Another interesting piece of John Braheny history from the John Braheny Archives on the Craft and Business of Songwriting.
Read the on-going discussion about this item on the “Friends of John Braheny” Facebook Group
Previously on Archive Highlights:
Songmine: Music in Print – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981
A John Braheny column from the archives…
“Music in Print” Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1,1981 Edition JB# E000000063-001
(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)
Songmine: Music in Print by John Braheny
If you’re a writer destined for success because you write mass appeal songs, particularly adult contemporary, MOR, pop, or country, you’re looking at a lucrative print market. With the possi-ble exception of the education print market, though, the songs will have to have been very popular records to make all those piano bar singers, Top 40 bands and other print buyers want them. I’ve found, though, that most writers know little about print music. To explore it I interviewed Ronny Schiff, an independent agent for print projects, at the L.A. Songwriters Showcase. She’s worked for three of the biggest print companies–Hansen, Warner Bros. Music and Almo Publications (no longer in the print business). About 90 percent of this article is taken from that talk. There are several types of print music publishing: 1. Sheet Music: piano/vocal arrangements, often with chord designations for other instruments. Personality Folio: in which the concept is based on a name ar-tist or writer; “The Songs Of…,” “The…Songbook.” These in-volve an additional contract called a “name and likeness” contract which allows the print publisher to use the writer or artist’s name or picture. For example, Barry Manilow could negotiate a “name and likeness” contract if someone wanted to do a personality folio that included not only songs he wrote but songs by other writers that he’d popularized. The philosophy is that his picture on the cover will sell that sheet music or folio whereas the writer’s name won’t always attract that attention. 3. Matched Folio- music from a: particular album or musical theater show. These also involve a “name and likeness” contract. 4. Mixed Folio: based on concepts like “Easy Piano Tunes,” “Hits of ’78,” etc. which involve music from a mixture of writers. Schiff says that “Peaceful Easy Feeling” was one of the most popular mixed folios. 5. Educational: included in this category are arrangements for choruses, marching bands, concert bands, jazz bands, -and or-chestras, and these are obviously sold to schools. drill teams, etc. This market gives music great exposure beyond actual sales. How many times in school have you heard the same songs being prac-ticed by the chorus or band? Multiply yourself by the people in schools and/or attending sports events and you get an idea how much exposure is available there. Writers also receive royalties if their songs are used in a televised event or parade. Another area of the educational market is “How to” books–“How To Play Bass Kazoo” or “Easy Gong Method” etc. You needn’t be concerned with it as a songwriter unless you also have teaching skills you’d like to use. There’s some demand for jazz “how-to”s, drum methods and country guitar techniques. What does your publisher get? Retail prices for print music, like everything else, continue to rise. If you’re interested at a later date, do your own survey. As of now, here’s how it looks: Sheet music: Print publishers will pay your publisher about 40 to 50 cents per sheet, which retail now for about $2.50. Folio: These will pay about 121/a to 15 percent of the Retail Selling Price (RSP) to your publishers. in the case where there are songs by various writers, this income is pro-rated according to the total number of songs in the folio. What does the writer get? Usually the short end of the stick. There has long been a practice in standard” publishing con-tracts to offer the writer a “penny” value on sheet music sales which currently stands at about six to ten cents per copy. It means that if your publisher can renegotiate his deal with the print com-pany after a new version of your hit becomes popular, you may still be getting a nickel a sheet from your old deal while his share goes up. What you should try to negotiate is 50 percent of all royalties received by your publisher from all your print sales. That way you remain equal partners in all royalties received. The 50 per-cent is based on a standard writer/publisher split but should you be able to negotiate a split more favorable to you, the print deal should reflect the same split. Publisher’s have no justification for givirig you less than a 50/50 split on your print deal.-There are situations where a publisher may have to lay out some legal fees to negotiate a difficult deal with a print publisher, but that’s part of the expense of running a publishing company, just like produc-ing demos and mailing tapes.
