3    cFmJust a Singer'
Making music, the rock musician and ilie success continuum
In addicting tin* question of how meaning is produced in popular music, a
central rota .....si be accorded to those who actually make the music. But this is
iini ii< siinph accept the 'creative artist' view oi' the production of cultural pro-din is, wliii'li sees 'art' as the product of die creative Individual, largely unencumbered by |lullius uxj economics. Those involved is making music clearly i \i ii r.r Htl^ng Ctagreea of personal autonomy, hut this is circumscribed by the available leclun'Indies ;uid expertise, by economics and by the expectations nf their audience, b is a question of the dynamic imerrelatiouship of the production context) the lexis and their i ifators and the audience lor the music.
This duplet' is concerned with the nature of musk making and the roles and relative status of those who make music, primarily, but not exclusively musicians. While they are credited ;is the authors of their recordings, their ability U> 'make music' is, to varying extents, dej)eudent on the input of other industry personnel, including session musicians, song writers, record producers, sound engineers and mixers, along with those who regulate access to the infrastructure of the industry (such as venue owners, promoters).
For reasons of space, and reflecting their historical prominence, I am largely concerned with 'mainstream' rock and, to a lesser extent, pop, and the demarcations present within their musical production as sounds. 1 also ibcus on musicians seeking, at least ideally and in pari, lo make a living from their work. Other Hemes, noLibh disco and dance music, and 'musicians such as the v >nirnijhiiai) dance DJ, subvert many of the traditional assumptions of the 'rock formation' abom the nature of musicianship (see Straw, 1999).
My discussion begins with die initial creation of a musical text. For performers 'starting out;, this is through learning to first play one's instrument and reproduce existing songs, a form of musical apprenticeship. If the intention is lo move beyond this, attention then turns to songwriling and the 'working up' of an original composition, lor performance and (possibly) recording. The role of (lie producer is central to rhe preparation of the musical text as a material product the sound recording. 1 then consider the role of live performance, with lelirenee to i lie issue oi' authenticity and some of the situations live music occurs in. The liii.il part of the chapter considers the dilfering roles and status of those who create music. I examine the distinctions frequently used by musicians iheinscK. -.. ,,s
Making music and the success continuum 41
in II as critics and fans, to label various performers. There is an obvious
I.......rhy of values at work here, both between and within various categories,
iinil in die discourse around the application of terms such as creativity and lllthentirity.
Making music
As iin«1 biographies demonstrate, the career trajectory of popular musicians Involves skill and hard work, not to mention a certain amount of luck. Our detailed knowledge of this process, of how performers actually create their music .mil attempt to create an audience for ilteir efforts, was initially sparse. Writing in I'frtl, Sara Cohen's summary of the available literature observed that there had been a lack of ethnographic or participant observer study of the process of in.iking music:
What is particularly lacking in the literature (on rock) is ethnographic, data and micro sociological detail. Two other important features have hecn omitted: the grassroots of the industry - the countless, as yet unknown bands Smuggling for success at a local level - and the actual process of music making by rock bands.
(Cohen, 1991: fi)
In addition to Cohen's Rock Culiuie in Uwrpvvl, there are now a handful of . lassie' accounts (including Finnegan, 1989; Shank, 1994), along with more con-iinipoiat'i studies of musicians involved in particular genres and local musical
.....s [I'liuarow, 2000; Stalil, 2011), and a huge body of biographical profiles of
varying usefulness (among the more informative are Cauda, 1997; Cross, 2005). I i lic.se we can add several cnmpei >dh nils ■. <l ret led inns from musicians (inehid-hii; I'ollnik, 2002; Shute, 2005); a number of producer autobiographies dor in i,iiue IJoyd, 2000; Stock, 2004); in-depth studies of die making of particular
0 ' Hidings (such as Bcrkenstadt and Cross, 1998, on Nirvana's album Meiwinind r, iii< I several insightful discussions of musical creativity (Negus and Pickering, 2005;
1 ><vul >■-■-, 21)00). I have drawn on these, and similar work, in the following i|im ussiiiu.
Ttu
ttiusit-nm
In begin with, the term 'musician' is not as straightforward as it seems. Ruili I inne^an, in her stud) ol music making in Milton Keynes, found it dilheull to 'li liugiiish 'aiiialeur' from 'jaolessionaf musicians:
li ii -i 11.1 iii is si iiue I noes 11 nit,lined many players in full-time (non-nntsicaJ) jobs and others whose only regulai octuputioit was then music; yet in giving
peffort.....lies. practising, slialiug out the lees and ideutilication with the
pOUPi the uii'iiibei , ueie in ateil i s.n iK alike (cm e|il lor the im mil enirnce
42   l.hidiir\tanding popular music culture
Of those in jobs that had to plead ilium or lake time off work if they travelled to distant bookings),
(Knnegan, 1989: 13)
Furthermore, die local musicians tended to use 'professional' in an evaluative rather than an economic sense, to refer to a player's standard of performance, musical knowledge and qualifications and regular appearances with musicians themselves regarded as professional. Later studies {Fonarow, 2006; Shank, 1994; Sliute, 2003), and my own conversations with local musicians, also demonstrate this more expansive use of the term. Since the end of the 1950s, the demarcation between performer, songwriter and producer has gradually become blurred. Currently, while the three roles can be distinct, the term musician frequently embraces all three activities.
The realities of practice
There are still few Formal study or apprenticeship programmes tor aspiring popular musicians, in sharp contrast to die opportunities for classical and jazz instrumentalists. Learning the required musical skills takes time and perseverance as well as inclination and talent:
The hardest thing to dawn on us was that if you practise a lot you get better a lot faster, I didn't realize that maybe there was a big distance between an hour and live hours of practice a day. We went through a transitional stage from being proud of being a garage band to really seeing the limitations and wauling to take it one step further.
