Questions For Record Producers

[paul secor]

Questions for anyone here who has produced/supervised a recording session - if you're willing to share this:

How did you function as a producer? - Did you decide on musicians & tunes, or was that left to the musicians?

During the session(s), did you generally act in in a hands on or hands off manner - did you or did the musicians decide on how many takes, etc.?

When the recording was released, did you decide what would be released, did the leader decide, or was it a joint decision?

When the recording was released, who decided on the order of the tunes on the LP or CD? Did it ever occur that the tune order on the release was the same as the order in which they were recorded?

I hope that this doesn't come off as being nosey. I'm just interested in knowing how these things happen, and I thought that others might too.

[Christiern]

How did you function as a producer? - Did you decide on musicians & tunes, or was that left to the musicians?

• I never forced a tune on an artist, but I did occasionally make suggestions--i always worked closely with the leader of the date and made sure that he or she was comfortable with the choice. If the artist suggested a tune that I saw as a misfit in the planned album, I suggested alternatives, but always ended up with a program that the artist was comfortable with. In New Orleans, where I was recording older artists who had built up repertoires over a number of years, I only once came up with a suggestion--I asked Jim Robinson if he would do "Bogalusa Strut," which he had recorded with Sam Morgan's Jazz Band in 1927. Other than having played it so many years ago, he didn't remember the tune, so I brought a tape of it with me to our second session. We placed two speakers behind the band and played the tape with our recorder running. The result was extraordinary--they listened carefully, then George Guesnon began to pick chords on his banjo, Slow Drag Pavageau entered on his bass, Jim hit a few probing notes on his trombone and, suddenly, the band burst out and played the hell out of the song, morphing that tinny old mono sound into full stereo. When I got back to New York and started editing the sessions for release, I wanted to include that version, but Columbia would not give us permission to use the original "Bogalusa." BTW, that tape is in my Fibber McGee closet, somewhere, but Fantasy must also have it.
  
  As for selecting musicians, that depended on the situation. Howard McGhee selected his own group (actually a Miles group without Miles), I am guilty of teaming Roy Eldridge and Bud Freeman up for an Elmer Snowden date, and I'm sure I also picked Jo Jones for that one--Ray Bryant and his brother, Tommy, were natural choices, because Elmer had been their mentor back in Philly. Anyway, Elmer and I were in complete accord. Ida Cox had been away from the music business for so long that she left it completely up to me (Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Sammy Price, Milt Hinton, and Jo Jones seemed like a nice band, and she loved it).
  
  On another Snowden date, Elmer picked all the sidemen and When I recorded Dick Wellstood, I had already assembled a band of Fats Waller alumni (Herman Autry, Gene Sedric, Milt Hinton, and Zutty Singleton) so it was a matter of asking Dick if he would "sit in" for Waller. He loved the idea.
  
  So, the answer is really that I picked the sidemen when it seemed prudent, either because the leader (who I had, of course, selected) left it to me or when I had a certain album concept in mind.
  
  Apropos the importance of not saddling artists with incompatible musicians, I was once assigned to write liner notes for a Sylvia Syms Prestige album, so Sylvia and I had lunch. She begged me to tell Bob Weinstock that she was unhappy with the accompaniment and would gladly redo the sessions gratis. Esmond Edwards had made the mistake of selecting her accompaniment--this was a particularly foolish thing to do since Sylvia, like most singers, had a regular pianist and bassist with whom she was comfortable. The original session was released.
  

During the session(s), did you generally act in in a hands on or hands off manner - did you or did the musicians decide on how many takes, etc.?

• More often than not, I would ask for another take, but there were also times when the artist felt that he/she could do it better. Such decisions were usually the fulfillment of mutual wishes.
  

When the recording was released, did you decide what would be released, did the leader decide, or was it a joint decision?

• I usually made that decision. In the case of the Riverside "Living Legends" series, I made all such decisions. In cases where there were alternate takes, the decision had almost always been made in the studio--the take that made everyone happy was the one that was issued. So, in a sense, that makes it a joint decision. Reissue producers have included alternate takes for some of my sessions, and I don't like that--we discarded takes for a good reason: we were not happy with them.
  

When the recording was released, who decided on the order of the tunes on the LP or CD? Did it ever occur that the tune order on the release was the same as the order in which they were recorded?

• In my case, the programming rarely followed the recording order. It was good practice to make the opening track an attention-catching one, and that is a practice I followed. I never had an artist complain over which track was used or where it was placed.
  

