Last evening, I was reminded of my post of July 3, 2007 in which I proved that no significant amount of good music is currently produced, or has been produced for decades. That proof has so far not been refuted. [See that post for details.]
I watched the fine movie, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" staring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche and Ethel Merman. The movie was made in 1938 - long ago, naturally, see my proof. The songs were written by the incomparable genius of Irving Berlin and peformed with great beauty and emotion by Alice Faye and Ethel Merman. The combination of great talents in individual skills produced the superb totality of the performed song. Very little made in modern times reaches that level of total quality.
I think we can go further. The irrational insistence that a performer must write and perform his/her own music to be "great" is simply nonsense and has led to cultlike atmosphere where great singers alone cannot get favorable employment. Since the retirement of Julie Andrews, there is simple not a single female vocalist that can compare to anyone of the great singers of the pre-1960 era.
Barbara Streisand is not in the same level of quality as Julie Andrwews or Judy Garland, Alice Faye, Ethel Merman, or the other great female vocalists of the past. No current male singer can be compared with Vaughn Monroe, Howard Keel, Frank Sinatra, or other pre-1955 male singers. I think this is caused by the cult of the performer-writer. Too bad, lots of great talent is not being developed.
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i dont know but i think joanny does a helluva job, when she is employed by phil. imo it helps to have a strong rotation show its never the same show twice.
here is very interesting article with drummer john "mount" molo. or as i call him the octapuss.
http://www.dead.net/features/interviews/john-molo-putting-big-beat-phil-friends
It was 1999 when the ever-changing lineup of Phil & Friends really gets going, with Trey and Kimock, then with Haynes and Kimock, Jorma and Kimock; all these rotating lineups. What’s it like from your perspective to have a repertoire that you’re diving into, but always having the pieces of the puzzle around you constantly mutating?
Well, it’s been a really interesting experiment and also great way to meet musicians! Everybody brought something really interesting. Page and Trey are really hard workers and creative, and Kimock is a great player. Jorma is a great player. Robben Ford…
And then there was the Q—the quintet with Warren, Jimmy, Rob—a really great band. I think staying together as long as you did with that lineup really allowed the music to develop in some interesting and profound ways.
I agree. The chemistry in that band was really good; it was almost automatic. When we would play it was easy. Besides Jimmy and Warren playing together so well, in that band, it also really helped that Rob Barraco knew the material so well. Any Grateful Dead-associated band that he’s in has a great reference point in Rob. He’s incredibly underrated. I think he’s one of the best players out there.
Tell me a little about Phil as a band leader. Obviously, he is directing things in a certain way live—in fact we often see him giving instructions or key changes or whatever into his microphone onstage. And I’ve also gotten the impression you rehearse fairly extensively.
Yeah, we do actually. Phil is an interesting guy, and he’s evolved as a band leader. He’s always been good at it, and he probably had an idea of a certain way he wanted to do things. I think when he was in the Dead he had a vision of how he’d like the music to sound, so in the Q, or in any of the Phil Lesh & Friends lineups really, he’s always had an idea of where he thought the music should be or could be. Sometimes he’ll be very specific—like we’ll play “Terrapin” and he’ll ask me to play a lot differently than the way it was done on the record…or, he might have an idea, like on “Mountains of the Moon” the other night, he asked me to play it really sparse and not be so draconian with the time—to let it flow as much as possible. He sometimes has an interpretation he wants to get to, yet he’s also completely willing to let the music take its own course, which it often does. The thing on the mike, he might say a key, but he also might say something like “just let it go…” and that might mean let if dissolve or let it flow and take it “out.” Or sometimes he might say something like “It’s a journey and we’re all at sea,” and we’ll jam and float around and do some experimental stuff, and then we’ll start trying to find the next song. [Laughs] I love playing those long, connected songs where you’re kind of drifting around. An hour and a half can go by and it feels like about 20 minutes because we haven’t really stopped and you’re so locked in.
Is there a type of music you guys play that’s more challenging than others? Is it harder to, say, develop a 15-minute “Dark Star” than it is to do something more fixed rhythmically, like “Eyes of the World” or “Fire on the Mountain”?
They’re all equally challenging. And also, just to “let go”…the thing with drummers is you don’t have to feel like you’re always controlling it, but you want to play with “drum energy.” I’m 54 and I feel like I’m just getting the handle on it.
Who are some of your favorite guitarists you’ve worked with in this group? It’s run the gamut from Kimock to Paul Barrere, Jimmy and Warren, John Scofield, Larry Campbell…quite a group, and that’s just a few of ’em.
It’s been amazing. Every one of them has brought something different, which is part of the fun of it, of course. Favorites…that’s tough. Definitely Jimmy Herring would be one, because of his incredible dedication to the music. The thing with Jimmy is he tried to learn everything he could and he was always so well-prepared; he’s remarkable. He’s also a fantastic and underrated rhythm player—I don’t know if he ever realized how good he was at that, because obviously he’s a really great lead player, too. For overall feel and vocals, Warren is great. Robben Ford had a fantastic set of hands; Scofield, too. John is a really good musician, obviously, a very interesting player, and also a sweet, nice guy. Derek Trucks is phenomenal; I love the way he plays. I don’t know him very well, because he’s kind of quiet, but he says it all with his playing. If I’m in a town and Derek is playing, I go. I’ll pay, go in, hang with the crowd. I’m always telling kids to go check out Derek.
I was thinking that it must be different from Phil & Friends in so many ways. Fogerty pretty much likes everything to sound the same night to night, right?
Yeah, and that’s the toughest thing about it. I think John might be better off rotating his set lists around each night, but he’s not from that school of thought. Springsteen does it, the Dead do it, but not that many other people do it. I don’t understand why—who would go see the same show two nights in a row? It gets a little weird playing the same show every night. It’s a little like that movie Groundhog Day. [Laughs
EXACTLY!
pats 27 gmen 24?
bud may want to rewind bill maher on friday nite.
hildog has no chance in nov.
the right has little chance against obaman, imo.
the frosty's shud pray she gets the tix.
i like to see mccain first, then obama, mitt and hildog last.
i wonder if the dead playing monday nite will help him take cali? imo, yep!
the approach they "discovered" through kesseys "acid tests" was jazz meets rock with psychodelics in the middle.
they invented it, it is still around, but u gotta peak around. the best scene is definitely off the beaten path.
and if u wanna hear gud voices do karoke, there is a show called american idol.
imo, it ruins music, but if harmony is that more important than passion and spontaneity, then the finals of american idol r must listen.
call me crazy but ill take a 30 minute lovelight from pigpen over anything julie andrews did.
main problem is unless u dedicate at least a yr to getting to know the tunes, u r not gonna really "hear" them.
i wonder if anyone ever saw julie andrews live over 500 times? many went to see the dead that many times.
I agree that hildog is more beatable - she will unite the right against and bring them out in droves to vote.
Well, I have listened to Julie Andrew's song, Thoroughly Modern Mille for about 20 times straight in one sitting :-)
FROSTY MALTED BEVERAGES...set up the boys in the bunker, send me the tab...time for some football...you both have poor taste in music.
Spinny's sack sucked up like a 10 year old...three Rocks from from slurred speech...and 60 minutes from making history...Kevin Boss huge, with Plex and Manning wins the MVP.
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