Music And The Star - The Drive To Become a Star

Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Pat Matheny

They are all Stars that are well known to Guitar Players

What Motivates A Musician To Become A Star

That subject is addressed on this web page

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Music And The Star - The Drive To Become a Star

The following paper was written as a letter to  a Pen Pal I have in Texas who is a gifted Singer and Song Writer.

The Great Writer Kurt Vonnegut says we do our best writing when we write to be read by a specific person. I agree completely with this theory.

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Vonee;

What drives musicians to become stars? All Time Stars like Marty Robbins, Hank Williams, Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, all had to have a motivation to achieve Stardom to have been able to endure the hardships that musicians must endure on their road to being all time great Stars that in some ways achieve a bit of immortality.

Chet Atkins had Recorded 78 Albums by the early 1980s

Some of the best Guitar Players Alive and Recordings today have said they were inspired By Chet Atkins

This was the Great Influence that Chet had as a True Star of The Guitar

Chet Atkins said in his later years, that after he left the world maybe many people would not know who he was. And he is said to have further stated that when they heard his music, they would know that he lived and played the Guitar. Something to that effect. What Chet was saying that he believed to some degree that he would live on through his music. And there can be little doubt that Chet has a achieved a kind of immortality through his music for after a great Star Like Chet passes on, The Records they made become very much in demand by Collectors.

A Young Chet Atkins Playing his Hand Made D'Angelico Guitar

Chet endured many financial hardships and set backs on his way to Stardom. He was often told that he did not sound Country Enough, then he was fired from Radio Stations where he was backing Country Music Singers on live Radio Broadcasts. Chet admitted that more than once he was tempted to throw in the towel. But Chet loved the Guitar and Music so much, he kept keeping on, never giving up. Then success came in great abundance for Chet Atkins, with him having his own radio show, then his own TV Show on WSM Radio and TV. No other Guitar Player had ever had their own Radio and TV Shows. Then the Gretsch Guitar Company started marketing the 6120, the Chet Atkins Model Gretsch and Chet’s Recording of Mr. Sandman hit the Country Charts. Chet was on his way to 50 years of great success where he sold more Recordings that any other instrumentalist in the history of music.

Chet endured, and prevailed. The fans loved his Guitar Playing that didn’t sound Country Enough to the Radio Station Managers that fired him. The Fans loved his music so much that Chet Atkins became a legend of Guitar who inspired literally thousands of people to start playing Guitar. Many of the Guitar Players that were inspired by Chet to learn Guitar became Stars themselves.

No doubt every musician would love to be a Star. But do most musicians have the passion that will motivate them to do what it takes to develop their music to the point to where they can achieve stardom? Chet Atkins Said he practiced 8 hours a day all his life, in addition to all his professional Guitar Playing. Do most musicians have enough passion for music to practice 8 hours a day to achieve what they want to achieve as a musician? In order to become a really accomplished musician who had a shot at Stardom, the musician must have a great passion for music, and most likely they must have a great passion for being at the top for the trials, the troubles, the struggles that all Stars must endure are great.

A CD that features both Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer

Chet Made Many Stars with his producing them on RCA Records

The Most Famous Guitar Player of all time did much to promote Instrumental Music

Chet Atkins Produced Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass and this Talented Group of Instrumental Became Famous playing Country Music that combined Horns and Banjos.

In addition to Recording the Most Albums ever released as Instrumental Music, and producing other Great Instrumentalist, Chet also was a Session Player on hundreds of Albums that were released by big name Singing Stars.

Vonee your asking me if I ever had the big head set off a line of thinking that led me to want to write this rather long paper on the subject of being a star, and musicians. So get ready for some reading.

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Why do some gifted musicians become stars and other gifted musicians never go beyond playing the local music scene in their hometown?  There are many variables that determine if a musician becomes a star of if no one outside their local community knows they exist.  Luck has something to do with it, being in the right place at the right time. But in the end I think that luck does not determine who becomes stars. Luck influences the career of those who do become stars, but in the end I believe it is the desire of the person to become a star that determines their status in music.

