From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V8 #43 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Monday, March 15 2004 Volume 08 : Number 043 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- Star Search (off-topic) ["Kris Richardson" ] Regretting This In Advance [TYEPAT@aol.com] Re: Regretting This In Advance [fingerpuppets ] Re: Regretting This In Advance ["Ron Rosen" ] Comments ["Laura Burgess" ] Re: Regretting This In Advance [Steve Murphy ] Re: believers-digest V8 #40 [Loris1127@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 07:52:34 -0500 (EST) From: "Kris Richardson" Subject: Star Search (off-topic) By chance did anyone tape Saturday's Star Search finals? I'd very much appreciate it if I could get a copy from someone. Thanks... Kris HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 10:13:25 EST From: TYEPAT@aol.com Subject: Regretting This In Advance Hi Everyone! Now that we've listened to ICBN enough for it to have branded it's mark on our souls, I just wanted to mumble, almost inaudibly, for fear of being mistaken for someone who doesn't in fact drop to her knees in adoration of Susan... but... on the title track, there seems to be some sort of noise that may be an attempt at "brushing the snare" which would've been a nice touch but it somehow comes across as... well... annoying noise... to me anyway... I'm begging your pardon. Also, I would maybe not have chosen to use an electric piano as the sole accompaniment to any song. To me, the only time you would use an electric piano unless it's a specific part of an arrangement with other instruments to achieve a specific electric piano sound, would be if a "real" piano is unavailable... like in a tacky lounge type situation... which it occurs to me is what she might be going for here, the pathos of a tacky lounge type situation, but I prefer a "real" piano every time... and speaking of pianos, I felt it was a big mistake to not have Susan actually play the piano herself on some of the tracks. In the cuts where Susan is not playing, the Susan piano factor is noticeably missing and it sort of "messes" with the piano/vocal marriage that's so much a part of the magic of Susan... In my opinion... I'm so terribly sorry. I feel like mandolins and dobros were not called for in these recordings although I realize there is an "Iowa" factor present, and lastly, the victrola effect at the beginning of "Seeing You Again" and for the "codafied" version of "Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter" is an attempt at cleverness but in actuality has been done thousands of times by a vast array of artists, and if I wanted to torture myself with scratchy recordings of poor sound quality, my Mom's 78's wouldn't be packed up and stored away in the attic! God help me, I hope you will all forgive me! Despite these few minor things, I do love this recording. I especially love "Late For The Dance", "You Come Through" (the hand claps are brilliant), and "Philanthropy" (a truly inspired arrangement ). I don't have a problem with any of the vocals, the songs themselves are of course incredibly brilliantly written, and I'm sure it comes as no surprise that Susan's guitar and piano work is flawless. ICBN continues to rotate in my player and probably will for a while but my all time favorite Susan album continues to be TBT. As If My Opinion Matters Anyway, Pattye PS As an artist, I could comment on the cover layout, the photography and personal styling, but I won't. 'nough said. HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 12:52:11 -0500 From: fingerpuppets Subject: Re: Regretting This In Advance one time at band camp, TYEPAT@aol.com said: >and speaking of pianos, I felt it was >a big mistake to not have Susan actually play the piano herself on some of >the tracks. In the cuts where Susan is not playing, the Susan piano >factor is >noticeably missing and it sort of "messes" with the piano/vocal marriage >that's >so much a part of the magic of Susan... in general, i agree with this. if any artist -- not just susan -- can sing and play piano and guitar well, i feel they should do so on their records. they're gonna do so when they play live so why not do so on the record as well? i wouldn't go so far as to say not doing so is artistic dishonesty, since the performer or producer may feel that there is a certain sound they are going for which the performer may not be able to achieve or they may feel they want a technically better performance for the posterity of the recording. still, i prefer it when the artist does everything they can since it makes the recording more *theirs*. and your explanation is a good one too -- even if susan does separate piano and vocal takes, there is a relationship between her singing and playing which is elemental to her presence on a record and certainly live. amusingly, we were a little surprised that susan played as much music on the record as she did. >and lastly, the victrola >effect at the beginning of "Seeing You Again" and for the "codafied" version >of "Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter" is an attempt at cleverness