Guitarist Charlie Christian: A Brief Life and A Lasting Influence

Charlie Christian died in March, 1942. He would have turned 26 that July. The Texas-born musician started playing guitar as a boy in the slums of Oklahoma City where the family had moved when he was two years old. His fame came from a mere three years with Benny Goodman before tuberculosis took his life. Yet, as brief as his time was in the spotlight, this legendary guitarist is considered a pioneer of the electrified instrument. The accolades did come decades later. He was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1966 and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Born to a Musical Family

Christian’s father was a blind guitarist and singer; his parents reportedly both accompanied silent movies at the local theatre. His two older brothers were also musicians and the whole family performed on the street to earn extra money.

During his early school years, Christian built and played what are called “cigar-box” guitars, using a cigar box as the body or resonator. Sometimes, the homemade instrument had fewer strings and no fretted neck.

One of the Early Blacks to Join White Bands

Jimmy Durante was the first bandleader to hire a black musician, clarinetist Achille Baquet, for his Original New Orleans Jazz Band. Goodman added Christian to his sextet in 1939 after previously hiring two other giants in jazz: pianist Teddy Wilson and future bandleader Lionel Hampton.

From Rhythm Section to Lead Instrument

  

Christian was unique in both his talent and his instrument. While the acoustic guitar had been relegated to the rhythm section. Christian played the relatively new electric guitar, in particular the Gibson ES150 that was introduced in 1936. The amped sound and his innovative style of playing totally changed the rhythm role of the guitar, turning it into a lead instrument. His single-string or single-note technique, as it’s referred to, elevated the guitar to solo status and, as young as he was, brought him prominence as a jazz virtuoso.  He even performed at Carnegie Hall before he died.

His Influence Covers Multiple Genres

During his stint with Goodman, Christian played with jazz legends like Thelonious Monk, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie and in fact, is credited with the start of “cool jazz” or “bebop.” His blend of interest in jazz and country music along with his plugged-in guitar equally impacted future rock and rollers like Chuck Berry.

A Street Name and Another Great in an Unmarked Grave

He was initially buried in an unmarked grave in his birthplace of Bonham, Texas. In 1994, the Texas State Historical Commission had a headstone created for him in the Gates Hill Cemetery with an accompanying plaque that outlines his music career.

In 2006, a street in the Bricktown entertainment district of Oklahoma City was named Charlie Christian Avenue.

Songwriting 101: Don’t Expect to Get Rich

A musician friend said about negotiating a deal on a song, “Well, part of something is better than all of nothing.” He was referring to the fact that when you do get artist interest in a song, it’s not unusual for everyone to want a piece of the pie. Either you are willing to give up part of your ownership or no deal.  You may have been dazzled by reports of how much money you can make if you hit it big, but that’s as easy as winning the lottery. Here are a couple scenarios from personal experience.

Expenses Add Up

On a recent pitch sheet, a publisher wanted songs for two established artists. The listing specified that he would require 100% of the publishing, non-negotiable. Was he going to reimburse the songwriter for the cost of the demo, roughly $700? The answer, as expected: no.

But the demo price is only one of the expenses that add up quickly for the songwriter. Not every song is a winner. For talking purposes, let’s say you spend $700 each on five demos. You are $3500 out of pocket even though only one shows promise in the market. You also paid around $200 up to $400 plus for a year’s subscription to the pitch sheet.

If you belong to a songwriting organization, you owe annual dues, as you do for membership in performance rights organizations like ASCAP or BMI in the U.S. If you are eligible to be a voting member of the Recording Academy, that annual due currently costs you another hundred bucks.

Those numbers do not include the dollars spent on home recording equipment or music gear. Notice that the time you put into writing the song and pitching it receives zero dollar credit. You labor for free. But if you put a figure on your hours, you can see that for one song to reach the stage of “recorded and released,” a songwriter will likely have invested thousands of dollars.

It’s Tough to Recoup

So you get a cut and the money rolls in. Not really.  You may wait six months or longer to receive performance royalties, a good year if the artist is internationally based. Mechanical/digital royalties for sale of that one song on an album are currently 9.1 cents, split between the publisher/s and the songwriter/s. Another example from personal experience: an American artist wanted to record a song but only on the condition that the artist received credit for co-writing and, along with another publisher, a share in the royalties. In still another case, the same song was translated for an artist in Europe. The translator legitimately deserved and received a share of the writing credit, ergo a share of the royalties. After two years on this one song, not a penny of investment had been recouped. Three years later, the performance royalties (no digital/mechanical dollars) came in under $100 in spite of the fact that the song was a number one pop dance of the year in that country. Getting a report of sales can also be problematic since labels are often indies and don’t have the accounting resources of the majors.

I once hit it big in the 1990s with one song on one major artist’s album. But that came after ten years of doing demos and pitching. You do the numbers and you’ll understand why I say don’t expect to get rich. What about artists versus songwriters? TIME magazine online published an article about a two-man band titled “Want to Be a Rock Star? You’ll Need $100,000.” There you go.

Biography of Igor Stravinsky, Father of Modern Classical Music

Had he lived until his next birthday, Stravinsky would have turned 89 in 1971, the year he died. Interestingly, the Russian/American composer had already written an autobiography when he was in his 50s, well before his arrival in the U.S.