(Dan Zanes, guitarist, cited in Pollock, 2002: 30-31)
Even the proficiency of a 'genius' tike Jimi He.ndrix has its pragmatic foundation:
Practising his guitar was the central activity ofjimi's life that year [1962]. He went to bed practising, he slept with the guitar on his chest, and the first thing he did upon rising was to start practising again. In an effort to tind even more time to practise, he occasionally bought cheap amphetamines so he could stay up all night.
(Cross, 2005; 90-9)
Stitli Bennett's detailed early account of 'The Realities of Practice', showed that learning a song for most rock musicians was a process of 'copying a recording by playing along with it and using the technical ability to play parts of it over and over again1 ;Reniitii, 19911: 224). The two Liverpool punk bands that Cohen studied dciiiimslraled a complex process of musical composition, rehearsal and performance. Their creative prorrss was lypi'.ilK Incremental and p.niii ipaiory ((folic it, 1 99 I;. I .Hit (auto-) biugiapliii .il ai omul* i I iih k nui.su i.uis, anil * id ion*
Making musk and the. success continuum 43
ilocunientaries on the making of particular recordings, show a similar process ill work. Kellecling die limitations of conventional notation when applied to rock music, little use is made of sheet music: It's so simple just to get things off the record, sheet music is just for people who can't hear' (piano player, cited in llciiiiett; 1990: 227). Composition and sung copying initially lakes place in private, with the next step the expansion of the song-getting experience to the Kioiip situation - transforming the song into a performable entity - and its extension to the creation of 'sets' of songs. These blocks of material, usually consisting of 10 to 15 songs to be played over a live set. arc constructed for specific audiences and contexts (gigs) and, as such, usually represent a compromise between what bands want to play, what audiences want to hear and what is maikelable.
Stmtpvriting
Willi its romantic connotations of creativity and authenticity, composition is at the heart nf discourses surrounding authorship in popular music. Examples of .iiustic and commercial success frequently accord song writing a key place:
Kurt Cubain's ability to write songs with such strong honks was the crucial ingredient in Nirvana's eventual world wide appeal. The melodies he wrote were so memorable, people Ibund themselves singing along without even knowing or uu demand in g the lyrics.
(Rerkenstadl and Cross, 1998: 63)
A canonical metallst of 'the top 30 albums' shows diat, with one exception, all were composed by the musicians responsible for the recording (see Chapter 6). I hat exception was the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, for winch Peler Asher contributed most oflhe lyrics.
While composing popuku music can encompass several modes, such as the
I.....ilage of electronic practices underpinning dance music, 1 am interested here
m songwriting in mainstream, chart-oriented rock and pop music. In comparison with the writing or other roles in the music industry, and the nature oflhe creative process in popular music, the role of the songwriter initially received only limited attention. Puhlished work has coneeniraied on song composition and the process of songwriting, and the contributions of leading; songwriters (see I l.niaghan, 1987; 'ľhonipson, C, 2008; Aillu, 1997) and there are numerous persona] accounts of the process of songwriling. For example, Paul McCartney's o 11 illcclious ol his collaboration with John Irnumi (Miles, 1997), Mike Stock's aeco Lint nl his work as part of the Stock Aitken Waterman production team (Stock, 2004); and Canliu's discussion of the collaboration between Alan is Morissette and t Iivh lial I a id:
■■In iMiuld sit on the floor. Ballard would perch on a chair. They'd both laki-
,u ooatk guiian and fooJ around with rm l<dies and lrii al ideas and ser w Mi
lm|i|m in il Wlirn tin v h.iIK nni ii iIIimh. Allium would I.ill into .1 kind of ham r-llkr Mule.
|C.....iii, 1997: 196)
Keith Kit thirds recollections of his ci imposition ul llir well known guitar 1 ill lor the Rolling Stones' 'Satislaclion', 1 n 11\ ul'N anolhci example 10 illii-.li .ilt 1 lit- iit limes almost 'unworldly' nature ol miisu.il (nativity:
1 wrote 'Satisfaction' in my sleep. I liacl no idea I'd written it, ii's only thank God for die little Phillips cassette player. The miracle being lhat I looked at the cassette player next morning and I knew I'd put a brand-new tape in 1 In-previous night, and I saw it was at the end. Then I pushed rewind and there was 'Satisfaction'. It was just a rough idea. There was just the bare bones of the song.
(Richards, 2010: 176)
Such accounts place songwriting in the realm of romantic views of creativity, hut this must be tempered widi an appreciation of the social conditions under which it takes place anil the sheer graft involved:
But it wasn't easy. The secret of our success lay in hard work, long hours and those magical 'eureka' moments. Our success rale didn'i happen by accident. We knew exactly what we were doing on each record and, having discussed the artist and the song, we understood the audience we were trying to reach.
(Stock, ^004: 100)
Songwriters have historically exercised considerable influence over artists/ styles. In the 1950s Leiber and Stoller got an unprecedented deal with Atlantic to write and produce their own songs; the resulting collaborations with performers such as the Drifters and Ben li. King produced sweet soul, a very self-conscious marriage of R&B and classical instruments, notably the violin. In the 1960s Holland, Dozier and Holland contributed to the development of the distinctive Motown sound. In the 1970s Ciuii and Chapman composed over 50 British top 10 hits in association with producers Mickie Most and Phil Wainman, 'using competent bar bauds (Mud, Sweet) on to whom tliey could graft a style and image'(Hatch and Millward, 1987: 141), to produce highly commercial power pap, ghiter rock and dance music. In the 1970s Stock, Aiken, Waterman wrote and produced successful dance pop for performers such as Kylie Minogue: 'Down at the Hit Factory, Matt and I were the band and the singers were the guest vocalists. The songs were doing the selling and the artists were an adjunct' (Stock, 2004-: 100).
