[Harp-L] Re :Studio Charge for Harmonica

["Hurricane Ramón" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry All :

I forgot to post the subject on my last post , heh heh blame it on the codine ! Here goes again :

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Tom Ball sez of Chris Malchek :

" Chris suggested: $1000 per song + $150 per hour " .


And then Tom's further statement

" Ummm, well, I certainly admire your chutzpah, Chris. :) Wish they all paid that much. But after 30 years of recording, I have to admit that if I'd held out for that kind of scratch, instead of having 170 CD credits, I'd have exactly 3. 
I've found that one must be flexible -- there are no hard and fast rules.

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Hurricane sez :

Tom Ball didn't really make a mistake when he posted his remarks on this subject , Tom Ball is no novice at all to things like studio rates . Asking for what Chris says will paint you out of the picture of work faster than it will get it for you whith out a doubt bar none .


I'm not on 170 recordings like Tom Ball , 1/8th of that would be a closer count in my musicians life and that's a nice % when you consider where Tom is and how much less a population density my little patch of desert is compared to his back yard of the
" Greater Los Angeles area " is .


Sure what Chris said makes sense and is not a far fetched concept if your as hot a ticket as Charlie McCoy ( and all the others who have huge commercial prominence ) , but lets face it , how many of the harmonica playing veterans get that kind of clout who are as good ( if not better at times ) but still an unknown commercial factor ?

FYI :

One session I did with Jody Reynolds ( Endless Sleep 1950 something and no I wasn't on it because I was about 5 years old when it hit big all over the world ) . Jody asked for me because my cousin who played bass & rhythm guitar told him of me and later when other pro's talked of me to Jody years later he asked them to contact me for a 3 song set , I was thrilled , you see the line up of musicians ( do google on two these cats ) was Al Casey and Hal Blaine two heavy hitters with Hal being the stellar biggie between the two , my response when ,

Jody said :

" there's no money in it unless it hits big in Europe "

My response :

- - Who cares - - hell yeah I'm in ! 

Over all results :


Got me more work with others as a result , with radio commercials and more song writers and I made 100.00 a session afterwards regularly , not per song , some sessions were longer than that . I liked it , so what ! Picture yourself talking and inter acting with these giants all afternoon/evening and what your privy to learn and what places open up to you for work because of a casual time spent being treated to cold refreshments and goodies to eat and doing what you love best :)It wasn't woirk to me !!!!

Chan Romero and I , wow what a relationship - - never asked a penny for any of his sessions work ever , just hangin with that guy justified the time spent learning about what it was for him and other like him in the 1950's in the music bizz , their storys , the people I met and additional gigs via one Chan Romero is :

- - " PRICELESS " - - 

Hearing story's about Sinatra , and others from :

Hal Blaine , besides him being quoted as having more jokes than any one else ( it's been said to be a true thing about Hal ) and the many other superstars I have been lucky to rub shoulders with are worth more than $'s . Hal Blaine hurt my jaw - - not because of blowing so long at that session or cause he hit me , it was from his constant stream of stories amd jokes of real live people and real life situations he was involved in from The Beatles recordings he did and so forth between takes and other time consuming things in a recording session when we were all idle . 

OH - - 

I made bumpkis on the Jody Reynolds session :) but in the long run I have more than made up for it - - right on , right on right on right on right on right on right on right on !


To Tom :

30 years at it huh partner , that's to hip , lot's of water has flown under your bridge and mine musically , my first pro gig was in 1977 in a Country Western Band for almost 3 years and then ...well I have a post about Harp and Country Western music too coming up next when I feel better .


Where do the years go - - seems like only yesterday it all began for me , the vision of my dad handing my 3 sisters and myself 4 Hohner MBs one September evening when he returned from Los Angeles on my 4th b-day after he spent a weekend with his mum .

Chris is a right on guy too Oh And Chris :

Thanks for posting your ethnic back ground as you looked so much like a big Hawaiian ( of which I am constantly mistaken for ( me @ 280 5"10" ) us big guys have it nice at times heh heh , it's also a plus when negotiating with sessions & club owners , party prices , etceteras :) heh heh heh .

Me , well I'm a little of the following :

Spanish , Basque , African , Syrian , Austrian , Italian , native American Tarahumara Indian ( on the Mexican side of the Great Sonora Desert ) and maybe something else I wil find out some day , but I'm an American first and foremost .


When it comes to session work , gigs and so forth :

Consider it like a war - -

- - And - -

Sometimes you have to loose a battle or two to win the war .

On a more serious note all , to quote Burt Bacharach .

" What The World Needs Now Is Love , Sweet Love , It's the Only Thing That there's Just Too Little Of ".


Peace Brethren of Breath Bombasticisms .

Sincerely :

Hurricane ( still a sore guy ) Ramon 


Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx

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