Things We’ve Watched and Discussed

We both love her so much. Our discussion about Roberta Flack involved: the Don McLean connection, of course, and how moving we found it. “I prayed that he would finish … but he just kept right on …” How piercing and perfect a description of what powerful art can do to us, or how it reveals to us our own pain. We also discussed the quality of her voice. It’s no-frills. It’s basically her speaking-voice, which is why it has that direct quality, nothing between it and her, or her and us.

We’ve been discussing The Pointer Sisters for the entirety of our friendship. Mitchell saw them perform multiple times in childhood at the legendary Warwick Tent (where he saw everyone), and they were a big favorite in college. I don’t think, in college, I was fully aware of their background, the atmosphere from which they sprung, AND, how truly BIZARRE they really were. (Bizarre as in: awesome, and “sui generis.”) Sisters. New Orleans jazz. Andrews Sisters. Southern girls. I mean, WATCH that performance above. It’s such a blend of influences, made their own, and sparked with the enthusiasm of siblings who have probably been imitating those influences, using hair-brushes as microphones, since they were kids. Mitchell said, “I mean, who thought that this would be a valid way to start a pop career?” (This is not criticism. It’s an acknowledgement of how “out there” they were, how MUCH they were themselves … the eccentricity and unique nature of what they were doing. Brilliant.) They were not packaged as a “sister act”, they were not a gimmick or a commodity. They burst out of the gate, showing us who they were and the kind of music they loved and listen: You cannot manufacture authenticity like that, the in-sync-ness of siblings, the enthusiasm that they bring. You either have it or you don’t. We watched, and Mitchell gave me brief bios on each sister, the blend of personalities/tastes that made up The Pointer Sisters.

That clip led us to this performance (same concert) of one of the country songs written by the sisters. Old-school country. You can hear the resistance of the audience to her question, “Do you love country music?” They’re like, “Uhm. No.” But into it she goes, and it’s a classic. It’s country music, straight-up, a country song sung by that voice, and it’s the culture from which she springs as well. There’s an integration in this, a bridging of the gap, in such an authentic and personal way. I’ll have more to say about this in a second, but first, watch the beautiful clip.

At one point, watching the clip, I started singing along. I didn’t realize I knew the words. I somehow had missed that this song was a Pointer Sisters song, and I racked my brains: How do I know this song? Who covered it? Because it’s through the COVER that I knew the song? Then I got it. Then I heard it. I told Mitchell, and he was like, “What?? He covered it?” (It’s always pleasing to me, in a semi-pathetic way, whenever I can tell Mitchell something he doesn’t know, especially about music.) So then we queued up HIS version. And it’s actually a favorite performance for me from him. He loved country music, no surprise there, but I love a couple things in his version: the ladies behind him (the Sweet Inspirations, including Cissy Houston), as well as his sexy and committed prosody and phrasing on “You used me … you deceived me … and you never seemed to need me … but I’ll BET … you won’t forget me when I go.” (It’s his commitment on “I’ll BET” that is electric. He’s PISSED.)

The mention of The Sweet Inspirations, one of Elvis’ back-up groups in the 70s also had a long storied career: Nothing like those church girls singing a pop song. THAT’S the sound that BECAME pop music. So we pulled up their cover of the Bee Gees song.

All roads lead to Barbra Streisand. Mitchell pulled up two clips from one of her TV specials. (We both miss TV specials so much.) Barbra, in her full and glamorous 70s beauty, does a series of numbers with Ray Charles (and his awesome Girl Back-up Group, so essential to his sex appeal and style and sound.) Barbra sang with everyone. She was SUCH a solo star, but the pairings she has done show her versatility, as well as the generosity of a certain kind of star. Pouring her attention and focus on someone who is equally fabulous. She’s self-consumed, as most gigantic stars/icons are (hello, Marlene Dietrich), but she also loves the excellence of others, and they love the excellence in her.

So maybe Ray and Babs make no sense on the face of it, but seeing them together … it makes PERFECT sense.

First up, Ray taking OFF into the stratosphere with his awesome “Look What They’ve Done To My Song.” He’s doing his thing, she’s doing her thing. She doesn’t alter her style or try to be someone that she’s not. Why should she? She’s Babs. BUT she’s also there as support staff to him, setting him up, continuously tossing the ball his way. The comments she throw in, in between his phrases … asking questions that he then answers in the next batch of lyrics … SO entertaining.

Also, she never takes her eyes off of him. Because one of her jobs is to keep herself totally in sync with him, because she can see him, and he can’t see her. So she reins it in (except on the sections where he plays support staff to her), and stares right at him … timing her own phrasing to PERFECTION to match up with his. That’s one of her jobs.

Also, she’s essentially singing back-up. When did Barbra EVER sing back-up? So she’s also timing herself up with the syncopations and off-beats of the back-up arrangement, being sung by the ladies who are placed BEHIND her. So watch Babs’ strange tapping on the piano, not quite in sync with Ray’s beat. She doesn’t need to keep in sync with Ray. She needs to keep in sync with that back-up beat. So the hand helps.

The whole thing is so right-brain-left-brain and it’s masterful.

And finally: watch how he goes OFF on his classic riffs at the end, going over and over and over the same section, improvising, building the tension … as the back-up singers hold strong behind him. Nobody knows when he will decide to end the riff and move on into the explosive ending … and everyone has to hold tight, doing their thing, sensing when he will switch it up. I love that kind of tight tight tight intuitive collaboration. And Barbra … holding strong, with her part in the back-up, never taking her eyes off Ray, knowing she has to be ready, at a moment’s notice, to launch into the next section. And he’s going to be the one to do it, he’s in charge … go with him, or be left in the dust.

After that, we moved on further into that pairing in the same TV special. “Crying’ Time” moving into “Sweet Inspiration”, two wildly different numbers, with wildly different vibes. Again: the glory of Babs harmonizing with a male voice. It’s so beautiful, so creamy-dreamy, the collaboration of two geniuses, blending their voices together. The song has so many pauses built into its melody, and again, Barbra has to keep her eye on Ray Charles, so that she lets go of notes at the same time he does, and picks up the next phrase at the identical moment.

And on to “Sweet Inspiration,” where Babs is, essentially, wearing the white pant suit from What’s Up, Doc?, showing off her superb figure … doing choreography (when did Babs ever do choreography?), in sync with the back-up ladies behind her. It’s so adorable.

And she’s a part of their dynamic, but she’s also the star, and she puts her own Babs-ish spin on those movements, and it’s goofy and charming and entertaining.

Bring back the TV special.

And singers/producers need to realize that if there are geniuses at work, you don’t need to add too much to it. Keep the camera angles simple, keep the lighting uniform … you don’t need to add huge attention-getting cues that take away from/pull focus from the dynamic between the two performers.

This is all we did on Wednesday. I didn’t get out of my pajamas. January has been pretty wretched, I don’t mind telling you, and my health has suffered because of the stress. I’m coming out of it now, but my resilience is compromised ANYway so I need to get myself back on track (and I am). But a day in my pajamas watching Youtube clips with one of my best friends worked wonders.