Why, Why, Why?

John P. Phillips · Post by **John P. Phillips** » 5 Jul 2001 9:04 am

I was just wondering, Why do we have all this BLASTING of music catagories? (I'm guilty too!) It don't matter what kind of music it is to me really. I listen to music according to the mood i'm in.Sometimes it's bluegrass, pure country, modern country, jazz, and sometimes I'm even in the mood for some soothing Anita Kerr stuff. There's some good in all kinds. why don't we just take what's good to us individually, and just not listen to the rest. I can't stand the metal krunch stuff my 18 yr. old likes, but even they surprise me occasionally with a song or special lick. Every piece of music is good to somebody or it wouldn't have been written.
Just my thoughts, How about yours?

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"LET'S GO STEEL SOMETHING" If it feels good, DO IT, if it feels "COUNTRY", do it TWICE
JPP

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 5 Jul 2001 10:07 am

John,

I like "some" of all classes of music; but I hate loud drums. If you frequent clubs, you might know that almost all bands need to attenuate the volume. Almost all clubs have poor acoustical qualities which makes it even worse.

Some bands would be great with a good sound engineer and they do themselves a disservice by not seeing this. I've gone into some clubs and when I opened the door, I could feel the pressure from the band "noise" against my face. On most tunes a drummer with only a snare with brushes will suffice.

Especially, when rhythm and bass are louder than vocal and lead, it's always offensive. I like most all music; but with me, it's the delivery that counts most when it's live.

Rick

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 5 Jul 2001 10:15 am

...instead of the word "music" in your question, substitute "food"...or "cars"...or "fishing poles"..."dogs"..."blondes"...

..people simply have likes and dislikes, it's human nature..

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 5 Jul 2001 10:27 am

Speaking personally, I feel that music is sacred. It is one of the greatest gifts God has bestowed on Mankind. It is something spiritual and holy and wonderful.

I feel very strongly that music should exist for it's own sake and not simply as a means of makeing money. This doesn't mean people shouldn't be professional musicians or artists, but that they should bring some integrety to their craft.

I am offended when I see the quality of music compromised in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I think when executives at some record company decide to add disco drums or violins or lame white bread background vocals to a recording because they feel the will sell more records, they are commiting a crime against nature.

It is truly unfortunate that the music business is about business and not music.

John P. Phillips · Post by **John P. Phillips** » 5 Jul 2001 11:57 am

AMEN to all. Thanks.

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"LET'S GO STEEL SOMETHING" If it feels good, DO IT, if it feels "COUNTRY", do it TWICE
JPP

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 5 Jul 2001 1:54 pm

Like the other guys said...it's human nature. A lot of the folks like more traditional music, and this is one of the few places where they can make themselves heard. I am not against new forms of music, as long as they are added forms. I don't like "replacements", and I don't think a lot of people here do, either!

Most people sit back and say "Bluegrass, Big-Band, Classical, and Jazz music aren't being "replaced"...why do we have to do it to Classic Country???

Jeff Lampert · Post by **Jeff Lampert** » 5 Jul 2001 1:57 pm

<SMALL>It is truly unfortunate that the music business is about business and not music.</SMALL>

Mike,
At the risk of getting this off track, don't you feel that there is an upside to the commercialization of arts forms? For one, production values are incredible. The equipment and facilities that it takes to make state-of-the-art recordings are far too expensive for an artist to finance. What about the accessiblity. Without commercial distribution channels, how would you be able to buy songs that are recorded/performed across on opposite coasts, or across continents. Additionally, don't you feel that part of the reason that there is such universal recognition of incredible players is that their names and signature sounds are communicated around the world via all sorts of cable and TV hookups. Otherwise, many people would never see or hear them. Doesn't any of this count? I guess the downside of all this is that the people financing all of this stuff want to make a profit, and feel they should have a say in what is done if they think it will help make more money. The point is, if you throw out bath water, the baby may go with it.

erik · Post by **erik** » 5 Jul 2001 2:33 pm

The title of this thread just reminded me of a song i wrote years ago that i totally forgot about. Thanks John.

Jerry Johnston · Post by **Jerry Johnston** » 5 Jul 2001 5:30 pm

I agree with Rick 100%. "Sound Men" have been a major gripe of mine for years as they have destroyed just about every concert and most TV shows I see now. I appreciate just about any kind of music which is done well. Especially if it features a steel. Thunder drums and distortion guitar can destroy any type of music.

Started with no talent--still have most of it.

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Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 5 Jul 2001 6:16 pm

Jeff...of course there are some "upsides" to the modern commercialization of music. Unfortunately, when anything is taken to ridiculous extremes (which has happened in the music industry, in case you hadn't noticed) it seldom helps the product.

No, you don't NEED a $75,000,000 studio to produce a good session.

And you don't NEED 50,000,000 in sales to make a profit.

And you don't NEED 264 tracks for a 7-piece group's recordings.

and you don't NEED a $1,000,000 video to launch each CD.

And you don't NEED to have a new "star" born each week.

But the big producers think you need all this...and more too (along with some nice 6 & 7 digit-salaries). The sad part is we're the ones paying for all of these little "necessities" when we buy an $18.00 CD from a big label...that the artist is making about $1.00 on!

