I ignore his politics and his bad music because his good music is so good. I also ignore his awful singing because the rest can make up for it. Similarly, nobody plays out of tune as good as Buddy Guy which is why I love him. There is a lot of music out there I just choose to ignore the stuff I don't care for. Not a James Taylor fan at all, but the YouTube video of him on BBC singing Fire and Rain solo is the stuff of a master. And I can appreciate that.
Neil Young
Thought I would share a few thoughts here.
Neil Young is again on tour, so I am again giving this artist some thought.
I remember reading an interview with Bryan Ferry where he said that Neil Young was one of his favorite artists. I thought this odd given the glam rock of Roxy Music. But he described Neil Young as a musical chameleon, always changing up his music and bands, which is why he liked him so much.
That quote stuck with me. Buffalo Springfield, Laurel Canyon, Solo Acoustic, CSNY, The Shocking Pinks, The International Harvesters, Rockin’ In The Free World, and so on. Always a new twist for Neil. He really doesn’t stay stagnant.
Then, reading about his current tour it seems at every stop he is breaking out some long forgotten and unplayed live tune to keep his set lists interesting.
I’ve never seen him live, and frankly don’t think I have that much interest in seeing him live. Yet I own a metric ton of his recorded material. I remember reading someone else who described Neil as a one string soloist when it comes to rock guitar playing. That kinda stuck with me.
I do appreciate his approach to analog releases from his vast catalog.
Anyway, he is indeed a hall of famer.