Born in Tsarist Russia in 1882, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky grew up the third of four sons of an opera singer and according to IMBD, stood only 5 feet 3 inches tall (1.60 m).  He began piano lessons when he was nine but didn’t turn to music seriously until 1902 after briefly studying law.

 Stravinsky first gained major recognition with his composition of The Firebird for the Diaghilev ballet based on a Russian folk tale that the Ballet Russes debuted in Paris in 1910. He was 28 at the time. He and Diaghilev (who died in 1929) would continue their partnership for a couple decades. Stravinsky would go on to become known as the “Father of Modern Classical Music” and one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

In 1913, Le Sacre du Printemps or The Rite of Spring, caused a near riot at its premiere because of the dissonant harmonies and primitive rhythms Stravinsky used and the then-shocking choreography by Nijinsky depicting the ballet’s subject of “pagan rites in ancient Russia.”  A year later, the score became a respected concert piece that remains as exciting to watch an orchestra play today as it is to listen to.

In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution ended Stravinsky’s ownership of property in Russia so he moved his family from their home in the Ukraine to Switzerland. Three years later, the Stravinskys moved again to France (the composer became a French citizen in 1934).  His musical fame led to extensive international travel in the 1930s. During that busy period, tuberculosis took the life of a daughter in 1938 and put Stravinsky himself into a sanatorium for several months; his wife and his mother also died in 1939, the year he moved to the U.S. He was married again in 1940 to a dancer, Vera de Bosset, whose former husband was a Ballet Russes designer. In 1941, the couple moved to West Hollywood and eventually became American citizens. Conductor Robert Craft is credited with promoting Stravinsky’s U.S success and his move to serialist composition. In 1962, Stravinsky returned to Russia for the one time since he left.

Although he continued to write, tour and conduct well into his eighties, his health began to rapidly deteriorate in 1967. He had lived in New York only a few years before he died of the respiratory problems that had plagued him since childhood. 

In spite of the difficulties he encountered with the acceptance of his “radical” music, Musical Academy Online, http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=88

reports that Stravinsky did have a caustic sense of humor and is quoted as saying of Vivaldi that he had “not written hundreds of concertos but rather the same concerto hundreds of times.”

Stravinsky’s modern classical music (ballets, operas, symphonies, concertos and many more works) may not appeal to everyone but he did compose for jazz artists too including Woody Herman. He also contributed to the soundtrack of Disney’s Fantasia and is the only classical composer honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sources:

http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=c&p=a&a=i&ID=756

http://www.notablebiographies.com/St-Tr/Stravinsky-Igor.html

http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Igor-Stravinsky/dp/0393318567

http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=88

Songwriting 101: Terminology for Newcomers

If you’re a newcomer to the music industry, you may not be familiar with some of the terms used in creating, producing and “selling” your songs.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. If you are serious about songwriting, buy or check out a library book on the business, attend workshops and definitely study songs you like for structure and melody.

When you’re writing

Pre-Chorus or Channel:  typically consists of two or sometimes four lines that act as a melodic transition from the verse to the chorus.  

Bridge: usually comes after the second chorus as in verse/chorus, verse/chorus, bridge, chorus. Melodically, the bridge changes rhythm and lyrically resolves the story of the song. The idea is to introduce a change to keep the listener engaged.

Hook: refers to the repeated phrase that the listener remembers. A riff is an instrumental hook.

Scratch Track: may also be called a rough, as in your homemade version of the melody and lyrics.

Co-Writing: means you and a partner or partners created the song and own a pre-arranged share. Even if you’re the only writer, you can choose to offer a co-writing credit to the producer if he or she makes a significant contribution to the final recording.

When you’re in the studio

Demo: is a finished studio or home-recorded track that you use to pitch the song. Demos can be as simple as a singer with piano or guitar, but they must absolutely sound professional and polished with a great vocal and instrumental.

Feel Track: is the style you hear for the demo. If you’re not a very good singer or player, a feel track can help musicians better understand your vision for the song.

Overdub or Sweetening: comes after the basic song is recorded when the guitarist or pianist makes another pass to add an extra layer to the track.

Dynamics: refers to variations in the vocal delivery such as full voice versus head voice. 

Nashville Chart: means that studio musicians follow a series of numbers and symbols rather than notes. As an example, if the key is C, C becomes one and F becomes four. If the key changes, the chart doesn’t and the musicians know what chords to play once they have one, or the key.

On or Off Card: is a term for union or non-union rates. Demo rates are different from master rates.

Fly: comes from today’s technology. Say you like the singer’s performance of line two in the first chorus. The engineer can “fly” that same portion into another chorus.

Work for Hire: is a release signed by anyone involved in producing a demo to specify terms of use. You need this if you want to pitch your song to film/TV. 

When you’re offered a contract

Reversion Clause: sets a certain length of time in a contract for the publisher to get a cut or rights to the song revert back to you.

Cut: means a commercially released recording of your song, either an album cut or better still, a single.

Mechanical Royalties: are set rates for sales of the recording, from CDs to downloads.

Performance Royalties: are collected by organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC and you must be a member in order to receive these royalties.