>>>>You like air rock, then. Nothing against them but that is an offshoot, not real rock. The real rockers were so wild and eager that even the Beatles were playing outside the sandbox. You can easily youtube classical musicians saying the same. They were revolutionaries, four young guys from Liverpool. Which, if you haven't been there, is a dump.
>>>>
>>>>One of the things I will always love about them is they kept writing songs non-musicians could love along with their more musical contemporaries.
>>>>
>>>>Posted 7 years ago, 28 million views. It is said to be the most covered song ever.
>>>>
>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXp-vpE9eU>>>
>>>It's funny how differently people react to different pieces of music (or any art for that matter) In the Beatles catalog you so often hear praises for
>>>Yesterday
>>>Michelle
>>>Imagine
>>>Hey Jude
>>>
>>>all of which pretty much leave me cold (with Imagine at the bottom of the list) or actually make me want to poke out my eardrums.
>>>
>>>But they did genius stuff
>>>
>>>Eleanor Rigby
>>>Sgt. Pepper (pretty much all of it but especially the theme, 'For the benefit of Mr. Kite' and 'Day in the life'
>>>Penny Lane
>>>Magical Mystery Tour
>>>
>>>And then the amazing, transcendent, "WTF is this" ? White Album which caused me to get headphone marks that still haven't faded.
>>>
>>>Mixed emotions about Abbey Road. White album the peak for me.
>>>
>>>And later, McCartney did
>>
>>This goes to prove reasonable people can disagree, with neither of them being wrong. I believe "Yesterday" and "Imagine" in particular were transcendent songs for the ages I share your enthusiasm for the white album even though it showed a band breaking apart at the hinges. "Rocky Raccoon"? "Why Don't We Do It in the Road"? This was a great band boiled down to spite.
>>
>>What will always impress me about the Beatles was that they released so much classic music -- and no, I do not use that word casually -- in the space of about 8 years. Nowadays some top bands take that long between album releases. They said what they had to say and left the building.
>
>I'm that way about the Eagles. I really believe Glenn Frey and Don Henley are poets every bit as profound as any I studied in English lit. And Leonard Cohen is genius. There is no reason classics can't be created in the modern world and still be popular.
>
>The problem for me with "pop" music is that the bar is set so low for instrumental chops and so many poseurs are taken seriously. And then you hear someone who actually can play an instrument :
>
>(John - I think you might like these)
>
>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XokWwDGTI3A&list=PL_ME8lTSgo-wLPITCuQtgaMajpJuJTXnh>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KiLPSs8sD4>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW47oIwqktEI agree that the line between popularity and talent isn't always properly recognized. But there will always be good ones. Last week I watched the Country Music Awards (CMA) and enjoyed it, as always. Due to my father C & W was the music of my childhood. (At his funeral my brother said he liked two kinds of music, country AND western). A fair number of poseurs with big hats and big shoulders were on display but some of them are really good. Brad Paisley, for example, who has the reputation of the best guitarist in country music. I would take that a step further and put him up there with any guitarist in any genre. There was also a tribute to George Jones, who died earlier this year, a number of singers doing his best known song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Maybe there are some opera singers who sing better but I think he was pretty darned good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=220SJGEoH5cMy favorite guilty pleasure, not that I consider it much of a guilty pleasure, is Taylor Swift. There is a bit of a backlash against her, just as there is against anyone that successful. IMO she is successful for a reason. Her early constituency was girls around 15 and 16 years old who responded to her songs about being that age. (She writes all her own songs). She sings well, writes well, and her looks will never hold her back. I became a true fan when she was on the Letterman show and described the day she got in two separate car accidents. Maybe some of it was calculated but you can't completely fake that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_T5LvnVvohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAr35Lok1MEIt's not even 6 in the morning and already I am smiling over good entertainers and good songs. Surely this indicates a good day.
