(TV) Putting a Temporary Cap on One's Talent / RE: Playing with Patti in the Dark

["Casey, Leo J" <Leo.J.Casey@Volpe.dot.gov>]

Despite TV playing some nice atmospheric and spooky stuff from the shadows when 
Smith's tour hit Boston, whenever I listen to the 1996 Germany cd-r from CA (where 
TV replaced the missing Kaye on lead throughout the entire show, I've always been 
struck at how TV plays all of P. Smith's tunes pretty close to the originals.  It's 
as if he made a conscious decision (or was asked by Patti) not to "open 
the songs up".  It's like he's saying, I can downplay when I want to and 
subsume my style to the task at hand.

An entirely different situation from some of Bowie's guitarists on the road 
over the years----e.g., sidemen Earl Slick, G.E. Smith (the former Sat. Night 
live guitarist), A. Belew, Vaughn, Frampton, and Alomar who added  a lot more 
of their personal style to the songs.  Don't let me be misunderstood, this is not 
a bad thing, in fact, I loved Alomar's and Belew's playing on these Tours, whereas 
in the cases of Slick, G.E. Smith, and Vaughn[at least live] their playing was clichid 
and about as subtle as a urinal.

Speaking of clichid, I always thought Kaye's playing was pretty pedestrian and predictable 
both on Smith's studio stuff and in concert (he's better as a producer of other bands or 
compilations). Ironically, I would bet Patti Smith would not have succeeded as well 
commercially if she had had a better guitarist. I.e., in order to make it commercially you 
almost need to have a guitarist who plays hackneyed solos that appeal to the mass audience.

Of course, there are several guys like Quine on Reed's records or the Edge 
(when U-2 were still good) that are exceptions to this "rule".

	Leo the elitist  

PS: When I go back stage after the Roseland show, I intend to talk to Lenny about how 
he really needs to learn some more interesting licks.  :>)   

-----Original Message-----
From: tv-owner@obbard.com On Behalf Of leif
joley
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:17 AM
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: Playing with Patti in the Dark / RE: (TV) Press release
from Columbia Records


Was Verlaine really only a mere "backup guitarist" during the American tour 
with Smith? I saw them in Denmark that summer of '96, and Verlaine was more 
of a "special guest", as he wandered in and out from the stage (or limping, 
after that car accident). He was sitting on a chair, discreetly hiding  to 
the left in the shadows. Kaye did most of the soloing, but Verlaine played 
two or three solos, including a stunning one in "Dancing barefeet".

Leif J, Sweden


>From: Keith Allison <keith@marquee.demon.co.uk>
>Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
>To: tv@obbard.com
>Subject: Re: Playing with Patti in the Dark / RE: (TV) Press release  from  
>Columbia Records
>Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 09:48:39 +0100
>
>In message <200409210506.i8L563sX020225@zappa.brainiac.com>, Leo Casey 
><LeoCasey@comcast.net> writes
>>(In Boston Dec. 1995 with Smith tour, TV sat in a chair in the side rear 
>>of stage in almost darkness (he actually played lead when Kaye not 
>>available but believe that was only for 2 dates in Germany).
>
>The  Markethalle, Aug 1 1996 show has, of course, been available on Carried 
>Away
>--
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