David Bendeth will be the sole producer of Crystal Bowerox’s yet-to-be named debut album if a message on his website is true.
“Yes, I am producing all of Crystal’s record, ” Bendeth wrote on 9/29, “And it’s sounding amazing, what a voice she has!”
Papa Roach, Breaking Benjamin, Cavo, Paramore and Bruce Hornsby are a few of the artists the British born and Toronto raised producer has worked with.
Still without a firm release date, Crystal told On The Red Carpet last week that the album will come out in mid-December, a compromise between the pre-black Friday date the label wanted, and the spring date Crystal was shooting for.
Details on Crystal’s upcoming album have yet to be officially confirmed by her label.
I am extremely happy that both @DAVIDBENDETH and @jeffkazee are producing and working on Crystal’s debut. They seemed to be the kind of producers/musicians that might ‘get’ what Crystal is trying to put out there. Both are like old school rock, hard-edged musicians in their days and later on worked with acts like Paparoach, Paramore, Crash Test Dummies and Bon Jovi.
@DAVIDBENDETH producing Crystal’s album definitely proves that it won’t be a POP oriented or a JIVE “repertoired artist” album that they are going to release for her. This will be more towards the rock edged and it’d be folk/country-infused if they are going to really get the best out of Crystal. Pretty amazed with @DAVIDBENDETH’s work, hes a multi-platinum award winning record producer who produced and is still producing for big acts like Paparoach, Paramore and Crash Test Dummies and he also wrote songs for Joe Cocker and Jeff Beck (Wow, that is impressive). I dunno how Jive did it but very cool that they were able to get / Crystal was to draw both @DAVIDBENDETH and @jeffkazee to work on her album. I think @jeffkazee might be one of the song writers or he even might play on the album. Does anyone know definitely what @jeffkazee would be doing on her album? Please let me know, thanks.
For more info on @DAVIDBENDETH:
http://www.davidbendeth.com/biography.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bendeth
For more info on @jeffkazee:
http://www.facebook.com/jeffkazeemusic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Kazee
I like the single producer idea. I am getting excited for Crystal’s album.
His studio looks amazing! I wonder if this is where Crystal is recording her entire album?
He’s got really good credits but I don’t see how Crystal’s album is going to end up being rock-oriented. She’s not a rocker. It’ll probably be what she does, which seems really very much more folk and country oriented than rock.
It’s great that there’ll be just the one producer, though. Should allow the album to be more cohesive than a lot of the ones where there are multiple producers with multiple styles involved.
Although not a huge fan of Season 9 – I did really like Crystal’s voice and believe her to be the most talented of the group. I am really looking forward to her debut single and album.
A. The producer, the album would sound differently depending on what producer is producing it. David Bendeth’s sleeves include the posterchilds of rock music- hard rock, alt rock, punk, metal and so on.
B. Crystal’s originals transcends a lot of genres including rock. Songs like sandman or calm can be done as rock songs with a full band.
Having said that I dont think it would be full rock album. Its going to have elements of rock but also it will be include other genres like folk, soul and country. Since she has recorded farmers daughter already we can assume the country element is already there. Will have to wait and see what other info we get before the album is released.
Since I have been a fan of Crystal I have been listening more closely to the words of songs to see how Crystal’s words would sound with the same melody and singer. I have also been paying more attention to performers unplugged versions of songs. I have been surprised how different songs sound unplugged verses the studio version. Crystal has the hard part nailed already….the unplugged part which is a stripped version of a song. With a full band her songs can be sung in any genre she wants. Plus her producer is a writer also so I can see him putting new ideas into Crystal’s head to make her stuff even better. I think she has a firm idea of what she wants but if someone has a good idea that fits she will be the first to listen.
Agree, they seem to be having quite a casual relationship with one another. Throwing jokes at each other and their communication is excellent. Check out their tweets, its pretty cool… Seems like crystal and the producers are having a fun time both in the studio and off studio. I suspect @DAVIDBENDETH and @crystalbowersox would do more collaborations in future as well…
Crystal has had an absolutely amazing post-Idol run thus far. The way she’s lined up influential contacts, locked down a top manager and producer, gained positive exposure with live shows and her causes, got engaged, has the label’s stamped approval to use almost all originals, and successfully extended her release date to mid-December…
WHEW!
Nicely done, girl.
You know its hard to say how this will play out. We’ve seen time and again, various contacts/musicians/producers/writers say wonderful things.. and are seen doing fabulous gigs or red carpet events, but much of it doesn’t pan out into anything useful that we can see. Only much time will tell. Hopefully Crystal is the exception.
On the positive side, it great to see that she is moving and groving with her album. Hopefully having a single producer will serve her well.
Well she was a HOT commodity coming out of AI. If her current label didnt sign her I am sure plenty of others were in line to get her. Wasnt too worried abt her getting signed but worried a lil bit that JIVE was the one who did it eventually.
However I looked into JIVEs website and I noticed that they got people like Buddy Guy and Tool (????). I was like WTH when I saw Tool at first. On the wiki page Tool is not listed under Jive Records neither in Tools website or their wiki page. So I am a little confused here. Does anyone know if Tool is signed to JIVE or does JIVE need to update their artist page? Tool is one of my favorite bands, well anything that Maynard is singing is pretty up there in my list including APC lol :) Buddy Guy seems like an artist like Crystal in which they both are soulful singers and singer/songwriters though Buddy is a true bluesman and there are elements of blues and jazz in Crystals’ songs (for eg patience) as well. Anyways Crystal not being the only non-pop/rap artist on their portfolio makes me hopeful that we will actually hear what she wants us to hear on her first album :)
Yeah, it’s been a very interesting 2 years for post idol media exposure. Last year Adam was getting way more than Kris. This year Crystal is getting way more than Lee. And call me a cynic but I’m in the camp that says the little brouhaha between Crystal and her label is just one more way to (a) keep her name in the news cycle and (b) give her more credibility. More power to her for doing so as keeping her name in people’s minds is what’s needed to sell the album whenever it’s released.