Elvis became a star because he was in the right place at the right time and because he had a music the world was ready to hear. And Elvis has the looks and Charisma that Stars are made of. Elvis had some more luck when the Colonel discovered him. However, if Elvis had not been star material, the Colonel Discovering him would never have happened.

Did Elvis have a Great Desire to be a Star. I have read that he wanted to be in movies. The Colonel created the opportunity for Elvis to be in movies. Did Elvis have a burning desire to be a Star? Though there is very little written on this subject, I know he wanted to be a star enough to go to Sun Records and try to get signed to a record contract and when Sun Records did not sign him, he came back a year later. That shows great determination on the part of Elvis to make it in music, to be a Recording Star.

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There can be no doubt that every musician would welcome stardom. But only those with a burning desire, a great passion, to be stars achieve the great feat of seeing their music at the top of the Charts in the commercial music world. A passing desire to be a star does not motivate anyone to do the things necessary to Achieve stardom. Only those with a burning desire to achieve stardom are willing to dedicate their life to becoming a star.

I believe that all people who become stars have a burning passion to play music, but those who become stars also have a burning passion to become a Star. I believe that one must have a burning passion for both music, and to be a Star, or they will never become a Star of Great magnitude.

To be a star of great magnitude, one must have a great deal of musical ability, and they must develop their natural ability in music, then  they must dedicate their life to becoming a star.  If one is to become a music star, they must be in tune with their times so their music is what people want to hear.

I'm not sure is this can be attributed to chance or luck or if it is just part of the system, the way things work. Since being in the right place at the right time with the right music seems to involve chance, I guess the element of luck is there. It's just being lucky enough to have music that people love, then being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to get the opportunity to be heard, and to find someone in the music business who will promote you and your music.  In that sense, the element of chance or luck does enter into the variables that determine if a person will become a star or not become a star. However it is well known that many of those who became stars kept keeping on when nothing was going their way when it came to achieving stardom. Their determination to be a star drove them to endure whatever came their way until the right circumstances came along that made them into Stars.

The competition for Stardom is great. There are only 100 CDs on the Billboard Hot 100. The competition to get a CD on the Billboard 100 Chart is great. Only those who are willing to do whatever it takes to become a star, ever achieve stardom. Of this there can be little doubt.

I suppose the music industry is made up of basically of two types of people: those who have a burning desire to be a star, and those who just love music and and want to play music for a living, or at least play music as much as possible. Those who have a burning desire to be stars gear their whole life around becoming a star. Those who do not have a burning desire to be a star just gear their life around the pleasure of playing music.

From the first day I played the Guitar, I just wanted to play music, and play music for a living, to make it my profession, or my way of earning money for a living. This was so because I loved playing music more than any other thing I had done in life.

The thought, or desire, to be a star, never once entered my mind. I just wanted to play music. And I wanted to play as highly developed music as I could play. And, I was willing to put in the time in practice, and study, to develop as a musician. In fact I never considered it work to practice or study music. I always considered it a great joy. I suppose that is why I put so much time in practice and study. I surely have enjoyed doing both.

Of course I always liked being on stage in front of people. That was always a joy to me. It was like I had the chance to be something I could not be in regular life. And so I loved being on stage, always. And needless to say I played my best music on stage. Being on stage just brings out something in a person, I think.

And I was always "The Guitar Man." My first and greatest love in music was playing the Guitar. I sang for fun, but singing never meant to me what playing the Guitar Meant to me, never. To me, the Guitar was always the Star.

