Music Lessons with John Mayer
This Month's Lesson: An open letter to D'Angelo

by John Mayer | Dec 01 '04

Dear D'Angelo,
My name is John Mayer. You might know me from that "Your Body Is a Wonderland" song, or perhaps our mutual friend, Roots drummer ?uestlove, mentioned me to you. I'm writing to ask you to put out a follow-up to one of the few records to change my life forever, Voodoo .

When Voodoo came out in 2000, I stood in line at Tower Records in Atlanta at midnight to get it. Turns out, it set the gold standard for modern "neo" soul music. It's 2004, and I'm no less excited by it today than I was when I played it full blast in my mother's Plymouth Voyager on the way to my bullshit job. I drive a nicer car now, but I still listen to Voodoo and wonder what my albums would sound like if I took a bite off your style and what R&B would be like if you came back.

In contrast to the present age of gunmetal-gray hip-hop, with perfectly aligned beats and blips, Voodoo throbs. It's skin in the place of plastic. ?uestlove's drums serve as an atomic clock, while Pino Palladino's bass playing taunts the drums by showing the bar line just how late it can wake up and still arrive to work on time. I'm not even going to detail your impeccable vocal layering. You know what you did.

Yes, Voodoo isn't laced with perfect pop hooks, but then again it's so devoid of them that I never assumed you were worried about appeasing radio anyway. Its beauty is simplicity, a Japanese rock garden of hip-hop and R&B, and it's because of the negative space that I can still listen to it. There's nothing frivolous to get stuck in your head, so there's nothing to want out.

If you haven't recently committed any of yourself to tape, I'm begging you to put your suit and cape back on. Your contemporaries aren't going to ask you to come back; they're scared of having to be perched next to you. Only a lanky white boy like me can call you out of hiding. And if you need any help with those tunes, you know who to call. ?uestlove's got my number.

that's cool! I guess John Mayer hasn't lost his head.

Good letter

D'Angelo should write a letter to John asking him to stop singing in that annoying affected drawl of his.

,
[Edited 11/20/04 10:19am]

Supernova said:

C'mon now, at least admit that the lanky ofay dude is telling the truth

Dear John Mayer,

Forward me a mixtape by your personal friend, and go back to that bullshit job.

Thanks,
Cee

Harlepolis said:

I don't see it.

VoicesCarry said:

What's good for Springsteen is good for Mayer!

Supernova said:

Springsteen's a vastly superior songwriter, so I forgive him. Plus his vocals sound much more emotionally honest.

John Mayer sounds like he writes his songs to make his female fans wet and nothing more. "Awwwww, he's so sweet and sensitive". "Daughters" is a prime example of this.

VoicesCarry said:

Emotionally honest? People from Jersey don't sound like southerners. I respect the guy a great deal, but it sounds just as affected to me.

I hear the footsteps of Springsteenians..

VoicesCarry said:

you know... the thing about that Daughters song... it's really good, i like it a lot.... in theory.... but it puts me to sleep. it's the Norah Jones effect.


and i agree about the way he sings. i always liken his vocal style to Dave Matthews. not Dave Matthews voice. but you know those little stupid dances he does, where he goes pigeon-toed and what not? to me, John Mayer's does the equivalent with his mouth movements.
[Edited 11/20/04 13:46pm]

GrayKing said:

Yeah, it looks like he's giving oral pleasure all the time. I suppose that's why he does it.

i never knew i liked john mayer until about five minutes ago when i checked his stiff out on launch. pretty good. i like the song daughters a lot.

SassyBritches said:

GrayKing said:

whoops...fruedian slip...

I love John Mayer. *shrugs*

GrayKing said:

I like that...

i like john mayer and i always made myself believe ur body is a wonderland is r&b because john's voice has a soulful sound on that song

ABeautifulOne said:

I like that song.

This letter is really funny.

The other night I caught an episode of the Chris Rock show with D'Angelo as the musical guest.
I freaked caused the band was jammin'. ?uestlove on drums, Pino Palladino on bass. No fake tracks.

That's until I discovered that this was an old performance of Chicken Grease.

It was still jammin' though.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

JANFAN4L said:

That song was the only song that I can stand by John Mayer.

I am interested in John Meyer especially after seein him team up on Chapelle Show, and some of his songs are cool, and this letter is interesting..plus..he is a cutie...in his own right..even tho he not my type really.

paisleypark4 said:

I expect big things from him in the future..

Sdldawn said:

Same here. I LOVED Room For Squares and some of his demo-work. I actually saw him multiple times on the neverending tour in support of that album. His talent on the guitar was VERY impressive and he's a natural entertainer on-stage. I did get burnt-out on him, though. Still, he's young and chock full o' talent. I believe once he has some more experience under his belt that he will start cranking out some truly amazing work.

Hotlegs said:

just 4 that comment were all gonna sing his first song i 4got what its called but i know it:


i wanna run through the halls of my high school.
i wanna scream 2 the top of my lungs.....clueless i quit this ish

how cute that he wrote that letter. i ownder what d'angelo's response would be? i wonder if he knows of john mayer?