Listen to the Beatles' 'Things We Said Today.' Ringo Starr does not play a fill in the entire song. It doesn't need it. 'A Day In the Life' has gorgeous fills, but there, the song needs it. When I play on any record, I'm striving to get where Ringo is. You play what doesn't take you out of the song.

Benmont Tench

Categorized in : You Day Life Today

I loved Mal Evans holding one note down on You Won't See Me from... by Benmont Tench

I loved Mal Evans holding one note down on You Won't See Me from Rubber Soul.

rubber holding-on soul

Sometimes you work with somebody you've never heard of because yo... by Benmont Tench

Sometimes you work with somebody you've never heard of because you just feel like working.

heard feels sometimes

I think I drift toward sad love songs. by Benmont Tench

I think I drift toward sad love songs.

sad-love song thinking

I got to play on a couple of records with the Rolling Stones, and... by Benmont Tench

I got to play on a couple of records with the Rolling Stones, and that was really special to me.

couple special play

You can go crazy and play solos in the right place, and that's great because it can intensify and bring an emotional lift. But the thing is you don't want to get in the way of the song.

emotional crazy song

Working with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson takes you up anoth... by Benmont Tench

Working with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson takes you up another level.

We started with Denny Cordell, and he was a great record producer. He knew exactly how to take a band that knew absolutely nothing, and guide you without trying to tell you what to do.

records band trying

I'm playing 10 feet from Mike Campbell every night. I look across the stage, there's Howie. Tom's in the middle and we're playing all this stuff I love. It's great.

feet love night

Jeff Lynne is an arranger, and I think it's probably much easier for him to go ahead and play a part himself than to try to show somebody else what he wants. But it's hard for me to say; I barely know Jeff.

play trying thinking

Fortunately, as we all know, it's impossible for anybody but Jimmy Smith to really sound like Jimmy Smith.

sound knows impossible

I try to find little things that you can do to move the song alon... by Benmont Tench

I try to find little things that you can do to move the song along and things that serve the song.

song trying moving

I think we've always been better live. by Benmont Tench

I think we've always been better live.

I loved working with Bob Dylan. by Benmont Tench

I loved working with Bob Dylan.

If you call attention to yourself at the expense of the song, tha... by Benmont Tench

If you call attention to yourself at the expense of the song, that's the cardinal sin.

sin song attention

Bob Dylan's not a hype and a haircut: he's the real thing. by Benmont Tench

Bob Dylan's not a hype and a haircut: he's the real thing.

haircut he hype real

I quit college and neglected to tell my dad. by Benmont Tench

I quit college and neglected to tell my dad.

quit tell dad college

I think that with Bob Dylan around, we're living in an era where we have Whitman presenting new work, we have Dickens presenting new work, we have Yeats and Shakespeare presenting new work. It's that level.

new think living work

Besides, I'm fairly incompetent. I can't play that fast. by Benmont Tench

Besides, I'm fairly incompetent. I can't play that fast.

besides fast incompetent play

I don't know about five guys against the world. It's more like five guys against these three chords, and we're gonna wrestle 'em down no matter what it takes.

down know matter world

Tom would bring in songs, Mike would engineer, and we recorded ab... by Benmont Tench

Tom would bring in songs, Mike would engineer, and we recorded about 30 songs.

engineer bring songs about