Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-03-01 Thread Christopher M Knaus

Hey there,

Neal opens the door...
And to all you non Los Angelenos out there, this has got to at least 
prove that there's what, at least three, four or five cool folks that
hail 
from this his region, right?

Who are the other four?

...and I step through.
Boom boom. One in a row.

Later...
CK

___
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Jeff Lynne (was Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread)

1999-02-27 Thread Bill Silvers


Will Miner wrote:
 
 I know we've been focusing, or trying to, on producers of twang, but I've
 been surprised that no one's mentioned Jeff Lynne, one of the most
 wretched of the wretched.  No matter what the lineup of the band or their
 style, after going through his meat grinder they all sound the same, with
 the limp but loud drums and those horrendous drive-by backing vocals with
 all the life compressed out of them.  Jeez.  And otherwise relatively 
 sane people hire him, just like Spector.

Michael Berick replied:

I must chime in and agree here about Jeff Lynne - particularly with the
godawful synth bath production jobs he did to Dave Edmunds back in the early
80's.

I think we even got Lynne-defender Jerry Curry to sorta kinda agree to the
truth of his mishandling of Dave Edmunds best sound on those two records,
though he maintained those were still big sellers for DE. And Dave was
often twangy- it was great material for him, and he did it well. 
Thing is, Dave's been trying to make a comeback ever since those
Lynne-produced releases.

b.s.

"The truth ain't always what we need, sometimes we need to hear a beautiful
lie." -Bill Lloyd




Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-27 Thread Terry A. Smith

 
 I must chime in here too, pointing out that my pal Michael Berick (MoMZine and
 ND contributor) has foolishly taken my advice and logged on to P2. Welcome MB.
 And to all you non Los Angelenos out there, this has got to at least prove
 that there's what, at least three, four or five cool folks that hail from this
 his region, right?
 
 Neal Weiss
 
Um, yeah, sure, Neal. Uh-huh, right. -- Terry Smith



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Terry A. Smith

 
 Most assuredly every writer does not like every editor he/she is ever
 assigned to work with, but I've never been in a position where I just handed
 my manuscript to an editor and said "Here, change it at will." There's a
 give and take there, much like what El Presidente Gracey described.
 
Looking back on this thread (that was Shane excerpted above, and below),
it's becoming evident that of the many facets of music we can discuss
around here, production is perhaps the most slippery. Since music
appreciation is inately subjective, and, lacking personal testimony from
the participants, it's impossible to really know how a producer and artist
are collaborating, arguing about production is sort of like arguing about
which primary color is prettiest. And I started the damn thread! Anyhow,
in my own arbitrary, subjective head, I do prefer to maintain the myth
that the artist is the one calling the shots on production. As for Chet
Atkins, since most of the artists he worked with wound up receiving
similar arrangements for their tunes, I'd say that's fairly good evidence
that he was calling the shots. That doesn't mean the artists had a problem
with his choices (though I don't know that you can assume perfect harmony
on those choices either).


Yes, young upstart writers don't always get the luxury of choosing their
 editor, but a good editor worthy of the job title doesn't take the writer
 out of the editing process-- indeed, the writer is the key ingredient in the
 editing process.
 
As an editor, and a writer, I'll just say that it pisses me off when a
writer leaves all the work to me, as an editor. The final product is going
to look a lot more like what the writer intended, if he or she thinks it
through, and does internal editing him or herself, before handing it to
me. So, maybe in the same way, I prefer those producers who gently usher
the artist through the process, and expect the artist to call the shots on
fundamental issues, such as, do we use a 40-piece orchestra, or just call
in Del McCoury et al. With the caveat, of course, that sometimes my sense
of how the record  came to be is fabricated in my own head, molded with my
own preconceptions and dispositions. -- Terry Smith

np Bobby Bare/Chet Atkins again. "The Game of Triangles" is a killer song.
I'm wondering how it would go over here in the late 90s. It has one line
that goes something like this, "A woman can't steal a husband who's happy
at home." Yikes.



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Jon Weisberger

Terry says:

 As for Chet
 Atkins, since most of the artists he worked with wound up receiving
 similar arrangements for their tunes, I'd say that's fairly good evidence
 that he was calling the shots. That doesn't mean the artists had a problem
 with his choices (though I don't know that you can assume perfect harmony
 on those choices either).

