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Feb 28:
From: MaryE Yeomans <ancienttones@GMAIL.COMDate: February 28, 2008 4:54:17 AM EST
To: BGRASS-L@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Ralph's "Live" Recordings
Reply-To: "Bluegrass music discussion." <BGRASS-L@LSV.UKY.EDU
A good friend of mine and former long-time Clinch Mountain Boy once told me that they often went into the studio and recorded an entire album in a day, or as it has been said, 4 hours. From my years in Nashville I'm thinking a session consists of 4 hours, no? as far as "buying" time in a studio, so that 4 hour thing makes sense. What this former CMB shared with me is that they'd do each song twice, then Ralph would later pick the better of the two cuts of each song to include on the recording. For this the CMB were paid $50 each for the session and that was all the money they'd see from that particular recording.
Now while this may sound unreasonable to some of you all the way around, it was simply the way things were done and since it was Ralph's band I reckon you love it or leave it. Now I don't know if "Clinch Mountain Gospel" and some of them were done in four hours but for my money you'd have to go a long, long way to beat _THAT_ sound, YMMV.
For a very long time I've thought that one thing that's wrong with many recordings today is that they're over-produced and over-tweaked. Why? Because they can! I'm not quite sure what the point of it is, winning an award? For my money I'd rather have a "good" recording every year of my favorite bands, not have to wait four or five years for some sterile"masterpiece" that might win an IBMA award.
Since I'm only one voice here, albeit a LOUD one, it would be good to hear more opinions. I'll be the first to say that I've heard PLENTY of recordings that will never again be placed in _my_ CD player....some of them are by bands that needed to practice together some more, or choose better material (IMO) but again, some are those of the variety that were done by masterful bands and vocalists who were just too obsessive when it came to recording. Sheesh. For me, I like a bunch of folks who can REALLY pick and sing, who go into the studio for maybe a week or so, all told, put down their best efforts on some songs and tunes, have it professionally mixed by someone who actually listens (I'm not sure most bands can do this themselves effectively because they're too "connected" with the sound, need an impartial "other" person listening) -- and put the durn thing out so folks can buy it.
An old boyfriend of mine used to laugh (in a loving way, to be sure) at how some of the wonderful Japanese musicians he'd met over the years were so obsessed with Flatt & Scruggs or (fill in the blank), Monroe, or whomever that they learned things from the recordings EXACTLY as they were
done. They'd play these songs with the glaring mistakes that were recorded to the great amusement of this wonderful musician. It somehow made the songs better. Now these days when folks are spending three and four years in the studio putting out their masterpieces there aren't any mistakes to learn -- how dull this music may get! Where will we find humor? No, some of the music that's being put out with all the technical bells and whistles OVERDONE amounts to what I'd call "elevator music" and you know
what? I've never liked to ride in elevators.
Times have moved on and the days of albums (dating myself here) being recorded in four hours are, for the most part, gone. With it we have lost something. I won't exactly call it spontaneity because in the
example of the Clinch Mountain Boys, in most cases they were pretty darned familiar with the songs they were recording already. Perhaps it's focus? (knowing you'd better play it right this time because it might be your only chance, you aren't going to punch it in note by note later on), the kind of focus
you might have when playing in the contest at Galax or wherever? We've lost the humor, too, of (and you all know Ralph is my favorite!!!) of some of the recitations done over the years by the Stanley Brothers where it sounded like Carter was seeing the words he was reading off in the studio for the
very first time, LOL. I love that stuff! Well, I'm drifting here. Even Ralph doesn't do albums in 4 hours
these days. But you know what? I don't like his albums as well as I used to; too many famous people meddling with him these days for my taste. When I go to Smith Ridge and hear him sing and get to see him once again, when he sings some of that classic Stanley stuff, all that falls away...the recordings I like best are those that I can close my eyes and imagine I'm around a campfire in east Kentucky or in a small cozy room listening to the folks sing and play. That's what I like. I hope some day that feeling will come back to the music. We may have lost it.
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