I hope that answers your questions as far as my work is concerned. I look forward to reading how Chuck and others approached this task.

[Dan Gould]

Thanks, Chris.

[Guy Berger]

Wow, very interesting Chris. Hopefully Chuck can chime in with his 2 cents as well.

Guy

[neveronfriday]

Yes, very, very interesting. Keep 'em coming.

[SGUD missile]

Paul: seeinserted >>>>> answers below: Phil Kelly

Questions for anyone here who has produced/supervised a recording session - if you're willing to share this:

How did you function as a producer? - Did you decide on musicians & tunes, or was that left to the musicians?

>>>> In my case, I was usually a co-producer on projects other than my own,usually hired for specific musical needs..such as as an arranger/conductor/mixing consultant/ etc.

Usually the choice of session players was within my job description although often, the head producer ( or artist ) may have had a comfort level with certain rhythm player choices, which was fine with me as they were all usually pro guys.

My interactions with the head producer and artist would vary ... usually I was asked for some creative input, other times I was a worker bee and did as requested period.

During the session(s), did you generally act in in a hands on or hands off manner - did you or did the musicians decide on how many takes, etc.?

>>> yes ,since this is what I was usually hired for. ( Especially with less technically oriented producers.

When the recording was released, did you decide what would be released, did the leader decide, or was it a joint decision?

>>> not my area.. except on my own projects. I was often asked to offer an opinion however ..

When the recording was released, who decided on the order of the tunes on the LP or CD? Did it ever occur that the tune order on the release was the same as the order in which they were recorded?

>>> same answer

I hope that this doesn't come off as being nosey. I'm just interested in knowing how these things happen, and I thought that others might too.

←

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry I'm late to the thread but it's been "one of those days".

I have ignored the previous answers (not wanting to be influenced) so there are bound to be redundancies.

Each artist/band is different - some want to be involved at every step and some feel they have done their part when the session ends. I always spend lots of time with the artist before the sessions to make sure we are both pulling the same wagon. I have suggested sidemen and tunes where appropriate but don't think I ever insisted.

I am generally a "hands on" producer always trying to end with the best possible presentation of the artists music "at that time". In the heat of a session, sometimes the guys can lose their "vision" and need to be "prodded".

Selection of takes is usually a joint decision. I think I always "program" the recordings and never had a complaint.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart and regret the above isn't more thorough and revealing but it has been a frustrating day. Maybe more will come to me later.

[Rosco]

I asked Jim Robinson if he would do "Bogalusa Strut," which he had recorded with Sam Morgan's Jazz Band in 1927... BTW, that tape is in my Fibber McGee closet, somewhere, but Fantasy must also have it.

←

That's a great story!

[Harold_Z]

I asked Jim Robinson if he would do "Bogalusa Strut," which he had recorded with Sam Morgan's Jazz Band in 1927. Other than having played it so many years ago, he didn't remember the tune, so I brought a tape of it with me to our second session. We placed two speakers behind the band and played the tape with our recorder running. The result was extraordinary--they listened carefully, then George Guesnon began to pick chords on his banjo, Slow Drag Pavageau entered on his bass, Jim hit a few probing notes on his trombone and, suddenly, the band burst out and played the hell out of the song, morphing that tinny old mono sound into full stereo. When I got back to New York and started editing the sessions for release, I wanted to include that version, but Columbia would not give us permission to use the original "Bogalusa." BTW, that tape is in my Fibber McGee closet, somewhere, but Fantasy must also have it.

GEEZ - I would LOVE to hear that tape !!! I've had that Jim Robinson lp since it came out - and it's always been in "rotation" - it's a great album.

[Chuck Nessa]

Interesting answers from Chris and Phil. By chance all three of our answers come from slightly different directions - Phil as artist and artist/producer, Chris from primarily producing for someone else's company and me primarily spending my own bucks. Not a large difference but maybe "telling".

Chris has lots more experience than the rest of us and I was delighted to read his response.

[paul secor]

Interesting and informative responses - and interesting stories from Chris. Thanks to all for taking the time to share with us. It's a side of the recordings we all listen to and enjoy that I wasn't all that familiar with.

[GregK]

come on Chuck, write a book already! Stop teasing us!

[Dave James]

Geez, all you guys hurry up and write a book. I love this insider stuff.

Paul - Thanks for posing the question.

Up over and out.

Edited June 23, 2005 by Dave James