And great news to have a single producer for the whole album. That should definitely help give it a cohesive sound.
I think Crystal has a really good shot of having the success she appears to want for herself. She has a competent manager, decent visibility and lots and lots of talent.
All that being said, the 19E/Sony machine is pretty darn influential. The debut records of David Cook, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, etc., were loaded with Grammy winning, multi-platinum producers and songwriters who were and are consistently at the top of the Billboard charts. They’ve experimented with albums being produced by a single producer (David Cook’s album was solely produced by Rob Cavallo) and albums being produced by multiple producers (the three season 9 finalists I mentioned), to varying results. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think Crystal is being treated any differently than other runner-ups (with the exception of Adam Lambert, who was clearly the darling of 19E/RCA), and it’s going to be veerrrry interesting to see exactly where Sony and 19E’s money goes in the next couple of months in terms of marketing and promotion.
I am really pleased with the choice of David Bendeth for Crystal’s album. A lot of the success of Idol alums seems to be based on the direction that the individual artist has coming out of Idol, and the quality of those choices has had a lot to do with the finished album.
It does not look like Crystal is getting any special treatment to me. Everyone that Sony has signed from Idol has worked with top producers and writers — it is really more about how they used that opportunity. Look at Allison — Jive set her up with Max Martin, Shellback, Greg Wells, Howard Benson, Chris Daughtry, Kara DioGuardi, Pink, Toby Gad, etc. There was no lack of high-priced talent on “Just Like You”. These Idol albums have big budgets and they are attractive to producers.
Yes, Tool is now with Jive. Tool is on the Volcano label which has been merged into the Jive portion of the RCA/Jive Label Group. The specific labels within the RCA/Jive Label Group do not really mean that much any more.
Adam got way more press than Kris, but Kris got way more press last year than Crystal or Lee are getting now — mostly because Adam got so much press. Crystal and Kris are now tied. Lee is slightly behind them. So I really don’t care if it is real (I think it is) or not — just hope Crystal keeps making some noise!
Adam is in a different league of press coverage. Probably not a place that Crystal wants to be from what I can gather.
fictitiousreality
well, Tool is on Jive’s website as one of their artists. And the site has Crystal on there, so it has been updated fairly recently anyway
not that Tool and Crystal have anything in common, though… :)
Allsion’s first attempt sounded so much like Adam’s if there was no singing you could not have told the two apart. I was not too impressed with Allison top-notch team. Hopefully Crystal will have better luck!
I’d actually commented before that for those who are only vaguely aware of AI (don’t watch it, but might read a story here or there they see on an entertainment website), the notion might be that Crystal had won. She was about the only one that anything was written about during the season unless you were on an actual AI site.
That said, even as a fan of Crystal, I think it’s kinda dangerous to already basically make statements about how “the real” winner is really showing herself at this point. Lee’s single hasn’t come out yet, nor has his album. Yeah, he’s not been in the press much, but all that changes if he puts out a great album – and especially if he puts out a great album and Crystal’s ended up tanking. I really really don’t think hers will (and I think the peak of Lee’s popularity came between his homecoming and the tour, and is already on the decline – he won as a “bandwagon” favorite), but it’s not out yet.
Hopefully the good news continues for Crystal. I think the idea of a producer who is well versed in rock will actually be a big help to her. I think Crystal’s core style is in fact “rock,” after all rock itself came about from country and western, blues, and folk. The idea of her as a “roots” musician and then the lyrics of the new song “Riding with the Radio” seem to just reinforce that (getting back to the roots and all). The only full band version of any of Crystal’s songs that has ever been heard thus far in public was “Holy Toledo” (and I was there…*squeeeeee* I mean…ummm yeah we’ll save that for the WGWG threads, lol). I think her style will end up a mix of rock and country – maybe more acoustic at times, but I think her acoustic demos are, as has been said, definitely a much more minimalistic stripped down style than what even she wants for her studio album. (Although I’m hoping against hope for an almost straight from her demo recording of “Just Want to Love Ya Before I Leave” as a bonus track on the album…if you haven’t heard it, it’s worth a listen…but you’re probably gonna cry. If this was a site where we could create a sig, mine would say “We are all just moments passing by one another in this life…”)
All kidding aside….I hope Lee does wonderful! His success will not affect Crystal’s one bit! There is enough for everybody who deserves it.
Since all but 3 of the songs that will appear on her debut album are Crystal originals (and the other three collaborative), I see very little similarity between Crystal, the finished, mature artist who is ready to plug-and-play a music career, and Allison, the naive kid who was overproduced and then dropped by 19.
Also, the others mentioned had been assigned pop writers, producers and managers, while Crystal has them falling over themselves to get on the MamaSox bandwagon.
Kris was overwhelmed by the force of Glambert-mania, and then got lost in his passive nature. He’s a good opening act, happy to be out of the spotlight, but will never be a headliner.