During the late 1950s and early 1960s a factory model of songwriting, combined with a strong aesthetic sense, was evident in the work of a group of songwriters (and music publishers) in New York's Brill Building. Incor]>orating
I in Pan Alley's 1111I01I11 .uid Krital Hade.....lk« into KMl, I In K>"iip llM'hltlril .1
muni mi ol successful tongwi it mg tram*: iln more pop oriented Collin •■ml King
Mai.....ml Will, and Barry and Ciecnwii h; die K&.II in ieim it I'oitins ,iim|
SI111111.111; and D-ibci and Sloller. Several also produced, iniisl noi.ihh I'liil Spedoi, bill Items, and Dibcr and Sloller, who wrote and produced most < it i|H-( io.islrihiis. One (actor lluit distinguished these songwriters was iliejr \niiih: mainly in their late teens or early twenties, with several married eimplrs m"i king together, the Brill Building songwriters were well able lo relate to ami interpret teenage dreams and concerns, especially the search lor identity .mi I romance, These provided the themes for many of the songs they wrote, ■pecialh those performed by the teen idols and girl groups ol the period. Poniii.-i uid Shiimau, and Leiber and Stoller also wrote some of Elvis Presley's best material.
(:> illeetively, the Brill Building songwriters were responsible for a large number of (hail sunesscs and had an enduring influence (Shaw, 1992). London in the 1960s had its own group of successful pop and rock songwriters (see Thompson, 2005: Chapter 5, for a detailed disi ussion of their work and influence). The role ol such songwriters, however, was challenged by the emergence of a tradition up ■elf-contained groups or performers wriling their own songs (most notably I" iilis), which weakened the traditional professional songwriting market.
Professional songwriters are now more visible, often also producing, working with or for the proliferation of manufactured pop performers. Among die most successful examples of this process was 'Can't Cet You Out of My Head* (2002), Written by Cathy Denis and Rob Davis for Kylie Minogue, ihe song lopped i|le charts internationally, revived Minogue's career and the two songwriters won t|l(. British 2002 Ivor Novello Award.
Singer-songwriters
Si me songwriters have been accorded autetir status, in several cases after initially writing for others and later recording their own material (e.g. Carole King; Taptstry, Ode, 1971; Neil Diamond; Jackson Browne; Joni Mitchell). The t«rnn
"mger-songwriter1 has been given to artists who both write and perform their material and who are able lo perform solo, usually on acoustic guitar or piano.
\\\ emphasis on lyrics has resulted in the work of such performers often being referred to as song poets, accorded auleur status and made the subject ol intensive, lyric analysis. The folk music revival in the 1960s saw several singer-songwriters come to prominence: Joan Baez, Douavon, Phil Ochs and, above all, Bob Dylan, Singer-songwriters were a strong 'movement' in the 1970s, including Neil Young James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and Joan Armai lading; most are .till performing and recording. In the 1980s die appellation singer-songwriter was applied lo, among others, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello; in L|„. 1990s io Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and Toni Child; anc| more recently to performers such as Dido, David Gray, Lucinda Williams aiu| Taylor Swift. The female predominance here led some obscivers to equate the
'limit' with women | it iIoiiikii. ilnr In lit i iii|iliii«i» no Iviiit mid performance mlhei ili.ui the Indulgences uuncimrd wni.....i. .1............1 ,1.1,. 1,1 i.„i
..... 11    I I" application «»l 1 In u 1 hi in nolo 111 ilnim, 1« h Hwkwurd, in thai must of
iho-r mentioned usually pt-i!• ittn with 'Unking' bands mid .11 limes regard ilu-iiiK-lvrci as an integral pan of these. Noiuilirli .,, tin concept of linger-
songwriter 1 ■ i 1111 11 . to have strung connotations ol grratci .intluniu ity anil 'Irue' authorship.
Once a song is composed, even if only io a limited form (partial lyrics, a melody or a riff to build on), ii becomes 'worked up' for live performance ami recording. Beyond creating a dislinctive musical sound and original material, successful performers must also develop the different skills required of the live and studio recording settings. The way hands operate in the recording studio, or in home studios, until recently received limited attention in popular music studies, although is frequently the focus of accounts in the music press (and see the website for the Association far the Study of Sound Recording: .see Further reading). It is a process that brings die role of the producer to the fore.
The producer
The occupation of producer emerged as a distinct job category and career path in the popular music industry during the 1950s, initially as someone who directed and supervised recording sessions and who also freqttendy doubled as sound engineer (e.g. Sam Phillips at Sun Records). Successful producers, such as songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Sloller at Atlantic, and George Martin at EMI, began exerting pressure un their recording companies lo receive credits (on recordings) and royalties, rather than just a flat lee. by the mid-1960s, the studio producer had become an auteur figure, an artist employing multi-track technology and stereo sound to make their own mark on recordings, rather than simply documenting the musicians' performance. The most prominent examples of this new status were jerry Wexler (primarily for his recordings of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles), George Martin (primarily lor his work with the Beatles), Leiber and Sloller and Phil Spector (see his profile in Chapter 4). In the UK, the work of Joe Meek acquired cull status (see Thompson, G., 200«: Chapter 2). During the 1970s and 1980s, the important role of producers as cultural intermediaries was consolidated with the development of new technology: synthesisers, samplers, and computer-based sequencing systems: 'Of course, technology helped. By the late 1980s we were using 48-lrack recording facilities and filling virtually every track nurselves' (Stock, 2004: 101). Producers became central figures in genres such as dub and techno and, above all, with disco and dance pop,
The way in which producers operate, their contribution lo the session and the level of reward they are accorded vary widely, depending on the stature of the musicians they are working with and the type of music being recorded. Producers approaches to recording vary from the naturalistic, 'try it and see what happens', to a more calculated, entrepreneurial attitude. Production practices represent an
un.1I1. un 11i established lrthnk|uetl mid the |M«wiliililicN ollrird by iIk- new lech-
1 mlii^ns .....I ,1 nuinliii ul .uiinbiogi.iphii al ,n muni* insightfully icvral the DfO»
...... .,1 \Mnk In 11 r 1; linwl. .'unto Virgil Mi•■ miu 1«I (2005) documents how
in Million ''as gone lion bring primarily a lei hnical In an ariistic matter, with lite ■ 1 iiili'inpoi ary producer as anient.
