Richard Thompson

Maybe I’m losing it.

Songwriting for me the past few years has been a big challenge. I have written a few songs and posted them on my ReverbNation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/mitchmatthews), but I keep downing myself because I’m not as proficient as I was in my 30’s. Back then I was playing in/leading a country-influenced alternative band (what today we would call Americana music), and I could easily write a song a week that I was proud of. Heck, I was writing for a female lead singer.

I took on the reins of songwriting in my bands then because no one else had the will to do it. I never wanted to be in a cover band. All of my bands did play covers, but we were selective about the songs, and wanted to stress our originality.

As I phased out of the band-member role and considered myself more of a songwriter, this was about the same time that I delved happily into my love for bluegrass music. I found that many of my previous compositions could transfer well to bluegrass, so I have recorded some in that vein. My writing style changed as well toward the bluegrass format.

Back in 2011 or so, when I attended the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference, I started meeting other people like me – not into playing much but working more with songwriting. It was a great experience, and I was rewarded with co-writes with two people now more prominent in the bluegrass industry as songwriters.

However, I have struggled getting any more recognition. Part of the reason is that I have a full time job in Detroit, so I am not able to travel to Nashville (let alone live there) more than twice per year. I try to hit as many bluegrass shows as possible using my time off so that I can network with touring bands, but I hit a lot of brick walls by not getting any feedback.

In a recent online discussion at SongwritingPro.com, the topic of discussion came up regarding networking as well as the quality of the demo recording to give to a prospective artist. Like I said, I try to network in any way that I can, so that was not a concern. However, recordings of demos has always been a burr in my saddle.

When recording one of my demos, I usually have just guitar, bass, and vocals, with either some harmony vocals or another instrument (mandolin, dobro). I would think as a song, giving it to an artist or producer, that would be sufficient. However, many still want a full band recording.

Think about it. A bluegrass band, no matter how great or even unique they are, all have the same basic set-up of guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin and fiddle, give or take an additional instrument. Is it necessary for me as the songwriter to do the job as producer/arranger so that the artist can hear what the song sounds like in a full band setting?

I have mentioned this phrase before in previous blogs – “It all starts with a song.” A good artist or producer should be able to hear a good song in its rawest form and know what he/she wants to do with it. “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” is a great example. Richard Thompson recording his version was just his fingerpicking guitar and vocals. The Del McCoury band heard a hit with the song, THEN recorded it as a band.

Knowing that I may have to up front money to get a band to record my song demo (and try to find reliable bluegrass musicians willing to learn an original song here in the Detroit area) gets to be defeatist. With that, I tend to lose energy to want to write some more. I have loads of tidbits of songs in my notebook, but I find myself staring at them and not being motivated.

I have plans to hit Nashville in November to use up some vacation time, and have been contacting people down there for possible songwriting sessions or even just meetings. So far I have one “maybe.” It is two months away, so it’s not like I am calling on them last minute. It gets frustrating, but I realize that I am not well-known in the industry, only having one minor songwriting hit and a few other non-bluegrass writing credits.

We shall see how this all plays out.

Chew on it and comment.

A Perfect Song #1: Del McCoury Band “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”

This is the first of what I hope to be many blogs on recorded songs that I think are perfection or near perfection. They will vary in genre, but probably most in the bluegrass format. We start with a personal favorite, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” by the Del McCoury Band.

The song – Written by folk-rock legend Richard Thompson, it tells the tale of a girl admiring a boy’s motorcycle. Good girl and bad boy fall in love. Bad boy can’t change his ways, and attempts to rob a store, and gets shot. On his deathbed, he gives her one last kiss and his motorcycle. Now, this is no ordinary motorbike. Manufactured from 1948 to 1952, it was the fastest production motorcycle of its time. There is a famous photo of racer Rollie Free riding one lying flat on his stomach wearing only swimming trunks and a helmet at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1948, setting the land speed record of 150 mph. There are only 19 known Black Lightning bikes in existence today. One sold in auction for $929,000 in 2018. The song is unique in that it does not have a chorus – just four long verses that tell the romantic story. It has been covered numerous times, but most prior to 2001 have stayed close to Thompson’s original with a minimal guitar and vocals. DMcB made it a bluegrass standard.

The band – Del McCoury has been a Blue Grass Boy, and has led his own band for nearly 50 years. In the mid-1990s, he formed his present band with his two sons, Rob on banjo and Ronnie on mandolin. Adding Jason Carter on fiddle and Mike Bub on bass, this band became more than a powerhouse. They were THEEE bluegrass band that no one dared challenged. When they performed, usually around one or two microphones the old-fashioned way, it is magic. Everyone of them has won an award for their musical work, as well as the band being honored numerous times. Mike left the band around 2006, but every album that this lineup recorded is an textbook example of how a modern traditional bluegrass band should sound.

The recording – DMcB’s version is the lead-off track for the band’s 2001 album Del and the Boys. With the banjo kick-off, it automatically becomes a head-turner. Rob is not using a standard G tuning on his banjo. Instead, he uses a Concert tuning, which sounds a bit darker and works well with songs in the key of C (like this one). That 10-note intro just sounds like from another bluegrass planet. It is gold! Once the band kicks in, it is a diesel train coming at you full-force. DMcB takes a standard bluegrass instrument lineup and turns it into a wall of sound. Many bluegrass bands have strived for this sound, but few can achieve it.

When Del sings, it is soulful. Soulful like Otis Redding. Very few in bluegrass can even come close. That Pennsylvania-meets-Nashville drawl makes it even more special. His accents are slightly different than Thompson’s original. Del is a master at bluegrass vocals, knowing exactly what fits. He is a teacher at it without even knowing. A distinction to the recording is that there is no typical bluegrass harmony vocals. The band has the goods for it – Ronnie and Jason have excellent harmony voices and have done the job many times. However, the song is a story with no repeats, and it forces you to listen to the narrator. Extra voices would only be a distraction.

The lead instrumental parts are perfectly fitting into the song. Expert-sounding without being flashy. Jason’s fiddle and Ronnie’s mandolin could not be any more exact for the song. During the third verse when Del sings about the boy James getting shot, Rob kicks into a 7th chord that puts emphasis onto the scene, which makes the listener pay even more attention. Then in the fourth and final verse, it begins with just Del singing and Rob’s banjo. The production lets the listener know in a musical way that James is breathing his last without having to listen to the lyrics. However, the lyrics are important, and Del’s vocal tone makes you listen to him. Overall, DMcB is extremely successful in taking a tragic story and putting it into a foot-tapping mide-tempo bluegrass song.

The results – this recording is 20 years old, and is still a mainstay with bluegrass radio programs. It has achieved that classic status, in the same category as Bill Monroe’s “Molly and Tenbrooks” and Jimmy Martin’s “Sunny Side of the Mountain.” It has become a jam standard, more so accepted because it doesn’t require harmony vocal (although some banjo players may get frustrated having to re-tune). For bluegrass fans, those first few banjo notes are that same as the first chords of the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar.” It defines a certain sound of the genre, one that fans know that they can go to for definition. DMcB has continually put out excellent material in the two decades since this release, but this one song is a “must hear” at every band performance. It is truly four minutes of perfection.

Chew on it and comment.