Misplaced Pages

#113886

55-485: William Moses Roberts Jr. (August 16, 1936 – October 7, 2017) was an American songwriter and musician credited with composing the 1960s rock music standard " Hey Joe ." Roberts attended the Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina but left school for the life of an itinerant musician. He learned to play the 12-string guitar and blues harmonica , on which he claimed to have been tutored by Sonny Terry . In

110-458: A Boss DD-2 delay. Buchanan taught himself various playing techniques, including " chicken picking ". He sometimes used his thumb nail rather than a plectrum , and also employed it to augment his index finger and pick. Holding the pick between his thumb and forefinger, Buchanan also plucked the string and simultaneously touched it lightly with the lower edge of his thumb at one of the harmonic nodes, thus suppressing lower overtones and emphasising

165-536: A Mariachi Band, and hula dancers . Dino Valenti was very likely in the audience, serving a term for a drug charge. In 1965, Roberts was alerted by a friend to a recording of "Hey Joe" by the Southern California rock band, The Leaves . Roberts knew nothing of the recording and the friend (Hillel Resner, later his producer) offered to ask his father, an attorney in San Francisco, to look into

220-403: A recording studio that oversees the production and recording of the final product. However, record producers can be involved in co-writing songs as the composer wearing two hats as the producer and songwriter as they may write and compose the original music such as the beat and then oversee the production that takes control of the recording sessions with the artist and engineer all the way down to

275-504: A sideman with various rock bands, and he played guitar in recording sessions with Freddy Cannon , Merle Kilgore , and others. At the end of the 1960s, with a growing family, Buchanan left the music industry to learn a trade and trained as a barber. In 1961 he released "Mule Train Stomp", his first single for Swan , featuring rich guitar tones. Buchanan's 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg , nicknamed "Potato Peeler," first introduced

330-518: A composer and a lyricist ( Andrew Lloyd Webber with Tim Rice , or Elton John with Bernie Taupin ), a performer and a producer ( Madonna with Patrick Leonard or Mariah Carey with Walter Afanasieff ), or between bandmates ( Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones or Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA ). According to Billboard , the songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney remains

385-556: A concert by the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Washington Hilton. "Buchanan was dismayed to find his own trademark sounds, like the wah-wah that he'd painstakingly produced with his hands and his Telecaster, created by electronic pedals. He could never attempt Hendrix's stage show, and this realization refocused him on his own quintessentially American roots-style guitar picking." Gossage recalls how Roy

440-805: A drummer, performing with the Billy Roberts Blues Band. In September 1968, Roberts played at the Sky River Rock Festival in Washington , and jammed with Big Mama Thornton , James Cotton , and members of the Grateful Dead . His friend Dino Valenti was also on the bill. While residing in the Bay Area, Roberts performed in many of the local clubs and as the opening act for the Steve Miller Band at

495-402: A number of elements for a song, including an introduction, various verses and a chorus. At minimum, a songwriter must prepare a lead sheet for a song, which consists of one or more pieces of sheet music with the melody notes and chord progression indicated on it. The songwriter may expand upon the melody and chord progression by adding an instrumental melody (which may occur before or after

550-516: A publisher can be the first step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers with a desire for greater independence outgrowing this set-up once they achieve a degree of success. Songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company so that he could "keep as much [publishing income] as possible and say how it's going to be done." A beatmaker

605-408: A rock producer that may rarely contribute as a co-writer of a song. A top-line writer or top-liner is a songwriter who writes a song over a pre-made beat. In top-lining, the writer is not creating a song from scratch, but rather creating lyrics and melodies over an existing music genre , tonality , harmony , rhythm , and form of a song. In modern commercial writing, it is a common practice for

SECTION 10

#1732783278114

660-536: A song becomes a hit record ; legally, in the US, songs written after 1934 may be copied only by the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law . Songwriters can be employed in a variety of different ways. They may exclusively write lyrics or compose music alongside another artist, present songs to A&R , publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on

