(Credits: A&M Records)
Any artist that’s been in the game as long as Sting has is on the constant hunt for perfection.
No one can claim to have a spotless track record, but half the reason why most legends stay at the top of their game is in the hopes of writing that one extra classic to their songbook. And while The Police had their fair share of hits from their peak, Sting knew that a few of his heroes didn’t need to be knocked off their pedestal.
After all, there was no way that Sting was ever going to attempt to go to bat with what The Beatles had done. The Fab Four were already one of the biggest bands in the world before he had even written ‘Roxanne’, but in terms of widespread popularity, The Police were getting to that level of huge by the time they called it a day, usually playing to stadiums of people every night on the Synchronicity tour.
But once Sting went solo, it was now open season on every single genre he could think of. He didn’t want to be kept in a box as a pop songwriter, and even if he had a bunch of fantastic pop tunes in his solo career as well, they always had a slight asterisk next to them. ‘Fields of Gold’ and ‘Fragile’ were absolutely stunning for what they were, but looking at the musicality behind it, he always wanted to sprinkle in some tasteful changes that no one would have thought of.
There were a few elements of jazz and even a touch of fusion here and there, but Sting’s first love was always soul music. If you think about it, not many of the biggest hits of their career had any traces of blues in it, and when listening to him leap into his higher range on their earlier tunes, he was practically playing the role of the highest voice in The Temptations whenever he sang.
Then again, soul isn’t a style that you can suddenly pick up on the fly. This is the music that most people have to feel in their heart whenever a new tune comes on, and while Sting was ready to take that challenge when making albums like Mercury Falling, he knew to bow in reverence to what people like Sam and Dave and Otis Redding were doing at the dawn of the genre.
Not all of their songs had Sting’s musicality, but that didn’t matter when they had those voices, with the bassist recalling, “I’m twisting it and perverting it in a way which makes it more me. I’m not interested in remaking records that were brilliant – what’s the point? You can’t better Sam and Dave or Otis Redding, but you can twist it a little bit to make it more me.” Even if he couldn’t copy them outright, he was adopting a handful of musical mannerisms from them.
Sam and Dave are already known as two of the greatest soul singers to ever walk the Earth, but since they had collaborated with jazz legends like Jaco Pastorius, Sting at least knew there was a way for both genres to play nice together. And while his brand of soul falls more into the realm of adult contemporary dad-rock in a few spots, it’s still a fantastic trip hearing him letting loose like he did in his old Police days.
But if there’s one important lesson to learn from soul singers like Redding and Sam and Dave, it’s that music isn’t always about playing everything right on the money. It’s great when everyone’s able to lock in on a groove, but half the battle is being able to have some fun whenever the count-off starts.
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