by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Daniel Swartz
Walter Becker, the songwriter and musician who co-founded jazz-influenced rock band Steely Dan, died Sunday at the age of 67, Variety reports.
The band was a participant in The ASCAP Foundation at the Library of Congress represented by Donald Fagen at their annual event in May of 2015 which is when this article was first published.
“You’re going to hear amazing songs tonight, and they all came from the minds and hearts of the people who created the songs as they faced this,” said Paul Williams, President of The ASCAP Foundation and a noted singer and songwriter himself, waving about a blank piece of paper. His metaphor was poignant that before any song, comes an idea and a thought and a story—and those all need to be distilled to paper. The occasion itself required a man of such reputation to serve as Master of Ceremonies. The evening was the seventh annual “We Write the Songs” event at the historic Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress. The celebration of music, song and music creators also marked the gifting of original artifacts like lyric sheets and manuscripts to the Library of Congress from the ASCAP Foundation. The ASCAP Collection was created in the Library as a method of ensuring a record of musical history and the associated artifacts as it relates to the culture of the United States.
Paul Williams
On hand to mark this latest ceremony were some titans of the music industry as well as dozens of members of Congress and many Washington dignitaries. After all, the power of storytelling and music bridges far beyond partisanship and political gridlock, that’s the idea anyhow. Even Presidential hopeful Rand Paul found some time off the campaign trail to join in the celebration of the event. Williams joked of his own songwriting history was not always spectacular, once accidentally rewriting “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” but that the memories of the tough days melt away when he gets to come to the Library of Congress and see his own music side-by-side with the likes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Natalie Merchant
Williams told Hollywood on the Potomac that the evening was a celebration but that the issues facing the music industry were still of critical importance. He pointed out that the copyright claims for recorded music earns fourteen times the amount of that for the songwriter, which is closer to a fifty-fifty split around the world, so our own system makes it difficult for a person to survive and live off of being a songwriter. “Things are broken, but hopefully about to be fixed.” Williams acknowledged that streaming platforms and advanced technology have helped to broaden the reach of music to audiences, but now it’s time to zero in on equity for the creators. “First we go for the rights, then we go for the rate,” he explained that evolution of technology is a process and that the same way cable and visual content has started to shift for providing to the creators not just the distributors, that maybe music will follow suit.
Che “Rhymefest” Smith
The performances kicked off with a haunting and powerful rendition of the song “Glory” performed by its writer Che “Rhymefest” Smith, a Chicago native whose credits include writing for Kanye West, and of course bringing “Glory” to the big screen for the film Selma with collaborators John Legend and Common.
Rupert Holmes
The next performance was slightly more relaxed as singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes took the stage with a big smile and a joking spirit. “I recorded my first song in 1966, it was not a hit, but sure enough, I did have my first number one record only 17-years later.” That number one is of course the iconic song “Escape” that many people refer to as the Piña Colada song. Holmes revealed that the original lyric to the song was “If you like Humphrey Bogart, getting caught in the rain” and that he changed it at the very last second, off the cuff as they began recording. “I’d never had a Piña Colada in my life. I’ve had many since.”
Songwriter Crystal Nicole blew the doors off the theater with her performance of her song “Only Girl in the World” –the dance hit, made popular by Rihanna, but not before charting her own tough rise into the industry, wanting to be a singer and hearing that she didn’t fit the mold—and that writing songs became “therapeutic.”
Allen Shamblin
Senator Bob Corker introduced Allen Shamblin, the country crooner who has penned songs for Peter, Paul, and Mary, Miranda Lambert and Bonnie Raitt. The room was eerily quiet as he plucked at his guitar to the tune of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” –one of his many songs that will secure his legacy in Nashville and all of music history.
Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame got the aisles rocking as he took to the piano, John Bettis told tales of working with The Carpenters and got toes tapping as he sang “Top of the World” and Natalie Merchant nearly proved that you can travel back in time as she executed a flawless version of her song “Wonder” which sounded like an exact match to the recording from years ago. She joked that all she has ever done was write songs in her adult life, and if ASCAP can’t keep collecting royalties, than cleaning houses might be the only other skill she has. She mentioned that she always wanted to write songs with greater aspirations for humanity, and that it may be a heavy expectation for a pop song, it can be done.
NE-YO
Multi-platinum, multi-award winner NE-YO splashed onto stage to close the show and described his own growth in the industry, that at some point he had to focus less on genre and more on melody. NE-YO shared with Hollywood on the Potomac before the show that his mother always taught him “you are given a blessing to be a blessing” and that is why his role as performer and songwriter and producer is also accompanied with the role of A&R executive for his label where he recruits and cultivates new talent and helps them to advance in the industry. “Now I’m in a position to help, you know, the next person to live their dream, the next person to receive their blessing in regards to music.” He said he in constantly approached with demo tapes (even as recently as moments before he made the comment) and it’s a good feeling to know he can listen to the tapes, and if they are good, he can help to make the next step for that performer. NE-YO mentioned that his evolving understanding of different types of music and looking at it from so many different sides of the business helped him to find his own sound and ultimately get to the up-tempo hits he is most well known for. He talked about how songs that he initially wrote for himself weren’t always the perfect fit, so he had to settle for them landing in the hands of someone like Beyoncé. A joke of course, but a short performance reunited him with the 2006 hit “Irreplaceable” that NE-YO said was ultimately better suited for a female performer.
It was an unforgettable and evening of music, and really, how often do you hear that Beyoncé is your second-place choice to perform your song? Time to put a record on to keep us entertained until next year.