715-473: A song created under an employment contract cannot be "recaptured" by the writer after 35 years. In Nashville, young writers are often strongly encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the whole industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favoured in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract. Obtaining a staff writer contract with

770-472: A songwriter's behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax , the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters . Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity. Staff writers do not necessarily get printed credit for their contributions to the song. Songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers . Being

825-430: A staff writer effectively means that, during the term of the songwriter's contract with the publisher, all their songs are automatically published by that company and cannot be published elsewhere. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a strong staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal "9-to-5" hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary, says staff writer Gary Growden. This salary

880-520: A studio again unless he could record his own music his own way. Four years later, Alligator Records coaxed Buchanan back into the studio. His first album for Alligator, When a Guitar Plays the Blues , was released in the spring of 1985. It was the first time he had total artistic freedom in the studio. His second Alligator LP, Dancing on the Edge (with vocals on three tracks by Delbert McClinton ),

935-654: A tour through Toronto , Buchanan left Dale Hawkins to play for Hawkins's cousin Ronnie Hawkins and tutor Ronnie's guitar player, Robbie Robertson . Buchanan plays bass on the Ronnie Hawkins single "Who Do You Love?" . Buchanan soon returned to the United States, and members of the Ronnie Hawkins' group later gained fame as the roots rock group the Band . In the early 1960s, Buchanan often played as

990-846: A version of "Hey Joe" (on the 1974 LP That's What I Am Here For ); Buchanan also recorded Roberts' "Good God Have Mercy" on the 1976 LP A Street Called Straight . Roberts had been residing in Atlanta at the time of his death on October 7, 2017. Songwriter The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees , college diplomas and "rock schools". Knowledge of modern music technology (sequencers, synthesizers, computer sound editing), songwriting elements and business skills are significant for modern songwriters. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules. Since songwriting and publishing royalties can be substantial sources of income, particularly if

1045-444: Is a songwriter who creates and composes music or beats for a song, often laying the groundwork or 'musical bed'. Then a composer who specializes in melody will create the top line for the track. Tools typically used are keyboards, drum machines, softsynths and digital audio workstations . Beat makers or composers are not necessarily record producers by definition or acting role since they generally do not work directly with an artist in

1100-422: Is because the process of "working out" a song or arrangement requires a songwriter to play an instrument, typically the guitar or the piano , to hear how the chord progression sounds and to hear how well a given set of chords supports a melody. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, some songwriter-musicians create songs to perform themselves. Songwriters need to create

1155-400: Is co-written, written jointly or written in collaboration with other authors. Co-writers may use the "stream of consciousness" approach, referring to having ideas flow rather than being discussed. The first step in co-writing is to establish the division of the contribution between co-writers. In copyright law, there is no distinction of importance between the lyrics of the song or the melody of

SECTION 20

#1732783278114

1210-432: Is in effect the writer's "draw", an advance on future earnings, which is paid monthly and enables them to live within a fixed budget. The publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters , songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up: "I was able to concentrate on writing

1265-550: Is responsible in creating the entire music and lyrics of a song. According to Billboard , 44% of the songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1970s were written by just one songwriter. The percentage declined to 42% in the 1980s, 24% in the 1990s, 6% in the 2000s, and 4% in the 2010s. Lionel Richie and Diane Warren are the only songwriters with at least 8 number-one singles written solely by themselves. Songs written by more than one person

1320-403: Is said to "stretch the limits of the electric guitar," and he is praised for "his subtlety of tone and the breadth of his knowledge, from the blackest of blues to moaning R&B and clean, concise, bone-deep rock 'n' roll." In 2004, Guitar Player listed his version of "Sweet Dreams," from his debut album on Polydor, Roy Buchanan , as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time." In

1375-483: The K-pop music industry. Sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. The original songwriter(s) of a song usually receive co-writing credit when their work is sampled on another song, although they did not literally involve in making the latter. For example, Sting is credited as a co-writer alongside Todd Gaither and Faith Evans for " I'll Be Missing You " (1997) due to

