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| Author |
Message |
| 15 new of 39 responses total. |
katie
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response 25 of 39:
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Aug 5 00:36 UTC 1998 |
What`s wrong with having a golden voice and not being a writer?
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tpryan
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response 26 of 39:
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Aug 7 02:48 UTC 1998 |
Nothing wrong with that. I love to hear the golden voiced
performer only.
Just that when the golden voiced and not quite golden voiced
go thru the 'hit making machinery' you sometimes end up with a
product more produced for the hit than a songwriter telling their
story and/or emotion.
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krj
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response 27 of 39:
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Aug 11 20:20 UTC 1998 |
The idea that the songwriter and the performer should be united in
one person is a fairly recent one. I think it dates specifically to
Bob Dylan; as the most influential songwriter of the 1960s, he set a
model that a lot of people wanted to follow. And then there were the
Beatles; they played lots of covers on their early albums, but they
also just happened to have the era's greatest songwriting team in
Lennon & McCartney.
Anyway, we came out of the 1960s and 1970s with a mindset which looked
down on people who didn't write their own material.
From a folk music perspective, this is an oddity; one of the points of
(traditional) folk music is that it is passed along. We don't really
have an oral tradition any more, so the closest that we get to the old
folk process is when the work of really good songwriters gets picked up
by other performers.
There was a quote in a recent issue of FOLK ROOTS magazine which I don't have
with me. I think it was from Dave van Ronk: "We need ten song
interpreters for every song writer."
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mcnally
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response 28 of 39:
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Aug 11 21:09 UTC 1998 |
Well, Puff Daddy will soon have covered every song in the western
musical tradition. I guess that means we need nine more per song.. :-)
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cmcgee
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response 29 of 39:
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Aug 12 03:14 UTC 1998 |
In the pop music scene during the 40s and 50s, it was the song that was on
the hit parade, not the arrangement or singer. The concept that a song and
singer were irevocably linked wasn't in place at that point.
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mcnally
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response 30 of 39:
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Aug 14 06:00 UTC 1998 |
All this talk of performers interpreting others' songs reminds
me that I've been meaning to ask if anyone has any opinions on
"Mermaid Avenue", the album where Billy Bragg and Wilco cover
a bunch of previously-unrecorded Woody Guthrie songs..
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krj
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response 31 of 39:
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Aug 15 21:05 UTC 1998 |
(I've lost my copy, alas...)
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krj
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response 32 of 39:
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Sep 9 18:45 UTC 1998 |
I finally found my copy of "Mermaid Avenue." I gave it a few more plays
and realized:
I don't like Wilco very much.
I only like Billy Bragg intermittently. (Sorry, Mark!)
There are two catchy songs on here -- "Way over yonder in the minor
key" and "Ingrid Bergman," and I can live very nicely without
the rest. O well.
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mcnally
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response 33 of 39:
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Sep 10 04:27 UTC 1998 |
In general I like Billy Bragg, I like Woodie Guthrie, and I like alternative
country bands. This particular combination, though, didn't sound like the
best idea to me -- singing isn't Bragg's strong point, Wilco doesn't do much
for me, and songs that an artist never got around to recording often remain
obscure for good reasons. After a ho-hum first impression from the listening
station at Borders it would've taken some really enthusiastic praise to get
me really interested in "Mermaid Avenue" -- sounds like I'm not gonna get it.
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albaugh
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response 34 of 39:
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Sep 10 20:16 UTC 1998 |
Alan Jackson is singing tonight at the Ford Dearborn proving grounds.
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scott
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response 35 of 39:
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Dec 4 13:14 UTC 1999 |
I've finally actually listened to Junior Brown, who I'd heard about but not
experienced. He's sort of a traditional musician, but has created the
"Guit-steel", a doublenecked electric guitar/steel guitar. Turns out he
sounds a bit like Eddy Arnold, but isn't adverse to more recent influences
in guitar playing. The band is a bit minimalist; the drummer is usually his
wife, playing nothing but a snare drum.
Refreshingly free of the annoying "country" sound that sells big these days.
He even seems to have a sense of humor!
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lumen
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response 36 of 39:
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Dec 6 00:47 UTC 1999 |
Junior Brown just rocks. I first heard about him through the promo
magazine that Sam Goody/Musicland puts out. I haven't listened to an
entire album of his, but he did have a video for a song that I did see,
and I was impressed between what I read of him and what I heard.
He's appealed to a much broader audience than just the country fans-- I
understand some of the alt rockers like him.
Leave it to a Texan =)
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scott
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response 37 of 39:
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Dec 6 02:17 UTC 1999 |
I just he hadn't put a lame-ass obligatory "blues" tune on the CD.
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krj
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response 38 of 39:
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Jun 26 21:24 UTC 2001 |
I'll recycle this item for a web pointer to a review of the
Carnegie Hall concert from the folks who recorded the soundtrack
to the film O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU; that soundtrack album
is back at #1 on the country album charts despite nearly zero
airplay, possibly due to the home video release of the film.
Slate's writer liked the show a lot.
http://slate.msn.com/culturebox/entries/01-06-21_110797.asp
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gelinas
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response 39 of 39:
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Jun 27 05:34 UTC 2001 |
Interesting discussion above. I'm glad someone mentioned the Grand Ole Opry;
"country" is a lot older than the Fifties. ;)
While listening to Katie sing "Crazy" Sunday, I just *had* to remind Cindy
of the songwriter's name.
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