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Interview with Barry Beckett, record producer
March 1999
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RTD: But what about when you so think you have a hit in there, and then you try to shove it down someone's throat?
BB: Well, never shove it down their throat. When a producer says, 'No, I don't like the song,' then don't try to push him, 'cause that's not gonna work.
RTD: So what about when a plugger really believes in a song, believes it's a hit, and a producer says no for a particular project and he's rejected it before, what's the maximum amount of times to keep taking it back for other projects?
BB: Three times.
RTD: What makes you determine whether to work with an artist or not?
BB: Sound of the voice, the timbre, whether the artist can be genuine in the interpretation, and overall taste and intelligence.
RTD: What do you do when you find a great song and the artist isn't really sure about it? Has this ever happened to you? I've heard stories about this happening to you. I think maybe you told this, Confederate Railroad didn't hear 'Queen Of Memphis,' is that true?
BB: Confederate didn't hear it, Rick Blackburn didn't hear it. They like it but they didn't hear it as a hit.
RTD: So what about that song, in your mind, makes it a hit song?
BB: It's a great story song. They weren't hearing the story.
RTD: I'm still not sure what that song's about. Is it about a boat or a hooker?
BB: (laughs)See? If it's about a boat it's not a hit. Nobody cares about a boat, a lot of people care about a prostitute. Confederate Railroad didn't understand what the lyric was, didn't hear what I heard, so I said, 'Guys, I'll guarantee you a hit.'
RTD: So if you had been wrong, then what?
BB: I'd have f_____ up! (laughter) Don't make a habit of committing to too many guarantees!
RTD: Did you have a gut feeling about that song?
BB: Yeah, a big one.
RTD: So intuition does play into what you do?
BB: Oh yeah, and I've had a lot of intuition about other songs that have been turned down by artists, then other people got them and had a hit.