Friday, September 07, 2007
Otherworldly Voices
The great tenor's passing got me thinking about the human voice in all its manifestations. A few years back I was introduced (by regular contributor Dixxx) to the amazing scat stylings of William "Shooby" Taylor. By our usual standards it's terrible singing and equally bad improvisation yet his uninhibitedly joyous performance makes for compelling listening (albeit in small doses). I believe Blobophiles will enjoy the clip but as the following link shows, not everyone appreciated Shooby back when he was alive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MutYIgL4Gbk&mode=related&search= Being booed off the stage in what should have been a friendly venue would have deterred most people but Shooby kept right on singing until a stroke ended his career in 1994.
The human voice connects to us emotionally the way no other instrument can (save the euphonium which many believe is the closest we've come to imitating the voice of God). While it can be argued that Pavarotti was the greatest voice of our generation there are still many who'd prefer the gutteral howl of a Tom Waits or the whiny innocence of a Neil Young. It often comes down to context....the voice must suit the material and then everything falls into place. Crossing over into other genres is a common practice for many vocalists and while it may be a good way of making more money it's often an artistic disaster. Pavarotti singing Schubert's Ave Maria works, Michael Bolton singing the same song....in the words of Jon Stewart; "not so much".
There's still no accounting for taste. Listen to this rarity, the great Shirley Bassey (of all people) singing Gounod's beautiful Ave Maria (of all song choices) in fabulous Jamaica (of all places). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5jXLtQbgog
I'll bet some of you like it and some don't while others will abhor it and even hate me for posting it. I'll await your judgement.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
Wonderful post, Blobele! As it happens, three of the examples you cite (apart from The Pav, of Blessed Memory) are favourites of mine, to the point that I own and actually listen to their recordings (I do NOT mean Mr. Lame-ass-shot- his-Bolton!). Tom Waits, whatever one thinks of his singing, is a poet in the true sense of the word-listen to his lyrics on "A Foreign Affair" if you doubt my opinion. Artistry of a very high order indeed!!! But here's the thing- a good friend of mine (let's call her Torontomave) who shall remain nameless, tells me on practically a daily basis that, musically-speaking, I am very narrow-minded (!?!?!?!?!); presumably because of my classical training and my eagerness to mock derisively those (oh, so many) no-talent bums who infest the sorry, sorry world of pop music!!! A simple, Basic Truth, wouldn't you agree? I'm convinced that's what all right-thinking, reasonable and intelligent people believe. What are your thoughts, Blobbie, ol' buddy? Is Torontomave an opinionated, know-nothing harridan-harpy slattern? Or is she much, much worse than that? Inquiring Minds want to know!!!
TorontoMave is not far off the mark when she refers to you as narrow-minded but I'm going to have to side with you on the pop music=crap issue. (there I go being Solomonesque again)
I'm not a genre snob but when asked what kind of music I like I reply "good music". We agree on this point I'm sure so why not extend it to TV and film. This is what discerning, intelligent, and reasonable people believe!Torontomave is A-OK BTW
Well mikexster,
If, as you seem to believe, you're such an open minded musician how come you always complain when I play bluegrass, folk music on Sunday mornings in my futile attempt to broaden your musical horizons?
Have you heard any good Kate Rusby lately (she's not bluegrass, she's a folk singer from Leeds). Or how about Andy McKee - a really neat fingerstyle guitarist - check him out on YouTube.....no really, it's amazing to see him in action! Drifting and Rylynn are 2 of my favourites.
And then, what about Sufjan Stevens? A bit sucky maybe, but No Man's Land is kind of catchy and features some real instruments on it. And there's always Rick James Superfreak for something entirely different. And who turned you on to Chumbawamba? They can't be all bad...one of their tunes features Peter Postalwaite's riveting speech from Brassed Off.
Well, I'm nothing if not eclectic.......Blob - thanks for your continued support.......it takes a village to raise a child.....
Bob -
[I mean Blob] I can think of no more meaningless
[let alone more self-serving] credo than "I like good
music".
Well congratulations. You must be delighted with yourself.
Pop music obviously doesn't require stringent
technique like classical music, but there is a lot
of transcendent popular music that I know from
our conversations [I think they were concversations]
you can't get your ears around. [Bob Dylan,
Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, etc].
I'll have more to say about this later but I have
to go piss.
tterbfan sounds like a real catch. can i keep him?