Live interview with Richard Addrisi on 12/10/86 from The John Braheny Interviews – 35 Minutes [Audio]
John Braheny was a diligent researcher, amassing a amazing amount of information about the music industry … not just for himself, but to provide teaching tools for songwriters/performers and others interested in how the music industry works. He loved meeting people who were pivotal in their particular roles and was eager to ‘pick their brain’ for how they did what they did. He and his partner, Len Chandler, founded The LA Songwriters Showcase and as an an ideal setting in which to conduct a ‘live interview’ on stage, with hit songwriters, singers/musicians, music publishers, managers, agents, record company executives, and more. Some of those ‘raps’ are provided here in the Archives in audio form, some in written form, and some later ones in video form. Most important to John was that the interviewee had something valuable and helpful to share. He wanted to know their ‘process.’ He later did interviews, (or led panel discussions) for the California Copyright Conference, the West Coast Songwriters Conference, TAXI Road Rally conferences, United Airlines “In-Flight” Audio Series, and many other outlets from 1971-2011. — JoAnn Braheny
Another interesting piece of John Braheny history from the John Braheny Archives on the Craft and Business of Songwriting. John told us that he wanted the archives to contain all the great educational materials created, over the years, through Songwriters Showcase and Songwriters Expo, as well as his own personal history. This is just one small piece of the wealth of audio that is available and I will continue converting this material, and sharing it, as time allows.
Live interview with Richard Addrisi on 12/10/86 – 35 Minutes
Recorded live at an event, most likely a Songwriters Showcase.
Len Chandler (LASS), Richard Addrisi & John Braheny (LASS)
Links:
Previously on Archive Highlights:
Archive Highlight: John Braheny Promotional Photos from around 1970
Another fun piece of John Braheny history we found during our work indexing John’s archives.
There are a collection of about 20 of these photos. All seem to have been taken on the same day.
Click for larger image
Previously on Archive Highlights:
Archive Highlight: Songwriter Expo ’77 Mailer
Another fun piece of John Braheny and Songwriter Expo history we found during our work indexing John’s archives.
This was a mailer that unfolded into this groovy 1970’s flyer for Songwriter Expo ’77.
Credits on the mailer include “Illustration: Keith McConnell — Design and Typography: E. Todd Ellison”
Mailer/Poster/Publicty Sheet – Songwriter Expo ’77 – Saturday and Sunday, August 13 & 14 1977 – Immaculate Heart College – The Alternative Chorus Songwriters Showcase JB# D000000025-001
Previously on Archive Highlights:
Archive Highlight: Hand cut and pasted version of Schedule for Songwriters Expo 1980 showing names of instructors and lyric evaluators with short bios
A great document turned up during our work indexing John’s archives.
This is a hand cut-and-pasted version of part of the schedule for Songwriters Expo 1980 which would have later been photocopied as part of the program for the event. I’ll be posting more Archive Highlights as we work our way through all of John’s many documents, photos and other media.
Hand cut and pasted version of Schedule for Songwriters Expo 1980 showing names of instructors and lyric evaluators with short bios – JB# D000000009-001
John Rhys/John Braheny chat about the late Joe South etc.
When I heard recently that The great Joe South ( Games People Play, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Hush, etc) had recently passed away I remembered that my friend John Rhys (Eddins if you know him by that last name) had told me about the first time he’d met Joe in Atlanta in the early ‘60s. – a life changing event for him. John is a hit producer/songwriter and proprietor of my favorite blues website, bluepower.com. We got together over his kitchen table and reminisced.
As it often happens, we don’t realize at the time, how a single conversation or event could alter our lives. This is approximately 12 minutes of conversation about that and other stuff. Enjoy!
The “December Dream” Saga
This was the body of a letter I sent to Ben Edmonds who was writing a story about the reclusive writer/artist Fred Neil for Mojo Magazine (Feb. 2000) after the EMI release of a CD collection, The Many Sides of Fred Neil, in 1999, which included unreleased masters including my song which was uncredited on the album. The re-release producers apparently assuming Fred wrote it.
Richie Unterberger, in his liner notes, wrote: “The undoubted highlight of this batch of previously unreleased tracks is “December’s Dream,” with its gorgeous melody (which somewhat resembles Dino Valente’s classic”Get Together” in the verses.) and seductive, languorous sadness. It’s difficult to fathom why this went unused; it would have made a particularly appropriate addition to the Fred Neil album, assuming that it was cut around that era. The ending finds bohemian, goof-off Fred in an uncommonly serious and direct frame of mind as he solemnly croons — with the authority of one who has lived the lyrics — “Love for any time at all is worth the price you pay to fall.” Truer words were never sung.”