I worked in a band ran by a guy who was really quite Gifted in the area of Guitar but he chose to be a singer, and just play Rhythm Guitar, and I could never figure out why he did that. I asked him why. He said "You can’t be a star if all you do is play the Guitar. You can’t have the Glory of being a star if all you do is play the Guitar. So I chose to sing." I might add here that this Gifted Guitar Player did become a local star of great magnitude in the Saint Louis Missouri area. He never became a national star for success in music came to him to late in life for him to abandon a well established business and go on the Road to promote himself to stardom. However, he achieved what he wanted to achieve, he became one of the biggest stars that the Saint Louis Music Scene produced for a local musician. That has to be considered a great achievement in anyone's book.

Then Band that this particular Guitar Player became a local star in was doing what is now considered New Country, and doing it in the early 70s. The band was at least 10 years ahead of it's time.

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It is well known that our desires cause us to achieve in life. This Gifted Guitar Player Greatest desire in music was to have the glory of being a Star. He most assuredly achieved his desires to quite a high magnitude.

When the gifted Guitar Player told me he wanted the Glory of being a Star more than he wanted to be a really great Guitar Player, I thought he was nuts. I have never considered the Glory of Being A Star More important than playing the Guitar. But then I just never had the mentality of a person who sought the glory of being a star. That was not part of my psychological make up.

Well Bob, was right, that is his name. The Singer has more of an opportunity to be a Star, much more so than a Guitar Player. That is why so many really fine Guitar Players gave up Guitar to be singers. Buck Owens was a Lead Guitar Player, and a mighty fine Lead Guitar Player, long before he made it in Singing. Roy Clark is quite Gifted on the Guitar, but he chose to be a singer so he could be a star. And no doubt there are hundreds, or maybe tens of thousands of really fine Guitar Players who chose singing because they saw it as a way to become a star and have the glory of being a star.

But all I ever wanted to be was a Guitar Player who did some singing because I like to sing and play the Guitar. And my singing afforded me the opportunity to play things that I would never play on the Guitar if I did not sang.

I worked with a guy who was a great instrumentalist, on many instruments. But he had the mentality of a person who wants to be a star. He really has it big. This is what motivates him more than any other single thing in music. But Yes, he loves music too, as all the people do who strive to be stars. But they seem to value the glory of being a star over music itself.

I might add that this great musician who could play many instruments and play them all quite well, became somewhat of a local star in the Saint Louis area. He had a Solo Act that played the most frequented Night Clubs in the Saint Louis area. Though he was unable to earn enough money to support a wife and his children being a local Star, he did in fact realize his dreams of stardom, at least on the local level.

I know a Steel Guitar Player here in Denver that is really good. He has the mentality that makes him motivated to want to have the glory of being a star. He really has it big time.

This particular Steel Guitar Player has a wife that sings very good. But she realizes how much her husband wants to be a Star, so she lets her singing take a back seat to his being a star. She does not have the mentality of a person who puts being a star above all other things in music. Maybe that is why she never became a star. She loves singing and music, but having the glory of being a star is not that important to her.

This particular Steel Guitar Player became somewhat of local Star. He has had many rave press revues. In the music community he lives in, he is considered one of the all time great Steel Guitar Players. His burning desire to be a star brought him local stardom.

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This friend I worked with is married to a woman who is so gifted in music that she could have under the right circumstances, been a really big star. She has what it takes, or at least had it, I guess she still has it. But she was willing to play second fiddle to her husband who had the great desire to be a star.

I suppose that to become a star, one has to have that mentality that puts being a star above most all other things. Some people who have become stars put a great priority on achieving Star Status than they put on their family life. And in many cases the desire to be a Star cost he person their wife and family, with their marriage ending in divorce. This type of person is motivated to do what it takes to become a star. And it takes a lot to say the least.

I’m sure that Chet Atkins had the mentality of a person who craved being a star. That part of Chet kind of turned me off, at least a little. To me it was obvious that Chet had the great desire to be a star, and he was definitely a star, on the Guitar.

