JamesJamerson
pfm Member
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Music you just "don't get"
- Thread starter Arkless Electronics
- Start date
Cereal Killer
432
Beetles, Pink Floyd & *Glam Rock..
*dope
*dope
Mullardman
Moderately extreme...
Agreed, in so far as many never get past their white blues heroes. OTOH, I would quite possibly never have known about lots of blues stuff had I not first heard watered down and revamped versions by the Brit Blues lot.
Equally, as a kid, with no other frame of reference, I had no idea that much of the stuff trotted out in the UK by white domestic stars, had its origins in 'Mericun Black music.
And similarly, I had only Traditional Jazz as a route into all the earlier jazz influences which I found out about later.
Both above examples also generated a number of all white but IMHO extremely talented people, who couldn't help the fact that they weren't poor black folks from the wrong side of the tracks.
E.g. Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and others. And from the traditional jazz field Wally (Trogg) Fawkes, whose clarinettering was the equal of any. (Check out 'Wally Plays the Blues', and 'Trogg's Blues')
I now find myself gradually digging back into the archives of all sorts of music and finding gems everywhere.
WRT the recent pop output:
I once railed at (I think) Phil Spector's description of pop music as 'institutionalised adolescence', but I sort of see it now. It's wrong to dismiss pop out of hand though. We all have pop songs from our respective eras that we will always love, and which, irrespective of musical merit, take us back to a fondly remembered place or time. And a lot of stuff which was dismissed as mere 'pop' at the time, has survived the test of time. (Lennon -McCartney, Jagger-Richards, Lieber-Stoller, Bacarach-David, Goffin-King, De Shannon, etc., etc.
The new stuff takes care of itself. I'm too old to be a current 'pop' fan, but if I hear something I like, I investigate. If it doesn't grab me, it is binned.
Somebody on here used to have signature:
'So much music,so little time'
I can dig that.
Mull
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
+1
I'm sure many would disagree, but i think that a lot of the British blues artists mentioned actually refined and improved upon the originals..YMMV
I'm sure many would disagree, but i think that a lot of the British blues artists mentioned actually refined and improved upon the originals..YMMV
No, no no guys, surely not! - Bowie's Let's Dance has some great songs and Melt /PG4 has to be one of the best PG albums.... I'm off to look for both albums for a listen tonight
gassor
There may be more posts after this.
+1
I'm sure many would disagree, but i think that a lot of the British blues artists mentioned actually refined and improved upon the originals..YMMV
What? The silly season has started. What next, Cliff was better than Elvis?
Teddy Ray
pfm Member
I know right?
Improved upon the originals?? IE sanding all the edges off, removing authenticity, painting them pasty white, and turning them from prime rib into a out of date microwavable tv dinner.
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I'm not sure this is entirely fair.
Jimmy Page, Keef & Mick, Clapton, Peter Green etc all were first and foremost blues fans and this is in the day when you had to look very hard to find this stuff because it didn't make it here unless you knew someone who knew someone who was on a US army base.
They made no bones about where the music came from and they openly championed it at every opportunity. I don't think that's Plagiarism - there was nothing covert about it - they were just fans.
What I have a problem with now is that when we all know about blues - proper blues - the only real success story recently has been Seasick Steve, and again it's another case of never being picked up unless it's white. Clapton in his Crossroads concerts has on Hubert Sumlin, BB King - he doesn't have Seasick Steve. That's the public, and a lot of them right here.
I think there is a tendency to criticise the wrong people.
Watch the DVD of It Might Get Loud with Jimmy Page & Jack White. It's genuine love of this music - not exploitation for capital gain. They do what they do because they're in heaven.
The reason we can now buy a CD of Robert Johnson or Charley Patton may actually be because of Page & Clapton.
Jimmy Page, Keef & Mick, Clapton, Peter Green etc all were first and foremost blues fans and this is in the day when you had to look very hard to find this stuff because it didn't make it here unless you knew someone who knew someone who was on a US army base.
They made no bones about where the music came from and they openly championed it at every opportunity. I don't think that's Plagiarism - there was nothing covert about it - they were just fans.
What I have a problem with now is that when we all know about blues - proper blues - the only real success story recently has been Seasick Steve, and again it's another case of never being picked up unless it's white. Clapton in his Crossroads concerts has on Hubert Sumlin, BB King - he doesn't have Seasick Steve. That's the public, and a lot of them right here.