Enough...is never enough (for some people). I know somewhere...someplace...someone's thinking "What kind of star do I have to come up with to outdo what Garth and Shania have done?"

Doesn't that make you "cringe" a little?

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 5 Jul 2001 6:44 pm

I listened to a lot of past interviews with Chet Atkins the past few days and he seemed to put it into perspective. He said they used to make 3 and sometimes 4 really good records in one day and now it takes months to turn out one with all the remixing and all. The part he said I liked the best was he didn't want to see country music lose its identity. He said he hated to see it go too far uptown. The records he made with The Browns and Jim Reeves were the ones he was most proud of. They still play those records today and to me the quality is every bit as good as todays records or better but do you think they'll play todays records 50 years from now? I seriously doubt it. That was when singers could sing and they didn't need to mix and remix for months.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 5 Jul 2001 7:23 pm

Part of the process of music and the industry is the critical analysis and review of recordings and releases.
If we didn't have discrimintating tastes and boundries then we wouldn't need that.

Taste goes back to cultural upbringing, georgraphy and education. Some people listen to the most basic rock because they were young and dumb and never knew better, others view such music with a sense of irony, while others have a critical analysis of every crunching note and drum fill. For others they know it's dumb, but it reminds them of their youth or something, a moment in time.

Personally I love the chanting of Buddhist monks, but Gregorian charts and choral works leave me dead cold and bored.
Opera leaves me cold, but I love all of te rock band Queen's pompous 1970s output.

I grew up in the 1970s, hated disco and loved glam rock, T-Rex, Alice Cooper and David Bowie where my heroes, now I get down and boogie to some of those old disco greats, and when no-one's looking I may pretend I'm Ziggy Stardust.

It's Apple and Oranges, like comparing Buck Owens to George Jones, Black Sabbath to black Flag. It's subjective, and in many cases some of us are so ready to voice out opinion because we either have a big fat mouth or a wide taste in music and can't help but want to share our tastes.
(guilty as charged)

But if people hadn't written about the Velvet Underground, Can, Syd Barrett, Gram Parsons, Johnny Kidd, John Cale, Frank Zappa, the Sonic Youth, Uncle Tupelo, Funkadelic, the Replacements, Poco, Ole Rasmussen & His Nebrasken Cornhuskers, Johnny Dilks, Queens Of The Stoneage, the Violent Femmes, Cowboy Junkies and Billy Jack Wills, well... I'd probably have never tracked them down to check them out.

Jeff Lampert · Post by **Jeff Lampert** » 5 Jul 2001 7:58 pm

<SMALL>of course there are some "upsides" to the modern commercialization of music. Unfortunately, when anything is taken to ridiculous extremes (which has happened in the music industry, in case you hadn't noticed) it seldom helps the product.</SMALL>

You may not need the extremes that are pursued, but, in case YOU haven't noticed, the only folks paying for everything are the commercial interests. The differerence in a recording made in the 60's to one made in the 90's is huge. Listen, I'm the first one to lament the change in music styles, BUT, and this is a big but, the ones who have the means control the production. You want to change it, get a bunch of artists together, have them invest in a studio, build a distribution network, generate contacts with promoters, etc. etc. Well, that's not happening too soon. SO until that happens, the producers can and will do want they want to maximize their return on investment, which they are totally entitled to do, in any way they see fit.

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 5 Jul 2001 8:39 pm

There's more music being recorded these days than ever before. There's great commercial tunes and great independent stuff. I think the real problem is in the deregulation of the communications industry. In the last five years, large corporations have bought up most of the big radio stations around the country. What we get is homogenized radio, where there's no more regional hits and very little variety. So even though there's tons of great music out there, we're hearing very little of it on the radio. However, I'm hoping that internet radio becomes the saviour of the future.

Geoff Brown · Post by **Geoff Brown** » 6 Jul 2001 12:20 am

I couldn't agree more, Joe. While it may take insane amounts of money to produce the product that Music Row (among others) is selling these days, there is an incredible amount of great music...that sounds great,being recorded in small, low-budget studios with technology that's affordable to more folks than ever before. Many of these are in people's homes. Indie labels are popping up all over the place, in numbers never seen before. And they rely heavily on the internet to promote their music.
I'm a big advocate of internet radio. I listen to it all the time.I hear music I would never hear otherwise, and learn about great bands and musicians. And when I can afford it, I buy a CD. My musical tastes vary a great deal, and there is something for whatever I'm in the mood for. I usually only listen to the radio when I'm driving anymore. I have mentioned internet radio in a few posts. Sites like spinner.com, for example. But I've never seen anyone comment much on internet radio. I think people are really missing out on a great tool for hearing what's going on out there, beneath the drone of commercial radio that you are speaking of. Perhaps I'll start a thread in the music forum on this subject and see what happens.

John P. Phillips · Post by **John P. Phillips** » 6 Jul 2001 6:40 am

Try Live 365 they've got all kinds of indie stations.

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"LET'S GO STEEL SOMETHING" If it feels good, DO IT, if it feels "COUNTRY", do it TWICE
JPP

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 6 Jul 2001 7:55 am

Moved to the Music forum