In a short time we've seen the deaths of Alvin Lee, Richie Havens and now Ray Manzarek. Let's face it, the classic rock stars who haven't died of overdoses, traffic accidents, suicide or plane crashes have reached the age where they're dying off anyway, and we can expect it to keep happening with increasing frequency. If I sound negative I just want you to be prepared for it. "If there's a rock and roll heaven, you know they've got a hell of a band." Soon the rock and roll bands in heaven will be better than anything on Earth.
Yeah, but "new" doesn't necessarily mean "worse". It's sad that all these greats are dying because of old age, but let's face it, that's just life. Good music is still coming out all the time, and if you can't find it, you probably should keep looking with a more open mind until you find something.
Most or all will be dead in about 30 years. The guys in that are 69 now would be 100 then. 59 now, 90 then. That`s not counting the guys who`re already well into their 70s or 80s. It`s a hard/sad fact of life. It would be nice if there was some kind of life-span allowance for people of exceptional talent, but then that wouldn`t be quite fair, would it? I`ve been catching all the concerts I can before it`s too late. In the end, there will always be the recordings...
...my generation didn't have computers, but we had records....now we all have videos, internet and records too...there ya go. Sad story, I know.....Lemmy's 67 and has got heart problems, Lou Reed got a liver transplant but he seems to be OK.....and what to say about the big fish like Little Richard and Chuck Berry who are well over their 80s. Anyway, Danny Kaye used to say when he got sick: "It was all ok until the shit hit the fan"...he was 74 when he passed away. So age yeah matters, but look after yer health bros...while ya can!!!!
Sick of hearing this...open mind? WTF is that supposed to mean? If I don't like it, I'm being closed minded? Sheesh
Well, if you don't like something, then don't listen to it. It's as simple as that. What I was try to say was that the "old = good, new = bad" type attitude wouldn't help you discover good music. Just because a piece of music was created decades ago doesn't automatically make it a good piece of music. And of course, just because something was created in the recent years doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. One thing that comes to mind whenever I hear people complain about "today's music" is the theme behind the film "Midnight In Paris". This is going to be a spoiler so I apologize in advance in case any of you are planning on watching it. With that little warning, let me explain... In this film, the main character, a Hollywood screenwriter, yearns for the glory days of Hemingway, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Salvador Dali, when, in the mind of the main character, literature and things were much better quality from the creative and artistic standpoint. One night, he finds himself in the 1920s, the era he considers to be the "golden age", and actually meets the aforementioned famous writers and artists. He also meets a woman named Adriana. Eventually, he and Adriana find themselves at Moulin Rouge in the 1890s where they meet people like Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. This is the era that Adriana considers to be the "golden age", but Toulouse-Lautrec and his artist friends considers Renaissance to be the "golden age". Adriana wishes to stay in the 1890s, but the main character decides to return to the present time because he realizes that, while we all may yearn for the past, it is much more meaningful to find beauty in the present time. He goes back to the 21st century, and finds beauty. It is very easy to say yesterday's music was better. A lot of what I listen to are musicians from the 80's. In the 80's, there were people who thought the music from the 70's was better. In the 90's, I thought the music from the 80's was better. But eventually I realized that it's not about the old being better. I realized that good music is good no matter which era it came out in, or which genre it belongs to. The fact is that there's music out there for everyone. All we need to do is to discover it, and enjoy it.
aka if you say a certain 'times' music is bad then you are listening to the wrong bands, pick other ones.
I don't think anyone implied that in this thread, if they did I must have missed it. As you can see, those great artists and writers were mining the past for inspiration and value,and from it creating the art of their day. ...yep, finds beauty in the art of his day.. once again, art made possible no doubt through the inspiration and values of yet another past "golden age" No matter when the era, If a piece of music sounds good to you, it is good. If it sounds bad to you, it may be bad, but not necessarily, you might just need more time with it. The fact is there's a lot of crap out there, truly compelling music will always be in demand. Really great music is indeed rare. A'ight exit thread-jacking mode
Great post - I agree 100% - it's been 11 years since you wrote it - I just found it - hope you are well, man.