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The Voice

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Today is Bobby McFerrin’s Birthday.

He’s a performer with the skill and the openness to unite all the musical genres. There doesn’t seem to be a style that’s beyond his reach. McFerrin teaches while he entertains, and he gets more involvement out of his audiences than anyone since Pete Seeger was in his prime.

I first became aware of his talent with the live recording of his solo performances in Germany. The Germans call him “Wunder Stimme”, or “Wonder Voice”. I’m still amazed to hear this one guy keeping a crowd enthralled, singing without accompaniment and using his own body for percussion. What a remarkable (and gutsy) thing to do.

It almost didn’t happen. He was a 27 year old piano player working with bands when he had his “Aha” moment.

“I was living in Salt Lake City and I was an accompanist in the dance department at the University of Utah. I was walking home during a lunch break when, all of a sudden, I knew I was a singer. I called the Hilton Hotel to ask for an audition. I sang five tunes and the guy hired me on the spot. I started working as a singer right away, at the piano bar.”

I wonder why it hit him then – walking home for lunch. Maybe hunger had something to do with it. And calling the Hilton to ask for an audition just because you had this weird idea? That’s bold. But if you’re Bobby McFerrin, it pays off.

On his 61st birthday today we’ll hear him with some other geniuses, Mark O’Connor, Yo Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer.

He had one hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. McFerrin handled that just the right way – he let it open some doors, but didn’t allow one song to define him. Instead of succumbing to the constant pressure to come up with another hit song, and another and another, he stopped performing his chart topper. He let it go off and have its own life without him.

Who else would do that?

McFerrin has established himself as a musical force that thrives in areas outside the narrow demands of popular culture. He has shown us a remarkable combination of integrity and freedom, in part made possible from the money generated by one big financial success.

You’ve just written and performed a hit song, and the money is rolling in. What do you do NEXT?

68 thoughts on “The Voice”

  1. Ooooooo, Bobby McFerrin earworms all day, thanks Dale, and I truly mean that-love him.

    The money is rolling in? First, pay off the mortgage and beef up the college fund for the s&h. Then, take a good long vacation to clear the mind and consider my options. Days have been too zippy for a lot of thinking/dreaming of late.

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  3. i just want to say, Dale, that you are a great writer – you knew that – but wow. wonderful piece on Bobby McFerrin. i hope you share it with him.

    out to milk/feed/trim T’s horn/do hooves and hang the prayer flags. Alba is in her kidding pen and sitting on a big pile of bedding chewing her cud comfortably and looking like a princess (except for the cud-chewing i suppose)

    a gracious good morning to You All

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    3. Would love to see a picture of the princess with tiara-
      Sounds like you have all in readiness for the new arrivals. Good luck with horn/hoof trimming (wow fun wow).

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  4. I’d check the calendar and see that it’s the first of April. I am a devoted music listener, but sing so badly that I haven’t yet mastered “Happy Birthday.” No hit song in my future!

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    1. B-A, I just remembered that the Peter Mayer concert is coming up, is it the 20th. I know you already answered this, but what’s the name of the church again?

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  5. I realize that they like me they really like me and I continue…while the iron is hot I want to do my schtick to see if they will bite twice then three times.. Just give me the same 8 years the beatle had. I don’t need dylans 50

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  7. It is so hard to imagine making money with my voice and its errant pitch. Almost any other fantasy is more credible. But if I’m to go with the premise, maybe I could pick up a Porsche 911 and a big assortment of wonderful books on disks. I’d pack my cameras and take off on a leisurely, looping tour of this great nation, visiting all the places I’ve heard about but never seen, taking pictures and chatting up the folks I’d meet. Of course, I’d have a notebook computer that would let me write about my adventures and keep in touch with friends.

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  10. I think I’m in general agreement with my fellow Baboons – first check to see that this isn’t some bizarre joke, then pay off some bills, and then continue doing whatever I was doing before. It would be hard not to give into temptation and spend all my time trying to find or create that second hit, but that way lies madness (unless you have the Lennon/McCartney thing going on…heck, I’d be happy to be Ringo – he sang the goofy stuff, had a lot of fun, and seems like he has kept his fame in the best perspective).

    If musical lightning were to strike twice, I might have to rethink.

