Paulson: You are a writer of songs with emotional impact, songs about people, interaction. Wouldn't describe you as a political songwriter per se, although you obviously reflect the human condition. Are there times, though, when you've thought about writing songs and then said, "You know, I don't want to go there"?
Carnes: Sometimes, yes.
Paulson: There are topics — Do you self-censor at all?
Carnes: Do I censor?
Paulson: Yourself.
Carnes: Not particularly. There's a song — again, on the album I did in Nashville in '87 — called "Blood from the Bandit," that was pretty political, and I loved that being on the record, and I did it in live shows. I haven't for some years just because Ive forgotten. But, Ive got a couple that Im hiding in the drawer for myself now that might show up on the next record.
Paulson: Well, as you know, from time to time, musicians, actors have spoken out and gotten themselves in a whole lot of trouble with the public — for saying something that might have offended — questioned American foreign policy, for example. Although you are not overtly political, how do you feel about musicians who are?
Carnes: I respect their right to be able to do it. I really do. I think it's very important that their voice be heard, you know. It's really important.
Paulson: In your own career, have there been any occasions where things you've written have run smack-dab into a wall or where people have said, "You shouldn't do that," or, "The video shouldn't portray something"?
Carnes: Yeah, definitely. I've had some songs Ive written that record company — people at my record company didn't want to be on the album. I had a video off my Voyeur album — was the title cut, "Voyeur." And MTV I think had been in existence maybe a year, year-and-a-half, and it was very different then as far as what they show now. And "Voyeur," they would only show at night, like, after a certain time. There was a little bit of a violent scene in the video, and by today's standards, it would be nothing, but back then — imagine MTV censoring something. Its — but they did. Now, Europe didn't. It was played, played all over Europe, but here, it was censored.
Paulson: Of course, this came at a time when you had a lot of artistic clout coming off one of the biggest records in rock n roll history. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the evolution of "Bette Davis Eyes." I happened to hear that song on a Jackie DeShannon album —
Carnes: Yeah.
Paulson: — probably '75 or '76. Jackie was actually a guest on this show not long ago and talked about the first time she heard your recording of it. And speaking of transformative — I mean, it was dramatically different, powerful and —
Carnes: It was really different.
Paulson: A huge record. How do you take a song that is certainly pleasant but not the record you put out and make it something that becomes one of the biggest-selling records in history?
Carnes: Well, when I heard her version, which was presented to me as a demo, I just fell in love with the lyrics. I loved the whole idea of the song but knew I had to come up with a different musical treatment, a different arrangement. And at that time, I had a very incredibly tight, wonderful band together, and we recorded every album live. We would go rehearse, like for a show, until we got the arrangement just right and then go in, cut in the studio, and no overdubs. So, we worked on "Bette Davis Eyes" about three days, and it went through every tempo, every feel imaginable until Bill Cuomo, my keyboard player at that time, came up with the magic sound on the keyboard. It was — the keyboard was called a prophet, and we knew immediately that was the lick, that was the sound. And every — everybody just fell into place after that, knew exactly what should be played. And we went in, recorded it the next day. Second take was the record. And what ended up being the actual record and on the radio was even a rough mix. Before going on a Christmas holiday, I said, "Well, I can't go home without having a copy of this to listen to," so, they just quickly put it up on the board and said, "Here's a rough," and we never, we never could beat it.
Loading...
4:32Kim Carnes - kick in the heartby arcvampiro97,171 views
Link to this comment:
Video Responses
All Comments (1)