Posted on 11/21/2008 10:56:14 AM PST by weegee
...Elvis Costello asked James Taylor to name his favorite new songwriters. Mr. Taylor seemed momentarily stunned by the question, as if he'd never considered it.
Finally, he cited his talented son Ben and conceded he didn't listen to much new music. Which means when Mr. Taylor sets out to record an album of other people's songs, he's off to the familiar recycling bin... written in the '50s, '60s and '70s. As for the past three decades of great songs...
...If talented singers like these don't have to pay attention to new songwriters, what happens to the great American songbook? ...Other singers may discover unexplored meaning in a lyrical thread or reveal melodic possibilities beyond the writer's capacity as a vocalist. Performed at a different tempo, transposed to another key, given a new arrangement or sung by a gifted singer, a song takes on a new life.
...Listen to Solomon Burke's reading of a couple of songs by Jesse Harris on his "Like a Fire"... and you'll hear that the marriage of a veteran singer and a relatively new songwriter works just fine.
...It doesn't take much vision to see that if these trusted artists were to introduce their fans to new songs, the fans might turn around and buy albums by the promising young singer-songwriters who wrote them. Wouldn't it be a good thing if the industry expanded its customer base by re-energizing an older demographic?
...Is it so impossible to imagine that these music lovers might buy something by new artists, too, if they were familiar with their work? A snippet of a song dropped under the third act of TV's "House" is one way... But I suspect that it would be much more effective to ask... singers with solid reputations and fan bases to handle the introductions....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The entertainment industry needs to get over the baby boom generation artists and realize that is not the only market or generation that ever sang. The industry complains about "declining sales" but has never moved on. Commercial radio stations are a menu of different "old music" formats, with a few giving play to "adult contemporary" artists listened to by no adults I know (even offices no longer play it in the reception area), modern Nashvegas country that ignores many notable country music artists who play real country, and hip hop/dance. Don't expect to be able to hear much new rock and roll on the radio. Too many "edgey" stations are still clinging to 15 year old Pearl Jam and Nirvana songs on the playlist.
An I excerpted as much as necessary to meet the limitations but have tried to preserve the gist of it for those who don't read the full articles.
And I am unfamiliar with the new artists this writer is citing. It seems to me that a better approach would have been to discuss who ARE the great songwriters and the overlooked gems of the past 30 years, songwriters who don't always get their due.
Tom Waits has been widely covered (with Scarlett Johnasen even recording a vanity project album of covers) and enough other covers to fill an album with recordings by different artists (including Lydia Lunch and Screaming Jay Hawkins, although they were not A-list industry artists, as legendary as they may be). Even the Ramones (who sang a Tom Waits song on their final album) were not respected by radio or television or the publishing industry in their lifetime.
Anyway, perhaps FReepers can use this thread to take on the issue suggested by the writer (agree or disagree with his premise or mine?) and also acknowledge some of the good songwriters/songs of the past 30 years that are begging for re-interpretation or needing more exposure.
Not just rock and roll but...
Rock and Roll PING!
Have to agree with Sweet Baby James, the best “new music” I have heard in the last 5 years was Rod Stewart crooning tunes from Cole Porter and that era.
Next year, Rod Stewart will be covering the Faces material (they are doing a reunion).
Weegee
I am so frequently amazed by your knowledge/understanding of music. You put me to shame and I am a retired musician with a Masters in Music. I’m very impressed by this thread. Great food for thought.
Pinging you.
Thank you.
I don’t always agree with some of the people interviewed or focused on in the series “All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music” but I find it interesting in all of the episodes I have rented so far...
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/All_You_Need_Is_Love_The_Story_of_Popular_Music/70095350?
“Originally broadcast in the late 1970s, this groundbreaking documentary series explores the history of popular music through a variety of genres and reveals the impact each has had on its own and future eras. From ragtime and jazz to country, rock ‘n’ roll and even the Broadway and vaudeville stages, the program looks at how each form has left its mark on the culture and provided the soundtrack to the modern era.”
