I am all over the place today. So fair warning: NO POLITICS today.
For those who haven't heard, GG Shin has passed. I've listened to his work for years and am glad that his music will live on. I associate him most with The Boogie Kings, but he had so much more going on, including performances with Joe Stampley and John Fred as The Louisiana Boys. Their recording are typically great, but like The Grateful Dead, their live performances were even better. John Fred passed a few years ago but Joe Stampley is still kickin' along. Louis (Coco- host of The Greaser Show on KLIL 92.1) featured him this morning along with Mr. Miller and Rod Bernard who have birthdays around this weekend.
For some reason these passings have an unaccountable impact on the way I feel. I am not sure what or why that is, but when someone who is involved in music passes, my soul cries a bit. Doesn't matter if they are a performer, DJ, VJ(even), producer, sound man, or roadie, I feel a loss. I feel it less with some as their music is deliberately "controversial", meaning they promote inappropriate or illegal actions. I do feel the loss but it is a loss of pity and sorry that they used their gift poorly.
People that really know me (as in knowledge, gutter snipes) know that I listen to a wide variety of music, predominately long hair. For the uninitiated that is old classical (Beethhoven, Brahms, Bach and others) and rock and roll/folk/blues/soul. (Aretha, Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Winters, Ruth Copeland, Archies, Monkees, Zappa {some}. mostly 50's, 60's, 70's and even 80's MTV generational stuff. not so much since the 90's and beyond). I know the difference between Ben E. King and The Swing Kings. I know BB King didn't play a fiddle named Gertrude. I'm aware of and appreciate Glen Miller and Arte Shaw, the works of Virgil Fox, the mastery of Les Paul and the beauty of It's A Beautiful Day. Look up these songs and let me know what you think, as some of them are done by many people:
The Mighty Flood - Elmoore James
For Michael - Ruth Copeland
You Keep Me Hanging On - Supremes, Vanilla Fudge, Joseph and the Prophets (live)
Orange Blossom Special - Far to many to list but Roy Clark
The Midnight Special CCR (also Big Joe Turner and Leadbelly and many others.)
Suzy Q CCR & some other groups not afraid of a long song
Toccata and Fugue in G minor (or other keys) Virgil Fox's album was the first I ever saw with a warning on it.
Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen
Amazing Grace - Assorted soft rock and gospel personalities
None of these are my favorites overall, but all are loved because of content, presentation, or personal meaning, which by the way, may differ from the writer/composer's view. In The Garden Of Eden is an all time favorite but it is titled on the 45 and LP as "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida". Wikki or google it for the full story.
I refuse to accept a classification for music except for this: It is good or it is bad - to me. If you agree with me, fine, if not, fine too. I am always willing to give a tune a shot, but I will not let anyone dictate how I feel about it. As with religion, I will judge for myself whether I like it.
I find the music of nature to be superior in content and presentation, but much too subtle for recording. It is music that requires immersion and live performance. It is never the same from day to day. I think that might be why I am partial to The Grateful Dead live concerts. Their performance is variable and the recordings caught many of the missteps of the band and they are presented with glitches and all. Also no two performances of the same song are exactly alike, even on the short songs. Whether the band was "on fire" or "way off" each performance (baring equipment failure or roadie mishap) was stashed in "The Vault" and for the past couple of decades has and is being released{google "Dick's Picks" and "Dave's Picks" } and truly deliver mostly good and a few bad performances, uncoloured by corporate directive. Language on the uncensored recording is a bit excessive to me, but that is me. If your song depends on expletives, you can't write. Give it up. I don't want to hear what you have to say because your expression reveals you can't say anything that is not mundane street speak. Kind of like a 3 year old explaining the universe. Put what you feel in the score and choose expressive words, not expletives. Show me what you feel or I will ignore what you say, oh and not buy anything you put out.
I also dislike "artist" stealing other "artist" work. While I may be a tone deaf, tin eared, off key, timing deprived, southern white boy, I like music and without regard to the race/gender/genre' of the artist.When Bonnie Dobson's song was "lifted" by another artist who claimed the song as his, I used to be of the thinking that giving him a busted leg and arm would be fully justified. But as I grew emotionally and logically I came to the realization that there were other legitimate ways to extract justice, I would buy the original artist work and totally disregard the lyric pirate.The unnamed "artist" above is not in my collection anywhere nor will I give him a place. Nor do I like the past rage and present daily "sampling" music. If you can't write anything of you own, keep you "experiments" to yourself and don't stick them on the net. I'm not a purist, mind you. I just have a little respect for most of the music makers out there.
I also support the original finding that allowed people who bought the material (record, tape, 8track or cassette) should be allowed to make "daily use" copies so they can listen to their music where ever they are. In this digital age the recording industry has made it far to easy to pirate disc and digital music and although I agree that the artist should be paid I do not agree that charging a collector with felony possession just because he (or she, or it) has digital copies that he has made of his personal collection. Now if that collector is selling the copies either locally or on the internet, then yes, prosecute to the extent of his sales. Come by my house with your ridiculousness and I might just provide lunch of a few of the duplicate records and compact discs and maybe hang you with my reel to reel tape of Uriah Heep.
Had to cut out a part of that as it might have inflamed those "artist" out there who only see the bucks. Talent is a relative term and those people are no more talented than me or a Texas Horned toad stuck on I 10.
But that is enough ranting so goodnight now....
The above rant is not political in nature. Anti-mid years Scrooge, yes, political-No.
Now I gotta go shave. Face you gutter snipes- sheesh.