I think there is a tendency to criticise the wrong people.
Watch the DVD of It Might Get Loud with Jimmy Page & Jack White. It's genuine love of this music - not exploitation for capital gain. They do what they do because they're in heaven.
The reason we can now buy a CD of Robert Johnson or Charley Patton may actually be because of Page & Clapton.
Clapton is outclassed at every turn when he's performing with proper blues players. He isn't needed on stage at all. It's sad to think the only reason the huge auditorium is packed is because Clapton's name is on the bill, but in reality he's just bland filler in between the good stuff.
gassor
There may be more posts after this.
I'm sure you are right, but the
"Chicken Shack, Fleetwood Mac,
John Mayall, can't fail"
blues brigade did not refine and improve upon the originals as suggested above.
And LZ have had a fair few battles over copyright infringement. There are many examples where they pinched tunes, riffs and lyrics without acknowledgement. See Youtube video above.
One example from Wiki ....“Whole Lotta Love” (LISTEN) – released on Led Zeppelin II, this song was the band’s first hit single. It was not, however, an original composition as the album credits originally claimed. In fact, the lyrics are heavily taken from “You Need Love” by Willie Dixon (MP3) whose label would later file a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement in 1985.
Yank
Bulbous Also Tapered
No, no no guys, surely not! - Bowie's Let's Dance has some great songs and Melt /PG4 has to be one of the best PG albums.... I'm off to look for both albums for a listen tonight
"Melt" is his third, innit?
The Beatles - I just can't get into them. Lennon being a pretentious douche bag doesn't help either, although he's not the first or last to fit that bill.
U2 - How exactly is their music so important? They're like Scientology to me. And the one name crap's gotta go. Douche bags.
Sting - See U2
The Greatful Dead - Take the drugs out of the equation and what's left?
Radiohead - I really like Creep and Just, so I decided to buy their greatest hits CD. Thank god I bought the single disc version and not the 2 CD version. Please stop whining; when you're a grown man, you can no longer blame everyone else for everything.
Michael Bolton - How did this "No-talent ass-clown" ever get a contract? Best part is, my wife's cousin is a fan club member for $100!
(Lack of) Talent show contestants - you're no where near as good as Paula and Randy told you you are. If you were, you wouldn't have needed to go on a (lack of) talent show, would you?
The Who - no idea how anyone could mention them in the same conversation as Led Zepplin, Floyd, etc.
Jethro Tull - How exactly is a flute rock 'n roll?
There's so many more. I'm sounding like I hate all music, which is hardly the case.
U2 - How exactly is their music so important? They're like Scientology to me. And the one name crap's gotta go. Douche bags.
Sting - See U2
The Greatful Dead - Take the drugs out of the equation and what's left?
Radiohead - I really like Creep and Just, so I decided to buy their greatest hits CD. Thank god I bought the single disc version and not the 2 CD version. Please stop whining; when you're a grown man, you can no longer blame everyone else for everything.
Michael Bolton - How did this "No-talent ass-clown" ever get a contract? Best part is, my wife's cousin is a fan club member for $100!
(Lack of) Talent show contestants - you're no where near as good as Paula and Randy told you you are. If you were, you wouldn't have needed to go on a (lack of) talent show, would you?
The Who - no idea how anyone could mention them in the same conversation as Led Zepplin, Floyd, etc.
Jethro Tull - How exactly is a flute rock 'n roll?
There's so many more. I'm sounding like I hate all music, which is hardly the case.
Cheese
Bitter lover
Why should he try to beat B.B King or Albert Collins at their own game ? He developed his own distinctive style and it seems that quite a few people like it.
Teddy Ray
pfm Member
yes, and his own distinctive style is milquetoast white boy mediocre blues.
For real players.... Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley or Steve Cropper
Teddy Ray
pfm Member
I agree with all of the above, with caveats...
I respect the beatles for the influence theyve had, and quite love the White Album and Revolver.
U2? Hate them other than Joshua Tree.
Grateful Dead- Workingman's Dead, American Beauty- classic
i also utterly LOATHE Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Who, etc. Give me the 13th Floor Elevators, red krayola, Sir Douglas Quintet, the monks....
Ptah
pfm Member
..or Al Perkins on same as Devil in Disguise.
I'll add Tindersticks and Portishead to a list of 'don't get it'.