| Author |
Topic: Paul Franklin/John Hughey . . . . |
Joel Johnston
From:
Mead, Washington, USA
|
Posted 31 Mar 2007 10:26 am |
|
I have a question for John & Paul and any of the session players out there. We listen to your work every day and are moved, inspired, mesmerized by the magic you are able to capture in the studio. I know when I hear a great song that couples a great vocalist with a great lyric with great musicians and a great steel part - I am compelled to learn it! (V.G's "Look at Us" comes to mind, and right now I'm obsessed with Phil Vassar's "Rose Bouquet"). The finished product that has your creative signature on it moves the listener and leaves an emotional impact sometimes. The question is: As the guys who bottle that magic in the studio during a certain session that might only last a day, are you emotionally tied to these songs too? Once you've poured your creative soul into what ends up being a recorded masterpiece, do you have the craving to play that song again and again in order to re-create the magic and make that emotion flow from your instrument again? Or do you say, "OK, that sounds good, let's move on to the next tune"?
I know Mr. Hughey toured with Vince and was able to recreate the magic every night. Did that satisfy an itch in any way? And Paul, do you ever hear yourself on the radio and wish you had the opportunity to sit in with Colin Raye or Ricky Skaggs or LeAnne Womack on stage and reconnect with some masterpieces??
Joel Johnston
Spokane, WA |
|
|
 |
Michael Douchette
From:
Gallatin, TN (deceased)
|
|
|
|
Joel Johnston
From:
Mead, Washington, USA
|
Posted 31 Mar 2007 7:34 pm
|
|
Thanks for the insight Mike. I know there are songs that I learned 30 years ago that I still enjoy playing and singing and still have an emotional vestment in when I perform them. I just wondered about the guys who live in the "music mill" and if they carry an emotional attachment to some of the musical hits they've helped create. Maybe for some it is all in a day's work. In my imagination I see them being vested and having a yearning to recreate the magic beyond the studio and maybe put in some stage time with the artist, but maybe it is more academic than that. I hope we hear from Paul and John and others who have made their living in the studio (Lloyd Green would be another, but I don't know if he posts here).
Joel |
|
|
|
Bobbe Seymour
From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 1 Apr 2007 7:46 am Michael Duchette
|
|
Mike hit it on the head, I think all studio players are this way, I sure am, I know Sonny Garrish is.(Nashville's most recorded steel player)
Many songs you record you really DON'T ever want to hear again.
I recorded "American Triology", I loved it that day, and hated it ever since. (I did strings on it with Weldon on the original Micky Newberry cut then over dubbed on the elvis cut with Felton Jarvis)
Playing this song live makes me want to scream and run, but, this is just me. I know some folks may love it and that's OK. Person feelings here.
(Oh, I'm not Paul or John either, but respect them both)
Bobbe |
|
|
|
Roger Miller
From:
Cedar Falls, Ia.
|
Posted 1 Apr 2007 8:16 am
|
|
| Lets not forget why we do what we do. If the song doesn't move you to a direction, where is the location? The song should inspire you to set the tone of the solo. It doesn't always happen but when your with good company and a good song, you can feel magic. John, Paul(and Ringo) are players who with good company make majic. Can you or have you ever felt the majic at the end of a session? I have. |
|
|
|
Bobbe Seymour
From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 1 Apr 2007 10:45 am
|
|
I think we all have felt good magic at times, but I think we all have felt that some sessions have been a horrible waste of time and money.
A bad producer, bad songs, and bad singers can't be saved at times, no matter how much "Magic" the musicians bring to the table. (Turn table that is, remember them?)
We all (musicians) try to create magic in the studio, however in the end, it's check that is the bottom line and this creates it's own magic to a hungry musician with a family with bills. |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 1 Apr 2007 12:34 pm
|
|
| A dead baby song is often an occasion for much mirth and merriment in the studio. (George Burns had it right.) |
|
|
|
Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
|
Posted 2 Apr 2007 2:31 am
|
|
| This book I'm reading has a quote I'll paraphrase... "You get real creative when the gallows is in sight...". |
|
|
|
Joel Johnston
From:
Mead, Washington, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2007 9:39 pm
|
|
Thanks for the varied insights. I'm not sure I understand the "dead baby" aspect and I agree creativity can be heightened by your environment. I think Bobby offered a very sobering and realistic explanation and it kind of bursts the bubble that I had as an "outsider" looking in. I think I was probably romanticizing it too much. Our exposure to your studio session magic is a bit single dimensional - we hear your creativity strictly in the context of that song - we don't know what politics you might have dealt with or the agony you may have experienced (like your contribution to American Trilogy!). I guess everything loses its glitter with time . . . there is probably a period early in practically every steel player's life (I assume) when he has just mastered Steel Guitar Rag and it is played with enthusiasm and a great level of vestment. I bet you have to dig deep into your memory cells to remember that feeling at this stage of your life and career.
Joel |
|
|
|
Bobbe Seymour
From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 7 Apr 2007 6:58 pm Flashes of past grandure
|
|
I'm blessed with a great memory, I still get flashes of that old feeling of loving to play at times, The love of old guitars, but mostly now its the appreciation of old friends and the way they played, along with what they played.
Memories are wonderful, I have always said, "if I didn't have any memories, I'd have nothing to look back on". (Steven Wright, 1999)
Bobbe |
|
|
|
Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
|
Posted 7 Apr 2007 8:15 pm
|
|
As I have progressed as a studio player I certainly have improved on making the artist feel that I was completely connecting with them emotionally on the song. Asking what the song is about usually helps.
I end up connecting with the artist somewhere less than 100% of the time but more than 0%. |
|
|
|
Joel Johnston
From:
Mead, Washington, USA
|
Posted 9 Apr 2007 10:16 pm
|
|
Thanks Bobbe and Dan for those insights. I think I have concluded that being a full time, professional musician has its drawbacks - one of which is trying to make magic out of the mechanics of music. Is it possible that the "honeymoon" lasts longer for those who call music a hobby and when you live it and breathe it full time, it loses some of the luster? (There's a joke in there somewhere about girlfriends -vs- wives, I think).
Dan - are you planning to attend the Spokane Jamboree next month and play a showcase? If so, I look forward to meeting you. I'm usually playing bass or rhythm in the house band. It sounds like we might get lucky and have about 3/4 of Haggard's band come up to sit in as the sidemen.
Joel |
|
|
|
Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
|
Posted 9 Apr 2007 10:49 pm
|
|
This is something that may be impossible to explain. I rarely listen to or think about anything I have played or recorded before. There is always so much more waiting for me to put the work in to get at that is just out of reach.
_________________
Bob |
|
|
|
