Monkey Gone To Heaven - Recording and Production

Recording and Production

The band's parts were recorded at Downtown Recorders in Boston, Massachusetts. The string section of "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was recorded while Doolittle was being mixed at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut. Gil Norton, the album's producer, was inspired to add a string section to the song after seeing Deal plucking the strings of a grand piano during recording. The production team, led by Norton, asked the studio owner John Montagnese to bring in string players for one evening session. The studio was often used for recording orchestral scores for B-movies such as Missing in Action and Silver Bullet. Montagnese hired four classical musicians from a local orchestra for the recording, with the session taking place on the afternoon of December 4, 1988.

Arthur Fiacco, a cellist, arrived at Carriage House first. He was dressed in formal black and white attire, having traveled from an afternoon concert. Fiacco was surprised to find there were no scores written for the musicians to play; he then wrote a part based on riffs Francis had shown him. The violinists, Corinne Metter and Karen Karlsrud, also followed the directions of Francis and Norton. Another cellist, Ann Rorich, credited on the album and single, was sent home; according to Fiacco he doubled her parts.