"I learned all their songs on the airplane."

March 5, 2021 7:33 AM

Backup Singer Dolette McDonald on Her Years With Talking Heads, the Police, and Don Henley. The latest article in Rolling Stone's Unknown Legends series (which seems to have ramped up considerably during the pandemic) - long interviews with veteran musicians who have played and recorded with icons and stars for decades, but who remain largely unknown to the general public.

Additional samples pulled pretty much at random:

Drummer Sterling Campbell - Bowie's go-to drummer for the last 20 years of his career.

Guitarist Steve Hunter - sideman for Lou Reed and Alice Cooper and Tracy Chapman.

Bassist Guy Pratt - “I am definitely the only person who has been in the Smiths and Whitesnake.”

Guitarist Davey Johnstone Looks Back on His Five-Decade Odyssey With Elton John. (from late 2018, just before the start of Elton John's multi-year farewell tour.)

posted by soundguy99 (49 comments total)

She gets a decent amount of screen time in that Sting documentary, Bring on the Night, which is now such an artifact it's equal parts transfixing and cringe. (And, TIL, directed by Michael Apted??? Who knew???)
posted by praemunire at 7:37 AM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

if you recognize an 80s-90s guitar riff, and don't know who it was, it was mike campbell (one of petty's og heartbreakers).

"The Boys of Summer" and "Heart of the Matter" with Don Henley...the Blue Stingrays, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac, Lone Justice, Roger McGuinn, Tracy Chapman, Warren Zevon, George Harrison...Bad Religion...

posted by j_curiouser at 8:11 AM on March 5, 2021 [6 favorites]

It’s fun to note that the video in her story, about the music festival in Bowmanville ON in 1980, is being reported by a familiar face for many these days. In 1980, that was J.D. Roberts, shaggy-haired host of “The New Music” on CITY-TV in Toronto; these days he is John Roberts, co-host of “America Reports” on Fox News, and White House correspondent 2017-2021.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:18 AM on March 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

These are great articles- thank you for posting!

Can anyone clarify the difference in "backup singer" vs. "background singer?" I hear both used across what seem like the same contexts. and for some reason it really bugs me. I wondered if maybe "backup" was used for live performing, and "background" for recording studio work?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 8:30 AM on March 5, 2021

I first took conscious note of Dolette for her work with Laurie Anderson on Mister Heartbreak (as part of a vocal trio called November, of whom I can find literally no other reference). She also appeared in the concert film Home of the Brave.
posted by mykescipark at 8:33 AM on March 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

adrian belew, too! that dude's been around. (re home of the brave)
posted by j_curiouser at 8:36 AM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

These are fantastic! I loved the Dolette McDonald one. I'm on Guy Pratt now. Not much work getting done today!
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:38 AM on March 5, 2021

WOW - this looks like a great interview and a GREAT series. (Lots of drummers. Oh, and hey! I was just reading about Daryl Stuermer after "Easy Lover" came up on my random play!

I cannot wait to read all these. Which will take me a while. I am very happy about that.

Thank you so much for posting all of this, soundguy99! It's the perfect prelude to my weekend.
posted by kristi at 8:40 AM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Two great documentaries about support musicians are 20 Feet From Stardom and The Wrecking Crew.
posted by migurski at 8:48 AM on March 5, 2021 [12 favorites]

Can anyone clarify the difference in "backup singer" vs. "background singer?"

There isn't one. "Backing" is also commonly used, along with "vocalist." (Or "vox", for writing-on-the-audio-mixing-board-channel shorthand.)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The English language, whaddaya gonna do?
posted by soundguy99 at 8:53 AM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Another great one is Hired Gun which might make you think less of many of the big artists featured, but it's still really interesting story about the life of many sidemen and studio musicians.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:56 AM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Interesting to see the same top-billing artists reappearing in the promo copy across 27 performers' stories:
David Bowie: 5 different performers' stories
Bruce Springsteen: 5
Genesis and alumni (Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins): 5
The Police and/or Sting: 4
Rolling Stones: 3
Pink Floyd and/or David Gilmour: 3
Yes: 3
Tom Petty: 2
Eagles alumni (Don Henley, Joe Walsh): 2
Elton John: 2
Bob Dylan: 2
Billy Joel: 2

