AROIOS Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 For the longest time, I've had a hard time understanding how Robert "Mutt" Lange went from producing Hard Rock for Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, stuff I absolutely love; to Country for Shania Twain, stuff I absolutely abhor. I'm big on self-reflection and calling out my own BS. So I resisted the urge to throw up and played a couple of Twain and Leppard songs back and forth. To my utter horror, once you look past the twang, the fiddles and mixing differences, they actually don't sound that much different. Now I have to face the painful realization for the rest of my life: I might actually be a closet Country fan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I'm not sure Hank done it this way... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 5 minutes ago, AROIOS said: For the longest time, I've had a hard time understanding how Robert "Mutt" Lange went from producing Hard Rock for Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, stuff I absolutely love; to Country for Shania Twain, stuff I absolutely abhor. IIRC, Mr. Lange was married to Ms. Twain when he produced her record. dB 2 Quote ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Country is where old Rock and studio musicians retire to it's been going on since the 80's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 4 minutes ago, Dave Bryce said: IIRC, Mr. Lange was married to Ms. Twain when he produced her record. dB That's how I used to delude myself: My producer hero got dragged into Country because of the power of love. 4 minutes ago, Docbop said: Country is where old Rock and studio musicians retire to it's been going on since the 80's. True, Dan Huff immediately comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polkahero Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 It's all in the production! 3 Quote '57 Hammond B-3, '60 Hammond A100, Leslie 251, Leslie 330, Leslie 770, Leslie 145, Hammond PR-40 Trek II UC-1A Alesis QSR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 2 hours ago, Dave Bryce said: IIRC, Mr. Lange was married to Ms. Twain when he produced her record. dB Mutt saw Shania in a bikini at one of Harold Shed's pool parties and apparently decided to both produce and marry her on the spot! I doubt he was thinking of Rock vs. Country at the time 😉 I did one record with Mutt and though I initially found his process unbearable as a player, once he let me play B3 on a track, he kept me there and left me to my own choices for the rest of the sessions. I did learn a lot about Production from the experience. I was never a fan of his records, but you couldn't deny their success. 4 2 1 Quote Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! http://www.stevenathanmusic.com/stevenathanmusic.com/HOME.html https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I don’t know about the whole bikini thing, but she was smokin' hot back then. And a great singer too. I recall she sang at an event at the White House, looking amazing. And they would flash to Bill Clinton sitting there watching bwaahahaha you knew he was thinking about how to make a move. On the Mutt production side, one thing I recall he ran Def Leppard’s background vocals through a Marshall stack. 1 Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 45 minutes ago, TommyRude said: ...he ran Def Leppard’s background vocals through a Marshall stack... Now that's the kind of creative shenanigans I need to venture out with more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 4 hours ago, D. Gauss said: I'm not sure Hank done it this way... "Country" has surely changed a lot over the years. I could listen to John Denver and Willie Nelson just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Lange also wrote and produced this, from "nodders to Irish folk influence" The Corrs. Similar traits to his other work: namely, you can't move for hooks. Every little vocal inflection/gasp/ad-lib precision-choreographed. I remember someone in my youth describing Def Leppard's songwriting process: "Everyone go and write a chorus" i.e. something hooky. They would then use all these choruses as the basis of a song. Cheers, Mike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan May Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I thought Mutt was a pretty good producer. He could be a little on the self indulgent side when it came to producing Def Leppard, but he was great when he produced and was married to Shania! I wore the shit out of her Greatest Hits CD when I was a kid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 IIRC their marriage didn't last... something about him having an affair with one of her personal assistants. The debate over whether Shania (and Mutt) were appropriately country 30 years ago sounds so quaint now. When the #1 country song of 2023 (which spilled over into being the #1 single of all formats) was done over a trap beat loop, and the top new country artist has more ink than Post Malone and got his start in hip-hop... well things are changing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 8 minutes ago, Bill H. said: IIRC their marriage didn't last... something about him having an affair with one of her personal assistants. The debate over whether Shania (and Mutt) were appropriately country 30 years ago sounds so quaint now. When the #1 country song of 2023 (which spilled over into being the #1 single of all formats) was done over a trap beat loop, and the top new country artist has more ink than Post Malone and got his start in hip-hop... well things are changing. No different than the last time I played in a Country band way band when Disco and movie Urban Cowboy were big so Merle, George Jones, and most the Country artist started pumped Four On the Floor bass drum up in their mixes so all the new wave of Country dance joints would play their records. Country is a business and goes where the money is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Agreed. And traditionalists today still have Chris Stapleton - although he's kinda rocking out now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Same as it ever was. Take Big Band add guitar, steel and twin fiddles you get Western Swing. 1 Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 It would be far more logical to title this thread "Hard Rock AND Country" or even "Hard Rock OR Country." Do we say "Smooth Jazz vs Polka"? No, we don't. They are different. Do we say "Ozzie Osborn vs Joni Mitchell"? No, we don't. Piano vs Trumpet, Wine vs Whiskey, Hot Dogs vs Cabbage, etc. 1 Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/6/2024 at 7:17 PM, TommyRude said: I don’t know about the whole bikini thing, but she was smokin' hot back then. And a great singer too. I recall she sang at an event at the White House, looking amazing. And they would flash to Bill Clinton sitting there watching bwaahahaha you knew he was thinking about how to make a move. 1 Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 There's a fine line between _____ and country. Endlessly discussed over the years, jazz included. Here's an example from the adjacent Michael Omartian thread on how Steely Dan was sort of actually country back in the 70s. They used him for that sound. Pay attention to the last line from the master..... "Yeah". Omar2.mp4 1 Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 6 hours ago, jazzpiano88 said: There's a fine line between _____ and country. Endlessly discussed over the years, jazz included. Here's an example from the adjacent Michael Omartian thread on how Steely Dan was sort of actually country back in the 70s. They used him for that sound. Pay attention to the last line from the master..... "Yeah". Omar2.mp4 8.11 MB · 0 downloads This perfectly echoes the Warren Huart interview of Richard Niles I was watching the other day, in which Richard mentioned about his time at Berklee and Gary Burton's adventure with "Jazz/Country" fusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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