smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | ronald and karen sanchez <eldeluxe@mcn.net> |
| Subject | Down on Owsley |
| Date | Tue, 18 Feb 2003 11:53:58 -0800 |
[Part 1 text/plain us-ascii (4.2 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
I want to pipe up on the subject of Will Owsley for a couple of reasons.
First off I have to say I'm not sure I have total sympathy with anyone who
signed to a major in the 90's. It is dealing with the devil. After the horror
stories I'd heard from my friends the Posies and Flop to name a few, I'd think
anyone would have to think long and hard about "wanting to be famous-popular-a
big seller".
Second, a while back on another list, I used Owsley's record as an example of a
drum sound I don't like at all. A friend lent me his copy of the album, cause
there was a song he liked. I found this surprising because this guy is sort of
a bar band boogie guitarist. I gave the cd a couple of spins but it didn't
really stick to the wall. My thought was that this was a record that was sort
of worked to death in an effort to make it sound like a big label record. I had
the feeling that if this had been recorded under more relaxed circumstances, it
would have be a lot better.
This also connects to the discussion about "mistakes on hit records". I'm of
the opinion that records don't have to be perfect in every way. A great song
will always show through. In this modern world, the polishing they do on big
money records is sort of appalling. On the other side of the coin, there are
folks sitting in their home studios, spending ages fretting over this tiny
element or that note. ( I just finished up a local band's album this weekend:
cut half the vocals, redid the other half and mixed it all in two days.)
I recorded a guy named Richard Booth. He was in the Plummet Airlines who cut a
single for Stiff back in the 70's. Six months earlier, in the fall of '99, I'd
been in London and heard the tracks he'd done himself. When he came here we cut
five songs, which came out pretty well. When it came time to mix, he was in a
panic, because it meant finishing them! I had to tell him to face the music,
cause we had to get them done before he left. He nearly had a breakdown on the
spot. The sad thing is, he's still fussing with the tracks he did on his 8
track. He has never been able to say "I'm done."
As for Will Owsley. I think he could be waiting a long time for the economy to
improve for him. I'm sorry his record didn't do enough business for the label
to spend more on him. If he'd done it for Not Lame, would it have been a better
record, sold more, and would he be in a better situation now? Who knows, but if
he doesn't get up off the mat, no one will ever know what else he can do.
RS
np: Roy Wood- Why Does A Pretty Girl Sing Those Sad Songs....where did this
come from, I'd never heard it before. Got it on a comp on the the Rialto
label????
David Bash wrote:
> I've been speaking to Bud Owsley a bit further on this subject, and here's
> my take on it:
>
> Will is very ambivalent about the situation. On the one hand Will is
> discouraged by his label's behavior, and often feels like throwing in the
> towel. On the other hand he believes that with the eventual up-turn of the
> economy, they will allocate the budget necessary for Will to complete his
> record, and that they will then release it. This is not something the label
> is telling him, but something he feels in his gut based upon his own
> experiences with the powers that be.
>
> He probably could re-record the tunes on his own and possibly "get away with
> it", or write completely new tunes and record those, but he's willing to
> take the gamble of waiting out the label because a) he's really proud of the
> recordings, and b) they were very expensive to make, and he doesn't feel he
> could do these songs the same kind of justice should he re-record them on
> his own dime.
>
> My first inclination was that he ought to make a huge display of
> independence by re-recording the tunes and putting them out himself.
> However, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me that if he
> really believes the label will ultimately support and release the recordings
> in a reasonable period of time, he may as well wait and see.
> --
> Pop Rules!!!!!
> Take Care,
> David
-- Ronald Sanchez
Director Of A&R
Career Records
www.CareerRecords.com
The Donovan's Brain Web Site
www.Donovans-Brain.com
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.