Hey there, Blobbie!! Who's your cuddly new buddy tterbfan? He's (he sounds like a he) a barrel of laughs!!! Hey there, tterbfan!! You've got quite a lively sense of humour!! What a wonderful example of friendly, good-natured and (above all) stylish "wit" you set for the rest of us here at the Blob! Congratulations!! You sound delighted with yourself ( if you don't come back from your piss real soon, there are those who might assume you are self-serving a little too indulgently!!!)! Blobber!?!? Where do you find these people??? Tterbfan makes Pappy Yokum seem like Mensa material!!! What an anthole!!! Two final thoughts, tterbman; (1) transcendent is a very powerful word- use it with discretion! (2) Don't forget to wash your hands!!!
Maria,
Yes, you may keep me. [just be sure to put plenty
of newspaper on the bottom of my cage, keep my
water bowl at the fill line, and look in on me now
and again]
Greetings Tterbfan,
(sigh) Looks like I have some explaining to do as I knew I would when I wrote "I like good music". I'm glad that I roused you from your period of Blob dormancy nevertheless.
No, I wasn't referring to classical music nor any one genre. Good music can be found even in the realm of disco or country. Nor was I referring to good poetry....if the words are great but the music is uninteresting or ill-suited, the singer lacking in any sort of compelling personna than count me out. More often than not the purely musical value of a song divorced from the words is what appeals to me. In rare circumstances the brillant setting of a text by a composer will attract me to listen more carefully to the lyrics (Rodgers and Hammerstein, Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" for example).
I have nothing against Elvis Costello....his musical settings never really moved me to examine his lyrics and surely using "transcendent" and "Sinead O'Connor" (the angry street urchin)in the same sentence was a mistake. That being said I guarantee you that somewhere in the body of work of both of the 2 aforementioned artists I'd find a song or 2 that I loved. Taste is what it is, ephemeral, ever changing, and most importantly personal. Just because I have a musical education and sometimes approach listening on a different level doesn't negate anyone elses choices (I have 2 tickets for the Britney Spears Comeback Concert that are burning a hole in my pocket!!! Any takers?? As far as stringent technique goes I really couldn't give a damn about it as long as poor playing doesn't detract from the overall impression that the composer wishes to convey. Kenny G can play all the rotary-breathed 128th notes he wants but give me some out of tune (only slightly though), Kansas City old timer any day.
Technique should always be a means to an end and not the end itself...that gets old really fast and usually stops being exciting once you hit 20. I could go on and on but I feel a bit rambly already so in closing:
Mikexxster....a little bit snippy, don't you think? Keep that inner curmudgeon muzzled and restrained!!
Maria....keep your ravenous hands off him, he's mine!!!
Yes, Blob; perhaps just a little snippy. Tterbfan; I apologise, to a certain extent. Your post did convey an unpleasant whiff of smug arrogance, however. And, you were in the bathroom a long, long time!! If Maria is on your side, who am I to quibble?
Blobber!!! Clearly, you need no help from anyone defending your thoughts about what constitutes "good music". If you'll permit me, though, to add one small point of my own. Something I view as a fundamental misunderstanding by some people regarding an important distinction to be made between pop and classical music. There is most definitely NOT some sort of artistic equivalency between the two genres. Yes, it is difficult to write a good pop song; writing a good symphony is infinitely harder. Anyone who knows even a couple of chords on the guitar could (and has probably tried to ) write a song. It would take many years of study to write a properly formulated, yet still very ordinary symphony. No one who knows how to play both checkers and chess, for instance, would argue seriously that checkers is the equal of chess. I'd add, also, that in almost all circumstances, anyone knowing how to play both games, given the choice, would choose to play chess, almost every time . I believe that there are far too many checkers-players, who, knowing nothing at all about chess, are more than willing to share their ignorant (and therefore ill-conceived) judgements regarding that game!! Yes, there are some good, well-crafted, even inspired pop songs (some of which even have emotional depth); that does not mean they deserve to be placed on the same level as artworks of profound genius that were years in the making!!!
Okay Mikexxxster,
You win, you've drawn me in, I tried not to bother,
but here I am, congratulations.
Who said anything about an equivalency between
pop and classical music? [and if anyone had, what could possibly be more meaningless than heatedly
comparing genres of anything?] I was only reacting
to the pop music=crap issue, which is certainly
ridiculous, and no less so when justified by the
"l like good music" declaration.