All of these bands and performers started in the 60s and 70s. It's as if nobody from the past 30 years seems to garner the sort of performance or production budgets that can regularly afford top-flight session artists. Granted there's reportage bias on Rolling Stone's part since it still tries to cater to boomer tastes, but it really makes it look like the era of big-time music ended with the boomers.
posted by ardgedee at 9:46 AM on March 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

Two great documentaries about support musicians are 20 Feet From Stardom and The Wrecking Crew.

Both are fantastic and the scene in 20 Feet that details how Mary Clayton got called in the middle of the night and left home in her bathrobe to lend the searing, apocalyptic backing vocals to Sympathy For The Devil is one of rock 'n roll's most unlikely, amazing and tragic stories.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 9:55 AM on March 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

Probably the one moment I remember is on Bring on the Night when she and the other backup singers squeal "Oh yeah!" like chipmunks during Branford's "Dolette M. and Janice P. playing background vocals for you and me, and let's not forget about Sting" rap.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:06 AM on March 5, 2021

it really makes it look like the era of big-time music ended with the boomers

It kind of did, at least for pop music. There are still session musicians, but so much of what gets recorded now is just synth backing tracks created by whichever pair or trio of (probably Swedish) composer/producers happens to be involved.
posted by fedward at 10:19 AM on March 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

from the Sterling Campbell piece:

What happened was I did another Soul Asylum record with Butch Vig. By that point, their drummer quit. They asked me to join the band. I was like, “OK, sure. Cool.” And then David (Bowie) was like, “OK, now I’m ready to go on tour.” Of course I wanted to do it, but I had committed to Soul Asylum.

"Sorry David Bowie, I can't tour with you, I've committed to Soul Asylum."

ouch
posted by Sauce Trough at 10:25 AM on March 5, 2021 [17 favorites]

It's as if nobody from the past 30 years seems to garner the sort of performance or production budgets that can regularly afford top-flight session artists.

The movie I mentioned includes more recent session players [as well as some of these guys], as it was made by a member of the metal band 5 Finger Death Punch, also a session player and sideman for other acts.


Rock N Roll - Guns for Hire is another movie that is occasionally on television about Earl Slick (Bowie guitarist) and Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones singer) and features some of Prince's sidewomen.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:45 AM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I loved the article. Dolette is such a down to earth person. Her naivety is endearing. I am going to read some of the others in the series. Thanks for posting.
posted by AugustWest at 10:48 AM on March 5, 2021

I would be remiss to not bring your attention to Carol Kaye, "one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years"

Video: Rock's Most Prolific Session Musician.

You might have heard one or two of the records she played on:

Donna and La Bamba – Ritchie Valens (1958)[33]
Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals (1964)
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' – The Righteous Brothers (1964)
These Boots Are Made for Walkin' – Nancy Sinatra (1965)
Batman Theme – The Marketts (1966)
Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys (1966)
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Simon and Garfunkel (1966)
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield (1966)
Freak Out! – The Mothers of Invention (1966)
The Beat Goes On – Sonny & Cher (1967)
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) – Harpers Bizarre (1967)
Nancy – Nancy Sinatra (1969)
With a Little Help from My Friends - Joe Cocker (1969)
posted by signal at 11:00 AM on March 5, 2021 [15 favorites]

Both are fantastic and the scene in 20 Feet that details how Mary Clayton got called in the middle of the night and left home in her bathrobe to lend the searing, apocalyptic backing vocals to Sympathy For The Devil is one of rock 'n roll's most unlikely, amazing and tragic stories.

