a song in the vein of the first album’s “Brass Monkey,” which only made Yauch angrier. “He was like, ‘Fuck “Brass Monkey”! None of that fast-rapping commercial shit!’”
Mike Simpson had already discovered the futility of trying to nudge the Beasties in a more obviously saleable direction. “I was kind of nervous about all the Dust Brothers tracks, that they were so uncommercial, there might not have been a venue for them. On the one hand, that was cool. But on the other hand,” he laughs, “we were poor, so we needed to sell some records and pay our rent.
“So I did some stuff that had Zeppelin samples, and was more upbeat and fun, à la ‘Wild Thing.’ And it actually sounded like money,” jokes Simpson. But the Dust Brothers’ version of
Licensed to Ill
was destined to go unheard. “I brought it up to the G-Spot,” Simpson recalls, “and the guys couldn’t have been more bummed!” 23
The band would come to trust Carr’s judgment; long after he had left Capitol, he remained a confidante and advisor. But at the time, Carr realized, the Beasties still viewed him, in some sense, as the enemy. “Because they always thought if you were asking for a single, you were asking for the art to be lessened in some way.”
At that point, Carr threw up his hands. “I said to Tom Whalley and David Berman, ‘I’ve done my part. I can’t push ’em any more. The artist has to make the art, talent defines the marketplace.’ That’s what we believed there at Capitol.”
The tapes of
Paul’s Boutique
would be flown to New York for mastering. Mario Caldato, who had been instructed to take the band’s recordings home from the studio each night, recalls being “almost handcuffed” to the tapes on the plane ride. Partly, Caldato now believes this was because the Beasties—who also liked having him pose as a security officer, or dress in a suit and carry a cell phone—just enjoyed playing cloak-and-dagger. “It was kind of like a top-secret mission,” he says.
However, Caldato’s duties were more than just a game,thanks to the band’s ongoing legal struggles with Def Jam. While the Beasties had been living at the Mondrian the year before, they had allegedly managed to avoid being given subpoenas by process servers who waited outside their rooms “for two days,” Yauch claimed. “We got security to chuck them out.” As usual, the trio turned the situation into a goof: “We called all our friends in LA and got them to come over with disguises,” recalled Horovitz. “Yauch had a big curly afro wig and I had long robes on, and they were trying to get at us, but couldn’t work out who was who.”
Diamond, though, confirms there was a real fear that Def Jam, which was claiming ownership of the band in court, might try to seize the tapes of
Paul’s Boutique
. “We were mad paranoid about it the whole time,” he admits.
The recordings made it without incident to a marathon three-day mastering session at Masterdisk. Six of the album’s seven main contributors were present; Yauch, according to engineer Andy Van Dette, was sick. Still, the presence of so many people at the session was unusual—and triggered additional fees. “I swear to God, it was probably the most expensive mastering out of a record ever,” says Carr.
It was also difficult to get any work done, Van Dette told Beastiemania.com , because his guests “were more interested in hitting on our then-receptionist—and 22-year-old virgin—Tina.” He would recall the session as “one of the most challenging editing gigs ever,” noting that “I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when Ad-Rock pulled out an audio cassette and said ‘Oh yeah, I wanted to use four barsoff this.… in the middle of the record.” 24 That, in a time before computer editing, meant “a couple hours more work.” Van Dette would, however, have special praise for Caldato. “He knew what issues had to be resolved by whom, and would patiently
Mike Simpson had already discovered the futility of trying to nudge the Beasties in a more obviously saleable direction. “I was kind of nervous about all the Dust Brothers tracks, that they were so uncommercial, there might not have been a venue for them. On the one hand, that was cool. But on the other hand,” he laughs, “we were poor, so we needed to sell some records and pay our rent.
“So I did some stuff that had Zeppelin samples, and was more upbeat and fun, à la ‘Wild Thing.’ And it actually sounded like money,” jokes Simpson. But the Dust Brothers’ version of
Licensed to Ill
was destined to go unheard. “I brought it up to the G-Spot,” Simpson recalls, “and the guys couldn’t have been more bummed!” 23
The band would come to trust Carr’s judgment; long after he had left Capitol, he remained a confidante and advisor. But at the time, Carr realized, the Beasties still viewed him, in some sense, as the enemy. “Because they always thought if you were asking for a single, you were asking for the art to be lessened in some way.”
At that point, Carr threw up his hands. “I said to Tom Whalley and David Berman, ‘I’ve done my part. I can’t push ’em any more. The artist has to make the art, talent defines the marketplace.’ That’s what we believed there at Capitol.”
The tapes of
Paul’s Boutique
would be flown to New York for mastering. Mario Caldato, who had been instructed to take the band’s recordings home from the studio each night, recalls being “almost handcuffed” to the tapes on the plane ride. Partly, Caldato now believes this was because the Beasties—who also liked having him pose as a security officer, or dress in a suit and carry a cell phone—just enjoyed playing cloak-and-dagger. “It was kind of like a top-secret mission,” he says.
However, Caldato’s duties were more than just a game,thanks to the band’s ongoing legal struggles with Def Jam. While the Beasties had been living at the Mondrian the year before, they had allegedly managed to avoid being given subpoenas by process servers who waited outside their rooms “for two days,” Yauch claimed. “We got security to chuck them out.” As usual, the trio turned the situation into a goof: “We called all our friends in LA and got them to come over with disguises,” recalled Horovitz. “Yauch had a big curly afro wig and I had long robes on, and they were trying to get at us, but couldn’t work out who was who.”
Diamond, though, confirms there was a real fear that Def Jam, which was claiming ownership of the band in court, might try to seize the tapes of
Paul’s Boutique
. “We were mad paranoid about it the whole time,” he admits.
The recordings made it without incident to a marathon three-day mastering session at Masterdisk. Six of the album’s seven main contributors were present; Yauch, according to engineer Andy Van Dette, was sick. Still, the presence of so many people at the session was unusual—and triggered additional fees. “I swear to God, it was probably the most expensive mastering out of a record ever,” says Carr.
It was also difficult to get any work done, Van Dette told Beastiemania.com , because his guests “were more interested in hitting on our then-receptionist—and 22-year-old virgin—Tina.” He would recall the session as “one of the most challenging editing gigs ever,” noting that “I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when Ad-Rock pulled out an audio cassette and said ‘Oh yeah, I wanted to use four barsoff this.… in the middle of the record.” 24 That, in a time before computer editing, meant “a couple hours more work.” Van Dette would, however, have special praise for Caldato. “He knew what issues had to be resolved by whom, and would patiently
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