Mark E. Smith's a bit like that too. I dunno that he got good performances out of his bands, but he somehow made them all sound like The Fall.But hat quote from his book about Duke Ellington and Captain Beefheart (lol) being great conductors and using other talented people as conduits is pretty on point. Third was saying the same thing about coked up Miles Davis bringing the best outta his cast. Reminds me on the NBA and certain players they call floor raisers, they turn middling teams into contenders and contenders into champions.
James Brown terrorising drummers and George Clinton holding out money or paying in drugs to keep bandmates hungry and earnest.Mark E. Smith's a bit like that too. I dunno that he got good performances out of his bands, but he somehow made them all sound like The Fall.
I was a bit disappointed when I learned Oneohtrix Point Never's had people like that. The albums have his name on the front, but he's apparently had at least one person in the background making stuff for him, e.g. Paul Corley on 'R Plus Seven'.If you read the KLF book about having a number one that's very much the idea, that there is an engineer sat there who could basically make any sound if only he could imagine it, and their idea is to take a random sixties hit, find the tune that rocks the dancefloor most in a cool club, and borrow some money, rent a studio and get the engineer to put them together - and release it as your tune.
i don't mean it as a criticism really, there is plenty of room for technicality and ideas and they don't have to be the same thnig.I was a bit disappointed when I learned Oneohtrix Point Never's had people like that. The albums have his name on the front, but he's apparently had at least one person in the background making stuff for him, e.g. Paul Corley on 'R Plus Seven'.
Dre (of Cool & Dre): [We made the beat] in Cool's mother’s garage. Funny story, after the record blew we did a meeting with Jimmy Iovine and he asked us about "Hate It or Love It" like, "Do you have the original beat before Dr. Dre touched it?" We were like, "Yeah, we got it on the laptop." He was like, "I always wanna hear what stuff sounds like before Dre puts the magic to it." So we pressed play and I'll never forget his face....he was like, 'Yo it's the same damn beat. Send me the original version.’ We were like, "This is the original version!"
Dre put the most amazing mix on it, his mixes are so fucking phenomenal. There was a difference sonically, but as for the record itself the music was the same. If I'm not mistaken, at the end of the hook he added a string going into the verse. Dre brought it to life. [As a mixer is] what I think is his greatest quality. His sound placement and how his shit comes out sonically that's why they're his headphones. His ear for instrument placement is amazing. A Dr. Dre mix is a co-production in our mind because he just kinda brings shit out that was not there, that's what he did.
Mike Lynn: Dr. Dre completely reproduced that track. He had it replayed. He never took credit for it, he still let them get producer credit, that’s how he is. It’s funny to me when people say, "Dre took my beat" and this and that. It’s like, come on man all that shit is bullshit. I seen so many producers eating out there because their material sounded professional, but in the beginning of their career their music wasn’t nowhere near professional. Dre made it sound professional.
Every record on that album, Dr. Dre touched. Everything. "Hate It Or Love It" sounded like a sample, Dre made it sound like a record. Dre cleaned it up [on the] musical side. He had the baseline played so it actually sounded professional. He made those records. If they play you their version and his version, they’re night and day. He had to [get co-producer credit], he did all the work! [Laughs.]
I can't work alone. I can't read music, I refuse to engineer or produce. Why would I want to do that when I can sit with two engineers in a studio and bend them inside out until I've exhausted all the technologies they have, until all the samplers are full and there's no more room? How am I going to conjure this out of them? By being the Doris Stokes of drum 'n' bass, that's how. And once I've got the spirits in the room, I'm going to make them dance to the tune I always wanted to hear. Because I know what's going where from the start, the picture's already done in my head, and all I have to do as an artist is keep the water clear.
The Fifth ElementWould be great to be totally mental but in a position where everyone has to indulge your every wish.... I'm thinking Prince, Caligula, maybe Tom Cruise... I dunno, a fine line between that and simply being insane and everyone merely laughs at you.