without a computer, so it’s
essentially we’re making
records the way they used to
be.”
It was interesting to hear
Magee talk about the band’s
first practice with Ural about
one year ago.
“It was amazing. I had
high hopes. So I assembled
the whole band, telling them
look, here’s a chance to be
playing with someone on a
level that we wouldn’t nor-
mally be able to play with, so
let’s learn his material really
great, and knock him out,
that was the point.
So we played a couple of
songs and the whole band
kinda had chills, and then we
all looked at each other and
there wasn’t much more to
do. It really was kind of an
indication that it was going
to be a real special thing,”
Magee said.
“His voice was incredible,
and his musicality was fully
there, he hadn’t lost any-
thing. For him, I think he ex-
perienced a backing sound
that he hadn’t experienced in
a long time, so he immediate-
ly locked in,He has more en-
ergy than any of us. He’s like
a kid. You’ll see.”
Hood River’s 6th annual
“Festival of the Fly” returns
Feb. 12 to Skylight Draft-
house Theater, 107 Oak St..
The film “Steelhead Re-
vival” will be shown, at 6 and
8:30 p.m. This is a fundraiser
for restoration on the Hood
and White Salmon rivers.
Tickets cost $20 and in-
clude 10 $1 raffle tickets.
The raffle prizes are Sage
One rod, Redington fly rod
and reel combo, Sage fly reel,
Sage fly rod, Special package
from Full Sail, fishing trip
with retired guide and steel-
head guru John Garrett, and
assorted fishing gear.
A significant portion of
the money raised by this
event will go to stream
restoration in honor of Glen
Haack on both The Big White
and the Hood River, via
friendofthewhitesalmon.org
sponsors are: Andrew’s
Pizza & the Skylight Theater,
Full Sail Brewing, Gorge Fly
Shop, Food Service of Amer-
ica, Shortt Supply, Kayak
Shack, Gorge Surf Shop,
Lemma Wine Company -
Wearhouse , Skylight Draft-
house Theater
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