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CD song list Question???...
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Subject: BS: CD song list Question???... From: Bobert Date: 20 Aug 05 - 11:01 PM Well, here I am. One week before going into 3 days of recordin' an' I was goin' thru the couple hunner songs I have done over the years and I was thinkin', "Ahhhh, what to play, what not to play????" And I was thinkin' of all the CD's I've bought over the years from musicans I'd heard and wanted to support but CD's that ight have been played once and I was thinkin', "Hey, I don't want tomake a CD that no one will play" so's.... .... ahhhh, what's the right mix? Yeah, I know this is the Holy Grail question of doin' a 1st CD but Iz askin anyway... Over my last 40 some years o' playin' music Iz played so many styles... Yeah, I been playin' strickly Delta blues fir awhile now but I got country sonmgs, I got pure folk music, I got rock 'n roll an' I gotta 'bout an hour... An hour ain't too long when it comes to a couple hunner songs to choose from... Help!!!! Yeah, it can all be pure Mississippi hillstomp blues but.... Bobert |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: Amos Date: 20 Aug 05 - 11:42 PM Jeeze, Bobert, man, it's your call -- how could someone else make that decision? Envision some impact or theme that you could string twenty or so tunes off of, let them come to ya. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: katlaughing Date: 20 Aug 05 - 11:49 PM Do you have a core set of absolute favourites, best of your best? |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: Bobert Date: 20 Aug 05 - 11:58 PM Ahhh, yeah an' no.... I gotta 'bout 40 'er 50 good songs,,,, That ain't no core.... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: number 6 Date: 21 Aug 05 - 12:06 AM Here's one you can do .... Miss the Mississipi and you" ... (an ol Jimmy Rogers tune) .. it should fit the bill. and then take it from there. Just a suggestion. sIx |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: alanabit Date: 21 Aug 05 - 04:50 AM Bob, what you need to do is to imagine you are new to Bobert's music and to imagine what effect the album might have on you, if you were hearing it for the first time. Which song sets out your store for you, as it were? I would put that one first. Then pick a set list, which you would want to listen to in sequence. The final song is your closing statement, so you want to decide which song wraps up your set. I think an album needs to have a flow to it, so I pick songs which lead from one point to another. It won't be your last album, so you don't have to get everything down in one go. You can make another good album when this one is finished and you have had time to consider what other things you have to offer a listener. Good luck with it. I am sure you will do a good job. |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: Le Scaramouche Date: 21 Aug 05 - 06:06 AM I don't know you, certainly never heard your playing, so if I were to buy the CD what would I find Bobert was about? It doesn't need to be comprehensive, it's only one CD after all. Though some light and shade won't go amiss. |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Fullerton Date: 21 Aug 05 - 06:27 AM Ask other people what they think. It's difficult to be objective about your own music. They won't make your decisions but they could give a opinion which might help you decide. I try to avoid putting songs in the same key, next to each other on the CD. Don't put too many tracks on it. Leave 'em wanting more!!! Good luck with the CD. Hope you are happy with the end product and it sells millions for ya. |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Fullerton Date: 21 Aug 05 - 06:28 AM This ain't BS! :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST Date: 21 Aug 05 - 07:32 AM make sure tempos change with each track, keys change as well. Major followed by minor followed by major etc, rather than three of each consecutively.Wind 'em up with one track, let 'em down with the next. be yourself and don't choose songs to impress. |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,DB Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:49 AM Personally, one of my main reasons for buying a CD is to learn songs from it. You may not find this to be a lot of help but seeing recordings in this light has led me to the following conclusion: To be judged a good singer an artist has to have, at least, the following 3 qualities: - A pleasing/beautiful/unusual voice. - A technical mastery of his/her craft (including accompaniment - if that is relevant). AND - A good repertoire - so that people like me will be desperate to learn your songs and people who have never even thought of singing in public will at least want to hum along. I'm not very interested in recordings which feature the same old songs that everyone else is singing. How you build up such a repertoire is a different matter - perhaps it comes down to having good taste and a unique and individual vision that you need to share with others. |
