Hello LEe,
On Sat 2012-Feb-18 04:09, Lee Lofaso (2:203/2) wrote to Richard Webb:
RW> IN many ways all too true unfortunately, but for somethe
RW> profession is truly a labor of love, but they're not as
RW> prolific as the money machine would like, because they only
RW> present their creations to the world when they're up to the
RW> standards of the writer/creator.
LL> Music is like any other business. Successful musicians know this.
LL> Some musicians are excellent performers. Others not. And music is
LL> so much more than performing.
Indeed, and that's the part we don't bother to teach our
talented young people.
LL> Separate the business of music from the art of music. And then it
LL> is much easier to understand. The art of music is indeed a "labor
LL> of love". Not so much the business of music, which is always about
LL> profit. Big difference.
Right, which is where most of the trouble comes in. I enjoy writing, I enjoy
playing, I am happiest when I'm either
performing by myself, or with people who are excellent
musicians. I'll probably never be the front person, even
performing my own songs however, because I don't do the
schmooze thing real well.
LL> In our society, we place a premium on youth. We expect our
LL> entertainers to be young and full of energy. Even though our
LL> population continues to age. Whitney Houston was 48 years old at
LL> the time of her death. She could no longer hit the high
LL> notes as she could in the days of her youth. Nor did she have the
LL> same energy level. Sure, she could use cosmetics and pretty herself
LL> up to the point of maintaining a youthful look, but she was far from
LL> being the self she was in her late teens and early 20's.
This is true, and the real trouble was the people she
surrounded herself with. Your example of the cruise line
you turned down is a perfect example. ONE has to be very
careful.
RW>> Indeed, bt you can't blame these professions for all
RW>> of this. Those who have a long career soon learn
RW>> perspective. IT's easy to "burn out" because of all
RW>> the pressure one puts on oneself as well as that put
RW>> on one by others. Yet you look at people like MErle
RW>> Haggard, a man who probably wasn't expected to see his
RW>> sixties, let alone his seventies. YEt MErle is still
RW>> making music, still writing and producing his songs.
ak>> Well, any rule, as a rule, has exceptions. ;) But if we
ak>> talk of the rule or the general tendency in this area - we
ak>> see it clear - almost all modern show biz stars have
ak>> severe problems inside themselves, and cannot enjoy life
ak>> as normal people.
RW> Right, but these are often the "show biz" stars, and not
RW> the people who write and create because it's what they do.
RW> Again from the country world, look at Willie Nelson. Has
RW> been writing songs since he was a teenager.
LL> Most performers do not write their own stuff. But some do.
LL> Madonna is an example of a musician who does. Lady Gaga also does
LL> the same, and really is genius with some of her music.
LL> Kenny Rogers writes some, but not all, of the songs he performs in
LL> public, one of his biggest hits - "The Gambler" - having
LL> been written by himself in fifteen minutes.
Indeed, but then one needs to be very careful about their
management, etc. or at least learn more about the business
of the business.
AGain, you cited the example of Elvis. Elvis's management
was as responsible for Elvis's untimely death and burn out
as was anybody. As you say, he was trying to maintain a
lifestyle, but most important in the decisions that were
made re his career was the fattening ot Colonel Tom's
wallet. Colonel TOm and people like him are to be anything
but admired imho.
LL> Elvis Presley had no choice, wanting to maintain Graceland.
LL> Michael Jackson had no choice, wanting to maintain Neverland. Other
LL> musicians also felt they had no choice, wanting to
LL> maintain what possessions they had or the lifestyles they had.
YEs, and with different management they have been able to
maintain what they did have in a happier state of mind.
Maybe Elvis wouldn't have had a Graceland to maintain, but
imho Elvis might have been a much more fulfilled person, and remained the
entertainer he liked to be.
LL> I know a musician who went on to become an accountant, got
LL> sick of the accounting profession, and then for his own sanity went
LL> back to music. Literally saved his own life. :)
Yep, I know people like that too. HE also chose carefully
those he worked with. I don't join bands unless they play
jazz, and play very well. I may help the metalheads or
punks produce their album, but I can leave the project
behind as soon as the tracks are recorded, adn move on.
RW> IN this case, Whitney was a talented singer, but she wasn't
RW> a songwriter, and did nothing else but sing the songs
RW> presented to her which were created by others.
LL> Nothing wrong with that. Lots of musicians have done the same. Most
LL> musicians today perform the works of others. Including the best
LL> professionals, not just amateurs.
Indeed, but there have to be other avenues of fulfillment,
and a person needs to tell the management types "NO I don't
think so." There's a big difference between performing
somebody else's creation because you actually like it and
feel you want to perform it for your audience and being
handed something and told to do it because we need product
out there. When working as a side man I'll play anything
you want me to play, so long as you're paying me, just let's perform it well.
But, when the gig's over and I've gotten
my pay I have other ways of getting enjoyment from life.
That might be sitting down at my piano when the gig's over
and writing a song, or helping out a missionary stationed in the jungle to get
a message to mom. When accompanying the
singer I'm a craftsman, whether I'm playing bass drums or my primary
instrument, keyboards.