And while we're talking, what in God's name does
the amout of time it takes to produce a piece of art
have to do with its merit? Certainly we've all seen
quick sketches by amazing draftsmen that beat the crap out of a painting that took months to create. Or an great jazz solo made up
on the spot, that is more interesting than a
labored composition? [or do you have little
regard for jazz too?]
Uh oh - here's my bus, gotta go.
Tterb,
You're right. "Pop music=crap" was mis-stating the case. I was implying that in general the pop music world is a cynical, cash grabbing, formulaic cesspool that turns an original voice like Nelly Furtado into a blonde pop tart.
Of course there are many examples of truly gifted artists who don't sell out to the hit machine mentality.
Classical music has had centuries to sort out its garbage. We get to live through that process with pop music. Pop also has the nostalgia factor that can elevate even the most mundane song: "I remember when I was 15 the radio was playing Rock The Boat while Lois Colley was gyrating her ass...I LOVE that song!!"
Pop is ubiquitous and usually empty of any lasting artistic value. Someone once asked Wynton Marsalis if he liked it, he replied "Sure, that's like asking someone if they like candy."
Anyways I believe I clarified the "I like good music" statement to include all genres. (agreed: comparing genres is useless) It was easy to infer that I was being a classical elitist.
Agreed on the time issue as well. Even some classical composers in a feverish rush of inspiration sit up for 3 days and spew out masterworks while a Brahms or Bruckner struggled on a single piece for years.
Mikexxster, there are people who regard Jon Bon Jovi as a genius and think of Beethoven as that stuffy guy who "wrote that song A 5th of Beethoven...or something". These are your so called checker players. Let them share their ignorant and easily disgregarded views. It's hard to imagine that they make any difference at all.
It's not only about craftmanship and mastery of a vast range of technical tools. Incredible inspiration can be expressed with 3 chords too. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ayNdjFyk1c and take a look at the young Little
Richard singing Tutti Frutti. 3 chords, banal lyrics and revolutionary all at the same time.
Blob -
How's about we drop this issue? [once I get a few more zingers in, I mean].
First: quoting that pompous Wynton Marsalis is
the last desperate tactic of a scoundrel. Sure, most pop is no more nutritious than candy, but if you're going to bring up something as mysterious and
unpredictable as "lasting artistic value", I have to say
there's a not-terrible chance that the music of
Bob Dylan or the Beatles will outlast that of any
number of serious composers working today.
As far as elevating a piece of music by associating
it with a fond memory - I agree [for me, it is impossible to evaluate the Shostakovich 13th
without surrendering to the overwhelming fug of
nostalgia tied to hanging out at the Cavendish Mall
as a stoned 17 year old, with my girlfriend
Daphne and her pimp]
Tterb (you beautiful bastard),
Can't you see I'm agreeing with you (you ravishing asshole)? Am I being to subtle, must I spoon feed or should we go back to arguing about Bobby Rousseau? (he did SO deserve to get into the hall of fame!!)
Pop music IS ubiquitous (no value judgement there) and, like candy, USUALLY has no lasting value. Of course the Beatles, Dylan, and countless others will rightfully live on long after we've forgotten the meaningless trash that many of today's classical composers are serving up. Shostakovich's symphonies have become part of the canon and don't need elevation by the Mall-GF-Pimp triumvirate.
BTW I see nothing wrong with citing an astute observation even if it comes from a pompous dick like Wynton. We're still driving Volkswagons....good cars despite their nazi heritage.
I agree; Wynton is a dick, but his comment is right on. I love Brian Wilson, but he does for the most part give me candy. And sometime, that's exactly what I'm in the the mood for (unless it's "sugar, sugar" by noted Canadian Composer Andy Kim).
Jazz used to be pop music, but it's now unlistenable undanceable crap 80-90% of the time.
That really sucks.
I gotta go bake some cookies.
Party Bear -
You're complaining about 80 to 90% of jazz today being crap? If that leaves 10 to 20% of good stuff -
well that sounds like a pretty good percentage to me.
[I'm certain that there isn't as good a ratio of
good to bad in many other artistic disciplines]
[also - on a personal note, my full Christian name
is actually Tterbfan Party Bear Harrelson]
PS - Blob - you look really nice in that sweater
Thanks, tterbfan,
Didn't want to slight jazz. I play jazz myself, and when I do it's still 20 percent crap!
Glad to hear we're related. I need more cranks in my family!
Post a Comment