MD: Can you tell us how Jim Keltner saved the tune “Refugee”?
SL: We had played “Refugee” like 1000 times, and here’s what I remember. We had probably cut that song 70 times and they all sounded the same to me. After the third take, I was really unsure about it, it was just never the right feel. We were playing one
of the takes back and Jim stopped in probably from another session down the hall. He had a plastic baby rattle, and he was playing with the tune as Jim would often do. Out of the ether, Jim Keltner and a plastic baby rattle pulled the whole tune together. We had been playing the song for a week and Jim makes the whole track come together with a shaker. What do I get THAT GUY for his birthday? When you owe someone everything, what do you say?
