You no doubt have read a LOT of books on songwriting; how
to do this, why to do that, what do you do when such and such happens,
but Bill DeMain’s “Behind The Muse” answers SO
many questions about how the great songwriters wove their magic to make
such great hits! Bill’s not just an
excellent journalist, he’s also a songwriter and recording artist, so
he knows first hand what’s important to share with other songwriters to
help us
all improve our craft.
Bill carefully sifted through over ten years worth of
interviews he conducted for such publications as Performing Songwriter,
MOJO and Entertainment Weekly (over 300
interviews in all) and selected a great variety of composers, lyricists
and artists (over 40!) to include in his “compilation”; sort of a “Best
of
the Best” kind of selection. From Burt
Bacharach and Hal David to Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Smokey
Robinson to Dolly Parton, Brian Wilson to Antonio Carlos Jobim, Alan
and Marilyn
Bergman to Todd Rundgren, and Justin Hayward to Sheryl Crow (to name
only a few!),
Bill covers a full spectrum of songwriters who gave us such legendary
hits
as “Stardust”, “The Tears Of A Clown”, “Nights in White Satin”, “The
Way We Were”,
and hundreds more!
The oft asked question, “Which comes first, the title, the lyrics or
the music”, is answered in every
way possible. Hal David related a comment
made to him when he was invited to a dinner party and the hostess told
him, “When you arrive, don’t ring the bell, just come in. It’ll
make
one less bell for me to answer.” Jerry Herman was writing a
musical and the first words he wrote down were “Hello, Harry” (after
his father), then
“Hello, Manny” (after his uncle). He started
working on the lyrics, “where this woman is saying hello to these
different men”, and then “Hello, Dolly!” was the “natural thing for
them to
answer to her. I realized I had a title not only
for the song but for the show. So I don’t really work from
titles. Titles
come out of what I’m trying to do.” Still others will get a
groove going and be working it out on their
piano or guitar and just singing some dummy lyrics until after they’ve
worked out all the music.
Among all of the wonderful gifts I received for my recent birthday, was
an awesome gift from my eldest
son, Erik, and his wife, Tammy … a very rare, personally autographed CD
from one of
my favorites, Smokey Robinson! Needless to say, I was completely
speechless as I held that CD in my
hands. (I’m STILL overwhelmed by the way Erik managed to secure
such a gift! HE’S got
connections I never knew about!) I’ve always loved Smokey’s
special way with a groove and a lyric. He
just gets so deep into the experience of creation that the results
can’t be anything but a hit. He’s a
perfect example of what it takes to truly make it in this business …
always giving it everything he’s got to make
it right.
Using Smokey's words to sum it all up, I’ll quote from Bill’s interview
with him:
If
you were teaching a workshop, what would
you tell your students?
“First,
make sure that your song is a real song. A song is going to be
your future. I’m sitting
in my office right now doing this interview with you, but I’m making
money because I’ve
written some songs that are constantly being re-recorded and
aired.
So that’s what I would
tell young songwriters. Make sure your song is the best it can
be, that every part of it is
working.”
Regardless, of how
much or how little experience you have with the craft of songwriting,
Bill DeMain’s
“Behind The Muse” can help you reach that next level you’re after, IF,
in Smokey’s words you “make sure that your
song is a real song … that’s it’s the best it can be, that every part
of it is working.”
Copyright 2006 by
Jace Carlton
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Jace
Carlton
lives in the Nashville, TN area and is a member of NSAI. A
Freelance Writer /
Photographer, Poet, Author, and former Radio DJ, he now enjoys a career
as a Songwriter, and a
collaborator much in demand predominantly in the Country genre, but
also enjoys occasionally writing for A/C, Pop, R&B, Smooth Jazz,
and
Cabaret.
As a Freelance Writer he has contributed reviews on new CD's to online
newsletters and regularly contributed book and concert reviews along
with personal commentary on the music industry to Nashville's Songwriter's
Connection e-Zine.
Jace is also the creator of the Change Your Stars! website
and its
companion daily motivational / inspirational e-mail message that's read
by over 14,000 people all over the world. For a free subscription
click here
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