(vanity) ODB Death, the sadness of some of the comments

[ConYoungBlack]

I know this a message board and that I am new, but being a black man I have some problems with the tone of some of the comments earlier posted.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1279414/posts

While his music is a subjective matter of tatse, I don't think it warrants a "good riddance" shout upon the announcement of his death.

I am (as many know) probably the only conservative in my family and neighborhood. I am usually on the side of these things where I am the one that comes across callous and insensitive (yuk, I hate that liberal word).

In this case however, I can identify that is someones father, brother, son. I know that he chose his own road, butfrom accounts and reports, this man was mentally ill, and rich and famous. A deadly combo in my humble opinion. Especially in a business like the music business and around the pimps and hustlers he was surrounded with. It sounds like many used this mans unstable mind for a free ticket of their own to the point of not protecting him from himself and the leaches.

I find his death to be a sad tale, and just as sad as any tale of the death of Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, or Donny Hathaway. Not because think he was as talented as them. to the contrary. Because I think he was as human as them.

Not all rappers, or young blacks in rap media are deserving of death. This man, played the role of a clown. He fought his mental illness with drugs and attention. No one stepped up for him. In this case I feel sorry for him, and I hold this as another in the long line of indictments of the loss of family and community in the black culture and neighborhoods.

I was shocked by some of the more spiteful coments. Any and every death deserves either full inspection and comment with thought, or no comment at all.

Sorry to rant.

CYB

[elizabetty]

I just did a little research on this person. Right away I found that he fathered several children out of wedlock with several different women and went in a limousine to pick food stamps for those children. That behavior alone might be enough to get him crucified in these parts.

It appears that he was a life long criminal who happened to be a performer. The latter will not erase the former and I assume therein lies the disrespect you saw after his death.

[conservative in nyc]

While I pray for O.D.B. and (especially) his family in their time of sorrow, it's no secret that he wasn't exactly a model citizen.

O.D.B. fathered 13 children out of wedlock and generally lived the gangster lifestyle. He was arrested numerous times for numerous crimes, including failure to pay child support. He's been in prison as recently as 2003. And he famously was shown on MTV going down to the welfare office in a limo to pick up food stamps during the height of his Wu-Tang popularity, when he should have been taking personal responsibility for his kids own welfare. He's no role model.

[BigSkyFreeper]

If he had conducted himself better in life, he might have gotten more praise.

I guess when we live in a society that praises thuggery and outlandish behavior from the likes of MTV, everyone who buys into that garbage develops a thin skin and go off half-cocked when unpolitically correct folks like myself smack them in the face with reality.

[clee1]

Don't know him; never even heard of him.

I grieve for his family and loved ones.

As to him personally, nothing any of us can say will ever hurt him anymore.

He has gone on (I pray) to a better place.

[elizabetty]

I was raised up specifically not to speak ill of the dead - perhaps that's just southern, or old fashioned, but it brings BAD mojo on the person doing it usually. Unless it's Arafat, and I broke my rule on that one. I hope I don't get bad luck from it...

I was raised the same way. I had a brother-in-law die who was a real SOB to his wife (my husband's sister) and I felt no desire whatsoever to speak well of him after he died. I held my tongue but knew if I ever did talk about him it would not be out of a phony sense of respect I never felt for him in life. So here it is 10 years later and I still haven't talked about him which is my respect for those he left behind, not him.

[dandelion]

I've tried to do bottleneck blues and rhythm strumming, and that's as close as I get to guitar. I'd rather sing, it's easier. Except for the smoke, which never bothered me until just lately, which is really weird.

First set, fine, then later sets I'm getting more stuffy.

If you wanna talk about what kills musicians, it's the food, hours and the travelling. Unless you're really big, you drive like a crazy monkey in a van to get from Minneapolis to Boston in 12 hours so you can pick up a gig for the door of a mid-sized club. Eat cheetos and beef jerky for dinner, then you do it all again the next night!

My little brother's a musician, so I can vouch - it's hard on a body. But if you love it, it's all you'll ever want to do...

[A Jovial Cad]

I don't even know who the subject of your original post is/was, or anything about either him or his music--I'd never heard of him or read anything about his death until I saw your post. I simply don't listen to Rap/Hip-Hop/whatever else it's being called these days, and never will.

But, about Jimmy Hendrix I DO know: the best Rock guitarist who ever lived. Hearing "The Wind Cries Mary" still sends shivers up my spine. I also know he served in the 101st Airborne (or was it the 82nd? I forget) for a time, until he was hurt in a jump. That always impresses me. Wish he was still around--along with John Bonham from Led Zeppelin. Imagine what kind of music those two could have made together, with Jimmy on the guitar and Bonham on the drums! A true dream team. Aaaahhhhh, the old days of the masters...it makes me nostalgic.