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Subject: RE: BS: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Ron Davies Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:51 AM Bobert-- I'm sure you don't really need our advice on this but since you ask: Just play to your strengths--especially pick songs that you add something totally unique to. If I had to guess I'd say your best bet is delta blues, especially anything with a humorous angle. There are lots of delta blues a lot of us don't know--and we'd be more than willing to buy (and would love to listen to) a blues CD of yours. I sure would. |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: katlaughing Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:28 PM Sounds like some good advice here, Bobert! |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Clinton Hammond Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:39 PM "ahhhh, what's the right mix?" Don't suck... That's all :-) |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: pdq Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:54 PM Don't do "Milk Cow Blues" unless you're better than Doc Watson. |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Art Thieme Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:22 PM After 40 years of singing, you've got lots of good songs. Fill up the entire damn CD with as many songs as you can. 1)Pick the ones that will be new to folks, ones you think they won't have heard. 2) Pick the songs that tell the best tales. 3) Pick the ones that have the great tunes. 4) Pick the songs that you do the best. 5) Now you have at least FOUR lists of songs! And each list is worthy of it's own CD. 6) Go back over each list of songs---and pick an A-list from each previously chosen list---until you have another list of the best of the best. 7) NOW-----make your CD. Everyone will still have favorites on it and, also, songs they don't like all that much. So be it! Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Mudlark Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:40 PM What an exciting enterprise! Beam me UP, Scottie!! When I think of albums I like, a lot of the above advice, good tho it is, goes out the window. You might think about sticking with the stuff you like the best, feel the most comfortable with, the stuff you roll out when nervous or unsure, certain it wont fail you. Do stuff that you have made your own, over years of playing...doesn't matter if it's been done B4, so long as it's your own rendition. I'm very partial to Delta blues myself, but what gets me going is aniything that is sung with conviction and passion, that isn't predictable or tired. I know you've got a million of 'em! If you're the real thing, then doing what you love will surely be in the groove. And I agree w/Art...full up that sucker! The bird is on the wing...put as much out there as you can...you wont run out! Nancy |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Art Thieme Date: 22 Aug 05 - 12:05 AM After 40 years of singing, you've got lots of good songs. Fill up the entire damn CD with as many songs as you can. 1)Pick the ones that will be new to folks, ones you think they won't have heard. 2) Pick the songs that tell the best tales. 3) Pick the ones that have the great tunes. 4) Pick the songs that you do the best. 5) Now you have at least FOUR lists of songs! And each list is worthy of it's own CD. 6) Go back over each list of songs---and pick an A-list from each previously chosen list---until you have another list of the best of the best. 7) NOW-----make your CD. Everyone will still have favorites on it and, also, songs they don't like all that much. So be it! Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Art Thieme Date: 22 Aug 05 - 12:08 AM Sorry about the double post. Art |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: GUEST,Quigs Date: 22 Aug 05 - 01:17 AM I'm looking at doing a similar project in the not-too-distant future, and these are terrific suggestions. One thing I've decided to do is demo about 15 or 16 of the tunes I like the best, slap in some kind of order on a demo cd and pass it on to some selected individuals to see what they think, as well as live with it myself for awhile, so I can decide what I & others like and don't like, what to eliminate to get me down to ten or so tracks. The added advantage is that by laying down bass, rudimentary percussion, guitars etc., I'll have a sense of what I'm looking for when the meter's running in the studio. But still, getting it down to those 15 or so is tough, and the suggestions above give me something to think about. cheers, q |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Roger in Baltimore Date: 22 Aug 05 - 08:42 AM Bobert, I like Art's advice best. A good first question is "What Do I Plan to Do With This CD?" Do you want to sell it at at gigs? Do you want to use it to send out to potential gigs? Do you just want to entertain friends and family? If you are going to use it for promoting for gigs, it should be representative of what you do when you perform. Same thing if you want to sell it at gigs. At least some of the songs you sing at the gig should be on your CD. If it's just for family and friends, do whatever you want. Roger in Baltimore |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Cool Beans Date: 22 Aug 05 - 11:17 AM Congratulations, Bobert. What an exciting adventure. This is what worked for me: Assume that you have a week to live but there's time to let the world know you were a musician. What do you want your legacy to be? 1. Pick songs that only you do: something you wrote, something you arranged. I wound up writing one for my CD (after I'd thought I was all done with recording) and recording three or four I arranged. 