"I'll Give You One Week To Learn It!"

[Bill Hankey]

Les,

It's much the same as a nurse who uses your arm as if it was a pincushion when trying to get samples. There is a big difference in singers who work well with band members.

[Bill Hankey]

Chris Ivey,

I believe Richard left out the dramatic action taken by Pete Drake. He must have returned from making a banker's withdrawal from a Nashville bank. Perhaps he was carrying extra cash to make some purchases on that day. The story has it, he did reach in his pocket and produced a fist full of money. Using his thumb, and gingerly bending the bills, Pete let them flick back as you would when mixing playing cards. That's easy to visualize. Little did he know at that time that Buddy would go on to become the world's foremost player. I'll bet he was getting clued in at that time, in spite of the awkward situation.

[Mike Perlowin]

It depended on the circumstances. It's possible that the song in question has a gazillion complicated chord changes, and the gig is very important, (maybe an audition to be the opening act for a national tour of a superstar) and there can't be any screw-ups.

If it's an amateur doing her first bar gig, and the song is a a tad more complicated than the average 3 chord country (I.E. "Stand By you man,") I'd smile and say OK IF SHE WAS NICE ABOUT IT. If she was being a (rhymes with witch) I might walk away.

[Mike Perlowin]

. There is a big difference in singers who work well with band members.

Truer words were never spoken. (Or posted on this or any other forum.

[Tamara James]

As a steel guitarist, how would you respond to that comment?

Well, Princess, when you are going to START learing it? I won't need the whole 6 days.

[Les Green]

Tamara, I think I'll have to nominate your come-back as the best of the bunch so far!

[Clete Ritta]

...how would you respond to that comment?

If the comment was made to offend or challenge you, I'd retort like what Joe or Tamara said, or perhaps something along the lines of:
"Learn it? I wrote it!"

Otherwise, if she was looking for a real band to replace the CD, I'd say,
"Sure thing! I'll see you October 2nd. Shall I chart out the other parts on the CD for another player too? I have lots of talented friends!"

Clete

[Mike Perlowin]

You know, some people are just not good with words, and have great difficulty expressing themselves. She might have meant to say "Could you please learn this song by next week?," and it came out all wrong.

The question is whether she was nice and made a poor choice of words, or whether she was being condescending or nasty.

And of course the way to respond depends not on the words themselves, but on the attitude of the singer.

[Charles Davidson]

Many times I would have been grateful to have six days to learn a show. Back in the fifties worked clubs that had floor shows,[Not T and A ]real shows girls,New one each week,they all had their music with them ,We had Monday afternoon to learn a new show each week. If someone can't learn a show in six days YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER LINE OF WORK. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

[Bill Dobkins]

I would say no problem,Peice of cake. Then at the show I'd play my way. Her head is probably so big she wouldn't notice anyway.
If it was Connie Smith It would be different.

[Wayne Franco]

How is the keyboardist. Who you associate with musically will certainly have an effect on how you play. Do THEY play the chords correctly, is their timing good, do they know how to intro and outro a song. I think you need to properly analyze who you are playing with. Sometimes its just not worth it How was your playing. Was she justified in saying something and just didn't say it in a way that was very nice. Lots of variables here. Also how you respect each other as musicians has a lot to do with your reaction. Personally it doesn't sound like you have much respect for the singer in the first place.

[Stu Schulman]

Bill a mediocre singer? That usually means a $200.00 mic with a $12.00 voice going thru it.

[Tommy Shown]

I have worked with people , like that before. This one band I was in the guy would give me a tape and would say you got a month to learn the songs on it.
I would sit at home in my free time, trying to get as close as I could to the tape.
Tommy

[chris ivey]

that's kinda like my song, 'thousand dollar rims onna hunnerd dollar car'.

i remember backing people like johnny lee, rex allen jr, tex williams, stella parton....maybe a tape to listen to a day ahead of time. they were always cool about however it turned out!

[Mike Perlowin]

This one band I was in the guy would give me a tape ...to learn the songs on it.

That once happened to me, in a blues band. Turned out I already knew every song on the tape.

But here's the kicker. Every song on the tape, without exception, was a cover of the tune by a White rock and roll singer. None of the songs on the tape were by the original Black artists who wrote and recorded them in the first place. Howling Wolf, Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, and even the Coasters were all represented by people imitating them.

