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Don’t, Don’t, Don’t, Don’t, Don’t Believe The Hype

Posted by al

Sep 152011

I’ve been listening to the new Glen Campbell album, Ghost On the Canvas. It’s a very good, if a little uneven, album, but then I’m someone who thinks Glen Campbell could sing just about anything and I’ll find something of interest in it.

The title cut is written by Paul Westerberg and is better than anything I’ve heard from him in years, but that could be Campbell’s singing and not the song. There are other tracks by Jakob Dylan (the standout track to me) and Teddy Thompson (another great track) and Robert Pollard. It could do with the elimination of 3 or 4 cuts, but I like it just fine.

I bring it up though because of the marketing campaign behind it: “Glen Campbell went public in June with the news that he has Alzheimer’s disease, and he’s marking the twilight of his life with a surprisingly ambitious project. The country singer’s final, revealing album.” Oh, and a final tour.

Now, on the one hand, what else could or should he do? He knows his recording/performing days are numbered. He wants to make a final album (statement?). I suppose he could just record the album and tour, not reveal the Alzheimer’s, and leave like Joe DiMaggio but something more seems required. So why does this still seem somewhat distasteful to me?

Of course, when it comes to distasteful marketing campaigns for albums, nobody comes close to Melissa Etheridge:

“Oooh, I’m a lesbian and this album is the first one I’ve felt like I could really be me on.”
“Oooh, I’m married to the ex-wife of some actor and this album celebrates our love and life together.”
“Oooh, my spouse and I have two children and, guess what, David Crosby is the genetic father; learn all about it in the songs from my new album.”
“Oooh, that ex-wife of some actor left me; feel the pain on my new album.”

Poor Melissa, although, none of these campaigns seem to have done much for her career…

Any other marketing campaigns you recall unfondly?

Where’s Paul Harvey When You Need Him?

Posted by al

Sep 042011

Who remembers that guy Paul Harvey? He used to do that radio series The Rest of the Story. He’d give the story behind the story, often in an O’Henry kind of way.

There seem to be lots of rock & roll stories where it would be good to have Paul Harvey give us the rest of the story.

Consider John Lennon & May Pang.

So, John was acting…something…and Yoko sent him off with May Pang to…something. And then John came back after his lost weekend…cured.

Anyone want to speculate on the real story here (real or fictional)? What other rock & roll stories are there of which you wish you knew the “rest of the story?”

Clearly The Best

Posted by al

Sep 032011

Clearly The Greatest, but "The Best?"

(This was drafted before Mr. Mod’s recent Scarface thread. I didn’t send it since I was concerned that it might be less than well defined. I doubt it could be as misinterpreted as Scarface, but who knows. An RTHer grasp should exceed his reach…)

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2-01-Tell-Me-Momma.mp3|titles=Bob Dylan & The Hawks, “Tell Me Momma” – Manchester Trade Hall – May 1966]

I was thinking about and discussing with Townsman geo the topic of 1966 & prior Dylan and post-1966 Dylan. Now, there are varying opinions of how great post-1966 Dylan is (and that will be the gist of a future thread), but I think it’s generally agreed that 1966 & prior Dylan is clearly the Best Dylan. Or if someone wants to disagree about “clearly the best” than perhaps we should say the “consensus best.”

This got me to thinking about other artists. Do any other artists have such a “clearly the best” portion of their career? The clearest other example I can think of comes from outside rock. There’s Columbia-era Sinatra, there’s Capitol-era Sinatra, and there’s Reprise-era Sinatra—and you’ll find little disagreement that Capitol-era Sinatra is the best.

The Beatles are often broken down into Revolver & prior and Sgt. Pepper & after, but is there a consensus on which era is greater? Others?

Let’s narrow things down a little though. An artist’s non– “consensus best” period has to still be noteworthy (so if you want to opine on Brian Jones Stones vs. Mick Taylor Stones, that’s fine but not pre- and post- Tattoo You). And death can’t be a demarcation (eg, pre- and post- death of Jimi Hendrix).

