what living guitarist would you want to write/jam with?

That's what I assumed, but Buck is the only guy we seem playing an instrument with that is traditionally used to write the harmonic content of songs.

I like Robert Smith's concept, Queen did that for the last few albums. I get annoyed by the single songwriter credit on band albums, with Sting being the biggest target of my ire in this area. He may have written the basic harmonic structure of the tunes, as well as the lyrics and bass parts, but there is something huge and unreplicable the Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers brought to the tunes. Once they contributed they should have been give at least a quarter share of the credit for the songs each for their contributions. This goes for most bands, in that if your bandmates either need to or are given the freedom to interpret the tunes, the parts they have written for the tune or its arrangement should be valued in credit on the sleeve and monetarily.

It would be cool to know who wrote the bulk of the REM catalog (if it was heavily favored to any one person), as their sharing with their mates is to be commended. I did notice that the last album (at least) credited the tunes to just Buck and Stipe.

I am with you on the Sting thing. I mean, Every Breath You Take without Summer's guitar part is a boring song that wouldn't have been a single.

Honestly, I always thought Mike Mills wrote most of the REM stuff. He plays guitar and piano and is always singing the harmonies. I'm sure he didn't write the actual part Peter plays, but the overall song. His post REM music is more in line with REM than Bucks, but that could be that Buck is done playing that kind of music after 30 years which is understandable.
 
I am with you on the Sting thing. I mean, Every Breath You Take without Summer's guitar part is a boring song that wouldn't have been a single.

Honestly, I always thought Mike Mills wrote most of the REM stuff. He plays guitar and piano and is always singing the harmonies. I'm sure he didn't write the actual part Peter plays, but the overall song. His post REM music is more in line with REM than Bucks, but that could be that Buck is done playing that kind of music after 30 years which is understandable.

Yeah bass players are often the unsung/uncredited "heroes" in popular music. They bridge the rhythm and harmony gap and a surprising amount are singers (at least back up if not lead), so they are in a great position to guide and direct the music. In a lot of the big touring acts, the bass players are musical directors for the bands.

Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if Mills was like that for REM...like a doucheless Sting. :thu:

That's obvioulsy silly as you literally can't separate Sting from his douchieness.
 
That's what I assumed, but Buck is the only guy we seem playing an instrument with that is traditionally used to write the harmonic content of songs.

I like Robert Smith's concept, Queen did that for the last few albums. I get annoyed by the single songwriter credit on band albums, with Sting being the biggest target of my ire in this area. He may have written the basic harmonic structure of the tunes, as well as the lyrics and bass parts, but there is something huge and unreplicable the Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers brought to the tunes. Once they contributed they should have been give at least a quarter share of the credit for the songs each for their contributions. This goes for most bands, in that if your bandmates either need to or are given the freedom to interpret the tunes, the parts they have written for the tune or its arrangement should be valued in credit on the sleeve and monetarily.

It would be cool to know who wrote the bulk of the REM catalog (if it was heavily favored to any one person), as their sharing with their mates is to be commended. I did notice that the last album (at least) credited the tunes to just Buck and Stipe.

Most egregious example of this, for me, is Paul Simon with Graceland. Exploitation that undermines the larger message.

That said, I can think of a ton of examples where I wouldn't agree with you.
 
Does it have to be a guitarist?

Sadly that is what is listed in the thread title. With that said, I have several...

John Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
Pat Martino
Robben Ford
Jeff Beck
John Jorgenson
Brent Mason
Brad Paisley
Vince Gill
Mike Campbell
 
Most egregious example of this, for me, is Paul Simon with Graceland. Exploitation that undermines the larger message.

That said, I can think of a ton of examples where I wouldn't agree with you.

I, in turn, would disagree with you r disagreeability as it relates to not being agreeably agreeable by agreeing with my undisagreeable notion.
 
Does it have to be a guitarist?

Sadly that is what is listed in the thread title. With that said, I have several...

John Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
Pat Martino
Robben Ford
Jeff Beck
John Jorgenson
Brent Mason
Brad Paisley
Vince Gill
Mike Campbell

I meant to add Mike Campbell to my list as well. Jorgenson would be most cool to jam with as well. Image Mason, he's so good and it would be lovely hear outside of the context of overproduced country music. Vince has that voice as well, so that's a great choice. Ford is just a phenomenal.
 
That said, I can think of a ton of examples where I wouldn't agree with you.

I get that, but I feel like you can't dismiss the clear and significant contributions of the musicians that collaborated on your work. Even if you paid them like s studio musician, being a finite amount up front for their contribution, they should get credit for their work. And I mean a detailed credit, e.g.: Lukather has often constructed and arranged entire guitar parts on his studio gigs (much like Landau, Pierce, Huff, etc.) and gets things like Lead Guitar - Steve Lukather of Steve Lukather - Electric Guitars on the album sleeves, when he has contributed so much more. The text space to say Steve Lukather - guitar arrangement, rhythm and lead seems completely fair.

Similarly, I love Zappa and my share of the Stones (Kieth and Mick), but I don't appreciate their minimizing of the contributions of various musicians in their bands over the years. Both have taken credit for pieces of music created by band members. Despite some of the those musicians being okay with it, I think it's lame.

I'll stop beating this horse...it might be dead.
 
Ribot and Mike Campbell came to mind.

But i think Joe Walsh would be fun, inspiring, and a barrel of chuckles. And then we'd become best friends and he'd invite me over every weekend to drink a few beers, bowl a few frames.
 
I get that, but I feel like you can't dismiss the clear and significant contributions of the musicians that collaborated on your work. Even if you paid them like s studio musician, being a finite amount up front for their contribution, they should get credit for their work. And I mean a detailed credit, e.g.: Lukather has often constructed and arranged entire guitar parts on his studio gigs (much like Landau, Pierce, Huff, etc.) and gets things like Lead Guitar - Steve Lukather of Steve Lukather - Electric Guitars on the album sleeves, when he has contributed so much more. The text space to say Steve Lukather - guitar arrangement, rhythm and lead seems completely fair.

Similarly, I love Zappa and my share of the Stones (Kieth and Mick), but I don't appreciate their minimizing of the contributions of various musicians in their bands over the years. Both have taken credit for pieces of music created by band members. Despite some of the those musicians being okay with it, I think it's lame.

I'll stop beating this horse...it might be dead.

Flipside, you'd have artists giving themselves co-writing credit for arranging a new part on a cover track.

Hell, jazz musicians don't take credit for improvising on standards.
 
Flipside, you'd have artists giving themselves co-writing credit for arranging a new part on a cover track.

Hell, jazz musicians don't take credit for improvising on standards.

In my mind (it's such a fine mind), this only applies to original music. Arrangements or rearrangements of pre-existing tunes aren't a vehicle for claiming writer credits.
 
In my mind (it's such a fine mind), this only applies to original music. Arrangements or rearrangements of pre-existing tunes aren't a vehicle for claiming writer credits.

So, by that logic, Sting does deserve full writing credit, no?

"The demo of the song was recorded in an eight-track suite in North London's Utopia studios and featured Sting singing over a Hammond organ. A few months later he presented the song to the other band members when they reconvened at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat to work on the Synchronicity album."
 
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