I tried to turn the guy on to the original recordings, but he could not see the value of it and was not interested.

[Mike Perlowin]

that's kinda like my song, 'thousand dollar rims onna hunnerd dollar car'.

Or, more apropos to this forum, the first generation of Variax guitars. As one reviewer put it, "They put a thousand dollars worth of electronics in a 50 dollar guitar."

Line 6 learned from its mistake and made better ones later.

[Duane Reese]

I would have given her a perplexed look, and said...

"....Uh....who the hell are you?"

[Clete Ritta]

...Or, more apropos to this forum, the first generation of Variax guitars. As one reviewer put it, "They put a thousand dollars worth of electronics in a 50 dollar guitar."...

Many years ago, a friend had a barely used Roland VG88 in his garage and gave it to me for my birthday. I tried it a few times. Now its sitting in my garage.


Clete

[Bill Hankey]

Years ago, I spent some time tinkering with a Vintage HeathKit. I'd be remiss by claiming total satisfaction with ownership. The memory is subject to criticism. Still I can't put it out of my mind. The subsequent unrelated carpings pointed out in this thread, followed me home, very much like the HeathKit.

[Joe Casey]

I think I would respond with what Key? I'm sure the response would be, er

[Bill Hankey]

Joe,

Perhaps you could guess another songstress sophisticate living in central Massachusetts, where you have spent many years entertaining. Crowd her one too many times, and she'll fire one of her favorite salvos, that goes something like; "You've had your day". I'll give you a clue; a sparkling brunette, who can go the full 4 hour gig without a problem.

[Les Anderson]

Les Green: we had a father rip at us because he thought we made his daughter look bad. Our Bass player ripped the father a new one because his daughter had no idea how to work with a band, an intro, a bridge or a wrap or anything else. Her daddy was her band most of the time she lead into every song she sang and daddy plunked, plunked whenever they thought a bridge would sound good. Also, every song ended with a plunk, plunk.

Timing????

[Bill Hankey]

Les Anderson,

Dealing with an unpleasant situation can suddenly blossom into a lost cause for all parties. I've been reminded of this by conjecturers who have been caught up in similar situations. It's difficult to explain eloquently to a proud dad, otherwise he might have been the wiser on all fronts. I once saw a member of a band break free from restraint, by exploding in the bandleaders face over the lack of songwriting abilities. The critical band member had just finished singing "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It". It became a roisterous predicament in two seconds flat. The results were as a consequence, that both members continued entertaining; in different bands.

[Tony Prior]

I still don't understand..she was singing to pre-recorded tapes, was she talking to you? Were you playing with them to the tapes ?

I guess if someone said that to me under those conditions I would ask flat out what she means , maybe she just said it wrong... If though she said it with authority I would probably tell her I won't be here in a week so why does it matter !

I recently attended a simple Blues jam with a group of ..well..older like me , non gigging players trying to find a gig, they were using music stands and charts, they played a couple of tunes that they didn't even know. But, they were nice guys..it seemed..they were looking for a guitar player who would hang out, practice once a week and maybe play 1 gig a month...I can tell you this..they were leagues below my stage experience, that's not a brag just an actuality.I have earned the right to say that after 40 years... I played and sang maybe 3 or 4 stock Blues tunes. It was sorta fun...


After we talked they told me they wanted a professional player ,kinda arrogant... I couldn't help it..I told them they are using music stands and read the words, and they don't have any gigs...and they only played out once !

I decided at that time to tell them that I am not the player they are looking for...I had fun, it was nice meeting them but this was not my thing...

Kinda like "I'll give you a week to learn it"

What does that mean ?

To me it means they are very important people, way more important than me !

I guess I would say..

I don't need a week to learn it , I won't be here in a week !

[Bill Hankey]

Tony,

I've watched you play on the web. I think that I'll click on some of your performances, after I send this response to the forum members. No! I am not part of her band. As I had mentioned earlier, The couple visits with her daughter during the summer months, and truck back to Florida in The fall. She has spent most of her time singing with just keyboard accompaniment. Lately, the twosome have found a big advantage in singing to professional prerecorded music, by cutting out the original voices. They were playing recorded music while getting set up, when I walked over near the bandstand. About that time, a steel guitarist was playing some fast uptempo picking when she hit me with the remark.