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The Klieg Light Club: When great artists go from "true to form" to "true to formula"
Recently I posted about keeping it simple in 2010. Let's chalk this one up as a sequel to that post. This time it's about keeping it real in 2010.
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Have you seen the movie Precious?
Yes? [collective exhaling, wide-eyed looks and shaking of the heads]
No? Well then, you must see this movie. It is a harrowing story about the human will and the extreme, extremely extreme, challenges it can endure. The movie has been much talked about in the media and on blogs. In a flick filled with shocking moments, one of the most shocking is the performance of Mariah Carey.
Everyone knows who Mariah Carey is, right? Yes, of course we do. She is known as a self-indulgent, high-maintenance, look-at-me, glamour-puss. In Precious she played a run-of-the-mill social worker. For the role, Carey stripped off her Diva persona and played the ugly duckling. In her own words:
"I had to lose all vanity," Carey said. "I had to change my demeanor, my inside, layers of who I am, to become that woman."
Oh my, Mariah. Oh, my. Where to start...? Let's start with the "layers of who I am" part of that statement. How crazy is this shit? She really believes she has these "layers". Is this a bad case of the stardom flu or is she serious. My guess is that she thinks she is serious. My guess is that she thinks that people don't understand that she is a real person underneath it all. My guess is that she thinks that moonbeams and winged unicorns shoot from her ass every-time she farts.
The ironic thing here is that Mariah thinks that she is acting in this movie when, in actuality, it may be her most real performance yet. As I sat in the theatre watching this, I thought to myself, "damn, she seems normal...why doesn't she come off this way all the time"? Forget the no make-up haggard appearance, it was her likability that got me. Why does she chose (yes, choose) to come off so damn self-important and narcissistic in the press?
She is caught in the crossfire of the klieg lights. She was a earnest singer with pipes that dominated the charts. Now she is a indulgent Diva with performances that overwhelm the gossip rags. Just like so many artists, be they actors or musicians, Mariah lost her essence.
How many others has this happened to? Countless. Here is one that comes to mind:
Rod Stewart: Wow. Rod used to be a rocker. He had swagger. He had rough edges. He had the last laugh. Now he is a laughingstock. Has there ever been a career that has experienced such a downward spiral. Seriously. He started out with Long John Baldry, fronted the Jeff Beck Group (brilliantly), led the almighty Faces, absolutely nailed five out of his first six solo albums (Smiler being the lone dud), and then... what the fuck happened? He became a star, that's what happened. Klieg lights...everywhere.
After "A Night on the Town" he started to fall apart. All of his rough edges became polished and glossy and he fell into the glits and glam of the '70's slipstream. He went pop chart and disco with "Footloose & Fancy Free" and "Blondes Have More Fun". He became fodder for urban legends involving blow-jobs and stomach pumping. He limped into the '80's with infrequent blips on the charts with songs hearkening back to days of yore. He rekindled old flames with live albums of old hits. And now...now he sells albums of covers songs to baby boomers, who, like Rod, think that almost is good enough. Yuck.
The Good (the very good)
The Bad
The Ugly
I feel dirty after that last video. I need to go play "Gasoline Alley" front to back right now to restore my faith in the gravel-throated goodness that once was Rod Stewart.
Who else belongs in the Klieg Lights Club?
- Elton John (the earliest stuff was so damn earnest)
- Robbie Robertson (stop with the Indian albums and the movie producing and put out the classic you know you have in you..please!)
- Stephen Stills (so much talent + so much meandering = coulda, shoulda, woulda)
- Mick Jagger (solo stuff specifically)
- Aerosmith (Dude looks like a train-wreck...)
- Gregg Allman (he lost his way when he lost Duane...Allman and Woman? Check out that link...WTF is that album cover all about!?! Come on?! That never would have happened it Duane was still alive).
On the flip-side, there are those who have stayed true to the course. A sampling of the many that are in the Real Deal club:
- John Fogerty
- Tom Petty
- Levon Helm
- Bruce Springsteen
- Tom Waits
- Roger McGuinn
- Keith Richards (solo albums and guest-star appearances seal the deal)
- Neil Young (They King of Them All Y'All...in fact, he may deserve his own club)
What do you think about those lists. Agree? You have any additions to either one?
Levon Helm Rings True: "Electric Dirt" gets a Grammy Nod for "Best Americana Album"
Nothing rings more true than Levon Helm's vocals. Levon is not only a symbol of the lore of American music, he's lived it from the inside out. The struggle; the fortune; the fame; the riches; the spoils; the tragedy; the drama; the ruts; the ruin; the sickness; the rebirth; the legend; the legacy. This ain't your father's archetype.Levon Helm rings true: Good Ol' Boy True. Hero True. Word is Bond True.
