singing words between the lines
A set list is just a list of titles, it’s not music. There’s no real reason it should be any more indicative of creativity than a shopping list (though, come to think of it, maybe for a foodie, a shopping list is indicative of that). But, coming back from a week in which I was more or less off-line, and trying to get caught up here on the mundane task of maintaining the set list pages, I got caught up in the facts(and their associations) of Friday night’s set list, and I want answers.
First, the extent of the improv with roughly half a dozen new tags. Second, the Solomon Burke tease, after finding him here just last week. But, the clincher: he sang “Hope She’ll Be Happier” - his interpretive skill on the pain and generosity in that song led me just yesterday to select it as an aesthetic trap for someone.
So, if you know me, I’m not much interested in the why, I’m interested in the what (it’s my name, afterall). What happened, what did he do, what was the effect? I’d be there and listen myself, if I could, but I can’t. It’s over. But, being the youtube portal we have become, there’s video:
Compared to What
Somewhere in the middle of the Maze
Medicated Goo
Hope She’ll Be Happier
Online Videos by Veoh.com
But I want to hear from somebody who was there, if possible. Find a review, or come tell what you heard. Is he back to that authentic reading that was so prevalent in his style a few years ago, or have I simply been seduced by a slightly interesting list and my own preferences? (I’m not unaware of my proclivities, I considered calling this post “thinking your mind was my own”)
categories: live, music
tags: Hope She'll Be Happier, taylor hicks
posted by what at 05:05 am
There is a lot of recognizable stuff going on in there, as is the man’s habit. But…
Watching that CTW video, I suddenly have a strong feeling that we are seeing some songwriting happening right on stage. To speculate, there may be some songwriting going on between Taylor and Loren (at least), and we may be seeing some of that seeping into the usual tagging. Nothing “finished”, but rather just feeling things out. Connecting with it in front of an audience to see how it feels live, perhaps. I particularly felt this when he was singing the “I love you more than I can say” part. (That was the name of a song by Leo Sayer (and where the hell did THAT name come from?), but it’s not related to what Taylor is doing here, I believe.)
Risky? Perhaps a little. And there are stumbles. But I’ve never known Taylor Hicks to be the kind of performer who plays it safe. He seems to prefer to work without a net, just for the rush.
This point about some song writing or the precursor of that between Loren and Taylor — or even a larger effort is well taken.
Whatever is happening there - it’s exciting to me personally. I loved the videos and wanted to crawl inside of them and sit down there live. I tried all day yesterday to see if I could find someone who did more videos of the show –no success yet.
I feel like what I’m seeing is Taylor unleashed.
asstral says: no no no no
What do you mean? “No no no no no.”
I’m too fried today to get subtlety
he probably means no no no as in hell no no no to loren and taylor songwriting. Not sure how taylor would benefit from co writing with the dude that wrote runaround or wht he would want to. Nice site btw
I’m not picking up anything as structured as songwriting, just a style that’s both freer and more focussed.
Let me clear up any confusion about my comment for Asstral et al. I fell victim to the folly of writing as if you guys are all in my head. I said regarding Curious Joe’s post: “This point about some song writing or the precursor of that between Loren and Taylor — or even a larger effort is well taken.” The operative word for me was precursor.
I didn’t see the show — I did see the clips posted here and they did impact me strongly. I felt like I was seeing something new happen between Taylor and the whole band — not just Loren but Loren for sure that freed them all. Loren seemed different to me.
My experience with bands is that sometimes time together suddenly gels into a new thing - a new shorthand and suddenly vistas can be reached that would not even have been explored before because the mix suddenly works better. I felt like there was a free — banter of improvisational conversation going between Taylor and the band. However — having not been at the show I should have just not posted until I had more data.
Meg - if we waited for data to post, this blog wouldn’t exist, so by all means, shoot from the hip. That’s what makes it a conversation.
What you’re saying about the band gelling is totally on, IMO. You have to get to the point where you can finish each other’s sentences, and that means not just time but knowledge of the other person’s style, role, gifts, biases. Somebody wondered a few days ago if it makes sense to talk of Hicks as a jam artist unless/until he has a consistent band. I’d love to know where he’s going with that. Don’t need the exact same people, but do need a core, I think. I wonder where he sees himself, soloist with back-up, or leader of the band? It looks like he’d like the latter, but I could easily be projecting.
In any case, I’m glad I’m not imagining it. Seeing the set list, the indifferent video - easy to make a mistake. But I was hit so very hard by what I saw and heard, it seemed worth pursuing the speculation.
You really just had to be there in order to “get” it. I have the entire show on vid and this show was sooo very different from any show I’ve either been to (only 3 others) or any I have seen on “tube”. I definitely think he is steering into a different light. And, based on the response he got from the crowd, he got the go ahead from his fans. I spoke to him briefly on sunday in VA and told him that show was absolutely amazing.
Penny - thanks for the ear-witness report. Just seeing the set list told me it was a different show, and the video seemed to confirm it. So glad to hear that the crowd was receptive. Makes sense, of course, but you never know what people are looking for.
Based on the vid, the CTW tag section feels different in the sense that it isn’t frenetic and hyper; he’s slowed down and working the jazz scats and the melodic/harmonic joints between the tags. That long series of tags feels more worked up, but not in a bad way, in the sense that artists create and work. In the past some of the tags felt like brilliant mental fly-bys. Here he’s allowing himself more space to work the vocal much like he does when he sits on on the harp with other bands. It’s like he realized FINALLY he can serve it up in huge platters garnished with rose petals and we’ll gobble it up. A friend recently suggested I look at his body language, and that’s it for me, ease, confidence,more subtle.
Asstral: No, no, no, no, no? Taylor’s not working out any new inspirations for original material on stage? Or do you mean to suggest that he’s not collaborating with Loren?
The former would shock me. The latter would not. I mentioned Loren because he’s the other accomplished songwriter (that I know of)who is confined to a small space with Taylor Hicks for the past 6 months. It would seem awfully strange if in all that time they never discussed songwriting, or batted around an idea or two. So I mentioned Loren, but perhaps too much emphasis was placed on any role he might play.
The exciting point is that though we are seeing Taylor improvise and jam, we may also be seeing what he is inventing.
Do you mean, Asstral, to be suggesting “no, no, no” to that?
Curious Joe, “no no no no” was just me testing my new iphone. I have no opinion either way.
bullshit
Come on Ass. Stop dicking around. Tell It Like It Is. Or I shall torture you with more lame body-part references. Seriously - keep me abreast of all songwriting activity.