A few good music lines...
1) Joe List told me the first one: Bruce Springsteen headlined a concert in the 70s that also featured Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and some others. The crowd was riled up to see Springsteen. Raitt told Petty not to worry if he was onstage and thought he was getting booed because they were actually shouting, "Bruuuuuce." Petty's reply: "As if that's any better."
2) The second one was told by songwriters Cythia Weil and Barry Mann during this interview on Sound Opinions. They wrote “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” and presented it to producer Phil Spector, who thought it'd be great for The Righteous Brothers (Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield).
When they got together and played the song for Bill and Bobby, Phil explained the arrangement: Bill would sing the verses, Bobby would do harmonies on the chorus, and they'd trade off on the bridge. Bobby wasn't used to sitting out parts of their songs though. So he asked Phil, "What am I supposed to do while the big guy's singing?" Phil didn't miss a beat and replied, "You'll go to the bank." (Insert joke here about how Phil Spector really knows how to kill.)
3) And then there's one of my favorite quotes ever. It's from Elvis Costello (or maybe not) when he was asked, in 1983, how he felt about music critics. His reply: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture — it's a really stupid thing to want to do."
3 comments:
Good story I heard.
My ex's brother was hanging with U2. They are discussing music and the brother says to Bono that he feels their music has dropped off after Joshua Tree. Bono dryly retorts instantly. "Oh, sorry bout that. Guess we were too distracted by sold out tours and awards to notice. We'll get right on it."
The Costello quote has been attributed to lots of people -- I googled it to check. According to this blog, Costello himself claims (and Mull confirms) that it was actually originated by Martin Mull, of all people!
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