From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V2 #142 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Thursday, September 17 1998 Volume 02 : Number 142 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- Next Stop Wonderful CD [ssimpson@bcm.tmc.edu (Suzanne Simpson)] Re: Next Stop Wonderful CD [Christopher Russell ] New CD [Charisse Lowe ] Re: New CD [Paul Kim ] Tough to find it in Dallas [PBCMAC@aol.com] (Fwd) BOUNCE believers@smoe.org: ["Charlie Sweeney" ] Re: New CD [pauly on the shore ] TBT (thoughts, ideas, feelings ...) [Christopher Russell ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 13:47:04 -0400 From: Christopher Russell Subject: Re: Next Stop Wonderful CD Suzanne Simpson wrote: >and the nefarious Blockbusters (where I had to buy it) > had only one copy per store. I had a similar experience at the new Virgin Megastore in Manhattan which is across the street from my apartment. They had ZERO copies on display which was maddening. (Virgin always disappoints me) and I chose to walk several blocks south to TOWER RECORDS where they had a gazillion copies right up front in their "New Releases" Section. This particular Tower is one block from the Bottom Line so perhaps there is some influence there. I'm sure I will be checking up on Borders and other major retail outlets to make sure they're doing Susan justice. HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 16:17:44 -0500 (CDT) From: ssimpson@bcm.tmc.edu (Suzanne Simpson) Subject: The extra song More and more on CDs (e.g., Susan's new CD), there's an unlisted lagniappe at the end. Does that signify something, or was there just room for something extra late in production? Signed, Just Wondering HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 14:43:23 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time) From: Sally Charette Subject: Got it! Yes, Dana and I got the only copy from Tower Westwood today, so don't bother going there, LA-folks. They had to get it out of a new shipment box in the back for us! Sally Charette scharett@library.ucla.edu sally.charette@anderson.ucla.edu "Challenge is opportunity in its work clothes." --Jane Houston HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 16:56:56 -0500 From: Charisse Lowe Subject: New CD I bought the CD yesterday, and have done some serious listening, and I have questions. Let me preface this with a little background. I am a singer/songwriter planning on beginning my own CD next spring. In the meantime, my husband and I have put together a fairly professional home studio over the past several years. In our quest to divine the right sound,i.e., production, mastering, engineering, we listen to everything on our studio monitors. And before any of you fellow believers take my head off, let me state that I think Susan to be one of the very best singer/songwriters around. In fact she may be the best. Studio speakers are alarmingly clean, and you can hear everything. This new CD sounds very raw. The vocals are rougher, the production is not as clean, and Susan's voice sounds thin and 'out in front' of the mix. We played 'Good Straight Girls' under the same conditions, and the production is silky, her voice rich and thick. I have seen Susan in concert in a small venue and I know that her voice is not thin or rough. I think her producer did her a great disservice on this CD. My question is, why did Susan choose Darrell Scott to produce? I know Darrell by reputation as a Nashville singer/songwriter and studio cat. He's worked with a number of people such as Sam Bush, kind of uptown bluegrass. Charlie ( with a CD thank you!), can you find out why Susan chose Darrell over her previous producer? I love the new songs. Like Bonsai and Time Between Trains absolute favorites, and heavy identification on Courting the Muse. The added track is delightful, and oddly enough, the production seemed better. Again, please understand that I love the tunes, love Susan, but don't understand the level of production. "People in Hell all want ice water" Lightnin' Hopkins ________________________________________________________ Charisse "Toto We're Not In South Carolina Anymore" Lowe HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 19:19:22 -0400 From: Paul Kim Subject: Re: New CD At 04:56 PM 9/16/98 -0500, Charisse Lowe wrote: >I think her producer did her a great disservice >on this CD. My question is, why did Susan choose Darrell Scott to produce? I >know Darrell by reputation as a Nashville singer/songwriter and studio cat. >He's worked with a number of people such as Sam Bush, kind of uptown bluegrass. > >Again, please understand that I love the tunes, love Susan, but don't >understand the level of production. I'm iffy on the production myself. Although not for the same exact reasons as you (oh how i WISH i had a home studio *grin*...actually...first I gotta get a home to put a studio IN). I'm used to hearing Susan solo or sometimes with Jay Scott on back up and lead guitars. Each of her songs has taken on a certain mood, an atmosphere, a character that I can identify. It's the way she plays it and sings it, the phrasings and the tempo, the facial and vocal expressions that indicate (at least to me) how she wants to express the song. And on several of these tracks, I get a twist on the songs. The very first track, in fact, made me do a double take. TBT (can i abbreviate the title like that?) has always been a melancholy, solitary, introspective, but not gloomy song for me when i've seen her live. I like it that way (you can call me pavlov's dog). On the album, it's got an odd intro with her practically singing in your face with a bluegrassy backup...prominent slide guitar, harmonica, shuffly drums...it's pretty upbeat and country-ish...a reflection, I'd guess, of Darrell Scott's handiwork...it doesn't work for me...it's still a good song and this version is ok, but, well, it's not Sooz's song, you know? And "standing in my own way"...it's a little confined...a little too pop smorgasboard (bagpipes, beatles-esque harmonizing, shakers, mandolin)...what kind of