Sting/Police Mistake?

[ElectroVibe]

There was never a band before Sting. He and Copeland co-founded it; Summers joined slightly later.

Maybe, but they could have done just as good with McCartney, Peter Cetera, etc.

 

[pfschim]

Maybe, but they could have done just as good with McCartney, Peter Cetera, etc.

well, except Sting wrote the vast majority of the Police songs (certainly all the hits), and while Macca or Cetera also were song writers, they did not write anything like Sting did ... so really, no Sting, no Police.

 

[retslock]

at the beginning of the second verse sting plays a little slide down from C# then stops playing. Time 1.00 in this vid
Think this was intentional or they just left it in?

No way to know exactly but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a mistake they left in because the track had good energy. It’s not the first I’ve heard. When that particular take has the right energy sometimes small errors will be left in. It happens.

 

[Hand slap]

at the beginning of the second verse sting plays a little slide down from C# then stops playing. Time 1.00 in this vid
Think this was intentional or they just left it in?

I actually took the time to listen, even though I actually couldn’t care less”lol” I don’t hear any issue, but, if you say there’s a mistake, I’ll take your word on it. Now, back to practice everyone!

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Ooooooohhhhh, the forgotten art of "dynamics"....

 

[prowla]

It sounds good to me - subtle nuances rather than playing the same thing over and over keeps it all interesting.

 

[micguy]

I don't think that is accurate. I've always heard power chords, and that is what Andy plays live.

There is a tiny bit of guitar left if you listen VERY carefully (the main guitar stops, and what's left isn't power chords); the vocals take over the vast majority of what's going on above the bass (which is still there prominently).

As they don't have the ability to have Sting sing harmony with himself in concert, what they do live is very different than the recording.

 

[micguy]

this is a very appropriate move in reggae, dropping in and out like that. no problem with the note choice either, to my ears.

Agreed - it's a good move in any genre - talking the bass in and out changes the feel, often dramatically. When you want that, it's a very useful thing to utilize.

 

[atquinn]

It sounds good to me - subtle nuances rather than playing the same thing over and over keeps it all interesting.

Ironic, since the "so lonely" was a big part of earlier Police songs and is featured in Message in a Bottle as well

 

[Nanaki]

I think its intentional, the guitar sounds fine on its own in the intro, but where it comes back in there would have sounded a bit thin (IMHO). By doing this it fleshes out the restart of the verse but you also get the bump when the bass re-enters too.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Sting was a frustrated jazz dude fronting a rock band. What would Mingus have done (WWMD)?

 

[Alexis Duntov]

Thats what i thought too but i had to question it because Sting.
Then i found a live version where he thumbs the E string before coming back in...makes me think it was intentional.

It’s stunning and slightly annoying how talented he is. And how he’s able to constantly retool his amazing songs with monster musicians. Just a paragon of accomplishment for a musician, composer, and bassist.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

As for the pause in the bass part, it never occurred to me that might have been a mistake. I doubt it.

It's not a mistake.
It's a simple but effective arrangement device.
When many years ago I dabbled a little bit in songwriting, plus, arranging those songs, I've learned a little bit about pop/rock music arrangement.
It's a different thread and it's boring for most of our TB members.
It's one of the numerous "layering" methods of any song's arrangement, especially, if it's a small band.
When there is a big band, it's much easier to work and develop the song's/track's arrangement.
As an example, Ravel's BOLERO - you start adding more (and different) instruments.
What to do with you have a very limited number of instruments?
N.B. Don't forget the IMPORTANT thing in arrangement - don't brake the song's/track's form - the specific section Melody-Rhythmic pattern/template.

 

[themickster]

at the beginning of the second verse sting plays a little slide down from C# then stops playing. Time 1.00 in this vid
Think this was intentional or they just left it in?

I made a mistake on a friend's song in the week. I played E instead of D. Each chord change lasted two bars, so I played the E on beat two and slid down to the D for its second bar. It worked, and I left it in. If it sounds right, it is right.

 

[themickster]

On Roxanne, there is no guitar in the choruses - the vocals take over the guitar part.

I didn't know that, and I knew the song when it came out. It shows a guitar player not thinking it's all about him.

 

[micguy]

Sting was a frustrated jazz dude fronting a rock band. What would Mingus have done (WWMD)?

All 3 guys in the Police were (and are) very capable musicians. Sting was also an excellent songwriter. The frustration in the bad was due to the asymmetry in songwriting capabilities (and having 2 alpha males), not the musicianship, or what genre they were in.

 

[Alexis Duntov]

On Roxanne, there is no guitar in the choruses - the vocals take over the guitar part. The Police worked a lot on arrangement stuff - there is very little chance to that any thing is a "mistake" of that magnitude.

Have to disagree. There is clearly guitar in the choruses of Roxanne. Also, I remember a friend had the Andy Summers VHS instructional tape in which he demonstrated that song and there he definitely plays during the choruses. However, the guitar and bass play a similar pattern so maybe the bass is burying the guitar when you hear it.

 

[micguy]

Have to disagree. There is clearly guitar in the choruses of Roxanne. Also, I remember a friend had the Andy Summers VHS instructional tape in which he demonstrated that song and there he definitely plays during the choruses. However, the guitar and bass play a similar pattern so maybe the bass is burying the guitar when you hear it.

If you listen carefully, there is a bit of guitar, but it isn't much at all - "almost no" would have been more correct than "no". The bass is clearly much louder, and the vocals pretty much bury the guitar that is there. It's a bit of deep background texture, nothing more.

 

[Alexis Duntov]

If you listen carefully, there is a bit of guitar, but it isn't much at all - "almost no" would have been more correct than "no". The bass is clearly much louder, and the vocals pretty much bury the guitar that is there. It's a bit of deep background texture, nothing more.

I agree that they clearly made an arranging decision to flesh out the harmony using vocals rather than guitar, which works really well. I think Andy just plays single notes, almost like a bassline. I’m remembering that now from playing this with my friend who had the Andy Summers video. And it was because of this that I became a bassist. My buddy was learning guitar and I already knew the bass lines by heart since I was an incipient bassist. He said “you should get a bass and then we’ll jam on these tunes.” And that’s how happened.

 

[ElectroVibe]

I don't understand why the "recording" is held in such high regard. The way a band plays can evolve, and what they capture on record is just the way they happened to be playing that particular week. It's like a snapshot.