“The British TV series that aired from 1976 to 1981 has been described as THE definitive music documentary. Thank you for preserving and sharing over 1,000 minutes of one amazing historic performance after another. In the mid-70s, at the suggestion of John Lennon, film director Tony Palmer decided to document the Story of Popular Music and set about interviewing and filming all the major players in the industry at that time, past and present. It includes complete archive performances and many original interviews with some of the major names in music including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Benny Goodman, Hoagy Carmichael, Stephen Sondheim, Harold Arlen, Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Mike Oldfield, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Phil Spector, Bill Monroe, Bill Graham, Bill Wyman, Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton and many others.”
“...Don’t bother putting Disc 1 in your queue. It is an hour long “introduction” to what you will see on discs 2-5. All the other discs have several episodes on it but disc 1 only has just the one.”
Nick Cave, Paul Westerberg, Richard Hawley, Jeff Tweedy.
Ryan Adams may be the most overrated.
Next year, Rod Stewart will be covering the Faces material (they are doing a reunion).
Heard that. I’m already cringing at what the record might be like. No Ronnie Lane, and frankly Rod’s output has been brutal for, what, 30 some years?
Live might be fun though. Love the Faces.
Agreed. I have really gotten into alternative country the last few years and have hundreds of alternative country albums. I have yet to find a Ryan Adams album that's good enough to be among them.
There are so many great songwriters who are little known and under appreciated. David Olney is one of them. It's amazing to me that a guy like David Olney plays before crowds of fifteen people and Britney Spears (or Madonna for that matter) is a multi-millionaire.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Pigs-Fly-Various-Artists/dp/B000067FTM
1. Unforgettable - Ani DiFranco, Jackie Chan
2. Ohio - Devo
3. Call Me - The Box Tops
4. Insane in the Brain - Connells
5. Shock the Monkey - Don Ho
6. What a Wonderful World - Roy Clark
7. Girls on Film - Billy Preston
8. These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - The Fixx
9. Carry on Wayward Son - Oak Ridge Boys
10. Get It On (Bang A Gong) - The Neanderthal Spongecake
11. White Wedding - Herman's Hermits
12. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - Lesley Gore
Virtually every new song I have heard with interesting and compelling lyrics is in the genre of “New Country”.
But there seems to be just so much pure crap out there these days. I mean, there has always been a bit o’ junk, but never in the sheer volume we now see.
“I’m waitin’ on the sunset, ‘cause yesterday ain’t over yet.” - Kerosene
I love that line!
I have been in several cover bands, mostly classic rock. Then I discovered new country a couple of years ago. I always HATED country music.
It is now my favorite. Also, as a bass player, it is one of the most difficult genre’s to play, generally speaking. The lyrics are alive, real, funny, sexy, and yes, sometimes even thought provoking. Even dixie chicks stuff (I hate to admit it). We do “Not ready to make nice” but change the words so it is about a boyfriend instead of those that hated her remarks about Bush.
There is lots of good new stuff, but there is a huge volume of it in new country. And many are talking about the concept that the current genre which most represents the logical progression from “classic rock” is, in fact, new country.
Here is a new one for me that I really like, on all levels. Patty Loveless, “You don’t even know who I am”: http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/patty-loveless/you-dont-even-know-who-i-am-7893.html
If you look at his best stuff, I don't think so. The problem is that he's released so much material, and some of it's awful. But some of his good songs verge on greatness.
I'd add Neko Case to your list. I sometimes think about what songs I'd cover if I were a musician, and high on my list would be "We've Never Met" (written with Ron Sexsmith).
Nick Lowe continues to write good songs. And if you look past the boop-beep instrumentation, the Postal Service has a couple of lovely songs; "Such Great Heights" was covered by Iron & Wine in a way that shows just how lovely it is.
The songs are out there, and I agree with the author of the article. I first learned about Joni Mitchell from Judy Collins, about Jackson Browne from Tom Rush, and about Tom Waits from the Eagles. Of course, they were contemporaries of the songwriters--maybe the real problem is that there's not much room now for new singers who primarily cover other people's songs.
I’m a sucker for “funny” stereotype songs like “Hick town”
Well you can see the neighbors butt crack nailing on his shingles
And his woman’s’ smokin’ Pall Mall’s watchin’ Laura Ingalls
And Granny’s getting’ lit she’s headin’ out to bingo
Yeah my buddies and me are goin’ muddin’ down on Blue Hole Road
And then there is the Libertarian Anthem (it’s how I label it to the crowd just before my band plays it), Copperhead Road.
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