Did anyone notice the letter in the Nov. issue of Mix that totally dissed
The Funk Bros? The writer claims to be a good friend of the engineer
who did the post for the soundtrack album (Standing In The Shadows).
The engineer supposedly told the writer that the tracks were awful and a
real pain to work with. The writer shrugs it off saying "let's face it,
these guys are way past their prime, in ill health" then singles out
Joe Messina for having "not played at all since the 70s".

Personally I found this letter to be very offensive. While I don't
doubt that there was sweetening done to the orig tracks, after all
show me a "live" album where this ISN'T done today, I cannot imagine
that these guys have completely lost their ability to play. Based
on the comments I've read here in RAP form those who have worked
with some of The Funks in recent yrs, I find the letter maddening.

Then to single out Joe M ... one of the true jazz legends of Detroit
and reputedly one of the nicest guys ever in the biz ... really seals
it. And while Joe *did* stop playing in the 70s, I've heard
(at the risk of acting like the writer by passing hearsay), from some
local jazzmen that Joe had started jamming again several yrs ago
(before SITSOM) and had quickly regained much of his old form.

I'm hoping that those who have worked with these gentlemen will answer
the hatchet job in this letter. It really peed me off.

I saw the Funk Bros. live in April.The best show I've ever seen. You think
these guys can't play anymore? Get Freakin real...

And I took my teenage daughter with me when I saw them. She was absolutely
blown away.

In article writes:

Did anyone notice the letter in the Nov. issue of Mix that totally dissed
The Funk Bros?

Did you write to Mix? I'll be looking for your response in the
magazine. But be sure to check your facts.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

(georgeh) wrote in message ...
Did anyone notice the letter in the Nov. issue of Mix that totally dissed
The Funk Bros? The writer claims to be a good friend of the engineer
who did the post for the soundtrack album (Standing In The Shadows).
The engineer supposedly told the writer that the tracks were awful and a
real pain to work with. The writer shrugs it off saying "let's face it,
these guys are way past their prime, in ill health" then singles out
Joe Messina for having "not played at all since the 70s".

Personally I found this letter to be very offensive. While I don't
doubt that there was sweetening done to the orig tracks, after all
show me a "live" album where this ISN'T done today, I cannot imagine
that these guys have completely lost their ability to play. Based
on the comments I've read here in RAP form those who have worked
with some of The Funks in recent yrs, I find the letter maddening.

Then to single out Joe M ... one of the true jazz legends of Detroit
and reputedly one of the nicest guys ever in the biz ... really seals
it. And while Joe *did* stop playing in the 70s, I've heard
(at the risk of acting like the writer by passing hearsay), from some
local jazzmen that Joe had started jamming again several yrs ago
(before SITSOM) and had quickly regained much of his old form.

I'm hoping that those who have worked with these gentlemen will answer
the hatchet job in this letter. It really peed me off.

And at the end of the day these guys will own a major spot in rock and
roll, and soul history...and he'll be an engineer. I'll take half of
Babbit's best bass playing anyday.

(Mike Rivers) writes:


In article writes:

Did anyone notice the letter in the Nov. issue of Mix that totally dissed
The Funk Bros?

Did you write to Mix? I'll be looking for your response in the
magazine. But be sure to check your facts.

Unfort, I'm a nobody so my letter would carry no more weight than
the orig letter who's "got a friend who heard the raw tracks".
I mentioned it here because I know there are engineer/producer
types WITH CREDENTIAL who have worked with some of the surviving
Funks in recent yrs. A letter from one of them would carry much
more weight.

In article ,
(georgeh) wrote:

Did anyone notice the letter in the Nov. issue of Mix that totally dissed
The Funk Bros? The writer claims to be a good friend of the engineer
who did the post for the soundtrack album (Standing In The Shadows).
The engineer supposedly told the writer that the tracks were awful and a
real pain to work with. The writer shrugs it off saying "let's face it,
these guys are way past their prime, in ill health" then singles out
Joe Messina for having "not played at all since the 70s".

Personally I found this letter to be very offensive. While I don't
doubt that there was sweetening done to the orig tracks, after all
show me a "live" album where this ISN'T done today, I cannot imagine
that these guys have completely lost their ability to play. Based
on the comments I've read here in RAP form those who have worked
with some of The Funks in recent yrs, I find the letter maddening.

Then to single out Joe M ... one of the true jazz legends of Detroit
and reputedly one of the nicest guys ever in the biz ... really seals
it. And while Joe *did* stop playing in the 70s, I've heard
(at the risk of acting like the writer by passing hearsay), from some
local jazzmen that Joe had started jamming again several yrs ago
(before SITSOM) and had quickly regained much of his old form.

I'm hoping that those who have worked with these gentlemen will answer
the hatchet job in this letter. It really peed me off.