Live perfurtnance
l.iw music has been a central aspect of popular music, in its various forms oper-
......g |o create audiences, to fuel individual fantasy and pleasure and to create
popular music icons and cultural myths. Investigating the processes involved in hm performance communicates musical meaning lo its constituent audiences in different contexts has bun a significant part of popular music scholarship, cspe-. nil-, in relation lo genres Mich as rock (Panic, 2007), EDM and jazz, hlsewhere 111 [lis Study, I liave considered the significance of the live sector in terms ol income (Sec Chapter 1) and state regulation of live music (Chapter 14). Here, I 11insider its role in giving - or not giving musical credibility (or authenticity; to |i<-i limners and genres; and to how it occurs in particular settings/venues: concerts, tours and festivals.
Tlie equation of live performance with musical authenticity and 'paying your dues' as a performer remains a widely held ideology among fans, musicians and record company executives. Once a band or performer has 'learned' some music, assuming ambition and confidence, they will usually seek to perform live in public Such performances lake place in a range of informal and formal sittings and social situations and ate closely related to different valuations of authorship and authenticity (depending on ihe gen re/performers involved). Live music is r\|ii i icuced in venues such as clubs, discos and pubs; and through concerts and music festivals.
'Pseudo-live' performances take place al one remove, as ii were, from the original or actual performance and arc usually experienced through intermediary technology: on film and television or in one of the various recorded formats via radio and sound reproduction systems, the internet or web broadcasts. The pseudo-live experience of music is nol usually in the same time frame as die ori-•iii.il performance, although this can be the case with radio and satellite IV linkups with 'live' events.
For both fans and musicians, there is a perceived hierarchy of such perfor-inances, with a marked tendency lo equale an audiences' physical proximity to the actual 'performance' and intimacy with the performers) with a more authentic and satisfying musical experience.
Historically, prior to the advent of recorded sound, all music was live and was experienced as such. The term 'live' performance is now usually reserved lor those situations in which ihc audience is ill physical proximity to lire- performance and the experience of the music is contiguous with its actual performance.
This view was central to the ideology of'rock' created during the 1960s, 'lhis emphasis on the 'five* as a key signilier of musical authenticity has since been
48   UndnsUmding popular music culture
Making musk and the ateass continuum 19
undermined by performers who work primarily, and at times exclusively, in the studio setting. Some genres are now largely studio creations, especially recenl
styles of lei ■linn.
At times, performance events ('gigs', conceits, festivals) Iiave had the capacity to encapsulate and represent key periods and turning points in popular music; examples include the first performance of the modernist composer Stravinsky's Rile of Spring {MH% the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Suliimn Show (1964) and Bob Dylan 'going electric' at the Newport Folk Festival (1965). Their significance is indicated h\ their use in a cultural shorthand fashion amring fans, musicians and writers; e.g. 'Woodstock', with an assumed set of connotations: the counterculture, music festivals, youth and 1960s' idealism. Such performance! and their participants - promoters, musicians and audiences - are commonly celebrated in the musical press, documentaries and are the subject of several studies (lnglis, 2006).
Playing live is important to develop and trial new material and to popularize and promote recordings, especially on their initial release. It is also central to rock ideology, with its connotations of authorship and creativity, and the physical energy, emotional tension and release associated with live acts:
That's what keeps you going. Those two hours on stage where everybody's in complete sync and it's like the universe is perfect. There's no Haw in the universe uiail the next morning. And then you can't lind your breakfast and vou gotta travel twelve hours in a day [to the next gig].
(Joe Ely, in Pollock, 2002: 111}
Club gigs
dubs and pubs remain the main venues for live music on a regular and continuing basis. Both serve as training grounds for aspiring performers operating at the local level, and provide a 'bread and butter' living for more established artists, olien through being part of an organized 'circuit' of venues. Club appearances include 'showcase' evenings, similar to variety style concerts, with a number of performers featured; 'one-nighters', and extended engagements. All arc important for gaining experience in live work, building an audience and making contacts in the musk industry. Clubs also remain the main site fin most music fans' engagement with live music, particularly in smaller towns not on the national conceit itinerary of touring performers.
Clubs have liistorically assumed mythic importance lor breaking new acts, as in the 1960s with the Who at the Marquee in London and the Doors at the Whisky in LA. They can also establish and popularize trends and musical genres, as in the 1970s with American punk at New York's Max's and CBCBs, Cleveland's Clockwork Orange and the Viking Saloon, Fuglish punk at London's 100 Club and the Roxy and Manchester's Finnic Chins; ami disco in the 1980s, DJ culture and techno and its various genres in the 1990k and indie rock.
Where there is not a strong club scene, pubs will sometimes lake on the same role In ihe process, they can legitimate a particular sound and performance iihos. In Australia, die strongly masculine Ox Rock' historically dominated the 1980s music scene and was defined by its association with the pub ein mi there. A local network of clubs or pub venues can foster a local scene and Mrguably create a 'local' sound (see Chapter II).
