Steve Miller On The Beatles
When the bat cracks and the ball’s moving towards Jeter, he doesn’t run through the fundamentals in his brain, hell, he doesn’t think at all, he just picks up the ball and throws it to first base, just like that.
Well, not exactly. You see he’s got decades of practice. He’s just acting upon that foundation.
But every ground ball is different, every play is unique in its own way, like a snowflake. There’s different turf, weather, hitters, pitchers…but Jeter adjusts.
Can you adjust? As a musician, I mean. Do you have so much history, so much practice under your belt that you can turn on a dime, create something great?
Sure, there are technique issues. Being able to change keys and tempos, etc. But what about writing. How many shitty songs do you have to write until you get a good one?
Ah, the scourge of the professional. You read all this b.s. about writing being painful. If it’s painful, you just haven’t done enough of it!
I’m reading this book by Susie Essman, "What Would Susie Say?: Bullsh*t Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedy". Yes, that Susie, Jeff’s wife, the one always busting Larry David on his sick behavior. My bookstore owning friend gave it to me as a present. And I’m not sure I’m recommending it, but the points about making it as a comedian are fascinating. Susie wanted to host. You know, like Belzer at Catch A Rising Star. She finally convinced the owners to let her give it a try. It took her 1000 PERFORMANCES before she was comfortable, before she had it nailed.
In other words, by time you hit the stage, you should be able to do your act in your sleep, react to hecklers, perform requests, like the greats.
Read this Steve Miller interview. Fascinating on so many levels. But you’ll love the bits on the Beatles. To excerpt the salient quote:
"The way they recorded. They recorded so fast it was ridiculous."
Steve goes on to delineate how fast the Beatles recorded "Get Back". And how when he worked with Paul, it was always about the first take.
Just like the first cut is the deepest in love, the first take in music is almost always the best.
Let me be clear. It’s different if you’re still writing the song, if you’re working out the parts. But once you’ve got the elements down, everybody’s in the room and the song’s been written, when you all hit it for the first time, so often that’s the best creation.
When you record to synthetic drums, so often the life’s squeezed out of the production. And believe me, when done right, music should breathe, be alive. It’s not about getting it perfect, it’s about capturing lightning in a bottle. Something elusive, that can never be seen or done again. How many of our favorite records have mistakes? Shit, listen closely to J. Frank Wilson’s "Last Kiss", you’ll hear the backup singer run out of breath and fall off. The mistakes don’t ruin the record, they’re necessary elements of the whole, they’re what make the production human, just like you. Hell, ever know someone who’s had so much plastic surgery they’ve become generic? Hell, look at Jennifer Grey, she had a nose job and it ruined her career. Was her real nose perfect? Far from it. But it made her unique, it made her her.
So, if you’ve done all the work, you can create upon inspiration
Hell, if you’ve done all the work, you can create upon deadline, with a gun to your head. Maybe you need a bit of grease, need to work your fingers a bit, but within minutes, you’re in the groove.
This is what greatness is about. Having all that skill and ability and talent at your fingertips, to be evidenced at a moment’s notice. Comedians are never great in the beginning, they hone their chops, why should musicians be any different?
With the short cut of machines, with the focus on youth, with it being about rich and famous, we’ve done our best to eliminate all the work behind the scenes. We never want a kid to show us his finger painting, we want to see the Picasso, before he’s graduated from high school.
Doesn’t happen that way.
The greats can teeter on the cutting edge and still get it right. They wow us. Like Jeff Beck. A man without a hit who survives because his talent is so well-developed, because he makes his guitar come alive. Can you do this? Do you WANT to do this?
If you don’t, please stop making music. Or, if you continue to make it, please stop telling us to pay attention. We’re only interested in those who are dedicated, who are doing something we can’t, for the sheer joy of it. Hell, the money’s just an afterthought.