The guy who engineered the tracks, and I think was involved in making the
movie too, posted about a rebuilt Neve board he wanter to sell here. Many
people had issues with his style and his claims about the board, in
particular Fletcher and a lot of feathers got ruffled. I ahve no idea what
the tracks were acutally like, and two incidences of feather ruffling
isn't even for a scientifically accurate sample, but if there were a
pattern, this might fit it.



www.monsterisland.com

In article writes:

Unfort, I'm a nobody so my letter would carry no more weight than
the orig letter who's "got a friend who heard the raw tracks".

Hey, Mix will publish anything, particularly if it's a little
controversial. If you saw them in a live show, or have read some
credible interviews with the members (what's Joe Messina been doing
for the last 30 years if not playing at least some?) you might be able
to make a reasonable case. That's what I meant by "check your facts."

I think that Mix would like to hear (and may even publish) that you
found the statements disturbing, particularly without any
substantiation. I would think that if there was a lot of sweat over
tracks cut for the movie soundtrack, that would have been an
interesting topic for the Mix article about the production.

I mentioned it here because I know there are engineer/producer
types WITH CREDENTIAL who have worked with some of the surviving
Funks in recent yrs. A letter from one of them would carry much
more weight.

This is the Internet. Anyone can work with anyone, and probalby has
said so at one time or another.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1069849438k@trad...

This is the Internet. Anyone can work with anyone, and probalby has
said so at one time or another.

Sure. I've recorded Jack Ashford and Bob Babbitt in the last couple of
months - At what they do, neither is past their prime...

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com

(BLCKOUT420) wrote in message ...
I saw the Funk Bros. live in April.The best show I've ever seen. You think
these guys can't play anymore? Get Freakin real...

I don't doubt this for one second! I bought the DVD and I'm still
awestruck by these wonderful musicians. If I/we had a fraction of what
the Funk Brothers have (today), I would be more than happy. When you
think of what they could do in two to three hours in a recording
studio, it's freakin amazing. You can rent the DVD at Blockbuster. I
highly recommend it.

Steve

"Dave Martin" wrote:

"Mike Rivers" wrote:

This is the Internet. Anyone can work with anyone, and probalby has
said so at one time or another.

Sure. I've recorded Jack Ashford and Bob Babbitt in the last couple of
months - At what they do, neither is past their prime...

They're both among my newly discovered heros.

Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/

That's good to know!
Bob is a great guy and a wonderful player.

Tom


"Dave Martin" wrote in message
...
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1069849438k@trad...

This is the Internet. Anyone can work with anyone, and probalby has
said so at one time or another.

Sure. I've recorded Jack Ashford and Bob Babbitt in the last couple of
months - At what they do, neither is past their prime...

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com

In article writes:

I bought the DVD and I'm still
awestruck by these wonderful musicians. If I/we had a fraction of what
the Funk Brothers have (today), I would be more than happy.

You should read the letter to Mix that prompted this thread. The part
that got the original poster off was (referring to Ted Greenberg, who
did the post production and mixing:

" . . . Ted's herculean effort delivered something worth from the Funk
Brothers out of sone very marginal material. . . "

Now we all know that these days, you can about drop a guitar, a bass,
and a drum kit down a flight of stairs (one at a time, to give the
poor engineer a fighting chance) with a recorder running and a good
ProTools operator can assemble a good tune from the tracks. The
suggestion was that this sort of manipulation was necessary in order
to make the music in the film out of what the band played in the
studio. I don't know if that's true or not, but somebody seems to know
somebody who knows somebody who had to do it.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1069879045k@trad...


" . . . Ted's herculean effort delivered something worth from the Funk
Brothers out of sone very marginal material. . . "

Now we all know that these days, you can about drop a guitar, a bass,
and a drum kit down a flight of stairs (one at a time, to give the
poor engineer a fighting chance) with a recorder running and a good

Also, don't forget how much a tracking engineer can screw up an otherwise
great performance. I think we've all been given tracks that were played OK
but were recorded crappily and had to do a lot of work.

Dave Martin wrote:

"Mike Rivers" wrote...

This is the Internet. Anyone can work with anyone, and probalby has
said so at one time or another.

Sure. I've recorded Jack Ashford and Bob Babbitt in the last couple of
months - At what they do, neither is past their prime...

Yeak, okay, but what do _you_ know??...

--
ha

"LeBaron & Alrich" wrote in message
.. .

Yeak, okay, but what do _you_ know??...

--
I don't have to know anything - this is Usenet. All I have to do is CLAIM I
know everything...

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com

x-no archive: yes

Dave Martin wrote:

I don't have to know anything - this is Usenet. All I have to do is CLAIM I
know everything...

In Usenet there are no claim checks.

--
ha