[Bob Olhsson]

I'm talking about musicians who started their performance career in the '50s and '60s. The ability of young musicians in the U.S. to earn a middle-class living went to hell in the early '70s.

[Bob Olhsson]

Recording is cheaper but my point is that where people got really good was playing on stage and doing that has become unaffordable for most.

The article was about pop musicians not seeming as good as they once were and my point is that there is a good reason for people to observe that.

[Ty Ford[_2_]]

On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 8:02:39 PM UTC-4, Bob Olhsson wrote:
Recording is cheaper but my point is that where people got really good was playing on stage and doing that has become unaffordable for most.

The article was about pop musicians not seeming as good as they once were and my point is that there is a good reason for people to observe that.

I used to be asked by friends to join them at Open Mics. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting seven or more open mics here.

"Hey, let's drive to Frederick and play at the XX place!! It'll be GREAT!!!!"

Hmm, so let me get this right. We four get in a car around 6pm. Wade our way through the afternoon traffic up to Frederick fro an hour and a half, find a parking spot on Market Street. Pay to eat and drink. Play three songs each for the fun of it and get back home around midnight. Is that it?

YEAH!!

um, no thanks!. Good for the venue owner. Not so good for me. We have Open Mics a lot closer to me, but personally I'm just not that enthused about playing out.

And that was 10 years ago.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Scott Dorsey]

Bob Olhsson wrote:
Recording is cheaper but my point is that where people got really good was playing on stage and doing that has become unaffordable for most.

Right, that is the thing. There used to be plenty of venues for people to
make good money while practicing to better their craft. Everything from pit
orchestras to bar bands provided opportunity and paid a living wage.

The article was about pop musicians not seeming as good as they once were and my point is that there is a good reason for people to observe that.

That's only part of the problem. When I started out, we had a lot of
well-paying recording gigs for things like in-store muzak, and even
Army training films had composers, arrangers, and a small orchestra
on the payroll. That's gone.

But also when I started out, we had a whole lot of European musicians who
had come here as refugees before or after WWII, who were very seriously
trained in an environment that never did exist in this country. Those
people have mostly died off.

But it's still pretty amazing to work with some of the eastern European
orchestras. You sit down and hand them charts and they play it all right
the first time and then everyone goes home. This does not happen in the
pop world.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[polymod]

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message ...

snip

But it's still pretty amazing to work with some of the eastern European
orchestras. You sit down and hand them charts and they play it all right
the first time and then everyone goes home. This does not happen in the
pop world.



Hence the old joke: how do you get a guitarist to turn down?
Put a piece of sheet music in front of them.

;-)
Poly

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[Bob Olhsson]

On Friday, September 13, 2019 at 7:18:12 PM UTC-5, Scott Dorsey wrote:
. You sit down and hand them charts and they play it all right
the first time and then everyone goes home. This does not happen in the
pop world.

It did back in the days of session players. In Nashville. you just played them a song and in most cases, they memorized it with no chart needed. The problem with rock bands is that they typically only had one or maybe two truly great musicians in them.

[Scott Dorsey]

Bob Olhsson wrote:

It did back in the days of session players. In Nashville. you just played them a song and in most cases, they memorized it with no chart needed. The problem with rock bands is that they typically only had one or maybe two truly great musicians in them.

Well, there have been lots of Fabians and Menudos over the years too.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Bob Olhsson]

On Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 6:29:29 PM UTC-5, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Well, there have been lots of Fabians and Menudos over the years too.

I'd argue we are in the longest period of Fabiosity ever! We have no effective indi labels and most live venues are controlled by the Bill Graham crowd. It's like the '50s when the old big band promoters ran everything.