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Brian Banks: Da Los Angeles a Thornbury - dopo aver lavorato con Michael Jackson
DFLAT minore a E , E di nuovo, poi Sol bemolle maggiore , poi C diesis minore 7. Scritto così non significa molto , ma se si sente il suono di quelle note , le riconoscerai mmediatamente.
E' la sequenza che ha riempito migliaia di piste da ballo, che ha fatto che milioni di automobilisti alzassero il volume delle loro radio e ha permesso alla pop star Michael Jackson di diventare un'icona globale.
Sono i primi cinque accordi di 'Thriller'. Anche ora , 32 anni dopo la sua uscita, rimane l'album più venduto di tutti i tempi.
Questi accordi sono molto familiari a Brian Banks , che vive in campagna, vicino a Thornbury.
Molto tempo fa, a circa 5000 miglia a ovest, faceva parte del vortice di tre settimane che hanno visto la nascita del album al Westlake Recording Studios di Los Angeles.
Bria , un grande musicista nel 1982, è stato l'autore di sintetizzatori musicali. Da allora, ha lavorato in numerose colonne sonore di film e registrato per alcune delle più grandi major del mondo, ma avendo lavorato su 'Thriller' resta un elemento accattivante del suo curriculum.
Nessuno di quelli che erano in studio in quel momento aveva idea di quello che stavano per scatenare sul mondo.
Abbiamo lavorato con Michael Jackson e Quincy Jones, quindi sì , è stata una buona cosa . Ma devo dire che non ho foto di me in studio …
Non era ' MJ ' in quei giorni. Non era come ' Oh mio Dio, è Michael Jackson!'. Era più : ' Ah, sì, è quel ragazzo dei Jackson Five che sta rilasciando un altro album '.
"E' stato fantastico lavorare con Michael e Quincy . Non fraintendetemi, ero entusiasta di essere lì, era un lavoro di prim'ordine e solo il meglio del meglio riceveva la telefonata da Quincy Jones per lavorare su un album di Michael Jackson.
A questo punto, Brian si appoggia vicino e abbassa la voce per sottolineare il suo punto. “Ma nessuno aveva idea di quanto grande sarebbe stato. Nessuno “.
"Mi ricordo che verso la fine del mio lavoro per l'album, i fotografi hanno portato le prove finali per la foto da stampare all'interno - in cui Michael indossava la tuta bianca - ed ero in studio quando lui, Quincy e i fotografi hanno scelto quella migliore ".
Ricordate che la musica agli inizi degli anni '80 era nel “cesso”. Le vendite calavano a picco, la disco music era morta, il punk non vendeva tanto e tutti erano alla ricerca di qualcosa di diverso .
La musica era nel posto sbagliato. Ricordo Quincy dire a Michael : 'Off the Wall' ha venduto otto milioni di copie . Se 'Thriller' vende sei milioni, in questo mercato, lo considero un successo ' .
Ha venduto 50 milioni di copie nel suo primo anno. Ma no, nessuno - neanche Quincy e Michael - avevano idea che sarebbe decollato nel modo in cui lo ha fatto.
L'impatto si è verificato non solo in termini economici. Brian ricorda che l'onda d'urto ha aperto una breccia nel divario razziale nella musica.
Bisogna ricordare che Michael è stato il primo musicista di colore ad apparire su MTV, e che è stato grande".
Prima di allora, tutto era rock bianco e hanno dovuto lasciarlo entrare su MTV perché l'album stava avendo successo e ha anche contribuito a promuoverlo,in pratica, si è verificato un effetto marea.
MTV emarginava i musicisti neri senza che nessuno si lamentasse, anche se c'erano dei mormorii..
Con Michael, quei giorni sono finiti, e senza nulla togliere ai musicisti neri dei decenni precedenti, l'uguaglianza commerciale e sociale e il rispetto lo ha cambiato lui da solo. 'Thriller' è riuscito a far svoltare l'angolo .
Non posso far finta di dire che lo conoscevo bene. Eravamo nella stessa stanza, a lavorare sul nostro materiale e chiacchierato, ma non come un amico di una vita . Era molto calmo , molto tranquillo. Quando era in studio e non c'era niente fare, se ne andava nell'angolo più buio, forse per praticare i passi di danza.
Quando lavoravi con lui era molto aperto con le sue idee e pensieri, ma non era oppressivo o faceva continue richieste tipo ' fai questo' o ' fai l'altro. Bisogna ricordare che l'uomo in carica era Quincy Jones, ed era a lui che si dava ascolto.
Mi ricordo che nessuno poteva essere vicino i locali quando Michael registrava la sua voce. C'erano solo Michael, Quincy, l'ingegnere e il suo assistente tecnico, questo è tutto. C'era un circolo molto ristretto di persone quando lui registrava.
