Why I lost a bit of respect for Sting (Rick Beato Interview)

[dougjwray]

The only thing which has ever annoyed me about Sting was the fake Jamaican accent he used on the Police's "lite reggae" songs, which actually worked there... but then he kept it for awhile, going into his non-reggae solo career. But, I guess it strengthened his "brand", or something.
There was a Bass Player magazine interview in which he said some wonderful and insightful things about Jack Bruce, and that redeemed him, for me.

 

[Jack Butler]

I couldn't get through it, both Sting and Beato in the same video is more than I can handle, both douches in their own unique way lol.
Not to sidetrack, but I have to say my take on "Get Back" has so far been way different than I imagined. I'm no Beatles superfan, but I expected John to be the worst, including Yoko trying to call the shots, with McCartney a close second, and George to be my super chill fave dude. I just finished the first episode so maybe my opinion will change, but Paul seems to by far be the most reasonable and hardest working, John has way less of an ego than I expected, and I find George to be generally kind of annoying and not someone I'd want to be in a band with honestly. Yoko basically has yet to say a word let alone interfere, and I'd say she's about the best band spouse that attends rehearsals I've ever seen. Most bands I've been in where someone brought their spouse to rehearsals, they could take a lesson or two from Yoko.

 

[kodiakblair]

is she named roxanne?

Any more of that and you'll find yourself joining Sting on her popularity table

 

[Les Fret]

I just watched the whole thing and I find it a very inspiring interview. I didn’t think Sting was cockey at all. Not sure why people are getting these vibes from this interview.

Beato’s questions were good. Although he is a bit too over analytical and too focused on theory at times which takes all the magic out of the music. People like Sting and other great songwriters don’t think about theory too much when they write. They just have a gift of recognizing a good idea and go from there.

 

[ELG60]

Beato's annoying? He's a NYC-er...whatcha expect?

My apologies for being pedantic, but his dialect always spoke "Upstate" to me . . . Not quite Buffalo, more like Syracuse or Rochester, but being a southerner (& thus easily confused by such things)I checked and indeed he's from outside of the former.

That being said, he can be a bit esoteric for a person like me, with no formal musical education and his references to the Lydian vs. Phyrgian, vs. Mixolydian modes is lost.

And with the above taken into account, I do enjoy much of his YouTube content, particularly "What Makes This Song Great," though I recognize that there is some validity to the criticisms leveled against Rick Beato on this thread. As previously said here, I still appreciate the resource on my musical journey. It allows me to think about things in a different way. Whether that leads to any practical applicability is up for debate, but I enjoy it, nonetheless.

 

[Keyser Soze]

For you folks slagging Sting, I get it that perhaps a little bit goes a long way.

But the Police, a somewhat oddball trio, became the biggest band in the world. And it wasn't an accident, they worked their meticulous plan relentlessly. A lot of the threads in "Band Management" here could learn quite a bit from a case study of the Police.

And when Sting jettisoned the boys and put together that screaming band for his first solo rekit; that was some genius stuff, IMO. Sure he's put out some stiffs. Everyone does. Don't judge him by the worst stuff he's done, how about his best stuff?

 

[Tubehed]

Ego aside, Sting did all the heavy lifting in terms of lyrics and songwriting in the Police. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are two of my all time favorite musicians and there would be no Police without either of them. But the best Police songs, by and large, were Sting compositions. Dude can play bass, too.

 

[Jack Butler]

I will say I did like this...

 

[Thebiggestjerk]

I’m sure many of you have seen the Rick Beato interview with Sting and his guitarist, Dominic Miller. It was a fascinating look into songwriting, basslines, and (inadvertently) one gargantuan ego.

It was a great conversation. But when Rick began to discuss the other members of The Police (Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers), Sting stepped in and essentially gave himself credit for their contributions to the band.

At some points it was subtle. Others, not so much. But I found it to be very off-putting that one of my all-time favorite musicians showed so little humility in dealing with his bandmates.

Did anyone else notice that?

The Popo was Sting… none of the others achieved the success he did post Popo. What’s the problem? Michael Jackson was the J5, EVH was VH… etc.

 

[sashavie]

Not sure if it's confirmed or not, but the interview didn't come together organically, but through Sting's publicist who reached out to Beato because of his channel's reach on youtube. In that context, the blind date awkwardness between the two is understandable.