Crystal is making news for being the artist who somehow managed to grow beyond the Idol universe, and its stigma, in an incredibly short period of time. Actually, in many ways she was beyond Idol before the season ended.
Lee is the traditional Idol. An aspiring pop star taking the traditional Idol route, and embracing that role whole-heartedly.
Agreed. I want them both to have success. I would think fans of the show would want even their non-favorites to do well because I think the more success an Idol ha,s the more credibility the show has which in turn makes their favorites look better.
Allison was dropped by jive, not 19 – unless that is something that happened in the last few days.
As far as crystal being out of the bubble, not even close yet. She needs much, much more exposure and a few successful albums before that is possible. A few great charity appearances, etc doesn’t wash the ai stink off any of the idols.
Is there an article out there somewhere regarding this? I didn’t realize this was happening.
I’m not so sure about that. It may not come overnight, but he’s pretty amazing live. (Disclaimer – I’m a huge fan, but think he is overlooked far too often, esp. in the whole AI comparison game.;))
BTW, I love Crystal and I’m very excited that she has one producer for her album.
Crystal has had a fair amount of exposure post-Idol – some positive, some negative. Being contentious is just as likely to be viewed as being a pain in the ass, as it is standing up for one’s self. Those are the things people remember, unfortunately, not the positive things she’s accomplished in the last couple of months.
Crystal also doesn’t have a very vocal fanbase. She may have made connections with industry professionals and peers but she hasn’t made that connection with the public. Alot of people see her as being old-fashioned and out of touch with today’s music.
So before I annoint her the “real” winner of Season 9, I’m going to wait to see if she actually sells any records.
I am really interested in hearing this choice of producer for Crystal. If she ended up with a more hard rock sound I’d be more interested but I understand many of her fans would not agree.
I think it is pretty hard for hard core fans to see outside of the bubble and truly see how much buzz someone is getting. The Adam Lambert media storm is hard to avoid but outside of that it is pretty difficult to rank buzz because each fan group is not aware of every single thing each idol is up to and which news item if any has pierced the general public consciousness.
True, they appear to be mostly about her music without a need to talk about her to death. Probably something Crystal appreciates. I´m also optimistic that her fans will show their support with their wallets when the CD comes out and for concert tickets. I also see them spreading good words about her music to family and friends who aren´t into AI. Word of mouth, person to person, in the “real” world is more effective than anything else
Hard to say that she hasn’t made a connection with the public. There are quite a few people (some on this board, many others who aren’t on here) for whom AI has never been of any real interest – I myself have watched it a little bit off and on but never have been that drawn in by anyone (I have been to a Carrie Underwood concert, although never saw her during her season cause I didn’t watch at all then, and I bought Gokey’s album here a couple months back because I liked the singles I’d heard and he was my favorite in S8). Crystal obviously made connections with some people during the season itself to have made it to #2, and I really do still think that a good many of her fans just aren’t vocal online. Neither of my parents would ever post on a board like this, they wouldn’t spend their time here and might not even be able to figure out how to do it. If not for the fact that we live under the same roof, three members of my family would all be buying her CD (I figure we’ll still end up with 2 of them). And yes, older people do buy music – and they tend to be the more faithful fans, they don’t get tired of someone after a couple months.
It just remains to be seen if her album sales will take off. I don’t think Crystal’s buzz can be gauged on the same order as those of any of the top 2 of the last couple seasons – she’s a different sort of artist, with a different sort of appeal.
Thank you. Hmmm I always thought Tool were very much against “big” labels, anti-commercial and stuff like that. Anybody remember their rant against tickmaster one time? With Tool its always about their music and it seems hard to believe that they would be under JIVE. I guess corporate america must be winning here, big guys buying the little guys. Not necessarily Tools problem though…
I respectfully disagree. Tool is and has always been about the music and what they portray are emotions and feelings in their songs. Watch this interview ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-_a7FzzGps ) about Maynard talking about their music. Like he says if you think that music is just a backdrop (like the people jumping on one another on the video) that very much differs from what the band actually wants to portray as their music which is a catalyst for you to get off your ass and do something. Crystal has said that she wants people to be moved by her music and heal themselves by listening to it. Her songs are very emotional indeed and when she sings them you can almost feel that. Another thing similar between Crystal and Tool is that they don’t want to release their music abruptly just cos you need to cash in. Tool has been around for more than a decade now and they released only 4 albums with album gaps between them ranging from 3-5 years. What is their achievement because of that? Won 3 grammies and got nominated 4 times. Crystal has said that she wants to delay her album so that she can make it right and be proud of it after 10,20,30 years. So there, I think you can find very much similarities between them if you can extend yourselves from judging music based on the so-called “genres” only.
For me Maynard’s voice is very soulful and emotional (lets say just plain beautiful) when he sings softly and in the low ranges. Both him and Crystal demands crowd silence inorder to really appreciate the beauty in that. Not a bunch of girls screaming ‘I LOVE UUUUUUUU’ or shrieking whenever they hear a different vocal note. I was watching this performance of Maynard with Tori Amos the other day and I swear I wanted to get on that stage and kill everyone of those shrieking girls…AAaaaaaaaarrghh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P_33BbQlBg
The same could be said for those of us who comprise her fan base, which will come out in droves to buy her albums and attend her shows.
Regarding who wrote the music on her album, this is what she said in the Pinktober interview:
http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-to-release-album-in-december.html
I guess many people will interpret it differently but she said that there were only three songs that weren’t hers and she didn’t mention co-writes. She also said that she’s about the artists writing the song. So, my interpretation of her statement is the majority of the songs on her album are HER originals and not co-writes.
fictitiousreality, Crystal told Jeff Kazee in a tweet that she needed his digits the next day which probably means he’s playing the piano/keyboard for her album. He rocks those keys.
