09.15
Bredonborough.
Discipline comes down to one thing: when you say you’ll do something, you do it; and even God can rely on your word.
11.05 Shortly, off to Hemel Hempstead.
18.23 DGM HQ.
Driving to Wilson World HQ listening to Patrick Smith’s new album, produced & engineered by Tony Geballe.
Patrick is not a professional player, nor even a semi-pro player: he is an amateur guitarist. A good pro can play what is asked of them, regardless of like & dislike, regardless of whether they love what they are playing, hate what they are playing, and / or have no particular feelings for what they are playing. One professional strength is cultivated impartiality, adopting a form of advocacy for what is being played & to act on the music’s behalf; this assuming a respect for the music and / or its composer. The flipside / downside of this is, a professional may play music in which they have no trust, no faith, no love; that is, they lie for money.
A bona fide amateur plays for the love of it. So, what does the amateur bring to the music-making party? Where is their particular strength? Perhaps partly, the power of innocence in encountering music, an enthusiasm that can enliven & spread into the world of those whose professional lives have dulled their experiencing of joy in making music, maybe by lying for money.
So, what does Patrick’s playing bring to the party? The technical range & vocabulary is limited, to professional ears, but there is something else, rare in anyone’s playing: the music is real, and true, and played honestly. Rare indeed.
At Wilson World HQ…
… we are listening to Steven’s
surround-sound mix of Lizard.
For the first time I have heard the Music in the music, throughout the album, this including even the sessions at Wessex Studio sessions (the second half of 1970). The music is now audible, redeemed by Steven’s love of the album & the quality of his mixing.
Lizard is not an album that fits into stereo, and 5.1 provides the space, dimensionality & air needed.
Lizard has contributions & the participation of two people who continue to hold & articulate a high level of angst & personal animosity towards myself, now for almost four decades. The Lizard sessions marked the sudden decline in my relationships with both Peter Sinfield & Gordon Haskell. The continuing unpleasantness, plus my dissatisfaction with the final mix & production, has spoiled my relationship with the album & the many good ideas struggling (and before) mostly failing to be heard.
As of today, and for the first time, I can hear & enjoy the album & the music. The rest of it is superfluous. Peter & Gordon both have deserved success in their professional lives & have taken advantage of their access to media, online & hard copy, to present their own feelings & state their cases. So, hopefully, a happy ending is now available.
At Wilson World HQ we were intending to listen to Steven’s 5.1 mix of Red as well, but after 2.5 hours of the intensity & information level of Lizard, my brain moved to pickled in extremis & I left, dribbling, for DGM HQ. A straightforward journeying to DGM HQ, arriving at the end of the afternoon.
An evening of computing is ahead. And then…
"What we hear is the quality of our listening."