but in actuality >has been done thousands of times by a vast array of artists, and if I >wanted to >torture myself with scratchy recordings of poor sound quality, my Mom's 78's >wouldn't be packed up and stored away in the attic! ouch! ;) well, i'm not as bothered by the effect as others. it does seem a little forced for "maybe if i sang cole porter" but, at the same time, you have to do something different for that song if you're going to include it on the record since it's been kicking around so long and has appeared on several records already. i guess you could make the same case for "much at all" but since "cole porter" self-references the entire project, it seems appropriate to trick it out somehow. if it was the whole song rather than a shortened coda at the end of the album (really, where else you gonna put the coda? ;) ), i guess it's be more tiresome but i think it was handled alright. >God help me, I hope you will all forgive me! it's okay! we're allowed not to like stuff. we can handle it! >PS As an artist, I could comment on the cover layout, the photography and >personal styling, but I won't. 'nough said. awwwww, c'mon! woj p.s. y'all be comforted to know that susan is still great live. two sold out shows at joe's pub last night. she was accompanied by billy novick on clarinet, flute and sax and tyrone brown on bass. p.p.s. glowing review for _i can't be new_ at allmusic: . the reviewer, for what it's worth, doesn't seem too bothered by the victrola effect. ;) HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 11:15:06 -0800 From: "Ron Rosen" Subject: Re: Regretting This In Advance > p.p.s. glowing review for _i can't be new_ at allmusic: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB010403141153062392&sql=Acceb975dkrst > >. the reviewer, for what it's worth, doesn't seem too bothered by the > victrola effect. ;) I like how he quotes "Coffee, ham and eggs/ I can be your dinner.'' ;-) HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:44:25 -0600 (Central Standard Time) From: "Laura Burgess" Subject: Comments <>=0D =0D Groan! This made me think of the previous unpleasantness with the pick-p= ins but it also made me think of the paperboy in "Better Off Dead." How can one joke make me frown and smile at the same time? That's pretty good, R= on!=0D =0D I have to agree with the consensus (so far) about Cole Porter. That is o= ne of my favorites of all time, and she really nails it on MSN. The new version doesn't quite get there, but it's still better than I could do!=20 That's why Susan is the recording artist and I'm the preschool teacher, I guess....sigh....!=0D =0D Laura in TN=0D (Southern Believer) [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of IMSTP.gif] HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:34:49 -0500 From: Steve Murphy Subject: Re: Regretting This In Advance shills - shills - you're all shills :-) HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 17:29:41 -0600 From: "Chuck Ellingson" Subject: RE: Regretting This In Advance sorry, pattye, but i liked the victrola effect at the beginning of "Seeing You Again" (jmho) peace, Chuck "We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal... We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. _________________________________________________________________ Learn how to help protect your privacy and prevent fraud online at Tech Hacks & Scams. http://special.msn.com/msnbc/techsafety.armx HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:21:32 -0500 From: "Tim Dunleavy" Subject: Joe's Pub, 3/13/04, Early Show The early show at Joe's Pub Saturday night contained all but one of the songs on "I Can't Be New." The set list: 1. Tall Drink of Water  with a clarinet solo. Susan played guitar on this, not piano. Due to the cramped size of the stage, she played guitar sitting on her piano bench with her back to the piano. 2. Late for the Dance  this time with an oboe solo 3. I'm Not Sure  this time Billy switched to flute, and Susan did some great jazz comping on the guitar, playing off Billy very well. Now it came time to introduce her two sidemen, who have lots of credits  "Google them and your eyes will roll back in your head." On sax, clarinet, oboe and flute, Billy Novick  "the most remarkable eyebrows since Animal from The Muppet Show." On bass, Tyrone Brown  a great musician, "and 1981 Middleweight Champion of the World. Or was it earlier?" (She sounded like she was serious, but I just googled him myself and didn't see anything about his boxing career.) 4. Let's Regret This In Advance - or as she called it, "The national anthem of convention goers." This one had a funny introductory lyric containing the word "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi"; after finishing her exuberant version, she sang an alternate verse (and melody) she had written for the introduction. 5. No One Needs to Know  featuring Tyrone performing his bass solo with a bow (not plucked); a beautiful solo. She mentioned that the song was patterened on Cole Porter's "Easy to Love," which I certainly hadn't guessed, since the songs don't sound anything alike. But she said the two songs were alike in that they start and end with the same line, and there's a "twist of the knife" two-thirds of the way through the song. The two sidemen then departed the stage for a few songs. 