mkl:
1. i'd very much enjoy hearing your songs if you care to share.
2. i've only recently come around to fully appreciate chuck berry. dylan, elvis costello, or other such verbal freaksofnature excluded, he's probably the world's greatest lyricist--the guy invented his own language, for chrissakes. i never worshipped his guitar playing, but his piano player is really, really, really good,
3. fully concur on the beatles guitaristics. george never sent me; the only truly transcendent guitar work on their records, "i want you, " was, as i understand it, by eric clapton. paul was, by the widest margin imaginable, the best drummer/guitarist/musician in the band, but like most lefties, wasn't a natural lead player.
4. likewise agree on the stones songcraft--they didn't, and probably didn't want to, go beyond the triedandtrue four-chord structure--they were, first and foremost, a live band, which the beatles never were. they also never had a producer as visionary as george martin (who i believe should be as revered as johnpaul). however, within the self-imposed constraints of their chosen genre, i think they're every bit as crafty as the beatles--"no expectations" isn't a lesser work than "yesterday" or "strawberry fields" just because it doesn't aspire to such melodic grandeur.
5. don't hate me just for this, but brain wilson and his many acolytes have always seemed a bit overrated to me; i appreciate the obsessiveness and frequent melodic beauty, but as a rock-and-soul guy tend to respond to it on a more intellectual than visceral level. stated another way, it doesn't rock.
6. which brings me to (brian wilson acolyte) lindsay buckingham and guit-art. he's a manic player; he knows a lot of chords and has fast hands, but at core he doesn't make me weep when he stretches out in the same way as all the solos on "bare trees" or "future games." does he rock?
as ever, i very much appreciate your thoughts and insights.
1. i'd very much enjoy hearing your songs if you care to share.
2. i've only recently come around to fully appreciate chuck berry. dylan, elvis costello, or other such verbal freaksofnature excluded, he's probably the world's greatest lyricist--the guy invented his own language, for chrissakes. i never worshipped his guitar playing, but his piano player is really, really, really good,
3. fully concur on the beatles guitaristics. george never sent me; the only truly transcendent guitar work on their records, "i want you, " was, as i understand it, by eric clapton. paul was, by the widest margin imaginable, the best drummer/guitarist/musician in the band, but like most lefties, wasn't a natural lead player.
4. likewise agree on the stones songcraft--they didn't, and probably didn't want to, go beyond the triedandtrue four-chord structure--they were, first and foremost, a live band, which the beatles never were. they also never had a producer as visionary as george martin (who i believe should be as revered as johnpaul). however, within the self-imposed constraints of their chosen genre, i think they're every bit as crafty as the beatles--"no expectations" isn't a lesser work than "yesterday" or "strawberry fields" just because it doesn't aspire to such melodic grandeur.
5. don't hate me just for this, but brain wilson and his many acolytes have always seemed a bit overrated to me; i appreciate the obsessiveness and frequent melodic beauty, but as a rock-and-soul guy tend to respond to it on a more intellectual than visceral level. stated another way, it doesn't rock.
6. which brings me to (brian wilson acolyte) lindsay buckingham and guit-art. he's a manic player; he knows a lot of chords and has fast hands, but at core he doesn't make me weep when he stretches out in the same way as all the solos on "bare trees" or "future games." does he rock?
as ever, i very much appreciate your thoughts and insights.