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  11. bobby was the first guy that ever made me remember the ideas i had at age 18 that if you had a good enough mike set up you could do amazing things with just your voice. i was interested in being the whole band and recording sound on sound (technology of the time) that would allow me to mix my voice as guitar, druims, bass and the lead and 4 part harmony. that was before the computer age where you can play through the computer and sync it through a midi and get whatever sounds you want out of anywhere and adjust the pitch to make it sound however you want it to sound. i realized later that there were people who were having the same thoughts i was having that were actually messing with all the elctro gizmo parts of the deal and than a long came bobby who seemed to take all those complicated mind bending ideas i was having trouble trying to figure out how to get to relate to one another and he just started singing and took it form there. i have smiled and wept every time i have heard and seen him period. no one blows me away as much as bobby mcfarrin. i was lucky enough to be a st paul chamber subscriber during his stay there and got to see him do amazing things with other people and the choral groups he has put together and inspired are amamzing but his stuff solo or with a back up like yo yo or chick corea are wonders to behold. i remember his telling a story about playing at a festival in the middle east somewhere and the guys hanging around in the tent before the show were talking about their instraments. this guy played the drum and the next the balalika and the next the bazuki and it was a fun group and they were all excited about what they did and they asked bobby what instrament he played and he said the voice and they all bowed with reverence and said that the voice is the closest to god and that only those who are in touch with their inner god can perform the instrament of the voice. it may be true of others but it is so fitting of bobby that i think of it whenever i see or hear him

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    1. May have to write down that story, tim, for when I teach the “voice” section of Bravo music this year. Today’s instrument family is woodwinds (so of course, me being me, I’m bringing in empty bottles and a slide whistle as demos) – but voice is one of two left. I have some new Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the ready, but Bobby McFerrin will have to be added to that lesson plan.

      Appropriately, I just turned on RH, and “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” was on. 🙂

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  12. Good morning to all:

    Well, I probably wouldn’t buy one of those giant luxury boats that I saw on the Sunday Morning show on TV. Why would any one think who had a lot of money use their money to buy one of those? Maybe I would get I nice new canoe to replace my old one. I would probably check out the Slow Money movement that is working on a new approach to investing in and funding worth while things that big banks and Wall Street have ignored.

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    1. Also, I might hire someone to do proof reading for me so that I don’t send out writings with typos in them like the one in my comment found above.

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    3. Jim,
      OT, but from yesterday-to see what Izzy’s is dipping, you can go to their website “flavorgrid” http://flavorup.izzysicecream.com/flavor-grid to see what they are currently dipping (currently no Guiness, but I see a Summit Oatmeal Stout that looks like it would be worth trying). There is also a place to sign-up and have them notify you via email when they have the flavors you indicate. Imagine the technology! You can also check out their solar energy project if you are interested.

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      1. Okay, mid, I will have to get to Izzy’s when they have one of those selections with beer flavor. I do get to the Twin Cities from time to time and I have been Izzy’s on one ocaision.

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  13. Wow, Dale, you managed to insert my favorite Bobby McFerrin song – my sister gave me a tape (ok, it was a while ago) with Hush.. on it. I did get to see him with the SPCO just once, at Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie (what a great venue).

    It would be tempting to try and keep the money rolling in. But if you do like Bobby and let it go so others can perform it, you are still getting royalties, so in a way it does that. I think I’d go like Steve, get my RV (finally) and travel.

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    1. you can get that rv cheap today but what do you do with it with gas at these prices? we did an alaska rv trip a couple years back and it was great but i looked into takling the gang to florida and it was just stupid. 3200 miles round trip at about 4 miles to a gallon is 1000 gallons at 3-4 bucks a gallon. gadzooks… invent a solar rv. there is a million dollar idea with america all turning 65 at the same time.

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      2. A dodge minivan with a couple years on it would be cheap and get 25 mpg on the highway part of the equation and there is a little pone with a vw engine that gets 40 or so
        It is the Winnebago rialto there is a 2000 w 57,000 miles for 15,000 dollars that will sell for 17 or 18 k before it is done. Not a great price but a great vehicle.

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  14. I think I would finally do the renovations that our house needs (New windows, rain gutters, siding, interior woodwork, enlarged mater bathroom) and then purchase one of the houses next door, move it, and turn the space into a garden. I don’t believe in McMansions, and I am too attached to the plants in our yard so I couldn’t think of moving. Then, I would sing for my own pleasure while I weeded.