I'm going to pick at this a little bit more, if y'all can stand it.  The
problem, as I see it, is that this still suggests a model in which the
artist simply comes in to get his orders and has the choice of objecting or
assenting, when the way things work in the studio is typically somewhat more
complicated, if only because it's not a vacuum.  A lot of records, not just
those produced by Atkins, had similar arrangements in the sense I think you
mean, Terry; everyone would arrive at the studio with the same
commercial/artistic context in mind.  Let me recommend again to anyone with
an interest in the subject the current issue of the Journal of Country
Music, which has a lengthy excerpt from a transcript of a 1989 roundtable
discussion among a bunch of studio musicians who were on many of those old
records; the title is "Let's Cut A Hit: talking with A-Team Nashville Studio
Musicians."

Personally, having had experience both as a writer and as a recording
musician, I think the differences between the two situations outweigh the
similarities.

 np Bobby Bare/Chet Atkins again. "The Game of Triangles" is a killer song.
 I'm wondering how it would go over here in the late 90s. It has one line
 that goes something like this, "A woman can't steal a husband who's happy
 at home." Yikes.

Haven't we talked about this before?  I don't mean "The Game Of Triangles"
(BTW, since the liner notes to the RT set don't mention it, let me point
out that the Liz Anderson singing on this cut with Bare and pretty Miss
Norma Jean is the one that wrote "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive" and a bunch of
other stuff that helped make Merle Haggard a star), but the way that
changing social mores have affected the content, or how we perceive it, of
cheating songs.  OK, *I've* talked about it before.

Jon Weisberger  Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/




RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Matt Benz



 -Original Message-
 From: Shane S. Rhyne [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
 I guess I said all that to say this-- it doesn't make sense to me that
 folks
 can single-handedly blame Chet Atkins (or insert name of producer
 here) for
 any perceived faults in the production of Bobby Bare's (or insert name
 of
 artist here) records. Atkins may have acheived a good level of power,
 but I
 find it hard to believe he could force "Countrypolitan" down the
 throat of
 anyone who did not willingly want to collaborate to some degree.
 
[Matt Benz] This is true, but there are terrible producers who
will not only ruin the sound of a song, but actually add lyrics,
bridges, etcessentially re-write your song. So a artist can be
manipulated easily. Surprising that anyone would allow this to happen,
but it does. I've seen it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own
ears. Young bands-offered a chance to record-are easily waylaid and
manipulated.  I wouldn't say this about Atkins. The Countrypolitian
Sound, was like the Motown and Stax sound, created by a group of
musicians and producers working together on many projects, hence the
similarities in sound and style. But it was still organic and complex,
not a rote system applied like whitewash.

There are as many producer/musician relationships as there are
musicians and producers. There's the Ken Nelson school, where he kept
out of the way of creativity for the most part, letting Buck Owens run
the show while he ran the technical end, listened for problems. Then
there's the George Martin type, who starts out in control, but over time
becomes more of a musical partner, learning as much as the artist, then
there's those producers who Rule as Gods, ala Phil Spector. And every
other kind you can think of, from drinking buddy to the guy in the band
who owns the board.

Did you know the Beatles, in 1969, claimed that Phil Spector
ruined their "Let It Be" songs with heaps of strings and choirs? Well,
at least McCartney complained. I don't think the others cared anymore.

Matt, wearing his new Turncoat proudly 



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Will Miner



On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Matt Benz wrote:

   Did you know the Beatles, in 1969, claimed that Phil Spector
 ruined their "Let It Be" songs with heaps of strings and choirs? Well,
 at least McCartney complained. I don't think the others cared anymore.

Well, both Lennon and Harrison shortly subsequently got Spector to 
produce their records (Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, All Things Must Pass) 
so they must either never have listened to Let It Be (which offers as 
good a reason as any to never hire Spector for anything) or they (god 
help us) actually liked it.

I know we've been focusing, or trying to, on producers of twang, but I've
been surprised that no one's mentioned Jeff Lynne, one of the most
wretched of the wretched.  No matter what the lineup of the band or their
style, after going through his meat grinder they all sound the same, with
the limp but loud drums and those horrendous drive-by backing vocals with
all the life compressed out of them.  Jeez.  And otherwise relatively 
sane people hire him, just like Spector.