ľtntts and concerts
\ with club and pub gigs, concerts, usually part of a lour, expose performers and llieu music to potential fans and purchasers, building an image and a following. Tours were important historically, for helping 'break' English bands in tin I 8 during the 1960s and remained a crucial part oflhe national and iiiiernaiion.il
.....sit industry. During the 1990s purely promotional 'tours* became significant in
building a fan base, for example Shania Twain's shopping mall slops in 1998 1994; and the importation of name DJs from the UK was a major tailor in
......"filiating the international dance music scene in Australia and New Zealand
in the past decade. As indicated in Chapter 1, lours currently represent a maim Income sirram for musicians and the music indusiry.
I In nature of tour concerts is an oddly ambivalent one. On the one hand, l<n the fan, it is a rare opportunity to see a performer, especially if you live Id I Ltions where die opportunity may be literally a once in a lifetime one. On die Other hand, for the performer, each concert blurs into a series of 'one-night
lands' and the challenge is to maintain freshness at each performance T.....
books, kind biographies and musk magazine profiles, and many classic red
..n(.,s doitiment 'life on the road', with its attendant excesses and exhilaration al m. hi nee enthusiasm coupled with fatigue:
ll's funny; the road's like that. You never know what to expert Espcciaiy when you're out ol tin louuiry and yon have all of these communication problems. You have transportation problems, and problems with iln (bod and hotel reservations, and then you hit these places in the middle ol nowhere and it linns into a memorable night.
(Joe Fly, in Pollock, 2002: 112 19)
Concerts are complex cultural phenomena, involving a mix of iiiiimi and eco-ii. m lies, ritual and pleasure, for both performers and their audience. Dilliieni
genres and perlnrmance styles create different forma of concert experiraa
t Hi ail\, a slickly lit and choreographed boy or girl band jxip nun i it is .i dillen in visual and aural experience huni a drum and bass DJ's presentation in a <!ul< \i die heart ol concerts is the sense ol community thai they engender, .ill»ii ■
.....■"'ill ODC At their head, by way of contrast, lie economics ami promot urn.
flu kicksl.igc aid oflhe larger rock coikvls is a highly complex woil, sin, mih .i range ol spi i iali/nl winkers. The liliinbei ol |m i stiimrl n Heels the si/i ol iln   linn  and die economic iiupoii.i......I the performers, bill can nn Imli
50   Understanding popular musk culture
technicians in charge uf the instruments and equipment (amplifiers, etc.); stagehands, often doubling as 'roadies', people to work the sound and lighting boards, security guards and the concert tour manager. The successful nperatinn nf the backstage area at concerts involves the integration of these workers into a stable and impersonal time schedule, where each person does their job as and when required. The scope of this task, al its most extreme, is shown in the documentary flocA in Rio, on the staging of the Rolling Stones free concert in Rio Dejaneiro in 21.106, with an estimated audience of almost two million.
There still exists a dear hierarchy of rock and pop lours and concerts. For a relatively unknown act, seeking to puhlicize a new or first release and create an audience, opportunities lor live work will be lew and venues will usually be small. The pub and university campus circuit remains essential for such performers. The scale of most 'national1 tours is actually often localized, 'hitting' only a dozen or so urban centres. For established visiting bands and local acts, which have 'broken' into the charts and the marketplace, there are larger scale 'national' tours. These still largely play selected main centres, where venues and audiences are large enough to (hopefully) make the exercise economic. At the top end of the scale are the global touts of the top international acts, which are massive exercises in logistics and marketing - and also hugely profitable. The Rolling Stones' 2006 Tour, with more than 100 shows staged over half the world, involved effectively having three stage sets being shipped and down at the same time and the band's entourage included 125 technical staff.
Tours remain central to creating consumer interest and sales and are about promotion as much as performance. Where artists once look part in radio and TV shows and made personal appearances at record stores, they are now more likely to appear on talk shows and via internet social network sites. Currently, the importance of revenue from the live sector has seen a proliferation of large-scale lours, undertaken by leading performers such as U2, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. As the music press indicates, a wide range or performers are on tour at any particular time, nften coming together for the major festivals held during summer holiday seasons, especially in the UK, Western Europe and North America.
Festivals
There is an established historical tradition of popular music festivals, with regular events such as the Newport Folk andjaz?. Festivals and the New Orleans Mardi Cras in the US and the UK's Cambridge Folk Festival, Festivals play a central role in popular music mythology. They keep traditions alive, maintaining and expanding their audience base, legitimating particular forms of that tradition and giving its performers and their fans a sense of shared, communal identity. This role has hecn maintained through historical leiinspeciives and anniversary celebrations, as will) the recent -Hull anniversary of the 1'lti!) Woodstock festival, which saw ihe (re-ii'idease of a numbei ol uli In .ic ii \ Looks, documentary films iiikI recordings.
i rcalf
Milking musk and the nucns continuum 5 1 \ number of festivals at the end of the 1960s and in the early 1970s hclix-d ale lite noiion of a youth-oriented rock counterculture, while confirming iis niinmeicial potential: Monterey, 1907; Woodstock, F.Hv': die Isle or Wight, IV70. The 1980s saw the reassertion of the mu.xic festival, with the success both hii.li»rally and as ideological touchstones - of the politically motivated 'conscience concerts': Live Aid, 1985 (sec Chapter 12) and (he various Amnesty Iniei national concerts. A summer festival season is now a feature of the UK, Europe and North America music calendars. The festivals usually include a range nl performers, often spread across several days on multiple stages. In the lace of an attractive range of choices faring fans, festivals often place an emphasis on a particular musical style, a grouping ol artists aimed at attracting a particular fan i < instil uency.
Since the early 1990s France has been die European leader in terms of (he number and scale of" festivals, including a variety of music, dance and theatre events. In 2006 French rock and pop music festivals had a combined audience of over 1.6 million people, including upwards of 650,000 at the Festival hii<iceltique de L'Orient, an 'ethnic' Celtic event launched in 2001 in Brittany. Barbara Lcbrun identifies a light regulatory system that codifies such festivals,
whose structural and economic rigidity is soinewbat at odds with the experience <il ihem by audiences (and artists and rriiirs) as places of instability' ilebrun, 2009: 136). As her analysis demonstrates, popular music festivals are subject to a
, lies of contradictions and inconsistencies, placing them at the intersection of Ctimrnercial imperatives and 'alternative' authenticity.