I hate to be that guy, but it is Merry Clayton and the song was "Gimme Shelter." The backing vocals on "Sympathy" are some functional and unremarkable quarter note "Whoo-whoo" things done by the other four Stones and a few hangers-on. The soaring Clayton part in "Gimme Shelter" will make your knees buckle.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:48 AM on March 5, 2021 [25 favorites]

I hate to be that guy

Good Lord, my bad, eating lunch, watching TV and trying to comment at one time not good - yes, yer right, for God's sake I even posted the damn link, yikes. Anyway, that's an incredible story from every perspective.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 12:20 PM on March 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

It's interesting how some artists never get the adulation that people in bands do. Not to bring up Rolling Stones again, but Nicky Hopkins played piano for some of their songs, for instance (example, example), and it's fair to say those tracks wouldn't be what they are without his work. Not very well known, though, I don't think.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:30 PM on March 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

The soaring Clayton part in "Gimme Shelter" will make your knees buckle.

She also got a writing credit on the song, and recently was a main character in a documentary (the aforementioned 20 feet from Stardom).
posted by sideshow at 12:44 PM on March 5, 2021

Well that's my day taken care of.
posted by Coaticass at 12:55 PM on March 5, 2021

> who remain largely unknown to the general public.

Seems to imply this is a bad thing but actually its the best of both worlds
posted by Fupped Duck at 12:57 PM on March 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

Beggars Banquet would not have been the same without those piano parts, so simple but essential.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:00 PM on March 5, 2021

Or Monkey Man. He really sets up a mood.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:05 PM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Another rec for the Wrecking Crew documentary linked above -- and it spends substantial time with Carole Kaye.

was astonished to learn that Brian Wilson needed session players for Pet Sounds because the "real" Beach Boys couldn't play it.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:24 PM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

There are still session musicians, but so much of what gets recorded now is just synth backing tracks created by whichever pair or trio of (probably Swedish) composer/producers happens to be involved.

Touring bands still exist, COVID not withstanding. Who does Lady Gaga, for example, take on tour with her?
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:40 PM on March 5, 2021

Seems to imply this is a bad thing but actually its the best of both worlds

I don't know...it's hard not to notice that, e.g., the bands McDonald performed with were some of the hugest of the early to mid-80s, and all white guys (plus a white woman or two). They're rich and famous, she's a minor Facebook celebrity and probably comfortable but not wealthy. There was a desire in the 80s by some artists to have "soulfulness," but not enough for them to bring a black woman into the band proper. I know the dynamics of backup/session players are complex, but "dude brought into the studio to play bass on one song" feels different from "vocals on half the album" to me.
posted by praemunire at 2:05 PM on March 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

(I mean, if you look at the live "Life During Wartime", it looks like all the backing performers are Black, while the band is all white. This makes me a little uncomfortable.)
posted by praemunire at 2:09 PM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

You should probably go watch American Utopia (it's on Hulu) before you go around accusing David Byrne of all people of using token black people to make a movie.
posted by sideshow at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Do touring bands still exist, in this 51st week of a two week shutdown? For my birthday in November 2019, my wife bought tickets for a concert scheduled for April 2020. It was postponed to December 2020, then April 2021, and now March 2022. Tours are going to be really weird when they finally get started again.

Anyway. I don't actually know who tours with Gaga. Probably somebody really good.
posted by fedward at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2021

Haus of Gaga:Band membership
posted by sideshow at 2:32 PM on March 5, 2021

Oh, for heaven's sake. I love the Talking Heads, but if you can't get your mind around the idea that the way the music industry worked in the late 70s/early 80s (to say nothing of the present day) could often be pretty racist, you are just not in touch with history. I mean, this is a guy who appeared in black- and brownface in a sketch to promote Stop Making Sense, and didn't see anything wrong with it at the time. You can be a Totally Well-Intentioned White Person and still not see some of the problems of the sea you're swimming in.
posted by praemunire at 2:32 PM on March 5, 2021 [12 favorites]

I just came to post the Dolette McDonald interview - SO GREAT!!
posted by latkes at 3:40 PM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

The soaring Clayton part in "Gimme Shelter" will make your knees buckle.

