Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Billie Eilish - I don’t understand.

The opposite way round for me! In a "one take" session for the BBC for example there is immense pressure for six musicians to get it right first time, this seldom leads to a natural, impulsive and tight sound. A live gig on the other hand was always more relaxed as you could "go for it" knowing a slight slip wouldn't be noticeable to the majority of the crowd. A live session that was being recorded was a whole different ball game, but I still preferred it to the studio.

In the scene I was involved in there was an expectation for bands to perform on the radio as a 6 piece, one bandleader turned up with a trio and was initially turned down for the session. His argument was " people who came to his gigs would be disappointed with a trio after hearing them on the radio as a six piece " they always performed as a trio. Eventually the BBC relaxed the rules but it did contribute to the death of the six piece band. However, this was inevitable anyway due to financial issues.

Back to the thread, it's a difficult one to call. Part of me thinks an artist should perform live in the same manner they create their music in the studio, that's what the public (me) expects. This will ultimately lead to a decline in capable live musicians. I've heard good artists on the radio only to be disappointed too often when hearing and seeing them on TV. The public ultimately decide, and vote with their feet and wallets.

I meant it more like Gordon did. I wouldn't say that I wanted to offset the qualities of the live band with the skills of the studio musicians. But the stress in the studio is enormous for someone who only plays his own boot. That becomes clear in this interview.

[video:youtube][/video]

Back to the thread regarding live performance. Here is a song of my favorite band or artists ever.
As far as Steely Dan's extraordinary live performance is concerned, it was born out of neurosis, at least in my opinion. Steely Dan is a good example when it comes to bringing the most extraordinary sound of a studio recording "on stage". So it's the other way round than most of the time...at least when I think of bands as it used to be that they tried to bring the stage sound into the recording session. Donald Fagen never performed live for about 20 years because he and Walter Becker were too shy and their standards were too high. In 1977 they probably could not have really realised the album "Aja" on the live stage.

But the sting of ambition never left Donald. It wasn't until, I think, 1991 that the time came. The first live performance (and album) in decades. Donald and Walter had brought together the best studio and live musicians and formed a breathtaking band. With greats like Peter Erskine on drums, who knows both worlds very well, e.g. with the band Weather Report. Other studio musicians, like Larry Carlton, suddenly became known as live musicians, so that Larry even formed his own live band. In summary, Donald Fagen has brought the best of the best of the studio scene on stage and he has formed a band. There is a 60 min. video from 1997 about the making of "Aja". A studio guitarist says: "We rehearsed the parts and rehearsed them again...until it was perfect but anaemic. Then we recorded it after a day or so and it was on fire".

Here is Steely Dan live, if anyone wants to watch, e.g. at 1:49 the track "Kid Charlemagne"...with horns to die for in the B-part.

[video:youtube][/video]