6. Don't I Know You 7. Much At All  this is the only song of the night that got applause at the beginning as well as the end. Susan delivered a heartbreaking version, slowed down to beautiful effect. 8. Stay on Your Side of Town She finished this song by playing a line from "My Kind of Town, Chicago Is" on the piano. Susan started to discuss the Chicago, then said, "I just realized  I'm not nervous, I'm hungry. Could I have a cheeseburger during the break? With cheddar." Someone shouted "Medium or well-done?" "Medium," she shouted back. "I need protein. I've fallen off the Atkins wagon." Anyway, she spoke of how there were so many great songs about New York, including Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan" (and she demonstrated by singing a verse of that song). She mentioned that she also wanted to write things about Chicago in a list song, similar to Cole Porter's "You're The Top," and she sang a few lines from that song, pointing to the audience to let them finish the lines ("You're the Louvre Museum.") This led to a song whose opening line is "You take Manhattan," inverting the melody of the Rodgers original. The song was... 9. Give Me Chicago Any Day This exuberant, hilarious song is bound to be the highlight of Susan's live set for some time. My favorite line: "We've got Studs Terkel/And Weiner's Circle/Give me Chicago any day!" (She explained afterwards that the Weiner's Circle is a hot dog stand. And she taunted the Yankees fans, pointing out that the Cubs had beaten them twice this year.) There are a few lines in the song that refer to other cities, including funny rhymes for Boston and Philadelphia. After finishing the song, she sang a few rejected verses: "It's just too hapless/In Minneap'lis" and "The thought of Tulsa/Is just repulsa..." The two sidemen then returned, and she sang a song "by that internationally famous cabaret artist, Bob Marley." And then followed a version of... 10. Waiting In Vain ... that was completely transformed into a stirring ballad. A masterwork. 11. Seeing You Again 12. You Come Through - Ending with an impression of Satchmo and some Ella-like scatting. 13. Philanthropy - a completely different arrangement than on the CD. As Tyrone played backup, Susan hit seemingly random notes on the piano with her two index fingers. She didn't start playing chords until a few lines into the song. Again, she was having a lot of fun. (OK, I may have the order of the last two songs backwards - I was having a lot of fun, too.) 14. I Can't Be New Encore: 15. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face Done as a sensitive ballad, and with the original lyrics (no gender change) because, well, it sounds better that way. I saw her do this song at the Tin Angel years ago, and it worked even better with backing musicians. Billy did a moody clarinet solo with exquisite phrasing. She followed that with a song that started with a bluesy/gospelly piano vamp, that turned out to be... 16. Wouldn't It Be Loverly Yes, two songs from "My Fair Lady" in a row! She was having a lot of fun here; she's the only singer I've ever heard get a laugh singing the "Lots of choc'late" line in this song. Ending with a bass solo that worked perfectly, as the other two instruments dropped out, Susan and the audience clapped along to keep the beat, and Susan swiveled her hips in delight, dancing to Tyrone's beautiful music. It was worth the trip. But then, she always is. - -Tim HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:43:11 EST From: Loris1127@aol.com Subject: Re: believers-digest V8 #40 In a message dated 3/12/2004 3:48:41 AM Eastern Standard Time, owner-believers-digest@smoe.org writes: > I'm surprised at that, > because I have a definite guitar bias in the live show My daughter ran down to Best Buy on release day to get a copy for each of us (we didn't want to wait for shipping). She dropped it off at my house just as I was leaving for work in the afternoon and it went straight into the CD player as fast as I could unwrap it. I was very pleased by how "clean" the songs sounded - just Suze and not much else - even when there is other stuff, it's background (as it should be) I loved the little "Victrola" section at the beginning of "seeing you again". I was surprised to hear how much guitar is on there - when this CD was planned ages ago, I sort of gathered it would be piano only. I was also surprised to read the credits - even on the tracks w./ piano, it's not always SW at the keyboard. I love "I'm not sure" which was new to me - love that Spanish sounding guitar. I'm still disappointed that "light sleeper" didn't make the cut. That's about it for now - I've only listened to it about 5-6 times so far. Lori in NH HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V8 #43 ****************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------- 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