As far as buzz for Crystal goes, here is my take….I believe there is an undercurrent of buzz, w/o being in your face. I believe there are a lot of people interested in her music and there is a (somewhat) sense of mystery that will draw people in and make them curious. When the names of Michael Franti and Melissa Ethridge, even Anderson Cooper are a part of it, people will sit up and take notice, esp. those interested in that type of music. We’ll have to wait and see the results, but I believe there is a lot of intrigued folks out there.
Also, many younger people are interested in the indie type sound, so I think she may appeal to a variety of ages.
I am sure this is pretty much covered here, but care to explain what is the “vocal” in this vocal fanbase? Are you talking about the blog posts? Does it concern talking about substance in the oh-i-dunno the reason why they were choosen among millions which is the music or your 1. ‘ohhh he looks sooooooooooooo cute in that photo’, 2. ‘OMMGGGGG soooooooooo truuuue’ 3. Repeat: Goto 1…. If you can deduct all the female hormornal urges and the gawd-what-does-this-has-to-with-the-topic in the posts I am sure even Crystal posts would be more “vocal” assuming thats what you are referring to. If you are refering to highest frequency of decibels in the live shows then ok Lee wins hands down!
Probably because it isn’t. Gina Orr was in the middle of the 19/Jive scene, so she’s no more or less “pop” a manager than any of them. Have there been any 19 artists on the roster since Daughtry who have switched personal managers or given any indication that they didn’t want to work with them?
As for the producers, again, having a single producer has been a potential option since Daughtry. Howard Benson is not considered pop. Nor is Rob Cavallo. That the pop artists have worked with pop producers like Tedder and Max Martin isn’t exactly odd.
It is true that there’s a writing stable, but every label has them. And even so, many of the collaborations were requested by the artists and involved mutual respect.
I think it’s very hard to rely on or disregard vocal online interest as a proxy for overall interest. But for her sake, I hope that Bendeth shapes the album in a way that appeals to fresh audiences, too. There’s a whole world of options for bands and acts that have a slightly modern twist on retro sounds (GPN, the Raconteurs, the Black Keys). I’d like to see her tap into those.
Nope, not talking about that at all, although those screaming girls buy a lot of records. Just ask the Beatles.
I am talking about fans who are vocal on the internet. I know it could be said that her fans don’t follow her on the internet. It might not make a bit of difference in her album sales. Then again, it might.
I just think it’s way too early to be making comparisons or prophesying her success.
From Jeff Kazee’s facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeffkazeemusic/posts/101470319917764
I love this part: “She’s got a fantastic voice, writes cool songs and actually loves real music with soul.” Real music….YES!!
In the comments section Jeff also confirms that David is producing Crystal’s album.
Not the first time he has commended on her extraordinary voice and songwriting ability and certainly not the first person who came across her who had to say that about her. Its really infectious now aint it :) Somebody here said that he is playing the keyboard/percussion for her. Oh man, that’d be the bomb. Jeff is himself a singer songwriter and I’ve seen him jam that keyboard pretty well with his band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and some other impromtu performances. If he added synths and some solos for her songs i’d be flying over the moon (esp the synths), cos her tracks can really be coloured with percussion more than anything else.. Pls pls pls
UDPATE: Lol it was you who said it haha..weird coincidence huh, thanks :=)
This is really cute.
Some little girl is doing one of those YouTube makeup videos for Crystal’s “look” (lol whatever that is).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX6KVi6o4EE
Its nice to see that she is an inspiration to little girls (nice for a change right ;) ). Please check it out, it’ll warm your hearts assure you, did mine :=)))) )
UPDATE: Some other people inspired on YouTube who doesn’t fall into her “fanbase” *ahem* Over-40-something, Old-fashioned, Male category (negativo: sorry buddy :) )
A girl in her teens singing Up to the Mountain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcoQAgy9W9g
Another girl (even younger) singing Up to the Mountain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuRjQ0Ltow0
This is one of the things that really gets me…people saying over and over that Crystal’s style died out in the late 60s/early 70s or whatever. If all someone hears in Crystal is Janis Joplin, then they’ve only heard Crystal from AI itself…and then even at that they didn’t listen to more than a couple performances. There’s a lot more people here that seem more familiar with the newer wave of singer-songwriters and such than I am – heck, I had no idea who Michael Franti was until people started talking about him in relation to Crystal.
What I’m getting at is this – Crystal’s style isn’t going to sound 40 years old! Yes, Crystal has named as some of her influences a number of artists that aren’t really current any more (Jewel, Melissa Etheridge, etc.) but a musician can’t hide from the fact that they write and perform their music TODAY, not 10, 20 or 40 years ago. She is a musician who definitely knows of and respects traditions in music and uses some of those sounds in her music, but she also brings elements of music all the way up to the present to her style as well. Unless one has lived in a bubble (and Crystal definitely hasn’t), one can’t help but be influenced by the music of the day – whether or not they actually choose to make a pop or rhythmic R&B leaning album, they’ve heard some of it. (And in many cases, they don’t like it – but then they may even consciously react to it, which isn’t a bad thing either.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if one criticism that ends up actually appearing at times with Crystal’s first album is that it sounds more up-to-date than people expected – because some of them may be expecting Janis meets Jewel, set circa 1978. It may actually disappoint some people that it sounds more modern than they thought it would, but I really think people should be expecting it – and I don’t think it’ll just be a product of Jive’s desires, but Crystal’s as well. After all, she’s 25, not 65 – while I’ll bet she has many fans that are baby boomers, she herself is basically 2 generations removed from them herself.