Ihe major festivals, stab as Glastonbury and Knebworth (now Sonispbere) in the UK, arc big business, while local communities aie using (usually suiallcr-m.iIi) music festivals as a form of cultural tourism. In addition to their economic Importance, music festivals, as a form of extended concert) reinforce popular music personas, creating icons and myths in the process. Ihe |>erformers are made 'accessible' to ihose attending ihe festival and. increasingly with large-scale festivals via satellite television and documentary films, to a national and even a woildwide audience. Al the same lime as it forms a temporary Community, joined hi celebration and homage to the performers/the genre, the festival audience is being created as a commodity. If it attracts the projected audience, the festival is
i major commercial enterprise, with on-site sales of food and souvenirs, the income from the associated television broadcasts via satellite to a global audience/ market and the subsequent 'live' recordings, for example from Knebworth and Km k in Rio. Ill sum, music festivals are sites at which commerce and popular ideology interact to produce historically significant musical meanings.
Ihe dilleienl aspects of live music were fruitfully brought together in a 1111< i \. ii team research project in the UK (2008-2010): 'The Promotion of Live Music A Historical, Cultural and Institutional Analysis'. This included a wide mtge Of musical event*, Minus and genres, exploring live music both as a •.,,ii,11 i vent anil aeslhclk e\peiieiice, and as something produced in the COQtrxt of legal and stale regulations and econoiuii and marketing strategies'
(Frith, 2iii I).
52   Understanding popular music culture
I tuni now to the discourse surrounding various perceived categories of musician, primarily 'rock' musicians, and the hierarchy of value frequently attached to these. Popular music is, for the majority of its participants, an essentially 'amateur' or 'quasi-proiessional' activity that may become a career option. Indeed, the great majority of people who make their living playing music live near the poverty line. In the late 1990s there were said to he 10,000 functional bands in the greater Ixw Angeles area alone, 'all slugging it nut night after night in a never-ending cacophony of competition, strategic repositioning, and reconfiguration' (Kirsehner, 19918: 250).
Writing in 1988, Simon Frith identified a traditional model of the rock music career, which he termed the "Rock', involving a career process that was established in the 1960s. Musicians slatted at the base of this pyramid model, working the local scene through clubs and pubs, building up a following. They dien might move up through several tiers, first, to regional live work, recording for small, indie labels and gaining success and recognition at the regional level. Beyond this were a major recording contract, with national exposure and hits and Muring, At the highest level, there are international hits, tours, media exposure and 'superstar' status, lie regarded this model as underpinned by a dynamic and ideology emphasizing 'a Horatio Alger-type account of success being earned by hard work, determination, and skills honed in practice' (Frith, 1988: 112). However, Frith was concerned that while there were still careers (e.g. U2) that followed this model, the 1980s' corporatization of the music business and the key role of video in selling new pop groups had seen the rise of an alternative success story:
The Talent Pool: The dynamic here comes from the centre. There are no longer gatekeepers regulating the How of stardom, but multi nationals 'fishing' for material, pulling ideas, sounds, styles, performers from die talent ponl and dressing them up for world wide consumption.
(ibid.: 113)
MTV, which began in 1981, played a major part in this (see Chapter 8).
As Frith acknowledged, the two models are ideal types. During the 1990s, there was both a reassertion of the significance of the traditional model and a merging of the two career paths. While video exposure remained important, it no longer had the status it enjoyed in the mid-1980s. Genre is a factor here, with clear differences between the success routes for 1990s' dance pop hands, such as the Spice Girls and S C'lub 7, and alternative and grunge performers in the early 1990s and beyond. For die latter, as die Seattle scene indicated, success al the local and regional level, or nationally on a smaller scale, with a niche or cult audience, on 'independent' labels and via college radio and the club scene, was necessary to attract the attention of the major record companies. Over the past 15 years, the proliferation of pop and rock reality TV shows have provided fresh example of Frith's talent pool at work. At the same time, the 'Rode' model ol liai<l work, sc II-bclicf perseverance and live |m-l On iii.iix    icmains applicable to genres inch as
Making music and the xwcess continuum 53
Indie rock and some styles of electronic dance mush and is also evident in the I iicers of performers such as l«idy Gaga.
Creating and working-up new musical material for perlbnnancc, studio and limine recording and touring, anil once again back to creating and recording to keep the momentum going, is the musicians' work cycle. Furthermore, musical skills are not all thai is involved. While the original basis of most groups is in peer friendships, this will change once things get "more serious', with problems . reated by the differing levels of ability and commitment of group members and M.inmiuncnl to a practice schedule and the need lor group cohesion and leadership:
Being successful definitely put a whole lot of pressure because the band was so communally oriented. People joined the band just 'cause of the vibe of the music. What happened once the money and the fame got involved was that everybody wanted their own manager, so everyone got management, everyone got lawyers, ami everything got very complicated.
(Speech from Arrested Development, in Pollock, 20112: 9G)
Then there are the well-documented physical and emotional sUains of 'the lock/pop lifestyle.', amply illustrated in many popular memoirs of drugs, sex and music (e.g. Kieclis, 2004; Richards, 2010), and its glowing list of casualties (most recently Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson).
()ne reason, and probably the dominant one, behind the willingness of so litany musicians to enter the Darwinian struggle Tor commercial success is the ultimate possibility of stardom, with its allure of a lifestyle of glamour and alllu-ii. b, This is not to ignore the appeal of gaining the approval of fans and i cities, Inn ii is clear that the majority of performers aspire to that uud 'the money'. \s Tony Kirsehner (199(1: 252) observes, 'Success should be seen as a central nope in popular music, informing and motivating the entire domain of rock culture' and creating what he terms the 'continuum of success'. Talent aside, in i ess is governed by access to the differing resources and opportunities available I. a making music. Accordingly, our interest now moves to the 'pecking order' of popular music.
