Posted on 01/01/2014 7:18:16 PM PST by hecht
Last night we watched ABC's Dick Clarks New Years Eve Show. When they began to show music performers, the first I saw was Billy Joel. You could tell that it was one of his bona fide live performance as he sounded different from the studio versions, some minor errors etc. In my genervation ( I'm in my 50s) the best albums were often live , where the performers would jam, experiment and ad lib. The Allmans Live at Fillmore East is an example , or the Live version of Led Zepellin's "Dazed and Confused" -filmed in San Francisco - where Robert Plant ad libbed" going to San Francisco" in the middle of the song. After Joel the show went to a series of Millenial performers who all had auto-tuned lip synched performances, where they basically just aerobic danced to songs written by someone else, don't play instruments and have a few clones dancing in synch behind them. I joked to my guests" imagine if the Beatles were part of the Millenial generation. John Lennon would be lip synching an aerobic dance with George , Ringo and Paul would dance in unison behind him. What gives Millenials? have you no sense ? don't you realize that these "performers" are manufactured pretty boys/girls ? they are live action "Archies" If your taste in music is so vacuous , is there any hope for them? Is there any hope to wan them from Obama?
Even the non song writing performers of our generation i.e..e Elvis could at least perform.
That was her performance with Beck and Coliauta. Two grizzled old geniuses totally jazzed to hear the kid blow the crowd away.
Overall I don’t disagree. But nostalga stuff aside, as was posted upthread, where is the Pink Floyds/Zep or insert widely lauded as genuinely great band here, in or of the last 20 years?
Sure, we all have different tastes and this thread proves that. But even in a subjective thing like taste in music there are still good and bad, better and worse, great and suck in the big picture.
I totally agree it’s a business now more than ever with bean counters and degrees ruling the roost. But the knockdown dragout ‘best’ of today/recently... well what is it and how does it compare to what came before? That’s the thing. Humans have to categorize. always have, always will.
I look at music the same way as politics. Liberals suck for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons. So do some bands/music. We believe our politics is correct for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons and likewise, some bands/music can be shown to be better or worse and why.
I guess it just comes down to ‘good’ and ‘popular’ being strangers 99.9% of the time.
Not all of them. My fourteen year old is turning into quite the guitar player, and his sixteen year old sister is doing well enough on bass that Mom and I got her a real Fender for Christmas.
What's amazing to me, is that when they're looking for what they think of as 'real' music, they pillage my collection of 70s rock CDs, or go to YouTube to look up songs by top acts of that era.
I swear, I never spoon fed them the stuff. They say they're attracted to it because it's just better quality music. They obviously didn't fall too far from the old tree, because they hate rap and techno :-)
She always stuns musicians and fans alike when she performs.
As a Millenial, I personally don’t listen to mainstream music. I listen to classsical music, Christian music, and occasionally some old songs. I’m not into “Beiber” or any other people who attempt to present themselves “artists”.
That kind of talent just isn’t fair. So the kids these days can’t play? I really have to beg to differ.
Yea but you listen to that no-talent hack from Woodstock. What was his name...Henderson...Henley...OH YEA! Hendicks! Johnny Hendricks! ;)
(sorry, couldn’t resist...)
In high school?
I did start listening to the Beatles.
I liked Al Jolson. I sent away for his records from that TV thing.
I had a Louie Armstrong record which was great and a Paul Robeson record - had no idea of his politics but loved the old songs.
I think a lot of it was my individualism. It was like the Borg how everyone was a stoner Zep head.
I didn’t like how everyone was hippies.
I didn’t like rock music until punk rock.
Later I liked Led Zep and listened to the album with When the Levee breaks a lot. Bonham is a great drummer.
But, Zep’s appeal fades. I hear songs now on radio and switch cause they are boring.
I think smoking dope makes people like Zepelin and a lot of other bands.
Of course, you could do worse than Jeff Beck and Vinnie Colaiuta as your side men... ;-)
Here’s some good contemporary rock.
Gary Clark, Jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjMeOnqAPI
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlhOgQ36m8
Well, let me start by saying that I don’t regard the Pink Floyds/Zep as “genuinely great bands”, and no, they haven’t been widely regarded as such by rock critics, who, as you might know, are listeners who have taught themselves to discern, analyze and critique, and are not much for judging rock music by how they (the critics) bond with others at stadium venues. (The main argument against those two, with which I agree, was their pretentiousness.) The sales figures are no argument for or against quality, sorry. (Remember the lowest common denominator.)
Be that as it may, your argument may still be valid, however my memory is shut, so I can’t name for you a great band of the last 20 years, but two recent bands, whose vids I linked above, are I think great and comparable to the bands of the 1960s, that with much better trained musicians: Filligar and the Gramblers.
Got the same thing going on in my house. My teenagers can't stand the 'music' of their generation. They much prefer the hits of the 70s and 80s.
My nine year old is even worse. He mostly likes 60s music - especially the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
As you know, there are a number of gifted aspiring musicians. A person can’t base their opinion on today’s music by what’s being given face-time, or what the industry/media tries to sell per se.
My better half is a professional percussionist and drummer. Our eldest-who is in college-was going to be a Music Comp. major, but decided major in film. This child has been playing at the local restaurants for years. Mainly listens to, but not exclusively, to film scores, classical, romantic era instrumental, and baroque. All our children play piano. Youngest-in high school-is an aspiring songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist: electric/acoustic guitar, bass, piano, drums, percussion.
The entire family listens to Sinatra, Como, Buble’, Mancini, Grusin, Gerswin, Nate King Cole, Clapton, Doobie Brothers, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Joss Stone, Monk, Toto, George Jones, Don Williams, Ella, Daft Punk, Avicii, Jason Mraz, and on and on.
It’s just a matter of taste, and discovering great music regardless of the era.
We love Gary Clark as well as Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.
Excellent examples.
Shakespeare presciently summed up the whole age of metal:
“...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Personally I’m not a ‘fan’ of Zep. I respect their stuff musically and don’t ‘hate it’, but it just isn’t my thing. Floyd I like more. That said, when you read up on industry pros/engineer types, Darlside of the Moon is near universal as one of the top two recordings they refer to as ‘the best of all time. The other is Miles Davis/Some Kind of Blue.
Then you have to consider the cultural impact in influence they had on other bands. Which for LZ and PF, it is tremendous. They are namechecked by everyone from Eric Johnson, SRV, Vai, Eddie VanHalen, to a staggering number of outside genre performers.
None of which considers public popularity at all. These are their fellow pros who went on to create all that came later.
I watched a couple of those links and it was good, solid as hell music. None of which I will remember like “Time”, Brathe” Rock and Roll” or Black Dog”. Not because it wasnt worthy of listening because it was. Very much so. But Zep and Floyd are just on another level.
I kid with Windflier about Hendrix. I’m not a big fan there either. But no man alive or dead had the impact he did short of a Bach/Beethoven. He was simply the best there was at what he did. And his influence will be felt by guitarists 300 years from now as he redefined what a guitar was.
To me, there is nothing out there even close to these guys and admittedly, I’m not even really a fan.
That's it. Next time I drive through Arizona, I'm gonna show up at your place with handcuffs, duct tape, and every Hendrix CD in my collection!
Don't worry. You'll thank me later ;-)
Great thread, and I have to retire for the evening, but thank everyone who's helped my musical education tonight! So good...
Yes indeed. Excellent thread and comments.
Good night, and Happy New Year.
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