2. Pick songs you love. Never mind that Doc Watson or Jimi Hendricks plays 'em better. If you love the songs you will put your soul in them; this will shine through. 3. Pick one or two that you've been playing for 40 years and one or two that you learned recently. The former will reflect devotion, the later enthusiasm. A good combination. 4. If you do all this, everything else will take care of itself: playing in various keys, vocal and instrumental, fast and slow, sad and happy, funny and poignant, blues and bluegrass (or whatever you play). I made my CD because I'd imagined my kids, 20 years from now, saying "Gee, didn't Dad use to play the guitar?" Go get 'em, Bobert! |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: moongoddess Date: 22 Aug 05 - 01:04 PM Cool Beans has the best advice yet. I, too, am in the process of creating a CD, and the songs I am recording are ones that I am passionate about, whether from long ago, or newly found ones. Try to get your friends who play other instruments to back you up. The fuller the sound, the better. But now that I've just said that, one of the songs I am recording, I am recording with my voice only! |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: My guru always said Date: 22 Aug 05 - 02:59 PM This is brilliant stuff & if I ever get across the pond I'll be really keen to hear what Bobert put on his CD! Good Luck with it :-) Thanks to all on this thread for such good advice, I've taken it all on board as I'm just trying to sort a set list for my first Festival booking. Will try to follow your guidance, cheers! Hil |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: PoppaGator Date: 22 Aug 05 - 04:30 PM Take a cue from the great Fred MacDowell and include one or two nice Gospel numbers along with the hardcore blues. I think that would communicate an important aspect of just where you're coming from. |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 22 Aug 05 - 04:56 PM Bobert, my trick is to make note of what the audience really likes at my shows, 4 or five songs, and record them, becauase the audience is who will be buying your CDs, and they usually want to buy what they've enjoyed in your show. Then I pick 4 or five of my own favorites (which I haven't already recorded) that I don't do a lot in public - or used to do a lot, but dropped them. It refreshes the songs for me and it introduces the audience to some of my stuff that they may come to like. Then, another 4 or 5 new songs by composer friends of mine, like Alaska Mike or Jed Marum, Robbie O'Connell etc., to expose my audience to the work of my fellow performers, whose recordings they may go on to buy. In all cases, though, I have to like each song for itself - on its own merits. Best of luck with the recording. Seamus |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Ebbie Date: 22 Aug 05 - 10:49 PM And then go on and have fun with it, Bobert. You know that we will. By the way, as far as I'm concerned, you can repeat some of the songs you have on that cassette. I can think of a couple right off the top of my head. So looking forward to hearing you at the Getaway... Eb |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: Bobert Date: 22 Aug 05 - 11:18 PM Well, well, well... My friends over at Tweedsblues suggest that I stick with a blues format and that I limit the number of songs to about a dozen so I'm gonna record the followin' and see how that mix works afterwards when the CD decisions are made: Little Walter's "Blues With a Feelin" Son House's "Preachin Blues" Muddy Water's "Little Red Rooster" Son House's "Empire State Express" Son House's "Preachin'lues" My "Buttermilk Blues" Robert Johnson's "Crossroad's Blues" Ahhhh, hmmmm? Somebody's "Blues With a Feelin" Ahhhh, sombody's "Got a Real Good Feeling, Talkin' to you on the Telephone" Arthur Crudupp's "Train I Ride" Mississippi Fred McDowell's "61 Highway" Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues" Dylans' "She Belongs to Me" Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man" Nuddy's and others "Rollin' 'n Tumblin" Blind Lemon Jefferson's " Keep My Grave Kept Clean" Maybe a little o', ahhhhhh's, "King Bee" and just fir grins... ... ahard slide version of Steve Earles "Copperhead Road"... Yeah, that's [purdy much what I'm thinkin' here... One week from tonight I'll be doing it, what ever it is... Bobert |
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Subject: RE: CD song list Question???... From: number 6 Date: 22 Aug 05 - 11:59 PM looks like a good list Bobert ... the best of luck be with ya on the recording. Good choice with 'Empire State Express' Will this be done accoustically? sIx |
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