Jon Corelis wrote:
> I suppose I should chime in here with my admission of being a Deadhead,
> though not enough of a one to tell you exactly how many concerts I went to.
> Or I should say used to be a Deadhead -- now they belong to the ages. It's
> no snobbery, just fact, to say that if you weren't at the concerts, you
> never heard the Dead.
>
Here goes the thread again, flying outward....
I never heard The Dead, so of course was not a Deadhead, never saw the
purpose of any groupthink or travel, however informal. My loss, I
gather. And yet I took it personally when I learned in 1995 that Garcia
had died. I knew him best as a genius necktie designer. He was also a
sign to me that I was mortal. I learned that when I was 51.
> I must also demur from the dismissive characterization of the earlier
> Beatles songs as teenybopper music. Their early soul covers -- Mr Postman,
> You Really Got A Hold On Me, and Long Tall Sally (for which Little Richard
> himself tutored McCartney on his falsetto) -- are in my opinion among the
> enduring glories of rock music.
>
My issue with the Beatles arose precisely because they decided late in
the Sixties to Go Eastern, headed into some sort of Buddhist/Zen/Hindu
spirituality thing, and wore it badly. The stories of rampant heroin
abuse during that period are by now worn out, and I'm sure Albert
Goldman wasn't the first to mention that mess. But people are human and
therefore inconsistent, so to hell with it. Musically: I can't comment
because I don't play the sitar, but people who heard both Ravi Shankar
and George Harrison said that the latter had no more business recording
with the sitar than I would have playing a Guarneri violin.
Translation: if you're famous you can afford to noodle in public but
that doesn't mean you're doing you or your audience a favor.
But yes...the early early Beatles covers made for fabulous dance music
and were just plain bounce-off-the-ceilings. Somehow they *understood*
American rock 'n' roll.
> Other nostalgia names: Steve Miller Band. Tim Buckley. Moby Grape. Jim
> Kweskin Jug Band with Maria Muldaur. Ian and Sylvia. The Yardbirds. The
> Hollies. Doug Sahm. Manfred Mann and His Men. Mary Wells. The Miracles.
> The Temptations. Jeez, this beer is starting to taste watery and salty ...
>
Don't start me. Jethro Tull. Richie Havens (he personally taught me to
play open-tuned guitar, no joke). Love (a band, not a feeling). THE
DOORS. The first time I heard Buckley my hair stood on end: fabulous
high tenor. Tim Hardin: "Song to Lenny" still hurts. Kweskin is
right. Never that big on Ian and Sylvia but now I miss them. Marvin
Gaye: I still think his cover of "I heard it through the grapevine" is
the greatest single ever made. Offtrack a bit: Laura Nyro, a voice that
could knock down plaster walls and a great songwriter who I fear may
have become too slick. The Band: the most perfect and "tight" ensemble
I ever saw/heard. Vanilla Fudge, if only for "You Keep Me Hangin' On,"
a masterpiece of excess. Probably lots more.
ken
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Kenneth Wolman rainermaria.typepad.com
Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts. -- Ruth Gordon
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