The success continuum
I lure exists a status hierarchy among performers, especially evident in rock musk, a hierarchy endorsed by critics ami fans, as well as by musicians themselves, This hierarchy ranges from those starting out, largely reliant on "covers', to mission musicians, to performers who attempt, with varying levels of critical and Commercial SUCCeSS, In make a living from music. This last group has its own iiilli-n'iiii.uioiis, unli tribute bands, house bands and notions of 'journeymen' pl.iM is. 1 here are hierarchies of 'artists' and stars, often likened to some son of
|hiiIs league table: a minor Of major league hand; first and second division perditions, si.us and 'iuegiisl.il s'; ami supci groups. The basis I in such cv.ilu.il ions
54    Understanding popular trunk culture
are vague and the status of particular performers frequently varies among critics and over lime. Taste and subjectivity necessarily feature, as much us any elaborated artistic and musical criteria.
Afaktug musir mid the success tontiniuon 55
been levelled at the industry's tendency since the 1990s to produce a steady •111 .nil tii" 'tribute' albums, in which various artists pay homage by covering the Win k of artists as varied as the Clash, Cram Parsons and Jimi Hendrix.
Cover bands
At the hase of tin's hierarchy are cover bands, which are often accorded littJe Critical artistic weight. A common view is lliat reliance on someone else's material concedes thai you liave nothing of your own to say. However, playing coved fulfills aesthetic, educational and economic roles. Some covers, as I shall show in Chapter h, lake the original recording as a starting point and modify, reinvent or subvert it in a creative manner. Bands starling out rely on cover versions lor a large part of Üieir repertoire out of necessity, mastering them as part of a learning process. Even 'original' performers will usually play a few covers. The distinction between 'cover' and 'original' is important, since upward career mobility is directly lied to notions uf originality (Kirschner, 1998: 26.rj). Learning such songs is part of the apprenticeship process in acquiring musicianship through engaging with a musical iradition. An example is the development of 'rock' in England in the 1960s through local bauds covering imported copies of American rhythm and hlucs hits, as with the Rolling Stones' versions of Arthur Alexander's 'You Belter Move On' (196h) and Solomon Burke's 'Everybody Need Somebody To l^ove' (1965). Cover songs are lirerally music lu the ears of die managers of smaller venues like clubs and pubs, as they are tapping into a proven product that the audience can identify with. For each new generation of listeners, a 'good' song is a good song, regardless of any historical memory.
Tribute bands
The extreme example of rover bands are those performers who not only directly model themselves on established bands, hut actually copy them, presenting themselves as simulacra of the originals. Such tribute bands, as the industry prefers to call them, rate few plaudits artistically, but they have become big business, with several enjoying lengthy and successful careers (Human, 2006), Australian baud Bjorn Again, primarily performing the music (if Swedish baud, Abba, hail played over 1500 shows in some 40 countries worldwide by 20011, and undertook a highly successful I Oil) anniversary work! lour in 1999.
There are hundreds of tribute bands internationally, imitating almost everyone from defunct groups such as CCR, the Beatles and the Ramones, to bands that are siill pel-forming, such as Metallica. On the positive side, the imitators are bringing the music to a new, younger audience, a generation who ilevei saw the original peifunuers, encouraging them to seek mil the earlier man-rial. Oihn views are legs complimentary, pointing to the diltkulties in policing copyright and the fact that the original artists are frequently having to share audiences wilh llirti imitators. The main objection made to the nostalgia and cover bands, huwevci 1. thai they generally do not create new music, h 1 inirallv. tin- sun.- ih.ngc h.is not
Session musicians and house bands
Generally anonymous, session musicians are the pieceworkers of the Eritatic Industry, yet their role is more important than is usually recognized. The label is 11 generic one, referring 'to a range of practices, all of which involve the partici-piiliini of a musician in a recording session featuring an artist or hand with which Hi' ^i-ssiou musician does not regularly perform' (Bowman, 2U03: 104), T|„, emergence of session musicians as musical labour Was historically tied to greater |iiu!r-s,>ionahsni and spiralling costs uf recording sessions. During the 1960s music <• mi is such as Nashville, New York and I-ondon, developed highly competitive ■ ion musician scenes, with a select group of players able to make a lucrative living playing sessions. The role could he a demanding uue:
To be a session musician, one was generally expected to be able to sight-tc;id musical notation quickly and accurately, to be able to transpose a part from one key to another instantly, to be able to play in a wide range of styles and emulate the licks, techniques and stylistic nuances uf utlu-j-notable instrumentalists, and, in some genres, to be able to continuously develop appropriate and catchy grooves, riffs and lines for recording afte,. 1 t-fording.
(Bowman, 200:j; J05J
Some session musicians attain critical recognition for their contribution. K< i'i',.n- performers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare established theniscK,,. hi 'the' rhythm section and keyboard player Billy I'reston is credited, along wjm iIm Beatles (the only time they shared authorship), fur their single Get Rack. The (llbrb ill' a few session musicians attain near legendary status, as with Jell' .mil Jimmy Page's guitar solos on a variety of records in the I9bus, but Usually 1 inly when they later become successful in their own right, creating interest in this ' peel of their back catalogue. Session musicians continue to be widely Usedj iln 11 1 imliibution to recordings now usually indicated by their inclusion on 1II111111 credits.
