At Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:53:54 Kerry wrote:

>Jaimie Vernon wrote:
>
> > ...but rather that annoying
> > Hammond keyboard sound.
> > Nothing says "dated" like a
> > cheesy keyboard
>
>Reminds me of the time I played Todd Rundgren's
>"Second Wind" for a friend, and all he could say was
>"Listen to that cheesy synth patch." Nevermind that
>this dude could never hope to play this music, let
>alone compose it; no, instead, he reduces some
>absolutely fantastic songwriting to the choice of an
>effect. How revealing.
>
>Nothing personal, Jaimie, but I harbor absolute
>disdain for musicians who condemn compositions because
>of the instrumentation. It's like not seeing the
>forest for the trees.

And I have absolute disdain for musicians with bad taste in their choice of 
instrumentation. As your friend pointed out, a good song can be ruined by 
bad arrangements, particularly if its novelty instrumentation (cheesy 
organs, bagpipes, kazoos, et al). There was a reason George Martin and Paul 
McCartney recorded "Yesterday" without the other three Beatles. Not to piss 
them off, but their individual instrumental strengths weren't what was best 
for the song itself.

To bring it back to earlier conversations this week...the reason we're able 
to cite so many great craftsmen in the art of songwriting is always the 
presentation of the SONG....not the fads and the sounds of the day that are 
piled on top of it like so much icing on a cake. I'm sure there's some good 
songs underneath all that wretched B3 crap on Deep Purple's "Lazy"....or 
underneath the grotesque feedback/echo on The Jesus & Mary Chain's songs 
from "Psychocandy". And I believe the reason there is so much post-Sgt. 
Pepper lashback is that the album was one long-form gimmicky studio prop 
contrary to the no-holds-barred straight-on songwriting prowess found on 
"Rubber Soul" and most of "Revolver" before it.

I hear so many artists, including some on this list, destroy their own 
chances at an accessible pop song because they're applying some faddish pop 
stamp on a tune in an attempt to be a) contemporary or b) evoke nostalgia.

To quote an old musician friend of mine:
"Be true to the song and you'll never go wrong."



Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com

SWAG:
http://www.cafepress.com/bullseyecanada
BULLSEYE LIVE 365 RADIO:
http://www.live365.com/stations/bullseyerecords

Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/

http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz

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