Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music by Phil Ramone Read Free Book Online

years was that jazz musicians weren’t afraid to experiment, and part of the reason I was blessed with success as a producer is because I wouldn’t hesitate to juxtapose a classical soloist with a rock-and-roll band, or a jazz player with a pop singer.
    I started by doing it with Paul Simon (Michael Brecker playing on “Still Crazy After All These Years”) and Billy Joel (Phil Woods on “Just the Way You Are” and Freddie Hubbard on “Zanzibar”), and found that it added a nice texture to their songs.
    While a producer can suggest ideas such as these to an artist, they won’t work unless the artist buys into the concept.
    Paul Simon loves musical exploration, and was pleased when I suggested bringing in Bob James to do some arrangements for Still Crazy After All These Years . Paul also welcomed the freshness that drummer Steve Gadd and keyboardist Richard Tee brought to his solo records.
    Billy Joel, however, was a bit apprehensive about featuring jazz players. He wanted to be accepted as a rock and roller, but critics insisted on branding him as “pop.” Billy expressed genuine admiration for the players I suggested; he simply wasn’t sure whether veering into jazz territory would help or hurt his cause.
    Billy’s lyrics had a distinct dramatic flair; his ideas, and the eloquent way he expressed them, were sophisticated. Songs such as “She’s Always A Woman To Me,” “Just the Way You Are,” and “Everybody Has A Dream” allowed their stories to unfold effortlessly, and reflected sentiments that everyone could understand.
    “Why shouldn’t you experiment a bit, at least on a few songs, if not a whole album?” I asked. “It’s okay to create a jazz kind of mood. You can do it credibly because you’ve written a song called ‘Zanzibar,’ and at the very end there are jazz riffs. Those phrases are a nod to all of the great jazz artists you heard while you were growing up.”
    I convinced him to chance the dramatic, and 52nd Street —the second record that Billy and I made together, in 1978—took his music in a new direction.
    The overarching flavor of 52nd Street is sultry and cool, and to enhance its seductiveness we invited Freddie Hubbard and Jon Faddis (trumpet), Steve Khan, Dave Spinozza, Hugh McCracken, and Eric Gale (guitars), Mike Manieri (marimba and vibes), and Ralph MacDonald (percussion)—a group of prodigious contemporary jazz soloists—to make guest appearances. As it turned out, the all-stars we chose clicked so well with Billy’s band that we took to calling them “The Lords of 52nd Street.”
    Both “Zanzibar” and “Stiletto” are momentous examples of Billy’s versatility, and the polish that marks the best of his records.
    “Zanzibar”—the story of a young man trying to make it with a nightclub waitress—embodies the suave, provocative tone of the chic dance clubs that sprang up around New York City in the late 1970s. The theme offered us an expansive forum for experimentation; what emerged was a solid pop tune adorned with tasteful elements of hot and cool jazz. A particular highlight is the song’s bridge, where a dreamy interlude (featuring keyboards and vibes) erupts into an unexpected jazz trumpet solo by Freddie Hubbard. Underscoring the passage is a driving, ascending/descending bass line, which lends it an urgency that’s irresistibly sexy.
    “Stiletto” cuts fast and deep; tension plays a starring role. But the qualities that make “Stiletto” a standout took time to develop.
    When we first recorded the track there were no funky bass lines, crackling finger snaps, or cliffhanger breaks. After auditioningthe first playbacks, Billy decided that “Stiletto” needed a visceral hook, and incorporating the aforementioned bass lines, finger snaps, and breaks helped to create the tension that serves the song so well.
    Memorable fills, phrases, and breaks—such as the ones heard on “Stiletto”—are what set the best records apart. These devices are