> Franklin> James is exaggerating a wee bit here. He's > actually written the same four (OK, maybe six) songs 150 times. The problem is that only the ORIGINAL four to six of them were worthy of recognition >
The poster child for musical innovation, James is not. But, if you're saying JT wrote only 4-6 songs worthy of recognition, I have to disagree. Now he "jumped the shark" (hee hee), with the release of Flag, but prior to that wrote lots of great songs and had 2 nearly perfect albums with Mud Slide... and JT. Yes he earns his bread and butter on a few precious and not-so-precious hits - and it is a dismal experience to see him in concert and be surrounded by people who only want to hear songs off his greatest hits - but he has made his mark as a songwriter -- not pushing the boundaries or making waves, but by writing little gems that have their place in the soundtracks of many of our lives (sounds like a bad hallmark, I know, but it is true). Jenny > one of the TV magazines where they gave him the > prefunctory > rhetorical question: You've been accused of never > venturing far from > your original sound, exploring other musical avenues > of expression". > He just sort of smilingly, smuggly said something > like: "I know where > my bread and butter is, I still can knock down a mil > or two a year > touring and I have a core audience that will pay > 50-75 dollars to > hear me sing "Fire and Rain" and "How Sweet It Is" > (a Motown Cover > BTW). Hey, writing A hit song can be alot like > winning the lottery - > over and over. Particularly with a winning > personality. The core > audience even sings along to the unintentional > "parody" filler - is > that intentional, or unintentional? lol > > Bob S> Oh really ? Perhaps it would be better for JT > to have said > ''that's true of pretty much all of us". (Maybe he > did :~), but > that's not what I thought I > heard - gimme an instant replay, please !) > > Franklin> He did inadvertently speak for "pretty > much all of us". But > once again, the exaggeration applies to all of them > - 3 or 4, not 12 > originals. At least he did qualify his statement by > saying "pretty > much all of us". That is what makes the great, > inspired songwriters > so unique; such a national/international treasure: > there are so few > of them.... > > I'm talking ongoing originality, form vs. content, > as well as > music/melody meets words/thoughts here: Burt > Bacharach/Hal David - > 3/4 "filler-free. Lennon/McCartney, 4/5 > "filler-free" (note, it took > TWO of them!) EARLY Jagger/Richards; 2/3 "filler > free"; Steve Earle- > pretty much 1/2 "filler free"; John Haitt; maybe 1/3 > -1/2 > "filler-free", Bob Welsh of "Fleetwood Mac" fame - > hell of a > songwriter (AND extraordinary guitar player) at > least 1/2-2/3 > "filler-free". Steve Stills/Neil Young - I'd say 2/3 > across career; > L.A. Cowboy - arguably as close to 100% > "filler-free" as per above > definition, throughout career as anyone has ever > gotten. BTY, if you > can get 1/2 "filler-free" designation in a career, > that's an > extraordinary feat, easily capable of landing one in > the > "Songwriter's Hall of Fame". Females; Carly Simon, > near 1/2 > non-filler; Carol King, about the same as Carly. > (I'm talking over > the span of a career, and I'm limiting this to > fast-writing, > off-the-top of my head spontaneity, so kindly add to > this very > abbreviated list rather than criticize, wail or howl > about missing > persons...any/all disagreements, reassessments also > welcome. When it > comes right down to it - there are so many tens of > thousands of > accomplished musicians in America alone - yet just a > literal > "handful" of great songwriters... that is why they > are treasures. > > > Bob S>Of her 200 or so songs, I would venture to say > that there are > well over 100 complete originals that have no > redundancies or > parallels in JM's work. > Certainly, in some cases the musical structure is > similar - especially in her > earlier work. And in a lyrical context, there is a > revisiting of themes > (although usually with a fresh take). And on nearly > all of her post-70's CD's > there is a consistent texture to her music within a > given CD - (this was less > true of her earlier works) - though the texture > changed significantly from CD > to CD - think WTRF, then DED, then CMIAR, then NRH, > then TI, then TTT. > > Franklin> Agreed on above statements. She is well > into the 3/4 > career "filler-free". There were a few clinkers > here and there - but > WHAT a BODY of WORK. Don't get me wrong - > taste-defining > contributions all along, everywhere. > > As to the original thoughts in this post, Joni can > be feisty, and get > even come out swinging, get intellectually nasty and > still fill > sheds, auditoriums etc. James HAS to approach the > marketing from a > little different perspective - "sweet". And let's > face it, from the > Arbitron tour grosses and rankings - SWEET STILL > WORKS... the ol' > honey and flies type thing...I guess if a picture is > worth a thousand > words, one or two viable "hit" songs are worth > millions or dollars. > Wow - what a world, That is "if you've got > personality -charm- > personality -walk- personality, -talk- > personality..." Is anyone out > there singing along with me???? > > Franklin > NP Savoy Brown - "Raw Sienna" a truly overlooked > band, guitar god. > Chris Youlden's BEAUTIFUL voice with Kim Simmond's > elegant, > smouldering, authoritative guitar - he > single-handedly made the > original Flying V, famous (and currently worth > 80-120.000 for an > unfucked-with original) just sliding and soloing so > tastefully that > it makes me understand why the electric guitar, when > skillfully > rendered is perhaps the only instrument more > beautiful than a violin. Yahoo! Mail Plus Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
