The 20th Century saw an unprecedented explosion of great music; from Jelly Roll Morton to Nirvana, there has never been so much excellent music written in another century, and there will probably never be so much great music in such a short time again. George’s comment is irrelevant. Popularity does not equal greatness.
Sadly, all the great ones are either dead or will soon be. :( The Queen of Disco is dead and Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, Aretha (Queen of Soul)... will eventually be gone too. The two I pointed out died a long time ago. Edwin Starr is gone too. Not to mention John Lennon, Michael Jackson… All the good music was from the 70s and before. Nirvana sucked rocks. However, the worst thing that came out of the 70s, which I said then and I’ll say it again, were pet rocks. When I first saw it as a kid, I said to my friend, “Why did you go and buy a rock? I have a million of them in my driveway that you could have had for free.” She gave me the dirtiest look.
If you haven’t seen “The Funk Brother’s: Standing in the Shadow of Motown”, go get it. A beautiful, somewhat tragic film about an amazing group of musicians.
I do agree with the excessive loudness, but I am puzzled by the comments regarding timbre and the “simplicity” of today’s music. I remember reading that the variety of timbre has actually increased (I’ll look for the reference) and I am not so sure why number of chords should mean “worse music.” What’s wrong with America’s “A Horsen With No Name,” for example, which only has two chords?
The 20th Century saw an unprecedented explosion of great music; from Jelly Roll Morton to Nirvana, there has never been so much excellent music written in another century, and there will probably never be so much great music in such a short time again. George’s comment is irrelevant. Popularity does not equal greatness.
Nirvana’s not great music.
You’re right. I should have thought that through before posting. I have long maintained Little Feat was the last great Rock ‘n’ Roll band. I’ll fix my post.
I only saw your comment now, Darron. I wasn’t trying to say that popularity causes greatness but rather that greatness results in popularity. Not always and even the reverse may be true, I suspect. But in general, when one comes up with something in art that appeals to a large portion of population, which survives the “test of time” (a lot of stuff often seems great just because it’s new), then I would be inclined to call it a great art. Far from some kind of ultimate definition of universal greatness, but probably the best we have.
Michelangelo, VW Beetle, The Beatles, Beethoven’s “Ninth” or even a pair of jeans are, I believe, a perfect example.
I only saw your comment now, Darron. I wasn’t trying to say that popularity causes greatness but rather that greatness results in popularity. Not always and even the reverse may be true, I suspect. But in general, when one comes up with something in art that appeals to a large portion of population, which survives the “test of time” (a lot of stuff often seems great just because it’s new), then I would be inclined to call it a great art. Far from some kind of ultimate definition of universal greatness, but probably the best we have.
Michelangelo, VW Beetle, The Beatles, Beethoven’s “Ninth” or even a pair of jeans, are, I believe a perfect example.
Emphasis added.
If greatness causes popularity then Brittany Spears is a better singer than Toni Price, Justin Bieber is better than Delbert McClinton. There is no correlation between greatness and popularity. The VW Beetle was popular because it was cheap and easy to fix: as an automobile it was uncomfortable, noisy, slow, inefficient and a death trap.
Now over the long term the best seems to survive while the crap is discarded, so in that view you may be right, George. I hope so. I believe people will be listening to Toni Price sing Just to Hear Your Voice for a long time. This is a great song, but it has never been very popular. If future generations have any taste (and a reliable power grid) they will disregard today’s popular music and search for the relatively obscure musicians who are producing great works.
I have a hard time being too critical of popular music from my younger days. First of all, I am quite aware that I have low brow taste when it comes to music. If it’s got a catchy tune, I’ll listen to it even if it is musically not all that good. But more than that, I love the nostalgic feeling I get listening to the old stuff. So even bad 80’s music usually leaves me tapping my toes. My favorite era for rock/pop music is circa 1975.
Yeah, Darron, but we both know that Spears’s popularity will not survive the “test of time.” Indeed, very few do.
And I was obviously referring to the shape of the VW Beetle. This is why they brought it back; its design has been revised, but the original “beetleish cuteness” is still there and I see no reason why it would go away even a hundred years from now.
Yeah, Darron, but we both know that Spears’s popularity will not survive the “test of time.” Indeed, very few do.
And I was obviously referring to the shape of the VW Beetle. This is why they brought it back; its design has been revised, but the original “beetleish cuteness” is still there and I see no reason why it would go away even a hundred years from now.
Sadly, all the great ones are either dead or will soon be.
Bullshit.
There are plenty of fantastic musicians around the world cranking out great stuff right now. The only difference is that we don’t have the span of time to sort out the current greats from the current chaff - that’ll come. It always does. Of course, the other option is to ask musicians who is good. They tend to have a big jump-start on the chaff sorting compared to the general public.
Sadly, all the great ones are either dead or will soon be.
Bullshit.
There are plenty of fantastic musicians around the world cranking out great stuff right now. The only difference is that we don’t have the span of time to sort out the current greats from the current chaff - that’ll come. It always does. Of course, the other option is to ask musicians who is good. They tend to have a big jump-start on the chaff sorting compared to the general public.
TA is right: there is plenty of great music recorded every year, it just never gets anything other than local airplay on independent stations. You don’t necessarily have to ask a musician. Someone who has been taking photos at music festivals since 1983 could also point you to some great music.
Last night my best friend and I went to a small, run down barbecue joint in East Austin to listen to some Brazilian Samba. One of the long-time friends was playing saxophone and flute in the Samba band. They played an excellent set, then the second act took the stage. We were sitting outside chatting for the first few songs, then decided to go back inside so we could hear better. Wow. That’s what we kept saying to each other for the next 45 minutes. Wow.
The Myla Hardie Band was onstage. well, not exactly a stage. The Sahara Club has a gravel parking lot, a low ceiling, and no stage, just an area of the floor set aside for bands. But they do have an excellent sound system, and Myla and her band were making the most of it. They played good old Texas Music: a blend of Blues, Rock and Country that just sounds right. After a short break the band came back and invited Pony Bone onstage. Two songs later, Grammy winning accordionist Renato Borghetti joined the band. Keep in mind this is going on inside a small, decrepit barbecue joint. There were 60-70 people there and it was crowded. We could all see the band members sweating.
Check out some of the music linked above (Renato’s link is to Wikipedia as his site is in Portuguese) and you’ll understand why I detest Pop music.