Somewhere in there is a point that relates to Terry's objections to Chet 
Atkins, but it's escaping me at this point on a Friday morning.

Will Miner
Denver, CO




Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

"Shane S. Rhyne" wrote:

 
 I suppose I always assumed that production was a more collaborative effort
 than what it sounds like.

Sometimes the producer is the de facto artist, like Phil Spector, whose
artists were pretty much nameless and interchangeable (except perhaps
the Righteous Bros) and who really was the star of the show. Some
producers are very hands-off and just interject an opinion when needed
to steer things in the right direction. some of them are overpaid
airheads who sleep through the session (I have personally engineered
sessions with a famous-name producer who slept through the whole damn
thing). There is no definition of what a record producer is or does.
Some of them are people who put the money up for the session and
appropriate the "producer" title just because they can, not having a
clue. There are musician-producers, engineer-producers,
financier-producers, label owner-producers, and increasingly now there
are songwriter-producers who have very definite ideas about how they
want their songs done. 

I swear fifty percent of the job lies in knowing when to say "that's the
one. Stop now", since most musicians are perfectionists and will play
something to death and go 'way past it.
-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Jon Weisberger

 I swear fifty percent of the job lies in knowing when to say "that's the
 one. Stop now"...

And another twenty-five percent lies in knowing when to say "hey, have you
got that tuner nearby?"

Jon Weisberger  Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread William F. Silvers



Terry A. Smith wrote:

 np Bobby Bare/Chet Atkins again. "The Game of Triangles" is a killer song.
 I'm wondering how it would go over here in the late 90s. It has one line
 that goes something like this, "A woman can't steal a husband who's happy
 at home." Yikes.

Interesting question, since there's a nice cover of it on the excellent The
Wandering Eyes collaboration from last year.


b.s.



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

"Terry A. Smith" wrote:
 As for Chet
 Atkins, since most of the artists he worked with wound up receiving
 similar arrangements for their tunes, I'd say that's fairly good evidence
 that he was calling the shots. That doesn't mean the artists had a problem
 with his choices (though I don't know that you can assume perfect harmony
 on those choices either).

There is no question that Chet was making the conscious attempt to
popularize country music by using pop elements the the RCA records he
was making. I was a kid dj in Ft. Worth during this time, and my boss
was the guy who wrote "Fraulein" and was on RCA and Chet and he talked
the radio station into putting in what he called a "countrypolitan"
format, which was in essence a non-twangy country format aimed at urban
audiences. We played all the new Ray Price and all the RCA stuff and all
of the rash of "Hank with Strings" and all that mess. 

However, I must say that in Atkins' defense (as if he needed it- he's a
giant) that in the instances where the addition of pop elements would
have been jarring, he didn't do it (like for Charley Pride and Johhny
Bush.) (I still maintain that those Bare records were not jarring when
we heard them for the first time- they fit perfectly with the era.
Objecting to the Anita Kerr singers just would have seemed silly in the
60s.) He didn't just run from studio to studio cramming strings and
singers onto country records, he used good sense to try to slick up what
could be slicked up and left the rest alone.  



-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Don Yates



On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Joe Gracey wrote:

 I was a kid dj in Ft. Worth during this time, and my boss was the guy
 who wrote "Fraulein"

Your boss was Lawton Williams?!  Not only did he write "Fraulein," but he
also wrote what may very well be my all-time favorite country song, Gene
Watson's "Farewell Party."  He's still writin' some good 'uns too -- he
wrote a coupla fine tunes for Justin Trevino's Texas Honky Tonk
album.--don




Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

Jon Weisberger wrote:
 
 Matt says:
 
There are as many producer/musician relationships as there are
  musicians and producers. There's the Ken Nelson school, where he kept
  out of the way of creativity for the most part, letting Buck Owens run
  the show while he ran the technical end, listened for problems.
 
 Except that Nelson apparently wasn't nearly so hands-off when it came to the
 Louvin Brothers (it was his comments about the mandolin that got Ira into
 such a swivet).  It really is hard to generalize about this stuff.

