Deborah Conway: Put A Fucking 12 String On It
RIP Warren Zevon, Johnny Cash, Robert Palmer, Slim Dusty and now Elliot Smith, 34, found dead in his Los Angeles home yesterday, apparently from a self-inflicted fatal stab wound to the chest. He made some fantastic records but I was looking forward to the next one he was going to make. Joni Mitchell said depression is the sand from which the next pearl comes. I guess Elliot didn’t mind much about the pearls in the end. Very sad.
Our record is coming along bit by bit. It’s a funny thing, you think it’s going very slowly but then you realise you’ve done more work than you think. We’re here at the coal face everyday, chip chipping away at it. These are among the best songs Willy and I have written. And quickly too. Not since before children have I been so prolific and efficient. 20 or so songs in around 14 weeks. They’ve been weeded out and we will record 15 of them.
Much more than in previous sessions, we’ve approached this period of writing with a strong idea of outcome in mind. I wanted to revisit the things I love about the songs I grew up listening to, Simon and Garfunkle, Mammas and the Pappas, Carol King, James Taylor. They’re all writers who valued good song-craft. That every bit of the piece is there for a reason and fits perfectly with what comes before and after - the quest for the perfect pop song. (Elliot Smith studied at the same school.) Pop is an ever-changing beastie whose defining characteristics tend to be harnessed to the whims of play-lists, breast size, and advertising $$ but there is an undeniable core of familiarity in a good pop song. Truth, connection, the feel bad, feel good factor and recognition are all elements of it. In the end it’s still mysterious and elusive and no one really knows what makes a song a hit, though there is a site on the internet that says it has broken this down to it’s scientific elements and claims some accuracy in pinpointing one. Ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances.
For those of you who haven’t seen me live for a while I’m playing with some bloody gorgeous musicians at the moment. Gerry Hale on on all things stringed apart from guitars, James Black on piano and Hammond, Willy Zygier on guitars of course and Nick Haywood on double bass. Unfortunately Nick couldn’t make the record but we have Shannon Birchall from the John Butler Trio depping for him and doing some beautiful work.
Production is kind of limited to what we’ve got in the back shed though once you pool resources it’s more impressive. A good room and some quality mics and compressors can make up for inadequacies elsewhere. And of course there’s always the fucking 12 string.
added Thursday, 23 October, 2003