Chet tried to be a star in singing, but he never made it. Chet got an RCA Record Contract around 1947, and he made some singing records that failed miserably. So Chet knew that if he made it as a Star, it had to be on the Guitar. Chet Desire to be a star was a great motivator. Chet took the Guitar further than it had ever been taken before. Chet holds the all time record for instrumental Recordings being sold. No one else has come close to Chet when it comes to selling recordings. And Chet Probably inspired more people to learn to play Guitar than any other single person.

Generally speaking Guitar Players who make records do not become big stars. The vocalist becomes the big stars. Chet was an exception to that for certain.

Some legendary Guitar Players made it in the Recording business as singers. However their Guitar Playing was so great that they are now remembered as Guitar Players much more so than as singers.

Merle Travis Sold more records as a Singer who played Guitar than he did with his Guitar Instrumental Recordings. But Merle is much more famous as a Guitar Player than as a singer. The reason that is so is that Merle Travis was so outstanding on the Guitar.

Jerry Reed Sold the Most Records as a singer. But he made some instrumental Guitar Recordings. Jerry is a legendary Guitar Player now, but he is not a legendary singer.

Both Merle Travis and Jerry Reed became stars as singers, but both of them are now legendary stars because of their Guitar Playing. Ironic isn’t it.

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Doc Watson has to be one of the Greatest all time Guitar Players. He became a star because of his Guitar Playing and Singing. I think Doc Watson may be as much remembered for his singing as he is his Guitar Playing. But only time will tell if that will be true.

Junior Brown is loved because of both his Guitar Playing and singing.  In some ways I think Junior Brown is better known for his Guitar Playing than for his singing.

As I said in the first part of this paper, all I ever wanted to do was to play the Guitar, and make a living in music. I knew it could be done, for I saw people doing it. To this end I devoted a lot of time and energy.

I can’t say that I ever made a good living from playing music., but I managed to make a living and get by for some years. I considered that quite an accomplishment considering how hard it is to make a living as a musician.

I wanted to develop my Music and Guitar Playing ability, and I did that. And I’m glad I did it for it was the most enjoyable thing I have done in life.

I developed my music and Guitar Playing ability to a higher level when I spent three years practicing from 10 to 14 hours a day, and I enjoyed doing that. It was not work, it was a great joy to do this.

I had been playing professionally for ten years when I started my three years of practicing 10 to 14 hours a day. When I started playing Guitar my teacher told me to practice one hour a day. I practiced my lessons two hours a day, then played from two to three hours more each day. That is why I was able to star playing professionally after playing the Guitar for one year.

All my life I played from 5 to 6 hours a day, before I began my 10 to 14 hours practice every day. However, the 10 to 14 hours of practice every day did things for me that can only be achieved with 10 to 14 hours of practice every day for an extended time period.

The 10 to 14 hours a day practice was the best thing I ever did when it comes to music. It enabled me to develop musically and as a Guitar Player in a way that could never have been achieved any other way. And what I learned and the way I developed, never left me, even when I went a couple of years with no playing at all, after I went from music to a day job. Of course I was comparatively rough when I started playing again after two year of not playing, but my playing was still at a level that the average person would not notice the roughness in my playing.

Though I never had the desire for Glory as a Star, I always loved being on stage in front of people.

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When I was a lead Guitar and Bass Player in Bands, I was backing people up and never considered the applause so much for me as it was for the singer, and I suppose the entire band. But this was fine, I just enjoyed playing music for people. It was always a great joy to me.

When I went solo, I played the Bars at first, and this is most assuredly different than playing a show. You have played the Bars so you know about that.

When I played the Solo Job in the Fine Dinning Restaurant Dinning Room, for the first time I kind of felt like I was on stage. But I was definitely not doing a show. But I was center stage and I had my Fans, for the first time in all my music playing. Having fans was neat to say the least. It showed that the people who heard my music got into what I was doing on Guitar and this was very enjoyable. Having people get into your music is what playing music is all about, at least when you play professionally.

When I played the retirement homes I guess that was really my first shows. The people came and sit and listened. I was putting on a show, and I loved it. This was inspirational to me and it caused me to play Guitar better than I had ever played in person. And I loved doing the shows.

