The Art of Making Music

Composer Charles Fox, on the most difficult piece of music he’s ever written, and why he’s never had writer’s block

By Rebecca Haithcoat

 

 

 

A few years ago, composer Charles Fox’s wife asked him for a favor. Would he play a little concert in a friend’s living room for the Fulfillment Fund, the charity he co-founded and she was president of? The legendary composer, who lists “Killing Me Softly” (made famous by Roberta Flack) among his many hits, said sure. They invited people and hoped they would raise money.

 

It was such a success that the next year, Fox invited a few of his colleagues to perform. With buddies like Bill Withers, Kenny Loggins, Sergio Mendes taking the stage, the annual “Songs of Our Lives” concert has become a huge smash.

 

 

 

 

On June 7, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, two different powerhouses will be featured — Lamont Dozier, whose career includes over 50 No. 1 records for artists such as the Supremes and Marvin Gaye; and David Crosby, a defining figure in the folk rock music scene and founding member of The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

 

 

 

We talked to Fox about how he started his own star-studded career, the most difficult piece of music he’s ever written and why he’s never had writer’s block.

 

 

STAGE RAW: When did you start playing?

 

 

CHARLES FOX: I started playing piano when I was quite young. I went to the High School of Music & Art, one of the great art schools in the country—it merged with a school called Performing Arts, the school from Fame, and is now called LaGuardia High School of the Music & Art and Performing Arts. I go back and speak to the students, the songwriters and the composers. We didn’t even have a songwriting course when I was there! Of course things have changed, but things have not changed. Everyone needs help, everyone needs mentoring.

 

 

SR: Who were those mentors and helpers for you?

 

 

CF: I left high school and, for a year, I studied privately with two of my high school teachers, my composition teacher and my orchestration teacher. And I was playing in bands and writing music for them. A year following that, I went to Paris, which was a life-changing experience for me. I studied with Nadia Boulanger, known as the greatest composition teacher of the 20^th century. People came to her from around the world. I stayed for two years and saw her three or four times a week for lessons. She influenced my life to this day. This concert is one of the ways that I can start to return that to other people who want to get started and need the help.

 

 

SR: What do you see as the golden door, the one opportunity that changed the course of your life?

 

 

CF: You know, I’ve had a lot of doors like that. It wasn’t just one. When I came out to California when I was 28, the folks at Paramount Pictures appreciated my work and kept me busy. I met Henry Mancini my first day in California, and he invited me to join the Motion Picture Academy. That was a big deal. But the biggest influence in my life was Nadia Boulanger. She’s someone I take with me to this day. I got to understand the depth music can achieve, the height you can bring out in terms of expression, and the beauty of the music of the past.

 

 

How is the music business different now from when you first started?

 

 

It is different, first of all. Most of television work is done with electronics, synthesizers. Most people working do it at their homes and supply the finished tape. It seems to me most of the work is not done with orchestras at studios, but by composers at their homes. But the writing for film is pretty much the same process. You look at the film, you spend time with it, you decide where the music goes, discuss with the director, and you compose. I would sit at my piano and play themes for directors, describing what was going on cinematically. I always figure music as a character in the film, a silent character who adds substance and feeling and drama.

 

 

Has your personal process changed over the years?

 

 

For one thing, I used to work day and night! [laughs] I don’t do that anymore. I love the process, putting notes down on paper. When I’m involved in a project, it’s pretty much on my mind 24 hours a day—whether or not I’m sitting at my desk anymore is a different issue. I’ve been doing a lot more concert work lately. I’ve written ballets and have been doing a lot more conducting. And since my book [Killing Me Softly: My Life in Music, published by Hal Leonard] came out, I’ve been sitting at the piano and telling my stories.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s the most difficult piece you’ve worked on?

 

 

I don’t know if I could single that out. Every piece has its own challenge. I’m always nervous whether it will be good. Is it too much? Did I go too overboard here, is it too hard here? At the same time, it’s a joy for me to see how it grows. There’s always a thought of how best to do that, but fortunately for me, the music has never stopped.

 

 

Has anything ever just flowed out, just poured out of you?

 

 

Yes. And when it does, I feel nervous I’ve taken someone else’s music. [laughs] I think, “Who did I steal that from?” I’m used to working hard on music. To be honest, “Killing Me Softly” came very easily. Norman Gimbel and I talked about writing a song called “Killing Me Softly,” and he went home and called me a couple hours later with a lyric. I sat at the piano for a couple hours and we had a song.

 

 

 

 

Do you ever have writer’s block?

 

 

I’ve never had writer’s block. I’ve never not had the ability to sit down and write music, however, it’s not always good right off the bat. Sometimes I hate what I write. I just keep trying things out. The work comes from the work. To me, the work doesn’t come from the inspiration to sit down and work, it comes from the work itself. I get up, get dressed, have my breakfast and sit down to work with no thoughts in my mind, necessarily. When I sit down, I don’t always fall in love with what I do and even when I start to like what I’m doing, I keep working, keep honing, sometimes even up until the day of the performance or recording. I can keep working on a piece forever.

 

 

Right. Continually tweaking.

 

 

Exactly. Something always can be changed. But there finally comes a time when you have to put down the pen.

 

 

What do you listen to for pleasure?

 

 

Mostly classical music. I love Latin music, salsa. I used to write salsa and play in Latin bands when I was young. My early songs were in Spanish. I didn’t speak it, but I had a good feel for it. [laughs] I played and wrote music for Tito Puente.

 

 

What’s been the most unusual twist or turn of your career?

 

 

I was trained as a classical composer, but I spent a good deal of my life doing pop and rock and roll records and arrangements. Finding myself on a stage conducting orchestras around the world, sitting at the piano and performing for people, telling them my stories — I never dreamed of that.

 

 

The Seventh Annual Songs of Our Lives concert, featuring Lamont Dozier and David Crosby, will take place Saturday, June 7 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Visit www.fulfillment.org/concert for tickets.