Longtime music business insider Jimmy Guterman, writing over at Boing Boing this morning, makes a reasonable point about the paralyzing effects of perfectionism:
My favorite part of The Promise, a documentary about the making of Bruce Springsteen's 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town that was on pay TV this month and will be available for sale next month, is when we learn that one of the many reasons recording took longer than it should have is that Springsteen felt he could hear the sound of Max Weinberg's stick hitting the drum. That ruined the sound of the song for him, and many hours were devoted to making the drum sound all drum and no stick. Springsteen sits in the control room, says, monotonously, "stick... stick... stick" as he hears the playback, and you can feel the whole recording operation grind to a stop.
There are two responses to this.First, it's fascinating to watch an artist so dedicated to his work that he's willing to put everything on hold until a minor mistake, one few in his audience would ever suspect is there, is fixed.
Second, he's nuts.
Guterman goes on to wonder: "How much attention to detail is too much? I've spent my career working with creative people and often the hardest part of such an exchange is knowing when you're done, when you've taken it as far as you should, when it's time to share it with other people." And that's the question, isn't it: When do you let the thing go, release it into the wild, beyond your immediate control? This was just the moment director Thom Zimny didn't capture in The Promise. And it's a shame, because in his previous Springsteen doc, Wings For Wheels, about the making of Born To Run, he flat nailed it.
The moment happened like this: Born To Run was done, mastered, ready to go. The label was just waiting for Springsteen's final go-ahead to release it. The band had fled the studio for the road and Springsteen couldn't pull the trigger. The label was pounding at the door, and Springsteen couldn't pull the trigger. He'd lived with the making of the record for so long, dedicated himself to it so obsessively, that he was almost literally frozen in place. One day, as he told the story to Zimny, a friend called him on the road. The friend had heard the record in a test pressing and Springsteen asked him what he thought. The friend said, more or less: "I think it's good." "Oh, you do?" Springsteen said. "Yeah," the friend told him, and 25 years later, you can see the moment again, see the relief and the exhaustion and the That's-it-I'm-done of it as Springsteen recalls it, laughing: "I said, All right. Put the thing out."
It's an illuminating anecdote -- not only because it lets Springsteen poke some holes in the airtight construction of his own myth, but because it's a note-perfect description of a moment in the creative process that doesn't get a lot of attention. It's the moment of collapse, when theorizing fails and strategizing ends and there's simply nothing left to do but let go. It surprises even the people it happens to. Maybe it surprises them most of all. Sometimes you run out of energy; sometimes you just run out of time. But what you do is, you run out.
Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live, likes to say "The show doesn't go on because it's ready. The show goes on because it's 11:30." That's a cheering thought, in a way: Art may or may not be perfectible, but it's never going to be going to be perfect, and there's inevitably a moment when all you can do is laugh and say "Put the thing out."
Follow Bill Barol on Twitter: www.twitter.com/billbarol
But, mostly, that Bruce would have a problem with the sound of a stick and not the fact that Max Weinberg is the worst major professional drummer in Rock history.
For the life of me, I cannot think of another famous and successful drummer with less feel, less groove, and a more obnoxious stage persona.
Re: Artistic Futz-ing... My Mom's a painter... and there have been many times when I've had to threaten taking the canvas away from her... and many times when my threat was too late.
Also, someone once told me a story about being outside a theater (a long time ago!) when Bruce and E St. was sound-checking. He was making the band go over a 4 bar transition section of some song. This guy outside started counting how many times they ran through it...
He gave up @ SIXTY!
Bruce... determined to squeeze every last drop of life outta the damn thing.
Lastly, I recall a story about "The Long Run" by The Eagles where they spent THREE DAYS on the snare sound for the title track.
Hooray for blow!
Great piece, Barol-Eeola!
brian wilson anyone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtrOYsNCPmg
Lee Iaccoa offer him something like ten million in 1985 to use "Born in the USA" to sell trucks. Bruce said "no thanks", the music belongs to his fans.
Landau convinced Bruce to release Born to Run by saying "You think Chuck Berry sits around listening to Maybellene? He had a tough job that he did very well. Bruce has always acknowledged that he has trouble knowing when to stop working on a song - this is not news.
Second terrific moment was Bruce's reaction when he heard Chuck Plotkin's mix of Prove it all Night for the first time. When the playback starts the expression on Bruce's face is one of apprehension due to the problems they had been having mixing the record. The series of expressions on his face after he hears the mix was priceless. I am just thrilled that this footage existed and that Bruce allowed the documentary to be made.
PS how hysterical is it that the filmmakers thought it was necessary to use subtitles??
Another great one is the video of the No Nukes festival back in 1979. It changed my life.
And the final decision to let things go - even if it's because of music label or movie studio pressure - turns out to be the right one. Few musical outtakes are really worth hearing. And I'd have a hard time naming the "Director's Cut" of a movie that improved on the original commercial release.
Battles over sound especially rock music happen all the time. It doesn't bother me if Springsteen wants to get something out the way he intended it. I'd rather he take his time and get it out the way he intends.
You and Guterman sound more like record executives. It reminds me how keenly destructive the 'business' end of the music business is.
What you are essentially blathering about is that artists should let go and just get it out. Never mind that it may not be as the artist or musician intended.
Why don't you put yourself in Springsteen's shoes and write/record an album of songs that you care about only to have people like yourself constantly in your face telling you , "It's good enough, put it out! Put it out so we can make money off of you!"
Barol tries to surround his views with chuckles and folksy good nature, but strip that away and it sounds just too much like an impatient record executive.
That's why I asked if he's ever been in that situation himself.
Maybe (just my opnion) if it came from someone like Neil Young, it'd have more credibility.