May 2020
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 25, No. 5
Next meeting Cancelled due to Corona Virus.
However, we will be attempting an on-line Zoom meeting.
Please use the link below to attend at 6pm EST on Sunday May 3rd. It will be
hosted by Matthew Campbell in Portland, Oregon. Here are the details:
ISG is moving online due to Covid-19, at least we are giving it a shot!
Matthew's Music Lesson Studio is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ISG Online #1 Songwriters Meeting
Time: May 3, 2020 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 6:00pm EST
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78528671657
Meeting ID: 785 2867 1657
Please read to the bottom of this email to find out how to share your songs
with us online.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
Details of the meeting and the link are also on Facebook.
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
On The Record
By Jackie Mason
It seems like ten years since I last wrote for you. I’ve stayed busy. I am learning how to make a
web page on WordPress. Hopefully by next month my articles will be featured on my web page. I
watched a few podcasts on Bree Noble’s Profitable Musician Summit “Binge Weekend.” That led
me to Graham Cochrane’s podcast “5 Recording and Mixing Hacks to Create a Radio-Worthy Song.”
All free by the way. I came away with some ideas. One that has caused me to rethink my studio layout.
A large project but I’ll probably have time to do it. I have plenty of time due to the virus. I am resigned
to a long shelter at home status because my age places me in the vulnerable population. I have been
playing more electric guitar and have learned a couple of new instrumentals. One big achievement was
that I cleared all the papers and accumulated stuff from my desk.I am happy to report that my desk is
now functional as a desk! The piano top is next!
In 2018 I wrote a couple of articles about Ray Davies and The Kinks. I knew then that I would return
to them. There is a video on YouTube in which Kinks frontman Ray Davies is interviewed by Will Hodgkinson.
Unfortunately it had been chopped up into eleven parts and it never ran chronologically. There were, also,
missing parts. I can now give you the link to all eleven parts and they run chronologically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8B_LYW1lB0
The interview is from 2009 and was made around the time that Davies was preparing to record a choral
collection of his songs. This is a link to the DVD of the interview. I have been unable to get my hands on
that DVD.
https://www.giginjapan.com/scan245/ray-davies-kinks.htm
It’s not the first time I’ve encountered this issue since I started to write these articles. Sometimes I find
obscure stuff and the price is way too much! This is the Wikipedia link to the album, “The Kinks Choral
Collection.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinks_Choral_Collection
This article will be at least a two part article. I have done some extensive research for writing this article
During the interview Ray is accompanied by the superb session guitarist Bill Shanley and The Crouch
End Festival Chorus.
http://www.billshanleymusic.com/audio/
By 2009 The Kinks had released 25 studio albums and had 20 Top Twenty hit singles. Ray begins by
reminiscing about his 6 elder sisters bringing home records and exposing him to a variety of musical styles,
including jazz and big band. One sister had married a Canadian service man and had brought home some
early rock and roll records. Some of this music was difficult to find at that time in London, England. I think
we’d be talking about the 1950’s. Ray says he has always been pro British and preferred Tommy Steele to
Elvis. He was impressed by the dynamics and strong back beat of those early records. Eddie Cochran was
a another major influence. The back beat on songs like “Summertime Blues,” C’mon Everybody” and
“Somethin’ Else” were examples of what Ray is referring to. They influenced his younger brother Dave who
was the lead guitarist in The Kinks. Ray sang in a choir at school and had some second hand formal training
through his brother-in-law.
Ray started to move into the London blues scene and fell under the influence of legendary British blues-man
Alexis Korner whom Ray calls a “ Kensington sounding blues-man.” Alexis is known as the godfather of British
blues and sang in his own accent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Korner
While playing with a blues band in London he met Davey Graham. Davey mixed up Celtic, Eastern and Blues
music and was a superb guitarist. Like Alexis he also sang with a British accent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davey_Graham
Another big influence on Ray and his father was Big Bill Broonzy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bill_Broonzy
Ray says that he decided not to emulate the American blues artists by singing with a fake American accent.
A crime that I am embarrassed to admit to!
The interview now leads us to a discussion about “You Really Got Me.” The Kinks first big hit and at first
glance a blues song. What makes it different is Ray has written it with European shifts. It starts as a standard
12 bar blues piece but there is an unusual and unexpected key change. Ray sings it quietly in his own London
accent. This prompted the record company(Pye) to push for more of the same. Ray shows us another example
of a blues song with an unusual bridge “Nothin’ In This World To Stop Me Worryin’ About That Girl”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj9671V_UxA
Another song like this would be “Day Tripper” by The Beatles.Blues but with a British twist.
I’ll close this part of my article. Stay safe everyone!
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association,
Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the
interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more
information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing call SusieCool with your
appearance schedule! 407-760-2153 or e-mail her the details at isgorlando@gmail.com
If you are interested in open mics in the Central Florida area, SusieCool has compiled a list.
https://sites.google.com/site/susiecoolsongs/Home/open-mic-directory-central-florida
SusieCool is the admin for a Facebook group called "Orlando Creative Music Network"
where we give out info on songwriter meetings, playing circles, open mics, workshops and concerts.
We have a Facebook page for this group if you want to join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/274152179716552/
No Critique for April, since no meeting.
We look forward to seeing you at the zoom meeting. Please have an mp3 and lyric file
ready on your computer if you want feedback on a song. When Matthew calls on you,
simply use your "Share Screen" button and pick the program that your lyrics are on.
When you playback the music, make sure you have decent speakers that your computer
mic can pick up. It is also recommended that you use headphones for the rest of the
meeting, but not mandatory.
New members and guests always welcome!
© 2020 ISG