I think depending on the song, Crystal’s music could get played on HAC, pop, and maybe even modern rock stations – all 3 for the same song maybe even (I’m betting “Riding with the Radio” is going to be a single…maybe even the first one. It’s perfect IMO). I think her sound will be “fresher” than most expect – and much less acoustic, coffee-house driven sound type than her demos suggest as well.
Have you seen the writing credits list or the songs lists that you know that for sure? and the songs that she wrote many of them can be co-writes. Plus, recording many original songs and many of them ending up on the album are not the same thing.
Kris already has done gigs as a headliner(and has done a great job) and has more that are scheduled, so there is no need to post wrong facts about other idols.
Crystal has a long way to go before she will even begin to move beyond idol. Her album or singles haven’t even been released yet. It takes time to expand a fanabse. It is not something that happened after 1 or 2 performances, unless those performances are in front of huge people and really making the news or something similar to that. The opportunities that Crystal is getting are great, but that doesn’t mean she is already beyond idol.
Crystal manager is the same person who has done PR for Kris and Allison, so it’s not like it’s the first time she is working with someone from idol.
And it’s definitely to the first time that someone from idol is working with great producers or writers, including those that are not the “typical” ones for idols.
There are some great things that are happening for Crystal, but that doesn’t mean that she is the first one to whom this things are happening(and them happening for others first doesn’t take away anything from Crystal).
Another key to if Crystal will manage to grow her fanbase beyond idol is if radio will play her and we need first to hear the songs to see if they sound like something that the radio stations that are willing to play music from idol will play(if they will fit only fro AAA, for example’s he might be in trouble because that format doesn’t play idols even if their music fit the playlists of those stations).
At the moment Crystal’s songs doesn’t seem to fit into what is the current style on the music charts today. If she is working with great producers or writers, it would be interesting to see what is being done to her songs to fit what is on the charts today.
This album would be interesting. So far, her pre-idol music was pleasant to listen to but have not been blown away by it. Maybe I’ll be ‘surprised’.
Word to that, jenny. :)
Really? Now THAT could cause worry because, IMO, Kris and Allison’s PR was not exactly stellar! More like lots of missed direction and missed opportunities.
Nope havent seen. Noone knows for sure. At this point what we can do it weigh on whats being said out there by the people involved. I’l try to be as short as possible cos this has been dealt with quite sometime now. 1. CB IS A PROUD SONGWRITER cos: coming to AI as polished songwriter (among people who knew her and the materials that started to pop up on YT and places and no of hits/views they started to get) 2. Tried her best to get the originals out on the show and/or give that msg by a. Getting Holy Toledo played on the show and playing it live on tour b. Gave in interviews that she strongly believed that originals should be played (see Slezak and Larry King Live inteviews – Pls compare Lee’s response to that same Q in LKL, tt would sum up whos more driven). 3. AI producers know who they signed up for – After getting contract simon fuller says shes one of most talented songwriters to ever grace AI 4. Almost all of the collaborators who were assumed to work with her (past, present, and future) talks about her brilliant songwriting skills, including the wayne, jeff kazee, d bendeth, melissa and franti. 5. Gina Orr lets her play her originals on all the appearances after the tour 6. This is the most important one, recently one crystal bowersox in an interview says that shes going to write or co-write all the songs except 3. Now someone who has been so praised for her songwriting skills by almost everyone including people who signed her, people who are managing her and people who are collaborating with her has 9 songs left on her album- will it be mostly co-writes or hers only? I think its more biased towards more of HER originals. now com’on people, really. its not open ended or questions. its right there.
OK now the story of ‘oh this has happened before’, ‘crystal is no exception’ etc etc..fine i dont think i said in anywhere that she is an exception thats just your presumption. What i am saying (and hopefully most her fans here) is that she is THAT type of artist and the label would try to fit her best to what type of artist she is. For eg. adam lambert was a bigger-than-life techno-pop type of artist. Whoever thought that he would be somewhere around blues/hardrock is just naive, tt wouldnt work. Now if you have any of the arguments above (1-6) which applies to any of the previous idol alumnis, please by all means share them here (with links, videos etc). I would gladly look into it cos being a fan of her it would naturally concern me. Just dont say it and then vanish, we need the proof. Whew, damn that IS long, sorry.
I condemn this type of statement, i didnt say it nevertheless. It shouldn’t have been said :(. Kris may have headlined a show, good for him :) I hope he does more in the future. All the best to him and wish him all the success.
He HAS headlined a show, many shows. It’s a definite thing.
ETA:
That question on Larry King was in reference to whether originals should be played on the show. Lee said no, but not because he doesnt value performing originals over covers. He said (dont quote me on this) that AI is about playing the game & following a set of rules where you cover a song and ‘make it your own’. That’s where the competition lies. I’m not gonna comment on who is more/less driven but their respective answers to that question is def not an indicator to determine such a thing.
Excellent :)
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4. No fanwarring. If you have a comment on the topic, either positive or negative, go at it. But please don’t jump into the thread to brag that an unrelated Idol is the best that ever bested.
