Unpopular Opinions in Music

[Timcognito]

There's a lot of Dylan songs that haven't been performed better by someone else, mainly because they weren't performed by someone else.

Oh, God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God said, "No" Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin', you better run"
Well, Abe said, "Where d'you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61"

 

[Robin L]

Oh, God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God said, "No" Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin', you better run"
Well, Abe said, "Where d'you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61"

Mind you, there's a Johnny Winter cover that's respectable. But my favorite is a November 20, 1999 performance with Susan Tedeschi. The lyrics are damn near incomprehensible, the band just smokes:

 

[Timcognito]

Mind you, there's a Johnny Winter cover that's respectable. But my favorite is a November 20, 1999 performance with Susan Tedeschi. The lyrics are damn near incomprehensible, the band just smokes:

Saw Johnny Winter at Winterland 1970? it was a great show.

 

[Sal1950]

You'd like watching Yuja. Trust me.

She's got nice legs, that's for sure. She needs to copy Jerry Lee Lewis style of playing standing up to show them off more.
She already does the Jerry Lee - Little Richard bit of playing with high hands, just needs to get a little more flamboyant, kicking the bench over, rip off her
shoulder cover, set the piano on fire. YeeHaa. Back in the early 70s I watched Keith Emerson play while the piano was spinning around upside down, AKA The Flying Piano trick at Soldiers Field in Chicago.,

 

[Robin L]

She's got nice legs, that's for sure. She needs to copy Jerry Lee Lewis style of playing standing up to show them off more.

Maybe you want to talk to her management?

She already does the Jerry Lee - Little Richard bit of playing with high hands, just needs to get a little more flamboyant, kicking the bench over, rip off her
shoulder cover,

That would probably mess with her pedal technique.

set the piano on fire. YeeHaa.

That would doubtless cause trouble with the insurers, the tuners, the stagehands . . .

Back in the early 70s I watched Keith Emerson play while the piano was spinning around upside down, AKA The Flying Piano trick at Soldiers Field in Chicago.,

Sounds like tons of fun.

 

[Philbo King]

There's a lot of Dylan songs that haven't been performed better by someone else, mainly because they weren't performed by someone else.

Also, the Bobster has that certain "Je Ne Sais What?" that no one else has.

My all time favorite Dylan tune is 'When Dogs Run Free' from the 'New Morning' LP. I've never heard anybody cover it.

 

[Robin L]

My all time favorite Dylan tune is 'When Dogs Run Free' from the 'New Morning' LP. I've never heard anybody cover it.

Hard to imagine anyone wanting to cover "Highlands".

 

[krabapple]

She's got nice legs, that's for sure. She needs to copy Jerry Lee Lewis style of playing standing up to show them off more.
She already does the Jerry Lee - Little Richard bit of playing with high hands, just needs to get a little more flamboyant, kicking the bench over, rip off her
shoulder cover, set the piano on fire. YeeHaa. Back in the early 70s I watched Keith Emerson play while the piano was spinning around upside down, AKA The Flying Piano trick at Soldiers Field in Chicago.,

That was an empty shell, not a real piano. That's showbiz, folks.

 

[Sal1950]

That was an empty shell, not a real piano. That's showbiz, folks.

Yea I knew that, it was a faked magicians stunt that had been performed by a number of artists over the decades
Still it was a kool show !

Inside Emerson Lake and Palmer's amazing rotating piano stunt: 'Keith actually hurt himself doing it' - Something Else!

Greg Lake takes fans inside one of Emerson Lake and Palmer’s most spectacular 1970s-era concert stunts — when Keith Emerson would rise above the crowd playing a grand piano and turn 360 degrees. “It was a Steinway piano,” Lake remembers, in the attached video. “It was a fake one, IRead More

somethingelsereviews.com

 

[Sal1950]

Maybe you want to talk to her management?

Be happy to, if the price is right !

 

[mglobe]

Journey is literally banned on my Roon system.

Now that I think about it, I need to add Elton John, Billy Joel, and anything with Stevie Nicks on that list.

 

[Titurel]

Well I guess I could have said it another way. Covering popular songs

Covering is not a term used in serious (or polite) musical circles. It's a garage band, dance in the gym concept. It may be a handy pejorative, but it doesn't really have much meaning other than as a pejorative. Outside Pop music of the last half century, it has little relevance. Before recorded sound, it has no meaning.

Cases in point: Was Whitney covering Dolly? Has every tenor since Evan Gorga been covering him when they sing Rodolfo in La Boheme? There is reason why it's called "The Blues." It's a singular piece, virtually a genre with a single member. By the logic governing "covers," every bluesman would be a cover artist. (BTW, linking cover to artist, is similarly absurd.)

 

[Multicore]

And that's the pity with Linda Ronstadt; she has brilliant song selection, but her sources are almost always better than her versions. Wonderful voice, great taste. Maybe a little too much taste?

P. K. Dick was keen on Linda Ronstadt.

 

[Robin L]

P. K. Dick was keen on Linda Ronstadt.

PKD wanted Ronstadt to sing the songs of John Dowland and he was right. The key feature, the idée fixe of Dowland was crying as in "Flow My Tears", his best-known song. Ronstadt has a "crying" sound and affect in her singing. It would have been a very interesting pairing of singer and composer. My understanding is that Philip K. Dick was obsessed with Ronstadt and created a fictional version of her in "The Divine Invasion." As it is the rock star who "covered" Dowland turned out to be Sting, possessed of a voice particularly unsuited to Elizabethan melancholy.

 

[shuppatsu]

“A Love Supreme” kind of blows, especially compared to “Crescent” and “Live at Birdland” immediately preceding it. Only Coltrane sounds like he’s in his element. The rest are just kind of along for the ride. Even then he’s so damn repetitive. And Jimmy Garrison takes the longest, dullest bass solo ever.

 

[shuppatsu]

P. K. Dick was keen on Linda Ronstadt.

Who wasn’t keen on Linda Ronstadt in the 70s and 80s? The dead, maybe.

My understanding is that Philip K. Dick was obsessed with Ronstadt and created a fictional version of her in "The Divine Invasion."

He also had “Eric Lampton,” and “Brian Mini” in Valis, if I recall.

 

[shuppatsu]

One for the audiophiles: Muddy Waters, Folk Singer has indifferent song selection and he sounds like he’s singing from the bottom of a well.

 

[EJ3]

I like tracks in every possible genre here and there. And there's not a single artist that makes me think *everything* they have *ever* recorded is a reference I always enjoy.

But there are a few that write songs & sing them: whose songs sound better when any other random is person singing it.

 

[shuppatsu]

I believe "Friends in Low Places" is the greatest song ever written.

Certainly one of the greatest “last song at the karaoke bar” songs of all time.

 

[shuppatsu]

I'm sure there must be a Dylan song that hasn't been performed better by someone else, but I can't think of one. Great songwriter, but not much of a singer.

I think he’s a great singer saddled with a terrible voice. But he can convey humor, pathos, and anguish with it. He can knock someone over dead with a line delivery.