Congrats on the Grammy nod for "Electric Dirt". This is easily in my Top 5 for 2009. This album is has wisdom like rings on tree, it wears dusty boots and can swing like New Orleans rag.
In Levon's November email newsletter, they listed out his top five fave dongs of all times. There should be no surprises here:
Autumn Audio: flannel shirts, leaves changing and songs for dirt roads
(scenes of New Hampshire in the Fall)
If you're a little bit of country and have never visited a website called "When You Awake", you ain't worth your salt.
Jody, who runs the site, says that When You Awake is an "ode to country life, celebrating everything from classic country and rock to the the current indie folk and roots scenes. The daily blog features music news, mixtapes, ticket giveaways, style finds and much more". She does a great job curating all kinds of great tunes that go twang into mixtapes for you to download. I know I've burned my share of bandwidth on her site.
There is a lot there to read and hear, so make sure you have time on hand when you have a gander.
In a recent post, she put together a list of "Seven Songs Shaping our Fall". The brief for this exercise: include songs that you are really enjoying now, that are shaping your life...genre be damned. Follow the link I provided for you to see what she came up with.
In a subsequent post Jody posted Fall song lists from "friends and trusted bloggers". She also suggests that we readers add out own lists in the comments. It is always great to see people respond to requests/posts like this. I enjoy seeing what everyone has their ears to and what new songs/artists I can get turned on to.
Of course this is a two-way street; I couldn't help but add my own list. A few others added their seven songs, too. Check the list updates here. You'll find mine in the comment section. I'm also adding it here, with my comments from the post, as well as with a Tune Tag playlist attached.
p.s. my "little bit of country" comment in the first line of this post was a tongue-in-cheek nod to two towering Champions of Contrived Cultural Cheesey-ness. I can't believe I am even linking to this (there goes my street cred). Warning: this may make you puke in your mouth.
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My Comments from When You Awake:
Great idea for a list. I am from New Hampshire but I have been off living in Sydney Australia and now in London. I miss the fall. Just looking at that picture takes me back to the N.H. fall with short, bitter days and long, warm nights of carousing by a jukebox with friends.
Here are my seven (this list wears a flannel shirt and should only be listened to on a roadtrip, preferably on a dirt road):
1. The Mountain - Levon Helm (Dirt Farmer)
2. Pullin’ Up the Tracks - Dave Gleason (Midnight California)
3. Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show (O.C.M.S.)
4. Can’t You See - The Marshall Tucker Band (Marshall Tucker Band)
5. Long May You Run - Neil (Decade)
6. Hickory Wind - GP (Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels)
7. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda (Car Wheels on a Gravel Road)
(Cameron Crowe would be upset at me for not having an Elton John song on a roadtrip mix tape: Country Comfort - Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection)
The Ballad of the Music Fan and the Stolen Mix Tape...
I remember the first time that I heard it I shut it off almost instantly. After only fifteen seconds worth I was long gone. I was equal parts confused, awed and inspired and I was thinking maybe I had gotten more than I bargained for. That was the moment I became a true music fan.
It was just over twenty years ago that I was a sophomore in high school. I was ambitious and curious to a fault; always peering around corners. I had my interests and one of them was music. Actually, music wasn't so much an interest as it was an anchor. Like any good sixteen year old I was impressionable and wanted to be part of the scene. So much happening all around me and there was so much that I wanted to be a part of. I needed something to latch on to help me make sense of it all. That was when the music started to play. Growing up, music was always playing in my house and when it was, it meant fun. Sometimes it was just with the family and sometimes it was with friends. No matter what the occasion, when the music played we focused on the fun and the good times rolled. Those times left deep impressions on me. The music was synonymous with the feeling that everything was was going to plan, everything was going to be alright. Getting lost in the sound was good for the soul; I still feel that way today. So, I was sixteen and in search of the scene. I remember being at a party...a "senior" party. These parties were the big time. These people had a good two, three year head start on "cool" and I was dong my best to play the part without playing the fool (which, unfortunately, happened more times than not that year). In between lurking in the shadows, trips to the keg and staring hopelessly (hopefully) at the hottest chicks the school had to offer, I was hanging out by the stereo. There was a pile of mix tapes on the table that kept getting popped in the player throughout the night. With all that was going on, I couldn't really focus on the sounds, but I could tell that the music was setting the pace of the party. Fists pumped when the first riffs of a familiar song kicked off. Back slaps and bear