Re: [Harp-L] re: From me to you

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 20, 2011, at 9:25 AM, The Iceman wrote:
> > Doesn't sound like Tate's sound on this recording to me......

Well, as I mentioned in the original post, Doug himself said he wasn't 
SURE.  He said this as though he'd thought about it quite deeply.  If it 
was possible that I was on a Beatles record, I would think about it 
occasionally for the rest of my life, too.

In the sweet by and by I used to occasionally get calls to sound like 
someone else, both for soundalike records and because the producer wanted a 
certain sound.

Lennon's harp sound would of course have been completely unknown to Doug at 
the time, but he did say that Lennon and McCartney were impressively 
specific in their instructions.  I don't doubt that John Lennon had played 
harp on many live performances of the song, and had developed that catchy 
melody.  It's not impossible that George Martin didn't like something about 
Lennon's playing - too sloppy by just a little, perhaps - and called Doug 
to see if he could do John's part just a little cleaner.  In fact, I doubt 
if there were any other reason Doug would have been called.  I don't think 
they wanted him to give it that wonderful Doug Tate sound.

I don't know if this is still the case, but in the 70's lots of the admired 
lead guitarists with rock bands did not play on their own records.  There 
were studio musicians who specialized in this sort of thing, who were 
pretty discreet about this.  They were simply better recording musicians - 
it's just not the same job as blowing people's minds on stage.

I shall not name names, but a famous sax player who had a single big hit 
sometime back in a previous century toured the hit incessantly for years, 
essentially losing his studio chops.  After about three years a studio sax 
player was hired to play his parts on the recordings that his fans 
continued to buy.

Last bit.  The guys who played 20 sessions per week in Nashville generally 
lost their live chops.  The great drummer Buddy Harmon, who played on 
zillions of hits and was the first call guy for decades back in a certain 
previous century, booked a live club show once every month or two for this 
very reason.  He did not want to lose his live chops.