I saw him produce a record one time. He did the weirdest thing: when it
came time to mix, he got a pair of good headphones, set up a little
table in front of a picture window out in the studio, opened up a good
bottle of red wine, and sat there looking out over the Hill Country,
sipping wine, and listening to the mix progress over the phones. It
finally dawned on me what he was doing- he was removing himself from the
process so that all he could be aware of was the mix itself. Brilliant,
really. (Other guys do the same thing by leaving and just coming in from
time to time to see how it's going.)

-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Jon Weisberger

Joe says:

 It
 finally dawned on me what he was doing- he was removing himself from the
 process so that all he could be aware of was the mix itself. Brilliant,
 really. (Other guys do the same thing by leaving and just coming in from
 time to time to see how it's going.)

Or, to get back to the producer that started the thread, here's a snippet
from the JCM roundtable I mentioned earlier:

Q.  What about the producers?  I'd like for you to talk about what they
contributed.

Buddy Harman:  A lot of 'em were smart enough to let us do what we felt like
would fit the song.A lot of 'em left us alone, and they'd just play a
demo and we would come up with something.

Ray Edenton:  Chet made that statement one time.  He was really interested
in it - one of the better producers, I thought.  Somebody said (Chet was in
there reading a book), "Why don't you tell these guys what to play?"  He
said, "Why the hell should I tell 'em?  There're six guys out there.  They
could all be producers.  Why should I tell 'em that when I got six people
telling me how this record should be made?  If I hear something I don't
really like, I'll tell 'em.  Otherwise, I'll read my book."

Harold Bradley:  Or he'd sit there and practice his guitar.

Jon Weisberger  Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

Jon Weisberger wrote:
 
  I swear fifty percent of the job lies in knowing when to say "that's the
  one. Stop now"...
 
 And another twenty-five percent lies in knowing when to say "hey, have you
 got that tuner nearby?"

you know, I'm speaking with forked tongue because I rely on them, but I
hate tuners. Have a stated this rant before? Before tuners records
sounded really cool, with the slight disonances created by individuals
tuning the best they could and never perfectly.  Imagine how much less
cool Jimmy Reed or Dylan in the 60s would have been, perfectly in tune?
I think it is something we are missing from modern records.

And what with ProTools, you will never hear anything even approaching an
off-key note from a vocalist again. Imagine what they would do to
Sinatra now, tweaking every one of those little slightly-off notes to
perfection? It is a sad thing.


-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Matt Benz

Any way we can see this whole article, Jon? 

 Or, to get back to the producer that started the thread, here's a
 snippet
 from the JCM roundtable I mentioned earlier:
 
 Q.  What about the producers?  I'd like for you to talk about what
 they
 contributed.
 
 Buddy Harman:  A lot of 'em were smart enough to let us do what we
 felt like
 would fit the song.A lot of 'em left us alone, and they'd just
 play a
 demo and we would come up with something.
 
 



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Jon Weisberger

 Any way we can see this whole article, Jon?

Yeah, you can buy the issue (of Journal of Country Music); it's the current
one.  The masthead says you can also get a photocopy of articles through The
Genuine Article, (215) 386-0100, but really, the whole issue is well worth
having, not only for this lengthy roundtable, but for the other big
features, too: one on "Hillbilly Boogie" and a great piece on Fan Fair by
occasional Guest Rocket Richard D. Smith.

If it were some mass media mag, I wouldn't hesitate to scan  post it, but
this is a publication of the Country Music Foundation we're talking about,
and they deserve the $$ - in fact, anyone with more than a passing interest
in country music ought to have a subscription ($18/year) anyhow.  You can
reach 'em at (615) 256-1639.

Jon Weisberger  Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/



RE: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread James Nelson

I'm not Jon, but go get yourself a subscription to the Journal of Country Music.  It's 
in the latest issue.

Jim Nelson

 Matt Benz [EMAIL PROTECTED] 02/26 2:08 PM 
Any way we can see this whole article, Jon? 





Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Terry A. Smith

 
 However, I must say that in Atkins' defense (as if he needed it- he's a
 giant) that in the instances where the addition of pop elements would
 have been jarring, he didn't do it (like for Charley Pride and Johhny
 Bush.) (I still maintain that those Bare records were not jarring when
 we heard them for the first time- they fit perfectly with the era.
 Objecting to the Anita Kerr singers just would have seemed silly in the
 60s.) He didn't just run from studio to studio cramming strings and
 singers onto country records, he used good sense to try to slick up what
 could be slicked up and left the rest alone.  
 
