Re: What about song writing?

[Gatorharp@xxxxxxx]

mlpratt@xxxxxxx writes:
<< What are the critieria?  What moves a song from filler to "best song on 
the 
 album?"  Think of the component pieces of a song; lyrics, melody, rhythm, 
 delivery, solos, what else?  How does this all come together to make a great 
 song?  Is it all just divine inspiration?  How do great song writers 
approach 
 writing a song?  I realize this is straying somewhat from our intended 
topic, 
 the harmonica.  But it applies to harp songs just as well.  Has anybody in 
Harp-
 L land actually written a song?  Tell us about your experience.  How did it 
 happen? >>

part of what you're talking about isn't songwriting, but record making.  
willie dixon wrote some great songs for a variety of people, but he wasn't 
writing out little walter's solos.  he wasn't telling anybody how the song 
should be recorded.  and he wasn't telling muddy waters how to sing.  at 
least not in a songwriting capacity...if he had been producing the session, 
he would've had some input on those last two as well, but that's something 
different.
to me, a really great blues (and probably rock&roll, country, and certain 
types of r&b) type song holds up with minimal accompaniment.  the lyrics and 
melody are interesting on their own.  i've heard "hoochie coochie man" 
performed on a lone acoustic guitar, and thought that it still held up really 
well.  i guess i think that a strong song is one that performers with 
adequate ability can still get across.
there are exceptions, of course.  "juke",  "mustang sally", or nearly any 
james brown song is not gonna sound that great stripped down to nothing.  
that's a whole different bag, with a different set of rules.

i think writing truely great songs is just damn hard.  not a lot of people 
can do it.  even less can do it consistently and over any real period of 
time.  i think you ~can~ work at it, but it's not like learning an 
instrument.  the chances are good that if you play your harp everyday, and 
listen to recordings of the greats and learn those things, you will become a 
really good harp player.  but you can write down words everyday, but if you 
don't have the imagination to think of saying things in new ways, lyrically 
and musically, then you probably won't be writing many great songs.
actually, i think writing even good songs is pretty amazing.  i think of 
things like "cut that out" by sonny boy one/junior wells.  i find that to be 
a decent enough song, not great, but pretty cool.
through my band, i'm finding situations where i thought i really liked a 
song, but i'm actually digging the performance.  we do "pawnshop bound", a 
song that i know many here think is great.  so did i.  my band does it as 
close as a four piece band can get (or as close as ~we~ can get), but when i 
listen to us, it's just seriously lacking...the rhythm section doesn't swing, 
we've got no horns, and i surely don't play harp as well as clarke did.  i 
still enjoy listening to his version, but i think if it were a stronger 
~song~, it would stand up to a certain amount of variation, and it doesn't 
for me, right now.

larry asks if folks here write songs...i would be surprised if a bunch 
didn't.  while i earlier agreed that kim wilson's writing wasn't his strong 
suit, the handful of blues tunes i have are mostly in that vein ("please 
don't lie to me" and "don't bite the hand that feeds you" stick in my head, 
but i still think it's the performance, not the songs).  the others are 
novelty type things about getting laid and not being well endowed.  most of 
them took about thirty minutes to write, and i think were written in my 
truck. they aren't bad, and most people think they're "real" songs, but i 
think that just goes to show that a good lead guitar/harp/piano, and a 
together rhythm section can make nearly any standard blues tune listenable.  
at the end of the night, nobody goes home humming my songs, and i know that, 
and i don't wonder why.
of the songs of mine that i'm really liking, none are blues songs, and 
several aren't finished, 'cause i want more out of them, lyrically, than what 
i've been able to do so far.  but like i said, it's damn hard...

steven j gatorman