Writing “December Dream” (They called it “December’s Dream” on Fred’s “The Many Sides of Fred Neil” CD) was a pivotal event in my life for many reasons. In about 1964 I was living in Cambridge Massachusetts , working days at Fanny Farmer Candy Company and singing in Boston’s Charles St. clubs at night. During that time I met Pete Childs, a great guitar player and singer who was also working the folk clubs there. I was mostly singing traditional folk music but had just started writing songs. December Dream was the second song I had ever written. I was going through a rough time after a breakup with my girlfriend who had had a fling with another guy that just destroyed me. I put it all into this song. That year there was an event in Cambridge, the first annual Freedom Folk Festival. As part of the event they held a songwriting competition that I entered and won, after which “December Dream,” as part of the prize, was published in SingOut Magazine. Ironically, one of the judges, Len Chandler, was to become, in 1971, my partner for 23 years in founding and running the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase.
Sometime in 1965, I believe, I sublet Pete Childs’ apartment in Cambridge when he went on the road but prior to that, I had taught him the song because he really liked it. Now we fast forward to 1967 after I had gone back to Vancouver, BC where I had lived on and off previous to moving to Cambridge. That year I had gotten off the road as a folksinger and joined a blues band, The Fantastic Sensations, playing in front of acid crazed audiences and light shows. Later that year I got a letter via my parents in Elgin Illinois, from a music publisher (Third Story Music) who said that a group called the Stone Poneys, featuring Linda Ronstadt (who I had never heard of) had recorded “December Dream” on their Evergreen #2 album. Enclosed was a contract and a $200 advance. As a result, I signed the contract and moved to L.A., figuring it would be a good idea to follow up on this success. It WAS a good idea. Changed my life. I recorded the song myself later on Pete Records, an indie label I signed with about a year later.
My understanding of how the song got recorded, from what producer (the late) Nik Venet told me, was that they needed more songs on the Stone Ponies sessions at Capitol and asked the musicians on the session, including Pete Childs, if they had any songs. Pete played them “December Dream,” they liked it and cut it. Pete had also played on the Fred Neil sessions and taught him the song too. When I met Venet later he told me about it and even later, Howard Solomon, who had been Freddy’s manager, came to the songwriters Showcase one night at Gios on Sunset and presented me with three different takes of Freddy singing my song. Major thrill! After singing Freddy’s “That’s The Bag I’m In.” and “The Other Side of This Life” for years in my solo folk gigs and even with the Fantastic Sensations, I was honored that he’d want to record a song of mine.
I have no idea why they picked that particular take for the unreleased songs on this new compilation. Howard and I also liked the one that ended right after the last line but they used the one in which he continued to play guitar. Since I loved his voice and style so much, it really didn’t matter that much to me. It also didn’t matter that he took some liberties with the melody.
I think I actually met Freddy only once (I have a vague recollection though, that I may have attended one of his recording sessions in L.A.). Bruce Langhorne, Bruce’s then girlfriend Noreen Eck and I drove down from White Plains NY to Coconut Grove where Bruce had a gig playing guitar for Odetta (I think at the Gaslight South). This was at least two years before he cut my song and I don’t even know if he remembered or put the name together later. He was gigging occasionally down there, sometimes with Vince Martin. He was a longtime legend down there. I think I first heard about him from David Crosby back in ’62. At that time David taught me a song he had learned from Freddy, a sweet bluesy ballad called “Willie Jean.” David and I met in Omaha when he, his brother Chip and (I think) Mike Clough, were headed out to the West Coast to join the Les Baxter Balladeers. My time might be off on that because I also remember him from the Chicago scene. Anyway, David spent a lot of time on that Coconut Grove scene and was a friend of Freddy’s.
In retrospect. In my incarnations as songwriting teacher, music publisher etc., I never would have given the song a shot at being recorded. No real hook, no “commercial” structure, no repeated chorus, a title that doesn’t show up in the song, not even a bridge. Sometimes emotional honesty, sincerity, a little poetry and a pretty melody win. Who knew?
We’re fortunate to have Fred’s recordings as a reminder of his spirit and that great voice and I’m honored that he chose to record my song.
John Braheny
john@johnbraheny.com
Lyric Writing:Common Challenges
There are many aspects to writing lyrics that may not immediately come to mind when you’re “in the zone” and the ideas are flowing. By all means, don’t stop the flow, just try not to get it hung up trying to find rhymes or correct phrasing at this point. Explore the “what if” ideas if anything and just let it roll. After that first draft, though, here are some things to consider.
