A singer is what a singer is. I can respect a good singer. There's a difference, however, between a person who can sing and a person who writes music, writes lyrics, plays their own instrument and sings. Throw in a couple of other musicians and make a band that, collectively, writes, plays and sings their own music, and I really respect them as well. I can appreciate a song written by a professional production team, played by studio musicians and sung by a great singer personality, but my respect for that singer is less than it is for a singer/instrumentalist/songwriter or an organic band. I'm sure this makes me slightly rockist or guilty of some other brand of musical elitism. So be it.
To belabor the point, here is a hierarchy arranged from most impressive to least impressive. This list only applies to people who are sufficiently good at what they do. If they're no goods, well, they don't even make the list.
- Individual who writes music, writes lyrics, sings live and plays an instrument live while singing
- Band that writes music, writes lyrics, sings live and plays instruments live
- Individual who or band that writes music without lyrics and plays an instrument or instruments live
- Individual who or band that writes music, writes lyrics, sings and plays instruments in the studio but can't perform well live
- Individual who or band that writes music without lyrics and plays an instrument or instruments in the studio but can't perform well live
- Individual who writes lyrics and sings live to music written and played by others
- Individual who sings live lyrics he/she didn't write and to music written and played by others
- Individual who sings well in the studio but can sing well live
What about you?
Hello, friends. How are you today?
Later. Love.