1430-1119: The PBS music program Austin City Limits in 1977 (season 2). Leroy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Arkansas , and was raised there and in Pixley, California , a farming area between Visalia and Bakersfield . His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California. Buchanan told interviewers the fiction that that his father was a fiddle-playing preacher, which was repeated in Guitar Player magazine but disputed by his older brother J.D. Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially mixed revival meetings he attended with his mother, Minnie. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music." He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play

1485-596: The Silver Dollar, but Gossage did talk to Roy about seeing the Hilton show. That same night (as the Hilton show) Roy did several Hendrix numbers and "from that point on, had nothing but good things to say about Hendrix". He later released recordings of the Hendrix composition " If 6 Was 9 " and the Hendrix hit " Hey Joe " (written by Billy Roberts and first recorded by The Leaves ). In the early 1970s he performed in

1540-862: The Straight Theater in Haight-Ashbury in September 1967. He also opened for Santana at a Bill Graham Winterland concert in 1970. In 1975, Roberts recorded the country rock album Thoughts of California with the band Grits, which he produced with Hillel Resner. After a serious car accident in the early 1990s, Roberts was hospitalized for a time in Sonoma County, California . He later moved to Atlanta , Georgia to undergo rehabilitation. Roberts did not perform or record subsequently, but he held copyrights on nearly 100 songs. He died on October 7, 2017. Guitarist Roy Buchanan recorded

1595-688: The Telecaster through a Fender Vibrolux amplifier with the volume and tone "full out," and used the guitar's volume and tone controls to control volume and sound (he achieved a wah wah effect using the tone control). To achieve his desired distorted sounds , Buchanan at one point used a razor blade to slit the paper cones of the speakers in his amp, an approach also employed by the Kinks' Dave Davies and others. Buchanan rarely used effects pedals , though he started using an Echoplex on A Street Called Straight (1976). In his later career he played with

1650-531: The Washington, D.C.–Maryland–Virginia area with the Danny Denver Band, which had a following in the area. Buchanan was also popular as a solo act in the D.C. area at this time. Buchanan's life changed in 1971, when he gained national notice as the result of an hour-long PBS television documentary. Entitled Introducing Roy Buchanan, and sometimes mistakenly called The Best Unknown Guitarist in

1705-625: The World , it earned a record deal with Polydor Records and praise from John Lennon and Merle Haggard , besides an alleged invitation to join the Rolling Stones which he turned down and which gave him the nickname "the man who turned the Stones down". He may have turned the Stones down for two reasons. He may have feared abusing drugs and alcohol more if he joined them, and dying, like Brian Jones. And he may have felt that his own career as he

Billy Roberts - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-436: The early 1960s he went to New York's Greenwich Village where he busked on the street and played in coffeehouses . It was there that he composed the song "Hey, Joe," which he copyrighted in 1962. Early the same year, after a brief and turbulent marriage, Roberts traveled to Reno, Nevada to obtain a divorce. After that, he went to San Francisco where he again played in coffeehouses. It would become his base of operations for

1815-496: The guitar (though he later claimed his aptitude derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on steel guitar before switching to guitar in the early 50s, and started his professional career at age 15, in Johnny Otis 's rhythm and blues revue. In 1958, Buchanan made his recording debut with Chicago's Chess Records at age 19, accompanying Dale Hawkins by playing the solo on " My Babe . Two years later, during

1870-407: The guitar. He himself said that, while enrolled in 1969 in a school to learn to be a hairdresser, he ran after a guy walking down the street with that guitar, and bought him a purple Telecaster to trade. Buchanan also owned a Butterscotch Blonde 1952 Fender Telecaster that eventually wound up in the possession of Wishbone Ash guitarist Andy Powell . A friend of Buchanan's, however, said that Buchanan