That was Joe. Yeah, notwithstanding my grumping about Chet the Producer, I
have tremendous respect for the man. I still have my "Superpickers" LP, too!
And are those suburban singers really the anita kerr singers? Sheesh. One
more thing, people today hear things differently, have different attitudes
about production, so, I'm curious, was Atkins slick production really the
"normal" way folks expected to hear country tunes produced in the 60s? I
just have to think that it still bothered a lot of folks back then. Of
course, I'm just guessing. -- Terry Smith

ps I just got a press release from a publicist for Atlantic Records' "Old
Dogs" session, a record with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, Shel
Silverstein and Mel Tillis that was originally sold via telemarketing. It
really stresses their outlaw status. Check this out:

"Unlike the glossy 'flatbellies' or more homogenized icons of today, these
country music trailblazers were the discontented and brilliantly
expressive Marlon Brandos and James Deans of country music. If they
couldn't have done it their way, they wouldn't have done it at all
Included in their touring legends is the template for many of the 'bad
boy' bands that came after them..."

PR BS



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

Don Yates wrote:
 
 On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Joe Gracey wrote:
 
  I was a kid dj in Ft. Worth during this time, and my boss was the guy
  who wrote "Fraulein"
 
 Your boss was Lawton Williams?!  Not only did he write "Fraulein," but he
 also wrote what may very well be my all-time favorite country song, Gene
 Watson's "Farewell Party."  He's still writin' some good 'uns too -- he
 wrote a coupla fine tunes for Justin Trevino's Texas Honky Tonk
 album.--don

Yep. Lawton was the Program Director and was taking the Gospel of Chet
to the people of Cowtown. This was in 1967, when FM radio was a
stepchild, unused format that nobody listened to. Putting music on FM
radio was hopeless, since very few people had the receivers for it.
Chet's idea was that if you removed the hard-core honky tonk stuff you
could attract a much wider audience, especially females. 
-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Joe Gracey

"Terry A. Smith" wrote:
 

 And are those suburban singers really the anita kerr singers? Sheesh.

Yep, they and the Jordanaires were all over Nashville records. 

 One
 more thing, people today hear things differently, have different attitudes
 about production, so, I'm curious, was Atkins slick production really the
 "normal" way folks expected to hear country tunes produced in the 60s? I
 just have to think that it still bothered a lot of folks back then. Of
 course, I'm just guessing. -- Terry Smith

Well, there was some grumbling from the purist camps when people like
Ray Price went countrypolitan and Chet started to gussie up the product,
but since most of them were the same 10,000 drunk males who had bought
every other record for the past ten years, nobody much cared. There has
always been the push-pull of "keep it country" vs. "pop it up" in
nashville music. However, nobody thought it was odd to have singers on
country records, they were a staple. Strings was usually the dividing line.

 
 ps I just got a press release from a publicist for Atlantic Records' "Old
 Dogs" session, a record with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, Shel
 Silverstein and Mel Tillis that was originally sold via telemarketing. It
 really stresses their outlaw status. Check this out:
 
 "Unlike the glossy 'flatbellies' or more homogenized icons of today, these
 country music trailblazers were the discontented and brilliantly
 expressive Marlon Brandos and James Deans of country music. If they
 couldn't have done it their way, they wouldn't have done it at all
 Included in their touring legends is the template for many of the 'bad
 boy' bands that came after them..."

Although much of this is patent nonsense (they did it both ways, in
fact), I think it is striking to think about how utterly different and
original each of these men were.


-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Chadborne

Will Miner wrote:

 
 I know we've been focusing, or trying to, on producers of twang, but I've
 been surprised that no one's mentioned Jeff Lynne, one of the most
 wretched of the wretched.  No matter what the lineup of the band or their
 style, after going through his meat grinder they all sound the same, with
 the limp but loud drums and those horrendous drive-by backing vocals with
 all the life compressed out of them.  Jeez.  And otherwise relatively 
 sane people hire him, just like Spector.
  

I must chime in and agree here about Jeff Lynne - particularly with the
godawful synth bath production jobs he did to Dave Edmunds back in the early
80's.

