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How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Song...


allan_evett

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On 1/21/2023 at 8:30 PM, MathOfInsects said:

The walkdown in "Signed Sealed Delivered" for example. For one thing, it DOESN'T happen going into the chorus. Nearly everyone plays it there anyway. It's way cooler to pedal on the 1 as in the recording, IMO. 

You just blew my mind and shamed my R&B cover band days, Josh. How did I never pick up on the fact that there's no descending lick leading into the B section?! Lord knows what a dork I was about how James Jamerson plays an A natural under the Eb chord in the B section, because nobody told James Jamerson what to do, that's why (something something tritone substitution). 

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Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Said it not more than a few months ago here: turned up to a rehearsal and the 'guitarist' said after the first song…

"Look at you with your expensive chords!"
"You mean, the 'correct' ones?"

Walked away from that gig.

Once asked a band if they want me to learn to play it wrong? It's fine, I was just subbing. 
It was California Dreamin', and I can't remember what was wrong exactly, but playing the lovely set piece flute solo with the 'wrong' chords at the end of the phrase was just weird. But guess they'd done it for years that way.

If I'm not MD-ing, I have no qualms at all about anyone telling me I'm doing it wrong. Not the end of the world. 

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7 hours ago, Adam Burgess said:

f I'm not MD-ing, I have no qualms at all about anyone telling me I'm doing it wrong. Not the end of the world. 

This. If you are wrong, and someone tells you you're wrong, then you've learned something. If you're right, and someone tells you you're wrong, then they have earned that prerogative by paying you.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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On 1/21/2023 at 10:37 AM, Steve Nathan said:

It's been like 50 years ago, but I used to do what they called "pick up" gigs, where a club owner would call and say "I need a band for Wednesday", and I'd put one together for the night.  I'd start with my top favorite players and work my way down for each spot until I had every seat filled.  At the very bottom of the drummer list was a guy with a decent enough pocket, but he got so over excited when playing fills, he frequently came out of them one beat off.  Suddenly his backbeat was now pounding on the rest of the band's 1 & 3.  He belligerently refused to believe it was him, wouldn't change, and everyone else had to adjust to him.  Sometimes when I got that far down the drummers list, I just called the club owner back and said "Sorry, can't make it". 

 

We had a drummer 3 years ago in my 80's band that seemed to be a pro at having an image and social media and promoting himself. But he played terrible! He would do exactly what you describe here, coming out of rolls and completely lose a beat of a measure and this is simple 80's stuff like Jenny Jenny and Blondie, not ELP Tarkus or Dream Theatre! 

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