dave weil wrote:
On 16 Jun 2005 17:12:42 -0700, "
wrote:
Jenn said:
(snip)
As I said, I'm basing my comments on remarks made by the band members
during an interview. IIRC it was David Crosby making that particular
comment. This was post prison so there's a good chance he was sober
and I can't think of any reason for him to lie about it.
I think I also read about this maybe 35+ years ago in Rolling Stone.
There's still the matter of learning the songs as well as being able to
play them. Might just have been simpler to have somebody who already
knew them and could play them as well as anybody they might hire.
I'm not sure it matters to me who plays what, as long as I like the
record. I think it was Walter Becker who said he didn't care if he
played a note on any Steely Dan record, as long as the record was good.
Brian Wilson used session musicians (such as Carol Kaye) in place of
the other Beach Boys frequently.
Does make you wonder how many of the British bands plyaed on their own
albums.
There's been some confusion over what Jimmy Page (as a session
musician) played vs. what Dave Davies played on some Kinks record whose
title I've forgotten.
At one time, this sort of trivia interested me, but now if I like the
record, that's good enough for me. If I were a recording artist, I can
see why I might want the best musicians, or the musicians who were
available when I was recording, whether or not they were in my band.
The Rascals also used some interesting studio musicians, BTW.
When you look at the success (both artistically and in terms of how
many hits they were a part of) for some of the top studio musicians,
you can see why so many producers and artists wanted the top studio
musicians on their records.
McGuinn DEFINTELY played and sang on Mr. Tambourine Man and the other
Byrds sang. The session musicians played everything else (but of
course, McGuinn played the signature 12-string).
I also believe this is the case.
As far as I know, this is the only instance of studio musicians taking
the place of the band, although various studio musicians *might* have
played uncredited on some of the early albums.
Yes, as far as I know.
Within a few years, keeping track of the Byrds' membership became
hopelessly confusing anyway.
Someone else mentioned Larry Knetchel
....Knechtel...
as being with Bread, which he
was, but he is better known for his piano work on Bridge Over
Troubled Waters.
I'd forgotten that credit. That record also had drummer Hal Blaine.
BTW, according to the following, Blaine played on six consecutive
song-of-the-year Grammy winners. Wow! See:
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;...w&sbid=lc03 a
I saw him play with Elvis Costello about 6 years ago
at a tribute concert
Cool!
for The Fairfield Four, the famous gospel group
from Nashville.
Interesting!
Of course, like Glen Campbell,
Back in the 1960's, before Campbell was famous as a solo artist, a
friend met Campbell while he was touring with the Beach Boys in place
of Brian Wilson.
he was on a huge number
of LA stuff from the 60s and 70s, things like the Beach Boys record
(yes, he's on Pet Sounds), The Mamas and the Paps and The Monkees.
I haven't studied him that closely, but I assume you're correct.
BTW, like Blaine and Campbell, Knechtel was also part of the Wrecking
Crew, a group of studio musicians who made a huge number of recordings:
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-wrecking-crew
Interesting trivia from the above, which answers something I've always
wondered about Wendy Melvoin:
"Mike Melvoin and Gary Coleman are the fathers of musicians Wendy
Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, former members of Prince's backing band, The
Revolution."
BTW, if you're interested in studio musicians, you might want to get
the DVD "Standing in the Shadows of Motown." Saw that a few years ago
during its theatrical release. It's a documentary about the great
Motown studio musicians who made all the 1960's Motown hits, yet who
were almost entirely abandoned when Berry Gordy moved the label from
Detroit to Los Angeles. Includes some recent concert footage of these
artists too.