Re: Music opinion/question of the week...
Posted: 22 May 2018, 11:54am
Not sure if he crossed the Atlantic but I love a bit of Gilbert O'Sullivan.
He seems like a bad dude. Just read an article about his biography (which I want to pick up). Guess he gave the guy who wrote it hundreds of hours of interviews and access to tons of documents and then made a big deal about how he didn't want it to be "authorized" so the guy writing it would be free to write it without interference from Wenner...but then when Wenner saw a draft he threw a fit and basically disowned the thing. One funny tidbit was that he insisted Rolling Stone pick U2's uninspired Songs of Innocence as their album of the year a few years back.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 11:51amThe only one that I can think of off-hand who I dig is Paul Simon. I don't hate the genre, I suppose; it generally bores me. At the same time, I dislike intensely Jann Wenner, so his ardent promotion of 70s singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne doesn't do it any favours.
You're correct. It could be a broad category. I was thinking about people like James Taylor when I posed the question...that mellow Southern California stuff. Maybe not the best question because the focus isn't narrow enough.Low Down Low wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 12:31pmLove some of those guys mentioned. Gilbert O'Sullivan is ace. Incidentally, is there a specific category that 70s songwriters fall into? I could name loads of artists I love who were writing songs in the 70s, but not sure that means they are specifically "70s songwriters", guys like Van Morrison, John Martyn, Randy Newman, Richard Thompson, Steve Forbert, Gordon Lightfoot. Could list probably 20 more if I put my mind to it.
Wenner was fundamentally a groupie (ironic given that Rolling Stone was instrumental in popularizing the negative image of female groupies as little more than starfuckers and unscrupulous users). Rolling Stone's mission was about allowing him to hang out with rock stars as a peer. He regularly killed negative reviews of artists he loved (leading Lester Bangs to switch to Creem) and wrote reviews that read like promo material. Any good work done by that magazine was the result of strong-willed editors. Wenner encapsulates everything awful about Boomers and rock music.WestwayKid wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 12:21pmHe seems like a bad dude. Just read an article about his biography (which I want to pick up). Guess he gave the guy who wrote it hundreds of hours of interviews and access to tons of documents and then made a big deal about how he didn't want it to be "authorized" so the guy writing it would be free to write it without interference from Wenner...but then when Wenner saw a draft he threw a fit and basically disowned the thing. One funny tidbit was that he insisted Rolling Stone pick U2's uninspired Songs of Innocence as their album of the year a few years back.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 11:51amThe only one that I can think of off-hand who I dig is Paul Simon. I don't hate the genre, I suppose; it generally bores me. At the same time, I dislike intensely Jann Wenner, so his ardent promotion of 70s singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne doesn't do it any favours.
I can understand perfectly what you're getting at alright. James Taylor is just one of those artists that defines the 70s and ceased to have pretty much any relevance beyond the end of that decade, for the little I know of him after that at least! As opposed to someone like Leonard Cohen who is very much a 70s artist but not somebody I got really into until the 90s and stayed relevant right to the very end.WestwayKid wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 12:49pmYou're correct. It could be a broad category. I was thinking about people like James Taylor when I posed the question...that mellow Southern California stuff. Maybe not the best question because the focus isn't narrow enough.Low Down Low wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 12:31pmLove some of those guys mentioned. Gilbert O'Sullivan is ace. Incidentally, is there a specific category that 70s songwriters fall into? I could name loads of artists I love who were writing songs in the 70s, but not sure that means they are specifically "70s songwriters", guys like Van Morrison, John Martyn, Randy Newman, Richard Thompson, Steve Forbert, Gordon Lightfoot. Could list probably 20 more if I put my mind to it.
I've just read the story behind that, very interesting.WestwayKid wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 12:23pmI think he's best known in the US as the guy who sued Biz Markie!
I've got a couple of his albums and they are a nice listen. Late night music for me.JennyB wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 10:58amI have a very soft spot for Gerry Rafferty.WestwayKid wrote: ↑22 May 2018, 10:46amOkay...for this week's opinion/question...let's go to the opposite side of the musical spectrum: 70's singer-songwriters. I do have a soft spot for certain musicians of this era/genre because my mom and dad listened to them...but I can also see why they sometimes get labeled as ineffectual, insipid wienie old hippies. Where do you stand? Do you like any of them - and if so - who?
I like Jackson Browne's early albums - same with James Taylor. I really like Gordon Lightfoot. I cannot stand John Denver.
Actually...I should probably throw that whole Laurel Canyon scene into the mix...just so I can express my dislike for The Eagles as people - even if I like some of their earlier songs.