hugs occured when songs swelled and swooned. Crowds swayed when they sang out the choruses in unison. The good times were rolling. There was one guy who seemed to own the stereo. Come to find out, he owned all of the tapes. He was playing tunes and he was in charge of the pulse and knew that he had his finger on it. The sequencing of the songs was perfect. One, two, three songs in a row brought the crowd up with some hard charging favourites and then set it down easy on a familiar sing-a-long. It was obvious to me that this guy knew what he was doing. My tastes at the time were in transition. As a music listener I was the equivalent a headless chicken running in circles. That fact hit me like a runaway train the next morning when I played the mix tape I stole. Most likely it was the ambition/curiosity cocktail I spoke of earlier (or maybe it was just the beer), but I knew I had to get some of what he had...so, I stold one of his tapes. Yes, when no one was looking I randomly ripped one of the tapes out of the pile and shoved it in the inside pocket of my jean-jacket. It wasn't until the morning that I remembered that I had it. I remember pulling that tape out and looking at it. One side said, "Side A" and the other said "Side B" and nothing else (the "A" and the "B" were circled. I'm not sure why that was, but every mixed tape I ever made after that had a circle around the "A" & "B"). It was so unassuming and uneventful to look at; I had no way of knowing what would happen next. I stepped up to my tape deck and slid that sucker into place. It was almost rewound to "B" so I finished the job and started from there. After 15 seconds worth I was long gone. I quickly poked the stop button and said out loud, "what the hell is this?!". It started out slow and quiet, but had the impact of a thousand screaming guitars on full blast. There was so much texture and space in the music and it all just seemed to fall into place(!?). The twangy acoustic guitar. The thumping, plodding drum. The methodical pulsing piano...that rose up into a melodic and quick crescendo. The vocal...yes, the vocals. The seemingly out of sync harmonies strained and wobbled in an unthinkable way. But...it was the lead vocal that caused me to hit the stop button. I knew that as soon as I heard what he was saying that he was speaking the truth. I had no idea what he was talking about but I believed him...wholeheartedly. To this day, I don't think I have heard a more truthful and honest vocal than what comes up from inside Levon Helm and comes out of his mouth. When he said that he "pulled into Nazareth" I didn't know if he meant Nazareth in Israel or Nazareth, Pennsylvania...and I didn't care. I believed him. I also believed that he was "feelin ' 'bout half past dead". What? Why? That was more than I could handle and that is when I hit stop. I had to contemplate what just happened. Why did I believe this guy, who was he, why was he on the ropes, and what were those sounds?!The song was "The Weight" and it was being played by The Band and that was the day I became a true music fan. I went on to listen to that song again and again and again that morning; I concentrated on the music; I focused on the words; I listened to the sound of Levon and Danko's vocal trade-offs. What really struck me though was the story they were telling/playing for me. This is where I really got hooked and this is what still hooks me to this day. The stories that are being told through the music, the back-stories of those who made the music and my own stories that are created from these musical experiences are what turns me on. That is what makes the music come alive for me. It is why I listen and why the songs, lyrics and people are inextricably linked to my being. What was on the rest of that tape is lost to me. All I really remember is that exact moment when The Weight came strolling out of my speakers and how it made me feel. After that I started to go searching other the sounds and stories. I had a few Stones albums and prior to that moment I listened to them on face value. I just assumed that the sounds and stories were Mick & Keef's...little did I know. I read up on their influences and found my way to Clarksdale, Mississippi and the West Side of Chicago where I found Charlie Patton and Otis Rush. And then on up to Detroit Michigan where I boogied with John Lee Hooker. Then I hopped a few Greyhounds on down to Memphis where I looked in the front window of Sun Records and caught a glimpse of Johnny Cash playing the boom-chicka-boom for Mr. Phillips. I stuck out a thumb to help get me to 926 East McLemore Avenue in South Memphis, home of Stax Records, where I listened in on Booker T. & The MGs back up Otis Redding on hit after hit. I've spent a lot of time in these places and I am a better man for it. And like the bluesmen, country singers and folk troubadours before me, I'm pulled by the lure of going around in search of the sounds and to share my stories. If you want to know where I have been, have a look: Judd's Juke Joint_____This is dedicated to all of those characters in my many stories created through a lifetime of going around and finding and listening to music. You know who you are. Thanks.
Check out Part 2 of this story: The Ballad of the Music Fan and the Stolen Mix Tape (Part 2): The Road Goes on Forever...
Check out Part 3 of this story: The Ballad of the Music Fan and the Stolen Mix Tape (Part 3): Sometimes you can't make it on your own...
