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Do you think their reputation for being insanely controlling, asking session musicians to do dozens of takes, going through tons of them on each record, etc., is earned or overblown, OldGould? Part of the charm, a bit endearing, or maybe a tarnish on their legacy?
 
TownieDeac said:
Do you think their reputation for being insanely controlling, asking session musicians to do dozens of takes, going through tons of them on each record, etc., is earned or overblown, OldGould? Part of the charm, a bit endearing, or maybe a tarnish on their legacy?
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I am sure they were a pain in the ass to work with, but at least in this case it resulted in a pristine album, from songwriting, to arrangements and musicianship, to production.

And that perfectionism was what they were going for on this album so I think it certainly served the purpose and I don't really see it as tarnishing their legacy in any way
 
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Yeah, I think it's earned but probably overblown somewhat, and just a fun quirk, part of their charm, and what made them great. I imagine the rest of the crew was probably more inconvenienced/annoyed than the musicians they used. And, rather than the Aja sessions, I think the big thing that majorly built that rep was the Gaucho sessions, but that was mostly because Walter was strung out and going through a lot of weird personal/physical shit, and Fagen was stressed about that -- there was some story I think of him chainsmoking for 48 hours straight, trying to get the 45-second intro to Babylon Sisters just how he wanted (probably not exactly that, but something like it).
 
OldGouldandBlack said:
Probably the best "making of" doc ever.

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The best. Don and Walt's Black Cow discussion has been playing in my head for 20+ years.
The Workingman's Dead/American Beauty episode of that series is great, as well.
 
Went to three days of Bourbon and Beyond in Louisville last weekend and saw, amongst others:

Kings of Leon - soft spot for them; lead singer just has an amazing voice and obviously they have a ton of catchy songs, played a lot of early stuff which was cool
Brandi Carlile - awesome -- what an amazing voice.
Pearl Jam - Always great. Vedder brought it an sounded like he was in top form
Greta Van Fleet - awful
Chris Stapleton - meh; people love him but I don't really get it -- Marcus King, below, was much better
The Doobie Brothers 50th anniversary celebration - amazing -- maybe my favorite show; fucking Michael McDonald was there -- you forget how many great songs they have
St. Vincent - always an interesting, sexy, choregraphed show. Don't love her music, but fun to watch her.
Crowded House - Meh; vedder got on stage with them for a few songs, which was cool.
Caamp - double meh. I like some of their songs, but pretty dull show
Courtney Barnett - I try to like her, but I can't handle her intonation.
Cold War Kids -- another soft spot for me. I love a lot of their songs and they put on a good show.
Marcus King, just crazy talented and I didn't realize how great his voice. excellent show.
Elle King -- way cooler than I thought she would be -- another amazing voice. Fun show.

Also saw the Always Sunny podcast live; Glenn Charlie and Robb had a breathalyzer with them and were getting hammered. Charlie did a bunch of drunk songs, including Dayman. One of the highlights.
Highly recommend the festival. Great alcohol, great food, and if you do the VIP, you are guaranteed great views of the two stages. And the lower Mint VIP pass was around $600 for 4 days -- pretty cheap.
 
Inspired by the Hall & Oates post I pulled up a lot of Hall & Oates yesterday, including some live stuff where they fucking shred, like this version of "Lady Rain" off their excellent LP Abandoned Luncheonette (their best for me), where Hall is strumming some mandolin. Anyway, it made me think of a couple of other pop songs that use unexpected (as opposed to, like, John Paul Jones playing on the Zep acoustic tunes) plucked string instruments heavily, so here you go. Anyway, Daryl Hall fucking rules.

Lady Rain (live - Musikladen; there is also an excellent Old Grey Whistle Test one from the same era):



Kenny Loggins - Lady Luck (huh, both have "Lady," that's a coincidence. Maybe not, though, feel like Loggins def might have gotten this from Hall, much like MJ/Quincy got a similar vibe for Billie Jean from "I Can't Go For That"...maybe.) Bouzouki, mandolin, and mandola by Wrecking Crew legend Tommy Tedesco.



Cheap Trick - Mandocello. It's all there in the title, really.



Anyway, I'm sure there are a ton more, but those immediately came to mind, and the Loggins and Cheap Trick appeared on some Spotify Weekly thing for me a couple years ago, so that's a win for the algorithm, our new God.
 
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Another song that MJ/Quincy apparently got inspiration from, which seems kind of weird to me, but whatever. I love both Jon Anderson and Vangelis.



Donna Summer cover produced by Quincy, backup vox by MJ.

 
Tommy Prine, the son of the great John Prine. Something haunting about this one, you can hear his father's influence, but its not overpowering (i.e. Jacob Dylan and Bob Dylan) Not a bopper, but a song I have had on repeat for about a week.

 
The 3/9/81 Dead MSG show they just put on streaming services as part of the new box set. Wish this one got a vinyl release.
 
TownieDeac said:
Do you think their reputation for being insanely controlling, asking session musicians to do dozens of takes, going through tons of them on each record, etc., is earned or overblown, OldGould? Part of the charm, a bit endearing, or maybe a tarnish on their legacy?
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Makes you wonder how many times the made Michael McDonald sing "Peg" and how many actually wound up in the song. Probably most of them.

Definitely not a tarnish on the legacy.
 
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