FOlks counting the Jayhawks, or even the Hawks as sidemen are kinda
missing the albeit very fine point. They're backing bands, more than
they are sidemen, who are folks like Jon W. mentioned, and Glen
Campbell, Leon Russell, Hal Blaine, etc.. folks hired to fill out the
sound of a recording session, not friends of the artist who are part of
a particular scene, like the Jayhawks. They may put their own particular
styles and sound into the recording, and are usually hailed for that by
anal musicians on down the line, who can tell every Burton lick and
Blaine roll <g>. They were hired because they were the whip, the trusted
for hire musicians who can nail the recording and nail it well in a
short amount of time. The Jayhawks probably didn't draw pay from the Joe
Henry session, at least not union scale like a true side musician. Maybe
they were paid in beer, or good vibes, I don't know, but they didn't
walk into the session, hear one pass of the tune and then come up with a
part, I would bet. Not that they could'nt, but I'd wager that a Joe
Henry session with the Jayhawks was a far different scene than Emmons
and Ray Price....
Matt "hit me with your best shot" Benz
