You correct, of course, about the producer’s role in crafting a song, especially a song such as Strawberry Letter 23. Even still, the sound that was produced in the studio still seemed to come from some place else. What’s amazing to me is that someone who can’t play an instrument, could conceivable be a great producer as long as they communicate the sound they hear in their head to those making the music.

Thanks for commenting,
Dan

For many of us, writing a song is a “logical exercise” that is “governed by the principles of mathematics” but I’ve known enough great songwriters to see that that isn’t true for all of them. For some, they do seem to channel something greater (ala K. Richards). Now, I’m not saying that there is some great gig in the sky just waiting to doll out killer licks and poetic lyrics – but that for some people the process itself involves almost no discernible effort. For others, like me – whose desire to write may outweigh our instinctive ability; we have to go through the more laborious process.

And as for the magic final product (like the Bros Johs song you mentioned) never underestimate the power of the studio. Song writing and song producing are 2 different acts – and both are art. A good producer can take a simple ditty and turn it in to a perfect tune (see Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_for_the_Benefit_of_Mr._Kite%21). Much of what we think of as the creation of a specific musical artists is often very equally the creation of a producer spending hours adding layers through multi-tracking.

Hadn’t heard this track in several years…