Aveva una voce e un modo di usarla assolutamente magico. Aveva una grande sensibilità su ciò che era buono – poteva notarlo, poteva sentirlo – e ovviamente aveva un grande senso del ritmo, stile e fraseggio.
In questo senso era come Sinatra, una di quelle persone che possono offrire una canzone e avere ovviamente un enorme impatto sulla musica pop e sugli altri musicisti.
[...]
Riguardo la morte di MJ, Brian ammette: "Sono rimasto più rattristato che sorpreso. E' come un tira e molla. Avrei voluto essere famoso?. Sì, è possibile. Quando si lavora nel campo artistico la maggior parte delle persone vuole essere una rock star o un cantante d'opera o un celebre direttore d'orchestra, è uno dei corsi nelle arti dello spettacolo., ma la maggior parte delle persone che ha raggiunto la fama o lo ha fatto molto presto o non sono stati in grado di gestirla ... questo si verifica troppo spesso. "
"Non è come se avessi perso un amico, ma abbiamo perso una influenza musicale iconica. Era come se si sapesse che qualcosa di terribile stava per accadere ad un certo punto perché mi sembrava di fosse sempre al limite. Non e' solo la mia opinione, e non è necessario essere un ingegnere o aver lavorato con lui per vederlo. "
"Quando ho lavorato con lui era molto tranquillo, un'anima quasi fragile. Quando aveva un'idea lo diceva, ma con quella timida e delicata voce che le persone hanno sentito nelle interviste, era così che parlava."
"Era un uomo molto riservato, fino a quando non saliva sul palco, lì era dove esplodeva..”
Questa traduzione è per il Michael Jackson's Gold World. In caso di ripubblicazione citare la fonte riportando l'url diretto a questo post, (clicca sulla data del post per ottenere l'url diretto)
www.bristolpost.co.uk/Thornbury-man...tail/story.html
Brian Banks: From Los Angeles to Thornbury - after working with Michael Jackson
DFLAT minor to E, E again, then G flat major, then C sharp minor 7. Written down, it means very little, but if you heard those notes played, you'd recognise them instantly.
It's the chord sequence that has filled thousands of dancefloors, caused drivers in their millions to reach across and turn the car radio up and helped propel Michael Jackson from being just another pop star to a world icon.
They are the first five chords of the song Thriller, taken from the record of the same name. Even now, 32 years after its release, it remains the biggest- selling album of all time.
Those chords are very familiar to Brian Banks, who lives in the countryside near Thornbury.
A long time ago, and some 5,000 miles to the west, he was part of the whirlwind three weeks that saw the album put together at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
Brian, in 1982 an accomplished musician in his own right, was the synthesiser programmer for the album. Since then, he has worked on several major film scores and recorded for some of the world's biggest companies, but working on Thriller remains an eye-catching element of his CV.
Not that those in the studio at the time had any idea what they were about to unleash on the world.
"We were working with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones (producer, pictured above), so yeah, it was a big deal. But I have to tell you, I don't have any photographs of me in the studio because I was working on jobs of that stature on a pretty regular basis.
"He wasn't 'MJ' in those days. It wasn't like 'Oh my God, it's Michael Jackson'." It was more, 'Oh yeah, that guy from the Jackson Five is releasing another album'.
"It was cool to be working with Quincy and Michael. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to be there – it was an A-plus gig and only the best of the best get asked by Quincy Jones to work on a Michael Jackson record."
At this point, Brian leans closer and lowers his voice to emphasise his point.
"But nobody had any idea how big it was going to be. Nobody.
"I remember towards the end of my time working on the album the photographers brought the final proofs back for the centrefold – the ones of Michael in the white suit – and I happened to be in the studio when he and Quincy and the photographers were trying to pick the best one.
"You have to remember that in the early '80s music was in the toilet. Sales were way down, disco was dead, punk didn't really sell a lot and there was a lot of floundering around looking for something.
"So music was in a bad place. And I remember Quincy saying to Michael, 'Off the Wall sold eight million copies. If Thriller sells six million, in this market, I'm going to call that a success'.
"And it did 50 million in its first year. But no, nobody – even Quincy and Michael – had no idea it would take off like it did."
The impact was not just in terms of dollars and cents. Brian, now in his fifties, remembers the shockwaves breached the racial divide in music.
"You have to remember that Michael was the first black musician to appear on MTV, and that was huge.
"Prior to that, it was all-white rock and they had to let him on MTV because the album was getting so big, which then helped promote the album, so it became a tidal wave.
"MTV could marginalise black musicians without getting a whole lot of flack, although there were murmurings.