RW> She allowed the money machine to control her life, let her perception of
RW> herself be dictated by others, and all those others only gave her positive
RW> reinforcement when she was making them money. IN other words,
RW> and this is going to offend some, Whitney was shallow, as are a lot of
LL> these
RW> glamorous people.
LL> I can't really say she was "shallow", having never met the woman. It
LL> seems to me more likely she was grasping for straws, trying to be
LL> someone she could never be. In this case, the young woman she was
LL> once before. She took her 18-year-old daughter to Los Angeles in
LL> order to show her off to her friends. This was one week before the
LL> Grammy Awards. That was unheard of, as most entertainers of her
LL> caliber would show up only a day or two before the awards show. Her
LL> handlers were with her, but Whitney made her own choices. And yes,
LL> you are right, she was used by what you call "the money machine".
LL> They knew what they wanted, and they knew how to get it.
LL> Unfortunately for them, and for Whitney, their money bag is no
LL> longer available.
Difference in definition i guess. i call such people
shallow. They will let others dictate to them what's valid
and waht isn't, and define them however they choose. IF not shallow, one
thing you can say is that she was needy, needy
of that validation by others. There are folks in this world that haven't
learned to like themselves as people, and often when those folks have that
sort of talent that validation by others is as strong a drug as is cocaine or
heroin. They
need that validation by others.
RW> HEre's another one, JOhn Lennon. Until he was gunned down
RW> on the street in front of his apartment building JOhn was
RW> growing, developing, and coming to grips with it all.
LL> After he left England for what he thought was a better place.
xTrue, and, as you say, he left England because of his
relationship with Yoko. John knew who he was, knew what was important to him.
LL> We have been trained to like certain kinds or styles of music. If we
LL> hear a different kind of music, we call it trash.
LL> Even though it is music par excellence.
INdeed, and I've expanded my horizons more than once in my
life. NO matter how hard I try though i just can't grab
hold of hip hop. IN fact, I've turned down hip hop projects when I was
operating a regular studio, unless somebody else
was producing, because I have no appreciation for the genre. iF somebody else
was producing and all I had to handle was
the engineering then I was fine with it, but i find it
aesthetically unpleasant, I can't make value judgments on
what's good and what's not in that world, so I don't try.
RW> AGain, Whitney was not a writer, was not her own producer. Whitney may
LL> have
RW> been a good singer, but that's >all she was.
LL> So much more talented is Madonna. And Lady Gaga. :)
True, and that's why a better understanding of the business, and a careful
choice of management and other personnel was
so important for her, and is for people like her. Again,
Elvis and Colonel Tom. Colonel Tom made decisions that were in the long run
good for the cash flow, but bad for Elvis.
RW> This is why I give so little attention to most "celebrites" and the like.
RW> These are usually people with no character, and little class.
LL> But what a great voice she had! Much better than yours, I dare say!
I sing mostly blues and folk stuff, my own writing. A great voice isn't
something i was blessed with, my talent is as a
multi instrumentalist . my point is that people with
multiple talents have it easier when resisting those who
would be detrimental to them in the name of making a dollar.
RW> As both a sound person, and as a musician for hire I've worked for a good
RW> number of folks that perceived themselves as 'stars" even if they weren't
RW> really. ONe can usually tell if this is a person with some depth of
RW> character within the first few minutes of encountering them. Those with
RW> character treat their support personnel with dignity
RW> and respect. The others don't.
LL> I've run across some singers who looked upon themselves as
LL> being a real "diva" when they really had no talent at all.
LL> One young lady was so pretentious and so much into herself
LL> that I walked out and let her sing a cappella. That kind
LL> of brought her down to earth, but still left her without
LL> a pianist. :)
Been in that situation myself.
RW> Yes, but there again, from the support side, it's easy to
RW> tell which sort of person I'm dealing with as soon as I
RW> arrive. Those with class and depth of character understand
RW> that we are partners in their presentation to the audience,
RW> yes i need them to perform to get paid, but they need people like me to do
RW> what they do.
LL> If you guess wrong, it can be costly. For example, I was
LL> offered a gig on a cruise line some time ago. But I suspected a
LL> rat, having met with the people in charge of the operation. I turned
LL> the offer down, and glad I did. Two weeks later
LL> headlines in the paper read a drug raid on cruise ship...
Indeed, but if you've got management people making those
decisions for you and you don't have the ability to handle
such things yourself then you can find yourself in some
pretty hairy situations.
Right, and these folks are pushed, often from childhood to
RW> believe that they are something extra special and that
RW> attitude keeps them insulated from the parts of life that
RW> can ultimately make for better art, and keep them from
RW> developing as well rounded people.
LL> Whitney was a child prodigy, singing in the choir of her
LL> local church. As a young woman, she auditioned for an agent, who
LL> signed her at once without delay to a contract. That's
LL> the way it is with show biz. Grab 'em when you can, as fast as you
LL> can, as cheap as you can.
This is exactly my point. And, as with Colonel Tom, every
perceived need of the "star" will be met. IT doesn't take
long until you are letting those around you make all your
decisions for you, and when it comes time for you to
critically think something through you don't have the
ability. IT's similar to lying in bed for weeks and never
getting up. Try using your legs then to walk across the
room!
Regards,
Richard
... Everybody does better when everybody does better.
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* Origin: (1:116/901)
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