We Write the Songs that Make the Whole World Sing!

You remember Barry Manilow, of course. How could anyone forget? He's still out there, knocking 'em dead. In fact, his latest record, The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties, recently spent four weeks as the #1 record on the Billboard Top 40 / AC (Adult Contemporary) Charts.

"I Write the Songs" was a smash hit for Barry almost 30 years ago. And his newest record is comprised of hit songs from a half-century ago! Barry Manilow knows a great song when he hears it! Ironically, although a talented songwriter himself (i.e. his breakthrough hit Mandy), Barry did not write "I Write the Songs." He also didn't write the famous "You Deserve a Break Today" McDonald's (yes, the hamburger people!) jingle. But he did sing it and he did do a lot of writing and performing of jingles in his early years in New York.

By the way, Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed Manilow "The Showman of Our Generation." Quite an honor indeed from a magazine that probably didn't have a whole lot of good things to say about his music over the years. (Remember Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show on The Cover Of The Rolling Stone?)

But this piece is not about Barry Manilow, it's about songwriting. A guy by the name of Bruce Johnston wrote "I Write the Songs." According to Allmusic.com, Johnston, a fixture in the '60s California "surf music" scene, "was tapped to join the Beach Boys' touring band after Brian Wilson announced his retirement from live performances; in 1965, he played piano on the group's hit 'California Girls,' and subsequently remained an on-again, off-again member of their ranks for decades to come, most notably appearing on the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds. Johnston left the band during the mid-'70s, recording a solo LP, 1977's Going Public, and becoming the hit songwriter behind smashes like Barry Manilow's 'I Write the Songs.' By the end of the decade, however, he was again producing the Beach Boys, and continued to tour with them well into the 1990s."

You might find it interesting (I did) that Bruce Johnston and Brian Wilson happen to look a lot alike (didn't all the Beach Boys look alike?):

It's appropriate, I think, that the famous singer of I Write the Songs, didn't write the song! Because the truth is, and just about any songwriter worth his or her salt will tell you, "we all write the songs."

Yes, songwriters do indeed write themselves into songs. But really good songwriters don't rely on their own experiences alone. They use YOU and ME. They use OUR experiences. And that's what makes great songs (and songwriters) great!

Whoever said, "just because something is true, that doesn't make it interesting," pretty much nailed the gist of good songwriting. Good songwriters use all OUR truths to make THEIR songs speak to YOU.

As the veteran ASCAP (Nashville) VP (and hit songwriter— and really great guy) Ralph Murphy says in his popular songwriting seminars, "Nobody cares about YOU...they care about THEMSELVES as you see them...Your job [as a songwriter] is to give them themselves as you see them...."

In the terrific 1996 "songwriting movie" Grace of My Heart, actress Illeana Douglas plays Denise Waverly, whose character loosely depicts the life and career of singer/songwriter Carole King during the famed Brill Building (New York City) "song-factory" heyday of the late 1950s to early 1970s.

It's a great little movie, especially for songwriters, full of funny and memorable lines.

At one point, singer/songwriter Denise Waverly (the "Carole King" character) says plaintively, "Maybe I put too much of myself into my songs." So true of so many songwriters...usually to the detriment of the song.

At the Rack Room and Blue Bar (just off Nashville's Music Row— a popular live music joint and poolhall where you'll often find successful songwriters and local celebrities hanging out), Tony Stampley (co-writer of a number of big Hank Williams, Jr. hits, and son of the legendary Joe Stampley) said of a freshly written song, "I think this one might be a little too true...we might need to add a little fiction boys," and proceeded to play a new honky tonk "confessional" which sounded just about perfect for Hank, Jr. But, as I quoted above, the straight facts of the matter aren't always all that interesting or universal enough to make a GREAT song. This thought was on Tony's mind, apparently.

To backtrack for just a second, two other notable lines from Grace of My Heart speak volumes about the music industry, then and perhaps even more so, now:

Record Producer: "I don't want to burst your bubble, but not only do we have someone like you. We are trying to get rid of the someone like you."

Densie Waverly: "What exactly did you like about my record? The thickness of the vinyl?"

Right on the nose, as they say!

If you really want to understand songwriters and songwriting, there's hardly any better (or fun!) way to do it than to spend time with them, on their turf, if possible. That's what's so great about Nashville. They're HERE! Just frequent the popular "writers spots" in town, be a nice affable person, and you'll not only meet great writers, you'll become friends with some!