 

[Grizelda100]

He does the theory stuff but it's muddled with drama and standing on the shoulders of actual artists. He's sort of conspicuously not the real deal.

Not the real deal? I don't understand.
He was a college level music professor. He opened for Megadeath. He has a number one country song. 2 million subscribers on YouTube.
Where is the fakery?

 

[DeepHz]

I am watching a really interesting interview with two great musicians. Somehow I am not paying attention to the ego that is being discussed here.

 

[warwick.hoy]

I’m sure Sting will need to load up on melatonin for all the sleep he’ll be loosing due to the lost favor he’s earned on Talkbass.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Um, no. You completely missed the point, apparently.

The point being that whatever genius your ego might believe you to be, you’re a gnat compared to this guy so be humble.

You’re of course free to disagree with that, but not to misconstrue my statement so utterly and not be corrected.

Actually I completely understood your point. I just didn't word my response correctly. Replace the word "your" with "some peoples" as that response was not supposed to be directed at you at all. Sorry about that

 

[Nuage420]

I'm lost on why anyone would want artists to all fit a cookie cutter mold? I could give a rats tush how an entertainer is in real life. Are we knocking back brews on Sunday watching football? Short of illegal immoral unethical acts I want them to be different and however they are when they're the apex of performance and entertainment. And on that note, go through your record collection and get rid of any artist you listen to that has skeletons in the closet, then enjoy the silence.

 

[micguy]

The fact that he's not warm and fuzzy doesn't change that at all. Most of the greats aren't.

I haven’t met gobs of “greats”, but I’ve met enough to doubt this. Yes, some top notch musicians are jerks, but a lot of them are hard working, humble people that appreciate the fact that they’re lucky to be where they are.

Fame doesn’t create divas, but it does help divas cement their oversized egos, if they started that way.

 

[Sponson Thrisby]

Also in other Rick Beato videos Rick goes on and on about how Sting uses this mode or that mode and the brilliant music theory employed by Sting, then in the interview with Sting you get the impression from Sting himself he really wrote the music more intuitively and the songs were not derived from an extensive contemplation of music theory.

I've found that sometimes Beato goes off into deep theory stuff that sometimes sounds a bit contrived. I found I lose interest in the videos when he does that, and stop watching. Sometimes it's unnecessary, and looks like showing off.

 

[two fingers]

I haven’t met gobs of “greats”, but I’ve met enough to doubt this. Yes, some top notch musicians are jerks, but a lot of them are hard working, humble people that appreciate the fact that they’re lucky to be where they are.

Fame doesn’t create divas, but it does help divas cement their oversized egos, if they started that way.

My only point was that their diva-hood does not affect how much I enjoy/respect their art. I don't care about their politics or religion either. I don't care if they donate to charities or fight for causes I believe in. I separate the art from the human as much as possible.

I have fond memories of going to Buffett concerts. My favorite crazy uncle was into him. And he got much of the whole family involved. My friends wanted to tailgate with our family. The musoc was fun. Buffett tells great stories. I have it from a source I trust that Mr.Buffett rides around in limos checking on his real estate holdings in Manhattan way more than he does anything tropical these days. He's a very shrude (fight to the death) business man. And I don't care.

As long as he puts on a flowery shirt and sings me my cheesy good-times-and-great memories songs, I don't care one bit if he goes home to a penthouse in NYC and laughs all the way to the bank. I don't care if his fans make him roll his eyes these days. I'm smiling at the show.

I saw the Police reunion tour. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen (and I've seen a couple hundred at least). I don't care how the band gets along (or not). They got it done live and I got my money's worth at the show.

 

[Sponson Thrisby]

From everything I've seen and read, it seemed like The Police had two very strong personalities (egos) in Sting and Copeland (but Copeland is far less of an arsehole about it). They were always butting heads, which ultimately destroyed the band. But maybe the conflict also helped create some great music?
Summers seemed to just stick with his part and keep out of the scuffle.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Sting has earned the right to be a jackass. I have no issue with his ego.

 

[wilberthenry]

I understand the critiques of Sting and Beato, but I don't necessarily agree with them. Beato is hustling his tail off trying to make a living off youtube videos and selling his books. I don't see how anyone can do this and not come off as abrasive/obnoxious to some, but no one makes you watch his channel. Sting has been told he is special/great/etc. for over 4 decades. How could he not get cocky? When it comes down to it, we all have a bit of narcissism in us. The difference is, no one is trying to interview us.