5. If somebody disses your Idol, the answer is NOT to diss their favorite Idol.
fictitiousreality: I don’t know if the songs that Crystal wrote and will be on her album are solo-writing credit or co-writes and I won’t argue about that. I only pointed out that unless we know for sure which songs made the album, it’s imppossible to know.
Thanks for explaining on what you based your perception. If Crystal will get several songs she wrote alone on her album- great for her.
The perception that I got from some posters here(not necessary you) is that some are attributing Crystal being the first person to do some things that actually has been done before. I only said that Crystal is not the first person from idol that is working with big producers and with writers that s/he wanted to work with and her manager is not someone that has never dealt with someone from idol. She is also not the first one to get praises form the people she is working with, doesn’t mean that the praises that she gets are any less significant. Being recognized by other musician is always a great thing. She is not beyond idol, her career is only beginning. Maybe she will manage to reach beyond idol in the future(only time will tell) and maybe she will get an album that has many songs she wrote alone, but right now we don’t know that. It’s ok to guess, but none of this are facts yet. I wish her success(just like wish fro every person that is working hard for their career). She is very talented.
Wow, this is the same producer that got mentioned a while back, right? This sounds very intriguing. I am quite interested in seeing what she comes up with. This has the potential to be really great. :D
I wonder if she’ll be the first Idol to break into AAA radio?
re Buzz: I think Crystal’s been out there a little bit more lately, but as soon as Lee finishes recording I expect he will hit the PR trail running. In any case, they are likely to end up in completely different genres anyway so I don’t know if it matters.
ETA: The AAA comment was not meant to declare Crystal better than anyone, just speculation on my part. :D
Ofcourse, we wont know. Com’on now. But you have to admit that crystal makes a very strong case :) I know we appear as a little shmug as fans sometimes but thats never the intention (i hope not for me). I guess we are just proud at how everything is falling into the right places for her (well so far anyways, lets see shall v).
Agree with everything you say. Credit should be given where credits due. But sometimes it might not for example in my case I havent followed idol much in the previous years so I wouldnt know. I try to avoid the assumptions as much. And I appreciate the insights here if its constructive.
Anyways just for your honest comments right there and before I will check out Kris’s album. Any favs? :)
It doesnt matter, I know for sure they wont be competing in the same grounds. But if you meant general music then sure, but so is anything which is entertainment right- gaming, buying movie tickets etc. Thank you for your comment :) nice to see some positivity here :)
I was trying to hint at this with that post, but I couldn’t figure out a way to say it without sounding like a snotty callow youth. Heh.
I agree with you that she has modern influences and that those will be a part of her sound.
fictitiousreality: I do think it’s possible that Crystal will get more original songs than other idols(just based on some things you said), but we will know for sure in 2.5 months. I was just curious to know the bases of the assumption and appreciate the explanation.
Obviously it’s good to be happy and proud of her as fans and I think it’s great that you don’t try to assume about previous idols.
Just because you asked- my favorite songs on Kris’s album are AWM, BIB, INTK, BWCU, LIR, WAOMF, LLWD and TT, but I recommend the whole album.
I am curious to know how Crystal albums will sound like and what single they will choose. I hope she will do well.
Seriously who will be expecting Janis-Jewel-Esque? I sincerely dont think any of her real fans would be expecting that. As far as I know she doesnt even closely resemble janis when shes singing. She used to sound like jewel at one point early in her life, but she has said that she distanced herself when she found out (with the name resembalance and everything). Nowadays she doesnt sound like jewel. The song that she sounded like jewel was redone later and I hrd it sounded different. She sounding janis is like saying all the soul female voices are sounding like janis if they sing one famous janis hit, pleeease :S . If you want to see a real copycat janis rendition of a janis song see AGT’s bianca’s version of piece of my heart. Now compare that with Crystals and Janis original version. CBs version is totally different. Who can blame her she learnt songs by listening to the radio :S. She maybe a great talent but that was the most karoakiest performance ever.
Wait theres more songs than the acronyms you mentioned lol. I thot u’d say the whole album lol. .aiight will chk it out, thanks again :)
IMO, and hopefully, the goal is NOT trying to “fit” what is on the charts today. If her songs do make the charts, great! But hopefully because of the songs own unique sound that people will appreciate. IMO, the market doesn´t need more of the same or similar. We who are not into the current “chart” music out there, welcome more options and variety to grace our home stereo
I am betting on lots of strings (cellos, double bass) and percussion like synth and keyboard (maybe thats why they brought in jeff kazee- bon jovi). I would suspect more rock edged songs with full band for songs like sandman and calm. Could be country as well like the newly sung song at pinktober. Who knows really :) like you said we have to wait for 2.5 months to find out. She can go into so many genres its hard to say. But as of right now I do have faith in her producer because they seemed to have gotten off to a good start (based on their recent communications). Its very exciting in camp bowersox :=)
I am sorry but I disagree. Thats your opinion because you believe that the competition’s rule must be respected for, right? I somehow doubt that it was his intention. In a previous interview before the finale both lee and crystal agreed that they wanted to do their own songs. If you go back to the LKL inteview you can see that crystal is little put-off by lees change of answer that day. I am not making this up, swear. I dunno why he changed his mind later, he could have his reasons.
If Brian Walker´s tweet to Jive is any indicator, Crystal choice for the first single would be Farmers Daughter
@JiveMusic What-up Jive,hope ya saw@crystalbowersox on Anderson Cooper last night (360) singin what SHOULD b her 1st single-Farmers Daughter
I’m sure Lee wanted to do his own songs, but he also knew each competition has its own rules and they are there for a reason. Not all contestants have own originals to sing to. That would not be fair to them.