"With Michael, those days were over, and that's not to take anything away from black musicians from decades prior, but the worldwide commercial and social equality and respect thing, he single-handedly changed it. There was a corner that got turned right at Thriller."
Jackson, who died in 2009, remains a polarising figure despite his obvious musical talent. With the best-selling albums and unique voice came multiple rounds of plastic surgery, allegations of child abuse and a love/hate relationship with the world's media.
Brian, though, recalls a quiet, shy man who was almost in the background while Thriller was being recorded.
"I can't pretend I knew him well. We were in the same room, we worked on stuff and talked, but it's not like he's a longstanding friend. He was very quiet, very reserved. When he was in the studio and not doing something, he was in the deepest, darkest corner, maybe practising dance moves.
"When you worked with him he was very forthcoming with his ideas and thoughts, but not oppressive or demanding in a 'you will do this' or 'you will do that' way.
"You have to remember the man in charge was Quincy Jones, and that was who we were listening to.
"I remember that nobody was allowed anywhere near the building when Michael was recording voice. It was just Michael, Quincy, the engineer, the assistant engineer – that's it. There was a very tight circle of people around when he was doing his thing."
And, controversy aside, for Brian it's all about the music when you talk about Michael Jackson.
"He had a voice and a delivery that was absolutely magical. He had a sensibility about what was good – he could sense it, he could feel it. He obviously had a great sense of rhythm and style and phrasing.
"He was like Sinatra in that sense, one of these people that can deliver a song and obviously had enormous impact on pop music, on other musicians."
Brian's own career was already taking off around the time Thriller was recorded. Taught to play the piano by his mother and grandmother as a child growing up in Los Angeles ("I tried guitar but couldn't see the point of using two hands to get one note"), he began playing as a five-year-old and in 1980 got his first pay cheque, for writing a commercial for American news channel NBC.
"Being in Los Angeles gave me an opportunity. If you were in the middle of LA then people came to you. If you made it in LA, you'd made it."
His innovative work with synthesisers – a new toy in the early 1980s that everyone wanted in their music, but not everyone could master – saw him work again with Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg on the film The Color Purple, pictured above, on the David Bowie single Putting out Fire and then on other Hollywood film scores such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Young Guns and Internal Affairs.
Having married an Englishwoman and bought a property in London, near Paddington, buying a house in the West Country made sense because it was in the right direction of train travel out of the capital.
While I'm interviewing him, his two dogs wander around the room, seeking attention. At one point, one of his daughters leans around the door and asks for the perfect porridge recipe. We could be in an episode of The Archers.
A lover of the British sense of history, the house fits Brian well. Some parts were built in the late 1400s/early 1500s, and the studio where he does his work is "modern", compared with the rest of the building – merely19th century.
"When you live in a place like this you realise it's not really yours," he says. "You're just passing through and taking care of it. With any luck, it'll still be standing in another 500 years."
But the comfortable rural surroundings are still a place of work. Having put a studio together, Brian still finds himself getting out of bed at 4am to work for clients in the USA – where his CV reads like a Who's Who of corporations (American Express, Apple, Walt Disney, BMW, Boeing, Intel, Microsoft, McDonald's and Yahoo, to name but a few).
In quieter moments, he'll walk from the studio down the rabbit warren of corridors you only find in old stately homes to the living room and his piano. "If I was playing just for the joy of playing, it would be Beethoven," he says.
Pointing around at all the high-tech kit in his studio, he adds: "I love this, don't get me wrong, but it's also where I work. I don't work in there, I only play the piano.
"I have to admit I rarely listen to music in my spare time. I'm in the studio all day listening to music, or writing stuff that people have asked me to work on, When I'm in the car, I listen to Radio Four or nothing.
"And this is not just now, this is in my twenties as well.
"My wife always teases me about the fact we've got thousands of records but I never turn the radio on."
JACKSON'S DEATH
“I WAS more sad than shocked,” admits Brian.
“It’s that push-pull thing. Would I have liked to have been famous? Yeah, probably. When you go into the arts most people want to be a rock star or famous opera singer or conductor – that’s one of the draws of the performing arts. But the more people you see that have attained fame early on and have not been able to handle it… you see it too often.
“It wasn’t like I lost a friend, but we lost an iconic musical influence. I was sad. It was almost like you expected something horrible was going to happen at some point because he always seemed to be on the edge. But that’s not just my opinion, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or worked with him to see that.
“When I worked with him he was a very quiet, almost fragile, soul. When he had an idea he spoke it out, but it was that light, soft-speaking voice that people would have heard in the interviews he did, that was how he spoke.
“He was a very reserved man until he got on stage, which was where he exploded.
Edited by ArcoIris - 22/4/2018, 01:37
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