I get chills just thinking about hearing that track in isolation.
posted by calamari kid at 4:00 PM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I read that Dolette McDonald interview when Chris Frantz shared it on Facebook. I almost did a FPP about it, but I'm glad to see this since soundguy99 did a much more interesting post than I would have.

I saw the Remain in Light tour on Halloween of 1980. I had heard that Nona Hendryx wasn't touring with them and had been replaced by McDonald. I was prepared to be disappointed by Hendrix' absence, and I was so NOT disappointed. McDonald was an absolute joy - full of energy, relating to the audience and her bandmates. I was a bit shocked by the part of the interview where she said she was mostly energized by "fear". Not the impression she gave at all.
posted by Surely This at 5:20 PM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I get chills just thinking about hearing that track in isolation.

I realize The Merry Clayton thing's a a bit of a derail, but you are correct and for those who have ever heard it, it's absolutely worth thirty seconds of your day.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:09 PM on March 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Josh Freese might be the current standard bearer for prolific session drummers. Here's his discography on Wikipedia.
posted by SansPoint at 6:59 PM on March 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

it's absolutely worth thirty seconds of your day

Of your life. Chills.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:33 PM on March 5, 2021

I realize The Merry Clayton thing's a a bit of a derail, but you are correct and for those who have ever heard it, it's absolutely worth thirty seconds of your day.

Literal goosebumps.
posted by panama joe at 9:20 AM on March 6, 2021

I was looking at an issue of Guitar Player from the 70's. It had a little feature about session guitarists in Chicago. In every city, people needed to record demos and jingles, and there was therefore a culture of producers and the studio musicians they liked to use; Chicago, of course, probably still had many small record labels doing sessions, at that time, too. These players were earning a living, more or less, just getting hired to play guitar. Technology has cut far, far, into this economy, of course, while also providing opportunity to different musicians.
posted by thelonius at 10:02 AM on March 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

You should probably go watch American Utopia (it's on Hulu)

Maybe not? Maybe HBO Max?
posted by stevil at 11:11 AM on March 6, 2021

Davey Johnstone is one of my guitar heroes. He just seems to know how to play the right licks, they fit the song so well you almost don't realize they're there. But you'd definitely know if they were missing.
posted by tommasz at 12:19 PM on March 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

TIL from the Davey Johnstone interview: actual revving car engine SFX on '...Alice', which I'd thought was just whammy bar growls. I loved that Elton John band sound, they were super groovy.
posted by ovvl at 12:25 PM on March 6, 2021

Great interview! So much personality coming through some fairly banal questions. But I didn't know what this was referring to. What happened?

Q: Your first show was the Heatwave Festival in Bowmanville, Ontario, on August 23rd, 1980.
A: [Screaming laugh] Oh, my God! Yes! I know you’re going to say, “Why are you getting so dramatic right now?
posted by stevil at 3:18 PM on March 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ah yes, The Heatwave Festival... I was there, it was truly Epic! (Creem called it "Punk Woodstock"). Pretenders, B-52s, Elvis Costello; all at the peak of their powers (also The Rumour without GP playing an interesting set). A groovy sunny day. Really good outdoor sound mix.

Talking Heads went on at sunset and ruled. No-one was expecting the new Talking Heads-Big Band line-up, when they unveiled the audience went crazy! Adrian Belew kooky-whammy-slide solos were also a stand-out for their set.

'Stop Making Sense' was okay, but I felt a bit underwhelmed because the previous 'Remain in Light' tour line-up had a more intense vibe. I think maybe Belew was stealing the spotlight a bit.
posted by ovvl at 4:15 PM on March 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Yeah, AFAICT it's not so much that anything in particular happened @ Heatwave (although the Wikipedia suggests that 15,000 people got in for free just before the Talking Heads' set) as much as it was the sort of "culture shock" where she's used to playing clubs and her first live show with the band is a huge thing in front of 80,000 (or more) people.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:27 PM on March 6, 2021 [2 favorites]