song did Darrell have in mind when he added all these elements? I want rebellious defiance, hot darnit ;) This probably indicates that I'll have a whole new way to appreciate the tunes. :) Bring 'Round the Boat...anyone have an idea on this one? It seems like it's on the album because it's an idea that wouldn't be able to find expression anywhere else...a bit out of place...a Meryn Cadell-like piece. *shrug* What I would love to have just an album with susan performing her best songs solo...give her a resonant grand piano...leave all her beautiful guitar playing in...let her voice shine...let her interpretation come through... Some of the songs work really well...of course, they're the songs that have just Susan and her guitar. "Old Mistake" (although the guitar solo over the bridge is not to my taste), "Sorry About Jesus", and "Courting the Muse" are excellent. "Petaluma Afternoons", "Like Bonsai", and "Can't Let You In" would be better with a little less stuff thrown in there (although they are really good as they are). When I graduate from here with my degree in Music Production and Engineering (hope hope) in a couple years, I'm gonna track susan down and MAKE her do that recording :) Of course, there's the disclaimer that I loved LOTGSG and it's production (Fernando Saunders), but then i started seeing Susan religiously and fell in love with the live arrangements so much that LOTGSG is a bit too glossy for me. I swear that i don't normally overanalyze things like this...only stuff that I really really anticipate. What does Susan say at the end of "Movie of my Life" after all the yes's? Paul "i need a svetlana fix" Kim HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 20:35:20 EDT From: PBCMAC@aol.com Subject: Tough to find it in Dallas Regarding the new release -- Like Chris and Suzanne, elsewhere, I finally found ONE copy of the new release at a Blockbuster Music in north Dallas... after calling six others in the area and finding none on release day.... Makes one ponder, "Who's in charge here???" Just an amateur's comment on the production quality: the guitar could have been brought out more -- it's just a bit too far in the background on most cuts... but it's definitely a quality CD. The title cut was played Monday night on KERA's (local PBS radio) "The World Cafe" radio program -- and when I heard it, I remembered it from her Dallas show two years ago -- and the "phantom" cut at the end of the CD makes a marvelous finish... Can't wait until January 15~!~!~! Paul HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 20:42:25 -4000 From: "Charlie Sweeney" Subject: (Fwd) BOUNCE believers@smoe.org: From: "Marty Young" To: Subject: RE: New CD Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 17:18:33 -0700 > What does Susan say at the end of "Movie of my Life" after all the yes's? She say's "Brilliant! Just Brilliant!" ;^) HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 20:36:07 -0500 From: Carolyn Andre Subject: The New CD being massively addicted to Susan's music, I had placed my order for the CD from her website (particularly noting the wording along the lines that the CD would be shipped to arrive on the release date ). Yep. It arrived in Monday's mail, 3 songs before my anticipated out-of-town guests showed up!! aargh!! For those who do 'listening at work', my bit of advice: it is not a wise idea to audition a hotly anticipated new release on the one day of the week you & your manager have between your vacations - particularly if you're trying to get a contract taken care of that week!! But, these first couple of listens were enough to give my ears their doubts about what, exactly, I was hearing. Not the production quality, per se. And not the difference between sitting 6 feet from Susan & guitar in solo acoustic shows. But just *something* about the *style* of delivery. something was bugging me. So today's assignment at the office was to listen through all of Susan's CDs, in sequence. (yes, portable CD player - but the Grado headphones that cost more than both of the portables :-). Yep, my repeat listening confirmed my quick taste. Yes, I notice the difference from the smooth Fernando Sanders production of LOTGSG (and having that album right before I had my intense experience with Fernando & Carol Steele in Joan Baez' album recording concerts just reinforced how well they could make the instruments & vocals & songs blend!!) But that isn't it. And I do notice the more 'trendoid' instrumentation, but that doesn't really get in my way either -- I'm used to expecting at least two different "versions" of performers . Plus, retrospectively listening to many favorites from past decades, music recordings do tend to follow the trends of the period -- and the preferences of the producer. Its the vocals!! I hear a change in delivery style -- perhaps an attempt at a 'softer' tone?? in nearly all of the tracks, to me her delivery drops off to near-breathy at the end of most words - occasionally rising to the full vocals I'm familiar with on the choruses. On "Vincent" it works, (IMHO). On other old faves from her live shows, like "Old Mistake" I, like Paul with different songs, find myself wondering what song I *am* listening to. What I heard live as bittersweet, somewhat pensive, reminiscences of a past stop in life - but from a strong, centered place in the present - with the 'new' style becomes a regretful look back at past failures from a lot less *certain* of a place ... (or maybe I just liked the 'strong woman' version better :-) Being one of the midwesterners deprived of 'preview' performances of some of the newer material, such as "Sorry About Jesus", I'm probably digesting both the new material and the new style, so not sure which I'm reacting to now ... will pass. The vibes on "Like Bonsai" are intriguing - tho I found myself wondering how they would have found on "Petaluma Afternoon" instead. (and equally found myself intrigued by the expansion of Susan's instrumental repertoire! ... I'm a not-so-closet percussion freak). "Cant' Let You In" is a fascinating counterpoint to "Through the Glass" (an unfortunate fave due to excessive self identification with the wrong perspective). Maybe the most intriguing new song for me on the disc, tho, is "Courting the Muse". interesting commentary on creativity and taking things and success for granted, perhaps ... Charisse commented on noticeably different production on the hidden track ... my observation is intended somewhat humorously: but, of course! it's a *piano tune*!! (yes, Paul, an entire album of Susan & grand piano - sigh) And its a parody (it *is* an original, isn't it? or what's the Movie song Patty Larkin does, with her sunglasses on??) - and Susan is parodying her opera voice (a heck of a lot closer to the fullness of that spot-on voice that first caught my ear) - so whatever the intention of the producer, if at all, the acoustics and tone are completely different than the rest of the disc!! enough ranting ... have got to give folks cyber-ears a break ... differently than with either "Live at Tin Angel" or LOTGSG, I'm going to have to give this repeat listens in several different equipment setups before I have a definite opinion. ... but - has anyone else noticed what I'm calling a different *style* of delivery on this one?? is this an attempt to reach the current acceptable style in contemporary female singers? (or am I just turning into an irritable old listener? ) whatever, I do certainly hope this *is* the album that brings wide radio airplay & commercial success for Susan. Regards, Carolyn Andre - ------------------- Chicago, IL / USA | Support Independent Music! Use the Internet candre@enteract.com | Carolyn's House of Music: http://house-of-music.com HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 22:54:34 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: Re: New CD finally! it's out! yay! i've had a copy of the album for a number of weeks now (thank you jeff) and have been keeping my mouth shut about it until it was officially available. so, when i finally get around to catching up with e-mail, i see that the two points i was going to make have already been stated. *sigh* so, i'll just elaborate. first, also sprach Paul Kim: >What I would love to have just an album with susan performing her best >songs solo... yup. i'm generally not a fan of the solo acoustic performer. in fact, they generally rather bore and/or annoy me. however, susan werner is one of the few who i prefer in the solo setting. the other is richard shindell. interestingly, i suspect that _time between trains_ will, for me anyways, parallel richard's last record: much-loved and cherished songs that just don't seem to click in their studio incarnations and, as a result, the record doesn't end up listened to all that often. >"Petaluma Afternoons", "Like Bonsai", and "Can't Let >You In" would be better with a little less stuff thrown in there (although >they are really good as they are). actually, the first two are the two songs on the album that seem to work best with the nashville treatment. i'd leave "petaluma afternoons" alone, and, if anything, make "like bonsai" edgier -- given the thematic content, i think the song is too sweet-sounding as is. second, also sprach carolyn: >Its the vocals!! I hear a change in delivery style -- perhaps an attempt >at a 'softer' tone?? in nearly all of the tracks, to me her delivery drops >off to near-breathy at the end of most words - occasionally rising to the >full vocals I'm familiar with on the choruses. bingo! i noticed that immediately. to my untrained ear, it sounds like she's rounding off the vocals, clipping them instead of letting them run wild and full-bodied. even "movie of my life", which is the most over-the-top song on the record, suffers from this. very little cutting loose. given her ability, it must have been a conscious decision, but i wonder why. this vocal thing may be the biggest reason which interferes with my enjoyment of the record. but otherwise i like it. ;) woj HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 02:02:54 -0400 From: Christopher Russell Subject: TBT (thoughts, ideas, feelings ...) Adding my perspective and *opinions* to what's already being written here: When I popped the CD in and began to listen I was thrilled to hear the opening licks which reminded me of Keb Mo'. When Susan's voice came in I didn't recognize it. I struggled throughout the CD to hear what I know to be Susan. Susan to me is a woman who sings from her gut and resonates a stunningly powerful voice through her chest cavity and the bones in her head. This resonance is absent on TBT. Her voice is pitched higher and it seems as if she's asking her breath to support the material as opposed to when she's live and her whole body reverberates with power. I'm curious as to why VINCENT is here. There seems to be no interpretation of the song, nor do I get the sense that Susan is connected to the material. Susan is a woman who could cover Lavin, Larkin, Williams, Griffith, Aramatrading, Colvin, etc. while none of these women could cover Susan. Imagine any one of these other women, as gifted as they are, trying to cover Edith Piaf. Only Susan has the instrument to do so. I remain curious as to why she didn't use it. As far as choosing Darrell Scott ... My only guess is that Susan fell into the "Kenneth Brannagh" trap. Ken, a brilliant young actor found himself much admired and was given the clout to work with all of his heros and did so, even when they were inappropriate for what he needed to accomplish. In the liner notes Susan thanks Aramatrading, Thompson, Peter Paul and Mary for the "year of finishing school". Susan has it ALL BACKWARDS ... She took 'them' to school. There remains no greater live performer than Susan Werner. HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at songs.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V2 #142 ******************************* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- This has been a posting from the Susan Werner believers-digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe believers-digest" in the body of the message