House bands arc llu- backing musicians used by particular record labels at a
"'■I.....\ "I 11 oil" leciirdiug sessions, usually drawn from leading session nuisu ;;ll|s
.....1 area. Their emergence was also linked to increased musical speciali^itim,
<"•! audio costs, as well as studio recording convenience. The practice lh-g,,M nil j.i// in Chicago in the 1920s and was revived by rock music in the t*I(KJ» ill house bunds, such as booker T and die MCs, .11 Ht.ix in Meiiiplij^
.....wd considerable < mlii lor their uraiivc input. Othris, equally talented
n iiil< d in remain mine in llu- l..i. kginiiiul. .is with the I'link Ihulhcr* at H,,,,,, ,\ hi I >■ troll,
ill Under simuluj fmpulai mu\u tultuie
Making not tic ami the meta continuum 57
Current Irrtulm
here I.....'I ivprs of group that have become more prominent recent!
revival, I.........<ni I mi uk supergroups; and virtual bands, Each would he wot
linil.....r i li^idou but can only briefly be referred to here.
fírtmil/'inimmi' bands
I In ■   hi performers who have reformed to tour and, at times, to record.
....... their credibility and authenticity have been questioned, as their line-up
I ni/ i includes key members. For example, still touring Creedence Cleurwai Revisited include the bassist and drummer from the original 19G0s' ban
( In i deuce Clearwater Revival), but are minus its central figure, singer-guitarisi songwriter Jobn Fogerly. The trend is not confined to "classic rock' bands, as the 2000s, a number of alternative bands have already reformed to exploit nostalgia market and the current prominence of live music, among them Suet the Pixies and Soundgardeu. Once prominent pop acts such as the Spice Girli I and Take That have also briefly re-formed and toured.
There are obvious opportunities ottered by the name recognition the member of such groups bring to the marketplace. Longi vily can be considered a factor here. Surviving performers have aged along with their earlier fan base, for whom seeing them/buying their new recordings functions as a form of homage and a] celebration: 'Pin still standing and so are they', as I heard one fan observe at Leonard Cohen concert, when Cohen, aged 76, undertook a glohal tour in 2010-11.
Supergroups
Consisting of well-known musicians from several established, at limes no longer active, bands, coming together to record and perform, a 'supergroup' as a notion is hardly new and dates hack at least to the 1960s with Cream, which brought together Eric Clapton, formerly with the Yardhirds and John Mayan's Blues* breakers, on lead guitar; Jack Bruce, from Manfred Mann, on bass and Ginger Baker from Graham Bond's Organisation, on drums. The blues rock power trio enjoyed a short-lived hut very successful career, Uilcr similar collaborations included the Traveling Wilburys (1988-90), whose members included Boh Dylan, | George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Current 'supergroups' include SUPERHEAVY (Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Ji Cong'] Marley, A.R. Rahman); the Good, the Bad, and the Queen; the Dead Wi atlur; and Chickcnfoot. At times, such collaborations have produced critically well received live performances and recordings, as with SU1T.RI IE.\VV\ 211] I album (SUPERHEAVY, A&M Records, 2011). As with reunion bands, name recognition is a factor with the maiketing of these groups, although there is tin added weight of expectation on these performers to produce 'new music', laihci than simply replicate fiirincr gloties.
I ..'/,•(' bands
I Ik term "virtual band', sometimes called a cartoon bind, refers to groups whose iiii inbers are animated characters rather than 'real' musicians, although ihcir (ii in dings are made by human musicians and producers. Media related to the ~ ■ iii.it baud, including stage performance visuals, videos and album artwork, will t, .unit ihc animaled line-up. The best known historical example is ihe Archies, lin.i bubbleguin pop was a leature of the late 1960s. The most notable enn-ninpoiary example is Gorillaz, formed by Damon Albarn, formerly in Blur, in ' I and still active. The appeal of such bands would repay further investigation, liui would appear to be linked to the multimedia environment, with their use of ■ rv characters and worlds, sometimes drawing from graphic novels and comics; ««■1(1 their extensive use of sampling, remix and music video technology.
4 .....       I iision
1 have outlined the nature of music making and the rules and relative status of |hose who make music, primarily, but not exclusively musicians. Beyond the I at ihe base of Frith's performance pyramid of the 'Rock' are ihose who are Kinking at the middling levels of the industry. These performers are sometimes ■ Ii i libed as 'journeymen': diey may enjoy a lair measure of commercial success, l.ni ihey are not seen as particularly innovative, even though they may have a distinctive style and themes. But this label is unnecessarily pejorative, resting as ii lines on contestable (in part because they are rarely fully articulated) aesthetic il' inn lions, ll makes more sense to talk of 'mid-level' slams performers, who i rjjoy a mix of commercial and crilical recognition. These are perlbrmers whose ii.lines are recognizable to the majority of popular music fans, even when ihey
.....i, nut necessarily buy their records or attend their performances. Beyond this
aie performers vvlio are considered slais and aulcurs, the subject of the next i li.ipter.
Further reading
Cohen, S. (1991) Ruck Culture in Uierpmh Popular Musk n &K Making, Oxford: (ilarendon Press,
liin.uow, VV. (2006) Empire of Dirt. Vie Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music,
\li«ldli town, CT: Wesleyan University Press. I 11 n tin, B. (2009) hoiesl Musk in France Production, Identity and Audiences, Farnham,
Burlington, VP: Ashgatc. I . iIm i, | and Stolid, M., with David Ritz (21X19) Hound Dog: 'Ihe Leilter and Stollei
AtitiitringHiptlv, New Vol k. Uuuloli: Siinnll & Schuster.
MiKiielield, V. (2(X)5) The Producer as Composer. Shaping the Sounds of Popular Musk,
(Inmbridge, M.\: Mil' Press. Mi aw, W (1999) 'Authorship', in B. Horner and T. Swiss (eds), hey Terms in
hipului Mum and Culture, Maiden, MA; Oxlord: Blackwcll, pp. 199 208.