What He Won't Do for Music

Bobby Caldwell waxes on the joys and pitfalls of songwriting.

By Lesley Mahoney
Berklee.edu correspondent
December 3, 2007

Bobby Caldwell offers advice on the business of songwriting.
Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Bobby Caldwell had barely begun his career in 1978 when he penned an instant hit that he's still remembered for today. But while he talked about the song's success and even had his sax player Patrick Lamb give an extended intro to it, he never actually performed "What You Won't Do for Love" at a recent clinic.

"In a lot of ways, I guess you could say—people do say—that's my legacy. But I like to think not because there are 14 other CDs," he said, laughing. "It's inescapable for me and I kind of resign myself to that. 'What You Won't Do for Love' is something that will follow me forever."

Caldwell did perform another major hit at the clinic, though: "Heart of Mine," which he wrote for Boz Scaggs.

The clinic, held in Recital Hall 1W, was organized by Lynette Gittens, associate director of Berklee City Music programs, with support from the Songwriting and Liberal Arts departments, as well as Alumni Relations. Several alumni and City Music students were in attendance, in addition to current Berklee students, listening for words of wisdom from a seasoned artist.

In the more than three decades since Caldwell launched his career, he has become a nationally and internationally renowned songwriter and musician. Drawing from his vast experience, he offered advice that ran the gamut from the state of songwriting to the evolution of the music industry.

For Caldwell, songwriting has been a "continual work in progress."

"I'd like to think of songwriting as a story. No matter how simple, no matter how complex, it's still a story that one should be able to tell; even somebody who didn't write the song should be able to relate to the song," he said. "As a songwriter, finding a common thread that everyone can relate to is probably one of the main building blocks of writing a great song."

When he sits down to write a song, Caldwell starts with a melody or a chord progression, which will lend itself to a melody, he said. The melody, in turn, will suggest a lyric. "I don't always sit down and say, 'I'm going to write about this.' Sometimes I have to force myself to sit down. Sometimes I'll be fortunate in my endeavor and stumble across a series of chords or a melody that engages me as a songwriter. The end result of a lyric, at least for me, should be able to be a cold read on a piece of paper. Does the lyric speak? Does it engage you? Is it something you can relate to? Most importantly, does it have a cadence?"

"So to sing it, I find my place with the lyric," Caldwell continued. "Hopefully I'm emoting something that happened to me, and if it didn't happen directly to me, it's something that is a common thread between us all, something that we've all experienced, that you can hang your hat on."

Caldwell talked about what he called the "pitfalls of songwriting," in particular, "roadblock." "Maybe you've got a strong melody and a strong lyric but you've come to a dead end," he said. "It's so strong that you can't seem to complete. Well, a great song grows in stages." One solution, he said, is to just go ahead and write the second verse. "If it's not as strong as the first verse, make it the first verse and the first verse the second verse. Also, you can try repeating what you've said in the first verse but in a different way. No one was more brilliant at that than Cole Porter."

Through it all, Caldwell has managed to keep up with an ever-changing business.

"I stand before you today 56 years old and still in some respects a spring chicken," he said. "I say that because there has been a learning curve for people like me who started in the '70s."

But for all the technological advances, Caldwell hasn't lost sight of the essence of it all. "With all the bells and whistles that are afforded us today, it comes down to the song," he said. "Not the technology first. It does start with the piece of art."

Even as times have changed, Caldwell sees how the the days of his early career resonate now and how he's benefited from advancements in the industry. "That was a great time in the music business. I was very fortunate to be part of that era, an era that for some reason or another still seems to persist today," he said. "You can see it in some of the sample usage where some of the young talent reaches back into the archives of music and recirculates records that were once hits. In that respect, I've had a second lifetime."

Bobby Caldwell performs during the clinic. Photo by Phil Farnsworth