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      1. Visualizing a whole rack of ‘mater plants standing in the bathtub/shower with a heat lamp and a grow light installed-if I had a spare bathroom, I’d be there!

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  15. OT, but I heard you on KFAI this morning, Dale, interviewing a comedienne. I was getting ready for work, kind of half-listening to the tsunami coverage etc etc, and startled the cats by yelling, “OMG, that’s Dale Connelly!” Nice to hear your voice again!

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    1. Does anyone really yell OMG? Would that be “Oh Em Gee?” The logic of OMG is that it is easier to type than Oh My God, but it isn’t easier to say. And yet something in me suspects there are people who actually say “El Oh El” or “Double-You Tee Ef!”

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      3. I think I saw/heard Stephen Colbert do a whole monologue in text-speak and will confess to having uttered O Emm Gee myself, but draw the line at Are O Tee Eff Ell.

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      5. Speaking of netspeak, one of my (much older friends) insists on calling them “Laugh-Out-Loud Cats.” I’ve tried, but I just can’t get her to say “lollcats”. I understand why another retirement-age friend says “befriend on Facebook” instead of “friend on Facebook,” but why carefully enuniciate “laugh out loud”? I may have to give up on that and teach her the proper use of “facepalm” instead. Whenever I feel old and out of the loop, I can always depend on my friends to make me feel young and savvy again!

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      1. KFAI is the Twin Cities community radio station. 90.3 FM in Mpls, 106-something in St. Paul. They have a website and I think streaming audio (which I can’t get at work, of course, but now that I’m near a window I can pick up their transmission on my mp3 player). My favorites of their shows are Jet Set Planet and Crap from the Past, both on Friday nights. My landlord knows one of those guys, and an album that belonged to my parents ended up on his show (I’ll have to ask if LL knows which record it was).

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      3. Dale’s interview is part of the MinneCulture series and I found it on the March 7 archives. Not enough of Dale’s voice for my tastes, but nice to hear him just the same!

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    3. Proud volunteer of KFAI here! Well I used to do a lot more with the on air production crew there, but over the years I’ve slacked off, but I am glad you are doing stuff for KFAI there

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  16. Morning all. Despite having never purchased a lottery ticket, I have nonetheless already decided how to spend those earnings, so I can answer today easily!

    Like MiG, pay off house, sock away money for teenager’s college, do a handful of house maintenance projects that really need it, safari in South Africa, Barrier Reef in Australia, polar bear excursion up in Canada. Then heaps of money onto my favorite causes: Planned Parenthood, Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund, MN & Como Zoo…. how much money is rolling in?????

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    1. you are reminding me of a favorite game the s&h and I like to play called, If I Had a Million Dollars, in which we each theoretically spend our million. Interesting how fast that million goes these days!

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      1. Our family debated that issue one night when the local lottery prize had climbed to an astronomical level. I surprised myself with my choice. I’d buy Cornucopia, or as much of it as anyone wanted to sell, and then pretty much try to keep it as it is. I’d be the secret landlord, making modest improvements here and there, but mostly trying to keep what is nice about it unchanged.

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  17. Had the great joy of being at the Prairie Home Campanion when Bobby McFarrin performed The Wizard of Oz in eight minutes, alone, with only a glass of water as a prop. Other than seeing the Beatles in their first American tour, Bobby McFerrin’s performance that night is what comes to mind when we play the “Claim to Fame” game; I can say I was there : )
    Don’t know what I’d do with money – I’ve seen it change lives for better and for worse. I would have to do some serious thinking ’bout that.

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      2. tim – spendage of money on typing and/or spelling lessons reflects my own frustration with not spotting typos or spellos in my writing. Just one of those on-going irritations which probably no costly lessons can improve, but simply taking time to look things over more thoroughly will improve – not that I will take the time, of course : )

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      3. A trick I learned from an editor friend: read what you have written backwards (start with the last word and read to the beginning) – you are more likely to catch typos, spelling errors, or incorrect word usage.

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  18. A few years ago, I was hanging photo work in a few places like Amore Coffee on Grand. Made some sales, thought it might be promising. What did I do? Immediately got interested in writing and put down my camera. ~sigh~ Too much cool, fun stuff to do…

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    1. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend your life doing the cool thing life has to offer with no concern for the financial end of it but… I saw Anne patchett and she said she was so concerned about being able to afford to be a writer that she has always been real aware of the work ethic and the mule like work neccessaru to get te job done. Interesting perspective.

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