…and i still dont understand the link that’s been drawn between their respective answers to Larry King’s question & their ‘drive’.
Thats true there are rules, but the whole season was lackluster and dripping in ratings because they were tring to make pop divas out of mostly singer songwriters. I think if they had done own songs for the final two or final three it would have been really great for this season because they had so many singer songwriters this time and pretty good ones. Would have been much better than themed weeks which had no meaning to current context. Also AI cannot really expect to get a lively performer like adam lambert on every season. If they can just adjust their program to their current cohorts strength during the season I think it would have been a really great season and great tour reception afterwards. Well thats what they are trying to do now- not fit somebody into a hostile genre but let them sing in their genres in different decades. If they had done that last season it would have been great, i think.
a) Yes I think they should have let originals cos I want the world to hear my originals because thats what I have been doing my whole life and thats the reason I joined this program (ultimately to put your own songs out)
b) No I want to respect the rules (which I dont understand since they are not asking them that to change the program right now but whether it could have been an improvement to the program and credibility of the singer with an original song with them singing it.)
I dunno I think playing originals still seems a better improvement than playing a cover from someoneelse if you are great song writers, IMO. Thats the drive that I see in crystal.
I think I see what you’re saying. I won’t put words in your mouth of course, but Crystal has always stood by her desire to play originals on the show and now on the album. Lee, not-so-much. But that discussion belongs in a Lee thread haha.
This is just a random Crystal thought, but I hope somewhere in Crystal’s future she releases an album of just live-performances. That’s where her passion and energy hit me the most.
Below is an excerpt of Bendeth’s bio from his home page. What a perfect fit he is for Crystal, having himself been a guitarist/singer/songwriter with a soul vibe.
Man, is everything’s falling into place perfectly for her or what.
I agree and am very confident we´ll have our wish come true. She tweeted not long ago, something like…what ever happened to recording music live…So she agrees not only for her self but also in general. Not sure if she meant live in the studio or in concert. IMO, this is also an indicator that her CD won´t be over produced
I can see that very much in her live performances. If you want to see raw powerful emotion check out her performance of farmer’s daughter @pinktober. this performance really cut through me :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWx2z5tJ6wQ
Check out the 6s 3:29 – 3:35. Her delivery is absolutely flawless, bring in the tissue boxes…
Yeah, makes me also less worried that the recordings won´t have that compressed, shrill “radio-loudness-war” sound that is the norm, but rather with plenty of dynamic range and a warm “analog” natural sound. The mp3 and Ipod generation are killing the production of HiFi audiophile recordings. You even hear about people on these boards who rip the audio from these very poor tour videos on youtube to listen too. Beats me how they can enjoy them
Man if they record a full live album this time I would personally promote JIVE to any person I come across on street hahah. I truly believe crystal’s true element comes from the live experience. And she seems quite fond of artists who does live albums. Did you guys remember her promoting amos lee and his single black river? Well the last album that he recorded was live recording and it is soooo frickin’ awesome. I have to thank crystal for amos lee, you guys should check him out. He surely has so much soul in his singing its unbelievable that he is not as popular as he should be. If she does duet with amos lee, ben harper or ray lamontagne, shit i am selling my house to goto the states to see them perform live lol…
fictitiousreality, where do you live? How do you like Damien Rice and David Gray (his older stuff)?
Thanks for the link. That song is so, so powerful and emotionally charged it forces the listener/viewer to begin choking up with tears.
I guess that’s the main reason I am convinced she’s destined for greatness. Incredible talent alone won’t do it…it’s her raw artistic authenticity and life experiences, so pure and powerful, that it makes you FEEL when you listen, which in today’s emotionally detached, vapid, plastic, egocentric, booty grinding culture of Pop 40 truly sets her apart from the others.
Today’s music world is starving for a Crystal, and she will deliver the goods like nobody else.
Amen!!! :)
*shock* And here I thought I was one of the few that wished for this sort of thing – specifically the warmer sound from an old analog recording. I swear they used some sort of tube effect for the recordings from Frank Sinatra week – or maybe even just used a tube mic or something that had tubes in it. Either that or Crystal can really vary her vocal sound depending on the style, because that studio recording to my ear was so much richer and I thought it showed off her actual tone better than any of the others did – in general most of the recordings were very bright and edgy – and bass heavy, funny considering the vocals should be what most people are the most interested in.
Some of the best sounding recordings I have are ones that came from original analog recordings from the 50s-70s, that were then converted to digital for CD. Those recordings are especially good for orchestral music but it also worked wonders for Jimi Hendrix and Simon and Garfunkel.
Mozart, there are older CD´s that have been re-mastered by MFSL, DCC, Mastersound etc which sound very good. The sound quality of some newer stuff can also sound good. To name a couple of Crystals favorites, Tracy Chapman and Ray LaMontagne (maybe not his latest) Neil Young is having most of his work re-mastered. Most Jazz CD´s sound good, like Diana Krall, Patricia Barber sounds fantastic.
All the music I have on my external hard drive, is sent wireless to a squeezebox, then fed to a dac which feeds my amp etc. It´s mid-fi system, prize about $6k but like you understand, the recording quality makes such a difference, it can truly sometimes decide what I listen too.
