Van Morrison indeed does have a monochromatic delivery, but that isn't really a big deal, a lot of musicians don't need to have a great voice, that fits into whatever it is that you like. Take Elvis Costello for instance, not a great voice by no means, but lyrically, he is fantastic and makes it work wonderfully.
If you say he looked to old for you then that is fine, I suppose, it doesn't bother me. I don't really listen to NPR or other music that much anymore, so I can't really help you there. Going on a extension though, I will say that since I don't listen to music as much as I used to that my songwriting has increased.
I think you will have to elaborate on "professional musician" here, so I don't misconstrue what you are trying to say that they are put off by public music making, so I'm not sure I'd remember. If you are going to live above a shop, you are going to have a lot of noise going on probably, so I don't think you could really complain about the guy playing music. Still looked to be people walking around, just a lot slower, so busking at night you could luck up especially if you are playing around clubs or bars. Busking has been around for a very long time. I've done it since I was 15, on top of playing in a band with paying gigs. I've had so many great memories of doing it. It's a personal preference for everyone, some people can't handle doing that. It's done wonders for vocal projection. I personally hate using a microphones.
Glen is a musician and a half-decent actor. The only other thing I've seen him in is The Commitments. I'd bet that the scene with him singing at night is only to serve the development of the plot, and for dramatic effect. Or it could have been just a slow night, so I wouldn't see the problem it playing like that. It's is a movie after all, some people have had problems with the music store scene for "Falling Slowly" with her picking up the song so quickly. If it were meant to be realistic, then the movie would have been much longer...
Paul's only been married twice by my count. He gets attention because he is a Beatle. When you were apart of something so monumentally huge as The Beatles, anything you do after that is going to get some attention. I've only heard of one song that has been written for a movie that I think that was that couple of songs I can thing of is the one for De Niro, and a song a while back for Vanilla Sky, you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, which I could well be. Paul will also be the most criticized because he has had to endure the times as well, by continuing to record, and make music. Who is to say that if John was still alive that you wouldn't be saying the same thing about him? Paul didn't have to but he wanted to whether it was for fame and money, I can't be the one to tell you, but I get the impression he loves it, so why not? A lot of his solo stuff I don't like, but some I do.
As far a George Martin's shaping of the material, I agree that he did a lot, but I don't think many people will argue with you on that.
I guess in closing I don't try to get caught up in what other people wish to do or why they do it. Your feelings are your own, that's it. If you can reach even just one person and effect them, I'd say well-done. Commercialism is always going to be there. I've never been one to disrespect someone by them like this or that band, because my band probably suck just as bad as any band on the radio and that led me to realize, that I can honestly believe that is probably just a hard to write a hit pop song as it is to make something really artistic and esoteric. I don't see why you can't have both in your life.. I try not be narrow-minded in how I view things, because I can see where you are coming from and can agree with you on things.
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14 years ago
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CHartfield01
14 years ago
I'm all for musical diversity.
The Beatles were indeed a boy band. I'd say a boy band prototype when looking at the ones, such as N'Sync or the Backstreet Boys, who didn't use instrumentation. I'm not sure if those were manufactured or not, since I'm not familiar with them. You could even argue that The Beatles might be manufactured from the time Mr. Epstein gained management and the mainstream became aware of The Beatles, and I wouldn't disagree, but I also remember reading that Stuart's girlfriend had an influence as well on The Beatles look, regarding the hair, and dress. There is so much legend and lore out there surrounding The Beatles it's hard to tell fact from fiction. I suggested McCartney's solo career existed because of The Beatles, but him continuing it onward after these years was because of his love for the craft. That is my optimistic impression. He absolutely didn't have to keep playing. I don't know his real motives, but what I'd like to think they are. Yoko has been blamed for the break-up but I think she just because she happened to come in at the time when the group was falling apart. I mean you can just look at the "White Album" and tell they were going their separate ways, but it had been happening before that album even, I'm sure. There were so many other factors to play into it, and it is ridiculous to blame Yoko or even Linda for it.
Is Billy still making any new music, "classical" or "popular", these day? I haven't heard much on that front in a long while. I know he's performed in the public arena recently, but as for composing I'm not sure. I do know that he stopped writing popular music when he didn't have to, but he said enough is enough. I'm sure he could of kept going if he wished.
The "fixes" are relative I suppose, it is because it is what suits you, and seems to be in your nature. That is obviously going to noticed with anyone who has been trained for that sort of thing. Nothing wrong with that, I'm all for mixing and changing things up a bit. Just because it doesn't sound right to your ear doesn't mean that it is necessarily broken. I'm not one to agree with that you can be over-trained, no one can be perfect, it just isn't out there, in my opinion. Everyone will have their shortcomings musically, whether noticed or not, because all in all a good song will be heard for what it is. There is always going to be room for improvement. Whenever I do listen to music, I'm not looking for perfection structurally, I'm looking for an emotion, does it move me? Or lyrically, what are they trying to trying to say here? You can say that, "Oh, I would have done it differently, and play it like this.", but the fact is that the musician didn't and it became what it is to us. No way of going back to fix that.
My performance career has led me beyond the sidewalk for quite some time now, but I still do it because it is fun to do. I'm not one to forget where I've been. I'm respectful of the places that I might choose to busk. I'd never dream of doing it say at like 4 in the morning on an empty street, close to a cluster of apartments.
It's been a pleasure of having, what I believe to be an intelligent and civil discussion, this topic.
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Beau_Buffet
8 years ago
You obviously don't know what constitutes a "boy band".
Please shut up.
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