Been in recording sessions where the producer (or the engineer) seems ambivalent towards the singer and inattentive to listening for the emotional content (isn’t that the singer’s job description?). With printed lyrics they’re ready to correct the singer about a forgotten word or ensure the verses are in the right order otherwise they act like their watching tv – worse a rerun.
Even singers sometimes act blasé or perhaps sidetracked by criticism about their pitch or phrasing – maybe they got a parking ticket, whatever – they’re not in the best mood. Woe be the singer who’s attention wanders from what the song is about.
My favourite part about producing is the part where it’s just the singer, the person representing the ideas of the song. Sometimes asking where they were/ what happened when they wrote the song leads to best takes.
When I listen to Sister Rosetta Tharpe singing This Train or I Want You (She’s So Heavy) or Ballad Of a Thin Man or The Revolution Will Not Be Televised or Mississippi Goddam I believe every vowel.