Produced by Who?????

Posted by al

Aug 302011

We all know of odd couplings of producer and artist. Phil Spector and The Ramones—really? But I stumbled across one recently that had me scratching my head—Who thought that would be a good idea? Did you know that Leiber & Stoller produced a Procol Harum album? Procol Harum’s Ninth, to be specific. If there was a “hit” on this album I think it was this:

And if you want to hear one of the worst Beatles covers ever, try this one:

Jerry Leiber must be rolling in his newly dug grave to know this is being discussed in the hallowed halls of RTH.

Any other contenders for a producer/artist mismatch?

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Posted by al

Apr 072011

My daughter, Kate, is in the final year of her 5-year architecture program at Syracuse University. I won’t brag about her except to say that this semester she is taking a fantastic course; here’s the outline:

**********************

Course Description

The Beatles changed the face of music, culture, business and technology forever. This course examines how these changes came about, with an eye to anticipating further/future changes on these fronts.

Our guest lecturers will offer a comprehensive look at the Beatles including:

Business-the growth and maturation of some of the most important brands in history
History-the biographical stories of all key players, the evolution of the group and solo careers
Music-the evolving structure and character of their world changing sound
Social and cultural aspects-the profound impact on popular culture
Political-leveraging celebrity to advance political and social concerns
Technology-the role of innovation that went beyond songwriting and performance

Tentative Topics and Speakers by Week:

1/24/11: Peter Asher with Rupert Perry—The British Invasion. A McCartney song becomes a hit for Peter and Gordon. Apple Corps-A&R reflections. Life after Apple: managing and producing the Pantheon.

1/31/11: Martin Bandier and Rupert Perry—How important can one band be? Contextualizing the impact of the Fab Four on music, business, culture and society during the last fifty years. Continue reading »

Lennon & McCartney As Cult Artists

Posted by al

Nov 192010

Somehow this post primes me for this weekend’s coming edition of Saturday Night Shut-In. The cache of the rock cult artist is a wonder to behold. When this post was first launched, it was hard for us to imagine Lennon and McCartney as cult artists, but a few you could dream. As I revisit this I think about other artists who might have benefitted from cult status – and artists who once were cult figures who became harder to like after “graduating” from that status.

This post initially appeared 11/17/07.

Hey, where’ve I seen this guy?

I was reading an interview with Robyn Hitchcock that had the following Q&A in it:

Interviewer: Has it ever offended you that you are constantly mentioned as a cult musician?

Robyn Hitchcock: Not at all. I always wanted to be in a cult band but I just didn’t know what that meant. All the people I liked when I started playing music were people like Captain Beefheart, Arthur Lee, Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, and a bunch of others. I have always loved The Beatles and obviously they are the biggest band of all time, but I think if they were not all together, Lennon and McCartney could’ve easily been cult figures themselves. I’m really quite pleased where I am right now.”

I’m fascinated by this thought of John and Paul (and George for that matter) as potential cult artists if there had never been a Beatles.

Might they have only been cult artists? Or would the talent and drive have pushed them beyond cult artist status as individuals? If they were cult artists, what other cult artist might they have been most like?

Last Man Standing: People Who Would Be Unknown Were It Not For The Beatles

Posted by al

Oct 152010

You know his name...

I’ve been listening to a bunch of John Lennon interviews lately (4 hours with Jann Wenner in 1970, anyone?). They are quite fascinating when considered 40 years later. It did make me think of how many people there are who owe their fame to The Beatles or a Beatle. Hence this LMS.

Name a person who would be unknown were it not for the Beatles. What counts and what doesn’t? There are some fine lines here (in my head) but I’ll try and make some distinctions by example.

It doesn’t count if the person is a big part of the Beatles story. Brian Epstein, for instance, would be unknown without the Beatles but he’s too big a part of the Beatles to count. Ditto Yoko. By extension, let’s exclude all family members.

I guess I’m thinking more in the nature of hangers-on. Like my initial entry, Dr. Arthur Janov.

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