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I had some good audiences at he retirement homes. This was especially true when I played for some big audiences that were people who were still in good and alert condition and were not in the assisted living situation. However, even when I played for the assisted living people and nursing home audiences, I was still putting on a show for the people and they were enjoying my show, and this is definitely inspirational to a musician.

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As it has been from day one of me playing the Guitar, I’d still love to play music for a living. Now I’d love to do it by putting on shows, or being part of a show. Though I’d still play the Clubs, I’d much rather play shows. Playing shows is absolutely exhilarating, the best thing I have ever experienced in playing music for an audience. Every musician needs to experience playing shows for an audience who loves their music.

I can in some ways understand why the amateur musician are playing the coffee shops and open mics for free. Playing for an audience is a thrill. But I can tell you that when you play for an audience and you are a professional musicians who is being paid, the thrill is far greater than playing for free. When one has played professionally, and has been paid for their performances, playing for free has little appeal to them. It’s not so much the money as the status of the playing. Anyone can play for free, only a professional gets paid for their performances. And one has to be to a certain level to be paid for their live performances. This make the playing much more enjoyable to say the least.

Concerning the desire for the Glory Status of being a Star. Humans seem to have an instinct to want recognition, and for a certain amount of Glory. That appears to be a human trait, and is not exclusive to musicians. People seem to crave recognition, and glory. That is part of the motivational system that drives humans to achieve. Music is just one way to achieve recognition and glory, it is by no means the only way to achieve the gaining of Glory. And everyone seems to understand the desire for fame and glory for it is truly a human trait.

Some people have a greater desire for fame and glory than other people. This is just the way it is. Those with the greatest desire for Fame and Glory are motivated to achieve this status.

I believe that any musician who achieves fame and glory in music, and becomes a star, loves music deeply. If they did not love music deeply they would never be good enough to achieve star status. So the love of music, the desire to play music, and the desire for star status all works together to cause someone to achieve stardom.

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Needless to say everyone that desires to be a star, does not achieve star status. But they try really hard and to some degree achieve some form of Star Status. Star Status is most easily achieved on the local level for the competition is not great. Many local stars can never achieve national star status. Some people who were never local stars, have become national stars. But generally speaking someone who achieves national star status has paid their dues, and have proved that their music is loved on a more local or regional level long before they achieve national star status.

The all time great star, the star who’s music is remembered long after their recordings are off the charts, has some music that people truly love. Many musical personalities who get recordings on the national charts, and more than one record, are often soon forgotten when they can no longer get their recordings on the charts. Only a few Stars become all time great stars who have many fans until the day they die. This all time star status is for certain Glory or Stardom at it’s height.

The all time great stars are always remembered by their fans who made them stars when they were at their height of popularity. The younger people most often never know who these all time great stars are, or that they ever made recordings that were at the top of the charts, or at the top of popularity. But the fans who made these all time great stars popular never forget them. That is saying a lot.

Humans seem to be born with the desire to be immortal. There are few people who ever achieve immortality, and I do mean very few. The Great Philosophers and Writers who enlightened the world, and the great Classical Composers like Mozart, Bach and Beethoven and more great Classical composers, and the great Artists, are the one that have achieved immortality. Few Pop Musicians or composers, or fiction writers, ever achieve immortality for more than a hundred years, if that can be considered immortality. The founders of the world religions that have lasted thousands of years have achieved a kind of immortality here on earth.

Just a few notes on immortality since that seems to be the height of stardom, or glory, whether it be in music or anything else.

I think any musician who manages to earn a living by playing music, and does it all their life, never having to work a day job, has achieved a lot, and should be happy with their musical achievements. There are hundreds of thousands of musicians who would give most anything to be able to earn their living all their lives playing music and never having to work a day job. Lucky is the person who is actually able to never have to do anything other than play music to earn a living.

By Robert Lee Johnson

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