[GeronL]

this man was mentally ill, and rich and famous. A deadly combo in my humble opinion

I wish I had that middle problem....

I don't listen to rap, never did, never will. I don't consider them any different than anyone else and it never does me joy to see someone... except Arafat and terrorists... die.

[dennisw]

Whatever. Jimi has a good and peaceful image. The violence you cite is nothing compared to many of today's rappers. Thug rappers inciting violence etc.

[dandelion]

Oooooh, and it's HARD to hold your tongue when someone else is just going on and ON about the "dearly departed" and you're just hoping you can hold off smacking somebody! I know what you mean!

Especially at the funeral. But I guess it's worth it not to get beat down by my mother in front of the entire family.

[elizabetty]

But I guess it's worth it not to get beat down by my mother in front of the entire family.

Mothers sure do have a way of keeping you line at times like these!

[ConYoungBlack]

"If he had conducted himself better in life, he might have gotten more praise.

I guess when we live in a society that praises thuggery and outlandish behavior from the likes of MTV, everyone who buys into that garbage develops a thin skin and go off half-cocked when unpolitically correct folks like myself smack them in the face with reality."

Then be mad at the culture that promoyes this stuff, not the young man that lay in wake with toe tags on him. Obviously this young man (foolishly) thought that his only way out of profound poverty was to misuse his obvious talents. But I can't justify being happy that he's dead because of his misjudgement. Liberal policies and emocrat social programs have turned out young men like him, a hundred at a time. It's one reason why I am a young black conservative today. But this underlying hatred of anything that seems connected to the other side of the culture war, and specifically the young blacks role in that opposing side, is not helpful to the cause of recruiting and engaging the minds of more young black men and women in hopes of gaining them in our (conservative) ranks.

It's this little pettiness, that gives them the (false) ammo to cry that "all conservatives are racists". And the mentality in question is one in many reasons why my fight to convince many more young blacks has been a failutr.

[dasboot]

In contrast, numerous times I've seen effusive posts about Jimmy Hendrix who lead a good life but also took a lot of drugs and died from them.

Actually, Hendrix was taken to the hospital in Denmark suffering from a survivable o'dose of liquor and sedatives. The ambulance attendants laid him on his back, he vomited and choked. The certificate lists cause of death as aspiration of vomit...or something like that. It's copied in a book I once read...and prolly available on the net.

If it happened today,, hes heirs would be fighting over the wrongful death settlement.

He was a pretty good guitar player...an early inspiration...but his stuff with Billy Cox and Beddy Miles is wailin'. The addition of time and funk discipline really pumped Jimi's jam, IMHO. "Dolly.....DAGGER!"

[ConYoungBlack]

Jimi Hendrix is my hero, no questions. I own (literally) every single recording the man has ever made. I play "Hear my train a comin'" and "Stone Free" daily on my Strats and Les Pauls.

But I do know that one thing is for sure, ODB deserves as much comment or lack thereof (if hateful) as Jimi did when he died. Not because he was as talented as Jimi, but because he was as human as Jimi was.

[Sabatier]

There was a commercial shown during the Super Bowl where a young Jimi Hendrix chooses Pepsi over Coca Cola, suggesting that's why he became so great, he chose the right soft drink. Talk about trivializing a talent.

[dandelion]

SWEET. Do you have any gigs yet?

[oceanperch]

Never heard of the guy but then I only listen to female R and B with rap back up, Miya, Lil Ms Dynamite ect....

Love listening to my music but don't know squat about these artists and don't care to.

However I did roll my eyes when Miya felt the need to do a concert in the nude for some lib cause.

[ConYoungBlack]

FWIW, Jimi's music suffered while Buddy Miles was allowed to adulterate it. Once he booted that clown and re-esembled the "Experience II" with Mitch on drums, and Billy on bass, they never sounded better.

Band of Gypsies was a joke. His music was falling apart in that (horrid) era of "black-funk" experimentation. Jimi was tired and worn, and allowed Buddy to have a much larger voice than he would ever had in any period that imi was in his right mind.

"Here he comes" and "message to love (a message to the universe" was written with Billy and Mitch. and it was his tightest funk stuff to me. The jam band style funk that Jimi did with the Gypsies was pure unaulterated trash. Not worthy to be re-mentioned in my opinion. What a bad marring stain to an otherwise stellar creative journey.

[dasboot]

This is the first time I've ever seen a grieved poster hijack his own thread! Cool.

I got a '72 Strat, a '61 Les Paul SG, a '65 Gibson J45, and a brandy-new Maton EBG808. I'm giggin' again after a 18 year hiatus. I got a real job, raised my family, but I'm goin' back to music. My latest guithero is Tommy Emmanuel.

[dasboot]

Now that you mention it, Dolly and other Rainbow Bridge tunes were done with Mitchell, weren't they?