Getting trapped by precision. Writers who write exclusively lyrics and those who start songs by writing lyrics before writing melodies can suffer from getting into a lyric meter pattern in the first section they write and carrying the same pattern through every section. Those of you on the fringe’s of obsessive compulsive disorder are also going to tend to make sure that each lyric meter is precisely the same in each verse and even in the chorus. Consequently much of their lyric will feel forced, stiff and un-conversational. Remember, you’re not writing a Haiku poem here (precisely 17 syllables), you’re writing a conversation and seldom does a conversation come out precisely the same, verse after verse. I’ll hasten to add that there are certainly successful songs that are more “poetic” than others and not as conversational as they are artful. However, the artfulness is not as much about the precision of meter as choice of words, metaphors and images. In other words, not as much in the artifice as is in the content itself.
The solution to this problem is to re-write what you think is a chorus with a totally fresh construction, lyric meter and rhyme scheme, making use of repetition of the title. Even if you’re not quite sure what you want the title to be and your initial draft of the song has the ‘”too precise and predictable” problem, always know that it’s a first draft and if the chorus is something you discover as you go, return to it for a rewrite before you nail down a melody. (See “Chorus Construction” P 93 The Craft and Business of Songwriting 3rd Ed.) For additional verses, loosen up. All you need is to make the vocal phrasing work smoothly with the first verse melody and if it means you need to make a slight adjustment in subsequent verse melodies to accommodate the lyric, it’s not really such a big deal. The content of the lyric is more important. This can be more difficult, however, if you write only lyrics without having a melody in your head to act as a matrix.
Writing to express yourself vs. writing to communicate. Sometimes you DO communicate when you express yourself. The problem is mainly making it interesting to the listener. We’ve all had long conversations with people who want to talk to us about every nuance of their personal history or problems. At some point during an unstoppable interlude like that you find yourself thinking about whether your car is due for an oil change. However, some people are natural story-tellers who offer fascinating details, descriptions and build a story in a way that keeps you asking “Then what happened?” and you’re hanging onto every word. Chances are they’ve re-told the story (re-written it) enough times to have added a little fascinating detail along the way as they felt their listeners’ attention drifting. We never tire of hearing the same story and end up saying to friends, “Have him tell you the story about _____.” When you look at your lyric, try to put yourself in the place of a listener and imagine listening to this story. Would it hold your attention?
Tell us the story. Don’t tell us about the story. The specific always stays with listeners longer than the general.
(1) “She left me last year and I’m not over her yet.
So many things about her I still can’t forget”
Interesting? No. Too general – not enough detail to be engaging.
(2) “We fought about money, I could never make enough.
Part of me’s glad the nagging’s gone and the other part knows I’m still in love”.
Better – you’re still letting us know she’s gone but you’re adding it in the context of why she left and how you feel about it. You’ve got substantially more info in #2. Money represents very common source of marital conflict, so you’re tapping into that audience. (Yes I know the 2 versions don’t scan the same but I’m making the point about content.)
So what did we gain? As a listener, I don’t really care when she left. I’m much more interested in why she left, and what there is about her, he can’t forget. So unless you begin to answer the question raised immediately, you’re courting boredom in your listener.
Build an interesting context.
Scenario 1 – Boy takes his girl home after a date – leans over to kiss her goodnight at her doorway and she turns her head away. Anyone who’s been there recognizes the major sign that something’s wrong.
Scenario 2 – Boy is standing with four pals on the sidewalk after school. His girlfriend comes over to the group and the boy tries to kiss her. She turns away. The scene is much more intense because he’s also publicly embarrassed and now they all know something’s wrong.
In scenario 2 the same action is intensified by a more emotionally loaded context. The drama is heightened considerably and sets up an even more volatile scene. Explore other contextual elements you could use to enhance the color and drama in your songs. Where is the action taking place? Who else is present? How do those factors relate to the action? It’s a good exercise to map out the scenarios in prose or like a movie script as I did above in as much detail as possible, describing what you see in your imagination, even if you don’t end up using all the details in your lyric.