If you´re interested in learning how to find some great audiophile sounding music (listen before you buy), email me at erikrail@gmail.com for more info
Mj, hope this post was ok
^^ Oh I totally understand what you’re getting at – and yes, there’s no reason that new music can’t sound good too. I just thought I was in a small minority in that I do miss the warmth and depth that a lot of older recordings have – I really do think it’s something that a lot of recordings nowadays seem to lack. I did a tiny bit of work in recording technology along with electronic music and while most of what I created, synthesized sound wise, was 100% digital, I often added some tube or analog effects to sounds just to make them more natural.
I actually do hope that Crystal’s album has some of this sort of quality to it. The right mix and overall sound of the recording can make a big difference. I’m amazed when I hear studio albums from time to time where the mixing was so poor that you can actually hear the differences in vocal levels when one track ends and the next begins. I’ve wondered if producers and artists or whoever else might be involved actually listen to the whole album after they’ve finished it.
I actually think Crystal had mentioned somewhere that if she wasn’t going to be a singer/songwriter herself, she would have wanted to try to get into recording technology. She’s probably personally aware of many of these things as well and it sounds like she’s got a great producer besides ;-)
That’s because she hasn’t put out any albums previously. Lee put out 2 pre-idol albums of all original songs, plus his old record producer said he had enough for a third album which they plan to put out at some point.
I have a question about the ownership of song thing. If Crystal records, let’s say, 20 songs and they narrow it down to 12. Do the other 8 belong to the record label? I was just wondering. I guess it depends on the fine print on the contract maybe? Anyways, if they wind up owning (hypothetically) 8 of her originals, and there wasn’t a second album, that would be awful.
Then Lee should have a great album full of originals too!
I´m not sure what you´re driving at? Do you mean that if Crystal would have previously recorded some of her 100+ songs, she would have less originals on her new CD? Or Lee would have more originals now if he´d never recorded before? Please explain
Can I second the question about ownership? Obviously it’s too soon to say how the relationship between Crystal and Jive will pan out, but I just got really worried at the idea that Jive could claim ownership over Crystal’s original music…such that if she leaves the label, she would have a hard time taking it with her. Do any of the contract/music biz savvy posters have an answer for this?
I guess my point is that Crystal, and for that matter, Lee are not the only contestants who have written their own original songs. Other former idol contestants have written original songs as well. To say that she will have more originals on her album then anyone else is a bit presumptuous. Jive may not even allow her to use some or any of them.
And the fact that Crystal has not used any of these songs she’s written, means that she could now fill up an album if she’s allowed to use them.
Lee, on the otherhand, also wrote originals filled up 2 pre-idol albums, plus 20 more songs which Wuli plans to make into a 3rd one. Lee may have been in the same position as Crystal to use some of those songs had he not committed them to Wuli. Lee has said with his new CD, he has done some writing on every song. Which I’m sure would be the same for Crystal if she doesn’t use originals.
I think I can answer the ownership question. First of all, it depends what the contracts states. However, typically, if the artist pays for the recording costs of a song, the artist owns the master. If the label pays for the recording costs, then the label owns the master. This is only applicable to recorded songs not an entire songbook.
ETA: There is a difference between the master recording of the song and the written song itself. Typically, a songwriter has an additional publishing contract. The label may or may not be entitled to dividends from the written song. It depends on the agreement between the the artist and the label.
Potentially, she could fill 10 CD´s since she has well over 100 songs. The question is, how many of them does Crystal want to record and at the same time, Jive think are strong enough
Well if his 2 pre-idol CD´s are good, he should be able to sell a lot more of them.
Thanks for the information, DLynne.
A little late to the party and trying to catch up in this thread but I had to comment on this. I think Lee said that on LKL because he was toeing the party line. He was trying to be the diplomatic winner.
And like someone else said it may not be fair to have them do originals on the show because not everyone is a songwriter and would have originals. I would love to see originals on the show, maybe just for one week’s theme, but not sure how they could make it fair for any contestants that don’t have any.
If they did originals, assuming everyone was capable, wouldn’t that be kind of a legal nightmare? Say you have 12 artists each doing the best original they have, they do studio versions, people download them, etc. Ok I don’t know what they have to do to clear songs to cover on tv, but having 12 relatively naive, unmanaged artists seems like it would be hard to be totally fair for contestants. With covers they compete for chance to make an album. Now here is where I really get confused, because they won that chance, so they really ought to have more say in what is done with album. Ok, I get that it’s a business deal, but these kids worked really hard. Well, we’ve been hearing optimistic reports on how albums are going, so all we can do is wait.
Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the judges. Would be doubly hard to have your best effort disected in front of millions.
I don’t know if Crystal can break into the AAA radio market. Maybe she will, but that’s another format that isn’t Idol friendly. I know LLWD got some spins from AAA stations, but none of them ever officially added it. I would bet that Cook and Daughtry have gotten some spins from stations in that format as well, but not as a general rule (for example, Daughtry got no adds from AAA stations for “It’s Not Over” or “Home” or “What About Now” or “What I Want” (this last song did get added by a fair amount of active rock, alternative and mainstream rock stations, but no AAA ones) ). It may not matter how great her songs are — if the PD doesn’t want to play anything by anyone connected to AI, Crystal will likely be s*** out of luck (unless they go the payola route)
It’s not a huge market anyway — the song currently at the top of the AAA format — “Beg Steal or Borrow” (Ray Lamontagne)is he only song on the chart to get more than 600 spins the past week (617) The song at #40 on the chart (“Slice” by Five for Fighting) got 76 spins over the past 7 days.
Reminder:
How has the topic turned into a discussion about Lee???
Closing for cleanup and a time out.
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