Back to the Blue Bar. My friend, the extremely talented and lovely Amanda Williams, hosts a writers night every Monday night at the Blue Bar. (Actually I co-host the showcase with her every third Monday of the month.) Amanda comes from "Songwriting Royalty" as does Tony Stampley. Amanda is the daughter of Kim Williams. With Garth Brooks he has had four #1 singles: Papa Loved Mama, It's Midnight Cinderella, Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up) and She's Gonna Make It, as well as numerous album credits. Kim has a massive catalog of cuts and, incredibly, his songs can be found on over 100 million records!

To paraphrase a famous country song, "if that ain't country royalty, you can kiss my ASCAP." (For more on ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, the "P.R.O.s" — Performance Rights Organizations — click here.)

SIDEBAR: You just never know what's gonna happen or who's gonna show up at a "writers night" in Nashville. On a Monday night in March, Andy Griggs and John Michael Montgomery hopped up on stage for an impromptu acoustic jam. Those boys can SING!

Continued...

Songwriter or Performing Songwriter?

In a perfect world, I suppose, the artists who write the great songs would also be known as the preeminent performers of those songs.

John Lennon was both. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder are both. Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, both. Bob Dylan is both.

But if it comes down to being one or the other (the writer or the performer), unless your ego just can't take otherwise, it is infinitely more financially rewarding to be the songwriter.

Legendary session guitarist and Songwriter Hall of Famer Steve Cropper ("Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay") says in Graham Nash's fantastic book, Off The Record - Songwriters On Songwriting, "...the best that even Elvis could do was to have a single and an album both out at once. If you're a good songwriter, man, you can have fifteen or twenty songs out at once. If you can do that, then you're set up for life. Your best bet in this business is to be a really good songwriter and you'll outlast all of them. That's the kind of message I've always tried to get across...."

When John Michael Montgomery sings, "I Swear" or "I Love The Way You Love Me," he doesn't get paid a penny of the performance royalty monies (collected and administered by ASCAP, BMI and/or SESAC) earned for that performance. He doesn't get paid when those songs get played on the radio, on TV or in films, or as Muzak in an elevator, because he didn't write or co-write them.

Gary Baker and Frank Myers get paid (for "I Swear"). Chuck Cannon and Victoria Shaw get paid (for "I Love The Way You Love Me"). The publishers of those songs get paid. The PERFORMING ARTIST does not get paid for the performance of the song they made famous! (Except of course for their gig pay - whatever they are paid to play the song live.)

This is why "performers" are forced to keep doing shows throughout their entire lives to sustain themselves while the songwriters disappear to the Islands and collect quarterly royalty checks for the residual income produced by their ownership of those "intellectual properties." (Writers often call it "Mailbox Money." In fact, Chuck Cannon released a CD of songs called, aptly, "Mailbox Money.")

SIDEBAR: What does "residual income" really mean? Well, here's an example. Paul Anka is credited with writing the theme song to The Tonight Show, reportedly "the longest [running] theme ever on TV" (more than 40 years). EVERY TIME THAT SONG IS PLAYED, Paul Anka earns money. Interestingly, so did the late Johnny Carson (and so does his estate now).

According to ClassicThemes.com, "...Johnny Carson (who was a jazz fan) played drums at home. So he said he would think of something to put at the beginning of Anka's tune to "help author it." That something turned out to be a little drum break (a little solo before the band joins in.) So for 6 or 7 years there was that one-bar drum break at the beginning of the THEME.

See, hear, and download "Johnny's Theme" (from The Tonight Show):

Johnny's Theme - Sheet Music (Digital Download)

Eventually that little break was shortened even further to just one and a half beats. [That little drum lick or "roll" is accompanied by Johnny's famous "golf swing."] So Johnny became an "author" of his THEME for copyright purposes, and got not only a piece of the publishing royalties, but a composer's share of royalties as well; Of course, it must have been worth it to Paul Anka who once said he got $200 in royalties every time the show aired. It ran for 32 years, 52 weeks a year, 5 nights a week -- which works out to $1,664,000.00 -- not bad..."

Not bad indeed. Most people simply don't understand how money is earned in the music business or recognize the sometimes less-than-obvious sources of revenue for songwriters. There is a very clear and concise explanation of how Music Royalties are paid at this website.

If you want to earn a long-term residual income from music, you should definitely be involved in songwriting, song publishing and song licensing.