1925-703: The harmonic, sometimes referred to as pinch harmonics , though Buchanan called it an "overtone." Buchanan could play harmonics at will, and could mute individual strings with free right-hand fingers while picking or pinching others. He was famous as well for his oblique bends. This was particularly notable in his approach to using double and triple stops . Buchanan has influenced many guitarists, including Robbie Robertson , Gary Moore , Danny Gatton , Arlen Roth , Jeff Beck , David Gilmour , Jerry Garcia , Mick Ronson , Nils Lofgren , Jim Campilongo , and Steve Kimock ; Beck dedicated his version of "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" from Blow by Blow to him. His work

1980-617: The head. After his death, compilation and other albums continue to be released, including in 2004 the never-released first album he recorded for Polydor, The Prophet . Roy Buchanan is interred at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia . Buchanan used a number of guitars in his career, although he was most often associated with a 1953 Fender Telecaster , serial number 2324, nicknamed "Nancy." At some point "Nancy" had jumbo frets installed, but remained largely original. There are two very different stories explaining how Buchanan got

2035-570: The matter. The attorney discovered that folk singer Dino Valenti had claimed authorship of the song and signed a publishing contract with Third Story Music of Los Angeles. This led to negotiations that resulted in Roberts retrieving his author's rights, but it did not prevent numerous recordings being released that named several other songwriters, in addition to Valenti, as the author. In 1967, David M. Overton left Detroit to attend Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, but in 1968, decided to be

2090-418: The melodies or lyrics. There is a way to prevent such legal battles. A songwriter can commit their "intent to make a song", which prevents any of the parties ripping the song apart. Some artists send out a legal disclaimer making clear that if their melody is not used after doing a topline, it reverts to them, and the track back to the track writer. Songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In part, this

2145-435: The mix stage. They are referred to as Record Producer / Songwriters as they generally receive songwriting and production credits for both roles. This is especially true for R&B, hip-hop producers in urban hip hop production , when composing the original music as the co-writer is integrated into their traditional role as a Record Producer, such as Rodney Jerkins , Dr. Dre , Timbaland or Pharrell Williams , as opposed to

2200-600: The most successful one of all time, resulting over 180 songs and a record 20 number ones for the Beatles on the Billboard Hot 100. Songwriting camp is a gathering of multiple producers and topliners in a pre-selected location for the purpose of writing songs for a specific artist. As one of the most successful artists in releasing many hit songs , Rihanna has been known for holding various writing camps to make her albums. Writing camps are also very popular in

2255-417: The musical track to be produced first without any vocal melody or lyrics. This is partially due to the rise of portable music production equipment and digital audio workstations that are designed for the swift arrangement of electronic music, such as Cubase and Ableton Live . The top-liner usually is also a singer, and will sing over the track as the demo singer. If the song is for a particular artist,

Billy Roberts - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-762: The rest of his career. In 1964-1965, Roberts was part of a San Francisco-based folk trio called The Driftwood Singers (with Steve Lalor and Lyn Shepard). Signed by David Allen, manager of the hungry i , the group did several month-long stints at the i, opening for the likes of Bill Cosby , Carmen McRae , Godfrey Cambridge , and Joan Rivers . The group also toured the West Coast, playing supper clubs and summer concert touring around Seattle and Vancouver , British Columbia. On New Years Day 1965, they participated in an entertainment event at San Quentin State Prison with Louis Armstrong , Sarah Vaughan , Johnny Cash ,

2365-688: The role of producer is not generally understood by the public, the average listener does not know when an artist also takes on the role of producer. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is one of the earliest and most widely known examples of a songwriter turned music producer. Within two years of the band's commercial breakthrough, Wilson had taken over from his father Murry, and he was the sole producer of all their recordings between 1963 and 1967. Many singers also write songs for themselves, and as such, they are usually referred to as singer-songwriters. In solitary songwriting or sole writing, only one person

