Posted on 03/07/2008 11:56:33 AM PST by GQuagmire
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and your third grade teacher have some strikingly wrong similarities They’re both bloated, dowdy and prissy fossils that are way too full of unconditional love. Oh, and they both get positively giddy over James Taylor’s chardonnay-and-brie, adult-contemporary lullabies.
The Hall of Fame induction committee has never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings or make tough decisions - like actually defining what is and isn’t rock ’n’ roll - so for 22 years it has distributed inductions like Miss Anderson handed out ribbons on diorama day.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
See, purely a well poisoning question. Did YOU invent rock and roll? I mean I grew up surrounded by it so it seems kind of funny that some senior citizen that probably hasn’t paid any attention to rock for a quarter of a century to be telling me what R&R is supposed to be.
Monster Magnet, Metalica, Blues Travelers, A3, etc.
Now do you see how stupid, pointlessly insulting, and completely immaterial the age argument is? The knife cuts all ways, it’s a stupid argument against a 38 year old, a 65 year old, a 12 year old, and the 2000 Year Old Man. It’s poisoning the well, it’s argument via fallacy, it’s the lazy thinking of attacking the person instead of the argument.
And I outside of the BeeGees discussion I wasn’t really telling anybody what is and isn’t rock, I was declaring what is and isn’t worth listening. There is good rock, there is bad rock, there is bad not rock, there is good not rock. It’s really a two part discussion, and to bring it back to the original post, that’s the problem with the Hall committee. First the discussion is “was the band/ artist good enough to be in ANY hall of fame”, which by and large the Rock Hall committee does a good job on. It’s the second part of the discussion where the committee falls apart, they need to ask if the band/ artist performed ROCK AND ROLL, and the fact that they include Miles Davis (a brilliant JAZZ musician) in the rock hall shows definitively that they don’t even try to have that discussion.
I think Davis is in for Bitches Brew. And there’d be no rock without 1920s and 1930s jazz.
Bitches Brew is an amazing album, and certainly borrows heavily from rock, and while jazz contributed to rock it’s a more distant contribution than blues and R&B. In the end Davis is the proof that the committee is just putting in artists they like. Putting Davis in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like putting Wayne Gretzky in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while both are deserving of large piles of accolades this particular accolade is outside the scope of their career.
I listen to a little Nickelback but I cannot take the songs with vulgar lyrics and out-right cursing. That is the difference from now and the earlier greats a lot less cursing and more subtle imagery and great music. I can take an occasional “damn” or “hell” but the lyrics most of today’s rock bands is equal to that of rap ( not really music ) which is sensational crap at best ( pardon my French ) with very little imagination in the tune. I can pick 3 or 4 of today’s bands ( my kids listen to ) and on most songs you cannot tell the difference between the Metallica wanna be voice and guitar rips. They all sound the same scream after scream with a 3 chord rip.
Bill Monroe and Hank Williams definately belong in the hall. Their influence on everyone from Presley to Clapton is immeasurable.
Which brings to mind my favorite Bill Monroe quote. When told that Elvis had mentioned him as his biggest influence, Monroe said "where did I go wrong with that boy?"
I actually enjoyed the hall. Not worth flying to Cleveland for, but cool to check out if you are in the area.
Chicago also.....Unbelieveable!!!!!! Guess Madonna has more talent then Terry Kath....
I’ve heard mixed things about Mellencamp. On the one hand, he has the reputation of being an arrogant cut-throat with folks in the industry, on the other hand, folks who know him from back in Seymour say nothing but good things about him.
Leonard Cohen is a poet. He is more in line with Lawrence Ferlinghetti than the Rolling Stones.
First Chicago album ROCKED. Terry Kath’s guitar playing was WAY underrated.
I think you both will enjoy the SNL skit a few years back when Ben Stiller bets his friends that he will sleep with Glen Frey, who then proceeds to brutally sodomize Ben. Sick funny, but, alas, no longer available on Youtube.
Love the Flying Burrito Brothers and Love from that era too.
My dad told me that the early 60s was all Mathis and the teen crooners (Avalon, Fabian), and that rock was declared “dead” all over the media. Even the Beach Boys were initially considered a mere update of the (pop) Four Preps.
I love both early Bee Gees (especially Massachusetts and How Can You Men a Broken Heart) and two of their funk/disco period albums (SNF and Main Course). ESP (biggest selling album worldwide in 1989) was a decent late 80s pop album as well.
She’s A Woman and I’m Down are two of the greatest hard rock songs of the British invasion, both of which were Paul songs, btw.
Speaking of the Four Seasons, I always liked Bob Gaudio's "Pop Opera" Watertown that he did with Sinatra, even though it was Frank's poorest-selling album.
Being a local, I have always liked his music. His politics stink and his views on religion stink, but that is true of 90% of musicians. Most people that know him like him. I’ve only been around him a few times, but I several friends who are close to their family. One of his kids was in the same class as my daughter and John came in and played a few songs the class which was kind of cool. His wife is very friendly with many of the other parents. But now they homeschool.
Dark Magus is more of a rock album than a jazz album.
That, andhe can only sing one note. ;-)
Yep. Most underappreciated guitarist ever, as far as I know.
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