[Harp-L] Vocals

["Steve York" <bandbase2@xxxxxxxxx>]

<<Bad news . . .Most folks listen with their eyes -- Vocals help focus a
performance. -If music is so entertaining on its own, why is it so hard for
a professional to support himself? Gary >>

There's a lot of truth in that statement. To elaborate, Duke Ellington made
an interesting observation in his autobiography. He said that during the big
band heyday singers were regarded as a piece of filler fluff you pulled out
as a break from the instrumentals. The musicians were the stars.When the
Musician's Union organised the recording ban / strike in the 1940's the
record labels realised that they could just promote the singers and down
play the musicians. Ellington said that the musicians shot themselves in the
foot over this as the public is now conditioned to focus on the vocalists.

Another observation. The lack of acceptance of instrumentals by the audience
is directly related to their level of inebriation, unless you're playing
something like "Wipeout"!


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