———————————————- Excerpted and updated from John Braheny’s The Craft and Business of Songwriting (3rd Ed)
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Getting trapped by precision. Writers who write exclusively lyrics and those who start songs by writing lyrics before writing melodies can suffer from getting into a lyric meter pattern in the first section they write and carrying the same pattern through every section. Those of you on the fringe’s of obsessive compulsive disorder are also going to tend to make sure that each lyric meter is precisely the same in each verse and even in the chorus. Consequently much of their lyric will feel forced, stiff and un-conversational. Remember, you’re not writing a Haiku poem here (precisely 17 syllables), you’re writing a conversation and seldom does a conversation come out precisely the same, verse after verse. I’ll hasten to add that there are certainly successful songs that are more “poetic” than others and not as conversational as they are artful. However, the artfulness is not as much about the precision of meter as choice of words, metaphors and images. In other words, not as much in the artifice as is in the content itself.
The solution to this problem is to re-write what you think is a chorus with a totally fresh construction, lyric meter and rhyme scheme, making use of repetition of the title. Even if you’re not quite sure what you want the title to be and your initial draft of the song has the ‘”too precise and predictable” problem, always know that it’s a first draft and if the chorus is something you discover as you go, return to it for a rewrite before you nail down a melody. (See “Chorus Construction” P 93 The Craft and Business of Songwriting 3rd Ed.) For additional verses, loosen up. All you need is to make the vocal phrasing work smoothly with the first verse melody and if it means you need to make a slight adjustment in subsequent verse melodies to accommodate the lyric, it’s not really such a big deal. The content of the lyric is more important. This can be more difficult, however, if you write only lyrics without having a melody in your head to act as a matrix.
Writing to express yourself vs. writing to communicate. Sometimes you DO communicate when you express yourself. The problem is mainly making it interesting to the listener. We’ve all had long conversations with people who want to talk to us about every nuance of their personal history or problems. At some point during an unstoppable interlude like that you find yourself thinking about whether your car is due for an oil change. However, some people are natural story-tellers who offer fascinating details, descriptions and build a story in a way that keeps you asking “Then what happened?” and you’re hanging onto every word. Chances are they’ve re-told the story (re-written it) enough times to have added a little fascinating detail along the way as they felt their listeners’ attention drifting. We never tire of hearing the same story and end up saying to friends, “Have him tell you the story about _____.” When you look at your lyric, try to put yourself in the place of a listener and imagine listening to this story. Would it hold your attention?
Tell us the story. Don’t tell us about the story. In film industry vernacular, “Don’t write a treatment (plot summary), write a script.”
(1) “She left me last year and I’m not over her yet.
So many things about her I still can’t forget”
Interesting? No. Too general – not enough detail to be engaging.
(2) “We fought about money, I could never make enough.
Part of me’s glad the nagging’s gone and the other part knows I’m still in love”.
Better – you’re still letting us know she’s gone but you’re adding it in the context of why she left and how you feel about it. You’ve got substantially more info in #2. Money represents very common source of marital conflict, so you’re tapping into that audience. (Yes I know the 2 versions don’t scan the same but I’m making the point about content.)
So what did we gain? As a listener, I don’t really care when she left. I’m much more interested in why she left, and what there is about her, he can’t forget. So unless you begin to answer the question raised immediately, you’re courting boredom in your listener.
Build an interesting context.
Scenario 1 – Boy takes his girl home after a date – leans over to kiss her goodnight at her doorway and she turns her head away. Anyone who’s been there recognizes the major sign that something’s wrong.
Scenario 2 – Boy is standing with four pals on the sidewalk after school. His girlfriend comes over to the group and the boy tries to kiss her. She turns away. The scene is much more intense because he’s also publicly embarrassed and now they all know something’s wrong.
In scenario 2 the same action is intensified by a more emotionally loaded context. The drama is heightened considerably and sets up an even more volatile scene. Explore other contextual elements you could use to enhance the color and drama in your songs. Where is the action taking place? Who else is present? How do those factors relate to the action? It’s a good exercise to map out the scenarios in prose or like a movie script as I did above in as much detail as possible, describing what you see in your imagination, even if you don’t end up using all the details in your lyric.
Excerpted and updated from John Braheny’s The Craft and Business of Songwriting (3rd Ed)
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Interview with TAXI’s Michael Laskow
I recently sat down with TAXI’s Michael Laskow to be grilled on Songwriting and the Music Business. Here is my interview (reposted from Ustream).