All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)

Cover of Manassas

"Do what you do, don't bring me down"

I was driving down the San Diego Freeway, sun in my face, the interior of my car still cold from sitting outside overnight, listening to Deep Tracks.

They played that Manassas track "Right Now"... This is the quintessential Stills, not the debut which got all the hoopla. Buy this double album.

Then "Dig A Pony". "Let It Be" will never be a throwaway for me because of "I've Got A Feeling", but I can't imagine being a deejay and selecting "Dig A Pony" to play on the radio. I thought of switching the channel. But I ended up zoning out and enjoying it.

You know how driving is. You're going along at 70, checked out, almost asleep. But somehow, your synapses fire and get you to brake, swerve, in case something untoward occurs. Ah, the human body, what a machine. Not built by Toyota, but GM. Works great when you buy it, it's just as you get older it starts falling apart. The mind says yes, but the limbs say no.

But I'm still functioning. Old age has not yet caught up with me. And I hear something... It's an intro. A couple of strums of an electric guitar, a whistle and a few drumbeats. I'm drawn in, like they're giving away a million dollars in the dashboard. But this is better than money, this is quite clearly "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)".

We played these records so much we know every nuance. We can name them BEFORE the tune begins. But then Mike Kellie hits the drums and Peter Frampton begins to wail.

Yes, I looked it up. I've still got my original 1972 vinyl album. I bought it because I was so impressed with Peter at the Fillmore East, on Humble Pie's farewell tour (at least with Peter). I saw it in a bin in London. But didn't buy it until I got back to the U.S. that fall. And I seemed to be the only one. Oh, other people bought "Wind Of Change", but I didn't know them. There was no Facebook, no social networking. We didn't find other fans of the band until we went to the gig.

At first my favorite was the opener, "Fig Tree Bay", slow and enticing.

I didn't understand the cover of "Jumping Jack Flash". It seemed superfluous, especially since Frampton had no problem writing his own material.

But it was the second side opus that entranced me, that made me a fan.

Yes, "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" opens side two. The second side opener was never the single. Unless an album contained two. It was always a statement. Of where the artist was coming from. The first side opener was for the label, the manager, the second side opener was for the artist.

"All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" is six minutes and twenty five seconds long. But it plays like 3:30. It starts with the verses, then drifts into instrumental territory and builds and builds. Kind of like "Layla", if the second half of that Clapton classic wasn't blissed out. Yes, both halves of "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" definitely hung together, were of a piece. As if you went to dinner with someone and found yourself drifting in a boat down a river thereafter. There might not be tangerine trees and marmalade skies, but the feeling of euphoria was the same.

And I'm listening to "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" in the car just now and I hear something, that I've never noticed before. The way the guitar notes have this funny way of sticking together, they're not separate, they're fluid, not drops, but an endless pour with staccato elements. The track is almost forty years old, yet brand new.

And then it starts accelerating towards the end. That ride on the river is going to end. We're going to tie up the boat. Please no, NO! But Frampton and his buddies are not done, for the final thirty seconds they flourish, like your love winking at you before she walks up the dock and evaporates.

DEMO PRODUCTION

Image via Wikipedia

An entire book can be written on the subject of producing demos, so I'll focus only on some of the points you're less likely to read elsewhere. First of all, don't let anyone tell you that production values don't matter and that the song's quality will be heard regardless of your demos sound and arrangement. A producer or A & R manager might listen to 100's of demo's each day. Which one do you think will grab their attention, the one that sounds like a hit record or the one that has an out-of-tune vocal sung to a lone acoustic guitar recorded with a Radio Shack mic?

Production is of paramount importance. Whenever possible, compose catchy instrumental hooks for your songs before recording them. Make the intro short--no more thN 10 seconds if possible. Keep solos to a maximum length of 8 bars or cut them out completely. The more deliberate, fast paced, and powerful your arrangement is, the more the demo will retain the listener's attention and sell the song.

Unless you're Prince, resist the temptation to play all the instruments and sing all the parts on your demo's. Having ace union musicians and singers perform on your demos can make them sound like hits. That said, doing so will also likely eliminate those demos from being considered for placement in film and TV projects. To use any of the instrumental tracks played by union musicians in a synch-to-picture (film or TV) placement, they must first be upgraded to "phono" status with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Phono status essentially makes the demo recordings eligible to be used in new media (film, TV, record release, and so on) as well as a "new use." The upgrade from demo to phono status requires that all musicians on the session be paid master scale, which equals roughly double the demo scale rate you already paid them, and be given pension-fund payments for the entire session. This is required even if you will use the demo recording for only one song recorded during a multi song session.

The production company must convert the demo recording to motion picture use (a new use)at considerable cost. Yet they cannot do so unless and until the demo recording is upgraded to phono status. They will typically insist that you pay for the upgrade. The production company may also ask you to make any required "additional payments" (royalties) to union musicians in connection with the song being licensed, which you should refuse to do.

All this haggling may be moot, however, as many TV placements must be negotiated from soup to nuts during your first phone conversation with the shows producer, in order to meet an imminent air date. Therefore, most producers feel there is no time to work our AFM arrangements. In most cases, they want a song whose rights are already "cleared." Similar issues arise with demo singers who belong to SAG (Screen Actors Guild). So if your main thrust as a music publisher will likely be film and TV placements, make sure your demos are either completely performed by yourself or by nonunion musicians and singers whose talents are contracted fo in a one-time buyout.

I am overwhelmed by the response to this series. We obviously listened to you, found your topic of interest and got into it. I can tell by the forwarding of these writings to others and that's awesome. Remember, it is only "applied" knowledge that gives you power to excel.

More tomorrow....