by congabebe » Mon Aug 11, 2003 3:51 am
Brothers,
On more comment, I really appreciate the wonderful advise and comments Johnny has shared on this forum. I have heard his music on his website and he is very good. I am glad he has promoted himself, because I think he is truly a talented player and I would have not known had he not been so bold to promote himself. Good for him! I would love to hear him play live and see him sell records like Poncho has. I have no doubt that he knows the musicians that worked with Poncho. And all of us have had friends that we would defend if wronged personally. I do not think he was wrong to defend his friends. However, I have no dog in this fight. I do know that musicians get fired everyday, for tardiness, alcohol or drug abuse, attitude problems, personal conflicts, and just plain not holding your part down, missing licks, walking on solos... you name it and money is always envolved in a job. So loosing your job is never fun, and seeing a friend go through that is just as bad. But, Unless you can come out and say personally what it was that caused the situation to happen, you have no dog in the fight either. The fact that Johnny has opinions about Poncho does not effect me either way. He is entitled to his opinion and I respect him for it. I don't think anyone has a problem with him having a passionate need to defend his friends. Maybe voicing his opinion was too passionate of a reaction on the forum, but I really think he has appologised appropriately and enough is said.
What are we here in this forum for is to discuss? "music", the passion of playing and listening to music. That is what the discussion was about. Maybe a separate topic on music ethics would be more appropriate if you have a need to discuss what Poncho should or should not have done, but I don't see one out there on the forum. Keep in mind, the fact that music is one of the most cut-throat and competitive ways to make a living, that should be a subject in itself. And the fact that nothing is 'fair' in real life, you can't possibly think that everything is 'fair' in music cause it just isn't. Players get gigs for many reasons, not everyone gets to audition, it is usually 'word of mouth' or 'who you know', so I really have no interest in slamming Poncho or second guessing or getting Johnny to repeat what he knows. It really could get ugly and why bother, life is just to short to keep hacking away at this subject.
So, in the interest of peace, can we let it rest.
congabebe