2420-552: The sample of " Every Breath You Take " (1983), a song he solely wrote for the Police . However, "I'll Be Missing You" did not have legal approval for the sample before its release, thus Sting sued and received 100% of the song royalties, with payments reportedly going until 2053. Beyoncé 's album Lemonade (2016) features as many as 72 co-writers due to use of samples in majority of its tracks. Roy Buchanan Leroy " Roy " Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988)

2475-526: The song, therefore each writer is given equal ownership over the song, unless another agreement is arranged. "Phantom" songwriters provide small contributions to songs. The songwriter suggests a line for a verse or a session musician who informally proposes a chord progression for a coda. "Phantom" songwriters are usually not given credit. Songwriting partnership or songwriting duo is a prolific collaboration which consists of two songwriters, usually sharing 50% royalty each. Songwriting partnership can be between

2530-531: The top-liner may sing the demo in that artist's style. Top-liners often work in groups to co-write. Sometimes producers send out tracks to more than one top-line writer so that the producer or singer could choose the best option. Since the track is the same, melodies by different writers can sometimes be very similar. Occasionally, the producer might choose a few lines of melodic or lyrical ideas from one top-liner without properly crediting or paying them. These situations sometimes result in legal battles over ownership of

2585-626: The trademark Buchanan "pinch" harmonic. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with the British Walkers. In the mid-1960s, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, D.C., area, playing for Danny Denver's band for many years while acquiring a reputation as "...one of the very finest rock guitarists around." The facts behind that claim are that in March 1968 a photographer friend, John Gossage gave Buchanan tickets to

2640-401: The vocal melody, or alongside the vocal melody) and creating a more complex song structure (e.g., verse, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo section, etc.). With recent technological improvements, a songwriter can now create commercially viable music almost entirely on their laptop. This technological advancement has made the producer/songwriter role a much more popular occurrence. Perhaps because

2695-489: The whole time and have always had enough money to live on." Unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of these work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. Because the recapture provision of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 does not apply to "works made for hire", the rights to

2750-539: Was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as a sideman and as a solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career and two later solo albums that made it to the Billboard chart. He never achieved stardom, but is considered a highly influential guitar player. Guitar Player praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time." He appeared on

2805-531: Was found hanged from his own shirt in a jail cell on August 14, 1988, in the Fairfax County , Virginia, Jail. According to Thomas Hartman, who was in a cell near Buchanan's, the deputy sheriff opened the door early in the morning and found Buchanan with the shirt around his neck. His cause of death was officially recorded as suicide, a finding disputed by Buchanan's friends and family. One of his friends, Marc Fisher, reported seeing Roy's body with bruises on

SECTION 50

#1732783278114

2860-429: Was playing a Gibson Les Paul at the time, and traded it for the '53 Tele. One of Buchanan's Telecasters was later owned by Danny Gatton and Mike Stern , who lost it in a robbery. He was reported using a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Reissue for some time. Early in 1979 he switched to a 1975 sunburst Fender Stratocaster for a few years. Also, he used to play a Gibson L-5 CES when he was very young. Buchanan played

2915-464: Was released in the fall of 1986. He released the twelfth and last album of his career, Hot Wires , in 1987. Buchanan's last show was on August 7, 1988, at Guilford Fairgrounds in Guilford, Connecticut . According to his agent and others, Buchanan was doing well, having gained control of his drinking habit and playing again, when he was arrested for public intoxication after a domestic dispute. He

2970-436: Was then pursuing it had promising directions that he could not follow as well if he joined the Stones. In 1977, he appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits during Season 2. He recorded five albums for Polydor, one of which, Second Album , went gold, and after that another three for Atlantic Records , one of which, 1977's Loading Zone , also went gold. Buchanan quit recording in 1981, vowing never to enter

3025-410: Was very impressed by the Hendrix 1967 debut album Are You Experienced? , which was why he made sure to give Roy a ticket to the early show at the Hilton. Gossage went backstage to take photos and tried to convince Jimi to go and see Roy at the Silver Dollar that night after the show, but Jimi seemed more interested in hanging out with the young lady who was backstage with him. Hendrix never showed up at

#113886