MichaelBerick



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-26 Thread Ndubb

 I must chime in and agree here about Jeff Lynne - particularly with the
 godawful synth bath production jobs he did to Dave Edmunds back in the early
 80's.
 
 MichaelBerick 

I must chime in here too, pointing out that my pal Michael Berick (MoMZine and
ND contributor) has foolishly taken my advice and logged on to P2. Welcome MB.
And to all you non Los Angelenos out there, this has got to at least prove
that there's what, at least three, four or five cool folks that hail from this
his region, right?

Doing everything I can to not work today.

Neal Weiss



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-25 Thread Joe Gracey

"Shane S. Rhyne" wrote:

 
 On a personal note, I don't hold to the theory that is sometimes advanced
 here that artists are "forced" to bend to the will of producers against any
 artists' better judgment. I don't know jack about how to record an album,
 but I've always operated under the assumption that it's a collaborative
 process and that just maybe in the case of experienced artists, the artist
 has a bit of an upper hand in influencing the production of the album.

depends on who holds the power, what type of person the artist is, how
desperate they are to hang onto the deal, etc. However, my experience
with artists is that for the most part they don't get to any degree of
achievement by being milktoasts and are fairly hard to push around, if
not impossible. some artists just don't care about the process and just
want to come in, sing to the track, and leave. Some get into every
minute decision in the studio until they have to be hog-tied and
removed, screaming "take that note out!" as they are carried out the
door. I have had many like this, my sweet mate included, and the problem
with the picky types is they are almost invariably correct. Everybody
made fun of Lucinda for re-cutting her record umpteen times, right? 

-- 
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com



Re: Production-- Ralph Emery's take on this thread

1999-02-25 Thread Shane S. Rhyne

Howdy,

Thanks for the input Matt!, Jon, Joe and Terry.

Your responses to my post (particularly my personal testimony) bring me to
some new questions.

As I mentioned, I don't know jack about how to make a record. I'm just a
listener.

I suppose I always assumed that production was a more collaborative effort
than what it sounds like. In language I can understand, I'll illustrate the
point that I always carried the idea that it was something like the
relationship between writers and editors.

Most assuredly every writer does not like every editor he/she is ever
assigned to work with, but I've never been in a position where I just handed
my manuscript to an editor and said "Here, change it at will." There's a
give and take there, much like what El Presidente Gracey described.

Yes, young upstart writers don't always get the luxury of choosing their
editor, but a good editor worthy of the job title doesn't take the writer
out of the editing process-- indeed, the writer is the key ingredient in the
editing process.

Even a young writer without a single byline to his credit has the ability
(if not the flat-out responsibility) to stand-up for himself and exercise
some semblance of control over the editing process. The editor (and, in my
perhaps naive assumption, the producer) is part-technician, part-advisor,
part-midwife, and part-security blanket. Since each the editor and the
writer has some stake in the success of the project, it is ideally suited
that they work collaboratively, not independently.

Now, I fully understand, this isn't always the case. Editors can be
power-mad jerks sometimes. And writers can be sniveling primadonnas who
won't remove an extra word (or parentheses g) because they don't want to.

I guess I said all that to say this-- it doesn't make sense to me that folks
can single-handedly blame Chet Atkins (or insert name of producer here) for
any perceived faults in the production of Bobby Bare's (or insert name of
artist here) records. Atkins may have acheived a good level of power, but I
find it hard to believe he could force "Countrypolitan" down the throat of
anyone who did not willingly want to collaborate to some degree.

Hey, I'd like to eventually sell a novel, but I won't allow an editor to
change my story about an East Tennessee string band into a slasher thriller
because he thinks it will sell better. Writers and editors of like mind tend
to find each other over time. I just kind of assumed it was the same with
artists and producers (i.e, Bare and Atkins).

Yes, again, I know that the balance of power in the strange world of music
business is not *always* tipped in the favor of the artist, but I just can't
swallow the notion that Chet Atkins was some sort of task master telling his
galley-slave musicians to play "Countrypolitan" or walk the plank.

I am enjoying re-reading this particular thread. I find the relationship
between artist and producer to be increasingly fascinating to me.

Take care,

Shane Rhyne
Knoxville, TN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

NP: John Wesley Harding, Trad. Arr. Jones