Why I Hate Music Downloads

It’s not the downloading of music itself that I hate. What I hate about it is the missing booklet. When I buy music - especially reissues - I’d like to have some information about it. I want as much credits as possible: musicians, songwriters, arrangers, producers, time and place of recording and so on. And I don’t mind a short biography of the artists and some nice photos.

iTunes for example won’t give you any of these credits. Although theoretically it would be possible. Every iTunes file comes with an “Info” tab where you can edit information about the file such as the artist’s name, album title, name of the songwriter, year of production and there’s also a comment box. Usually they only give you the name of the artist and the album title. That’s it. Sometimes they add the year of production. But if it’s a reissue the year of production often refers to the reissue and not to the original production date.

So you really only get the music and nothing else when you download. No added value. If you buy a CD you have a booklet with at least some information. It’s true, some downloads at iTunes come with a virtual booklet. But it’s a kind of hassle. Either you store it somewhere on your hard drive where you probably will never find it again or you write a CD, print the booklet, take scissors, cut it out and stuff it into a tiny jewel case. So much for the digital age …

Yes, it’s great to have immediate access to music. But it’s not enough for music lovers. Here’s my hint for record labels: allocating well researched background information that comes with a well designed booklet is a market niche for CDs.

Who Played On ‘La Bamba’? Part 3

On my post Who Played On ‘La Bamba’? I wrote, that I wasn’t sure whether the bass player named Buddy Clark, who played on Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba”, was the same Buddy Clark who was involved in the Supersax band in the nineteen-seventies.

I’m happy to announce that it’s indeed the same Buddy Clark. His daughter Lisa Clark confirmed it to me. Like her father Lisa Clark works in the music business. She’s a singer and mainly performs in the Austin, TX area. Check out her homepage.

Related posts:

• Who Played On ‘La Bamba’?
• Who Played On ‘La Bamba’? Part 2

Music Legends Attend “Nashville Film Festival”

The music documentary The Wrecking Crew featuring the great studio musicians from Los Angeles who recorded countless hits in the nineteen-sixties comes to Nashville on Thursday, April 24th.

It will be shown at 7:00 PM as part of the Nashville Film Festival at Green Hills Cinema. Some of the legendary studio musicians will be present at the screening.

Besides the officially confirmed attendance of piano player Don Randi and bass/ukulele player Lyle Ritz it is rumored that guitar and producer/arranger legend Billy Strange (”These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”) will be present together with his wife Jeanne Black who was a singer in the nineteen-fifties and sixties (”He’ll Have To Stay”).

At 09:00 pm there will be a closing night celebration at the Cannery Ballroom with live music played by some of the musicians who are featured in the documentary.

More about studio musicians:

• The Wrecking Crew Movie
• The Invisible Musicians
• Squelching Rumours About The Monkees