I don't understand it either? I think it's really a case of being
"catagorized" that gets artists squirrelly. It seems like Tweedy and Henry
to a lesser extent take a defensive stance because a) they feel they have
to defend their "evolving" art b) not so sure they are confident with their
changes. Maybe? Just an observation from the son of a psycholgist. <g>
But I think their defensiveness is more often than not justified. Matt is
correct in that generally people are not extremely accepting en masse of an
artist veering away from their roots so to speak. So, I think that is what
Tweedy is referring to in that a portion of his earlier audience will and
has abandoned him because of his "alleged" betrayal. So it's natural for
him to just dismiss them as he feels they've dismissed him. It's always
been tough for artists to forge ahead. They're always being compared to
their earlier works and if they've had the good fortune or misfortune as
the case may be to narrowly miss brilliance in their earlier work, it makes
for a constant uphill battle. Neil Young is a great example. People
constantly pitted "Trans" against "Harvest"... Different animals, period.
Elvis Costello's worst records will far exceed the fodder we call top 40
today, yet he's crucified for a not so terrific release (in the eyes of the
media).
Essentially I see that one of the primary roles of a writer is to challange
his or herself and evolve... If the Beatles stopped at "She Loves You" we
never would have had "Happiness is a Warm Gun", if Bob Dylan said to
himself "Heck, maybe this electric thang ain't goin' to work here", he
would have never been booed off the stage in Newport with his blatent
betrayal of folk with his "Band" backing him. What a treat that must have
been for him. <g> I'm sure he hated being crucified, but he did it
nevertheless, and now it's being lauded as one of the greatest moments in
his career with the recently released Live at the Royal Albert Hall record.
I applaud Tweedy/Henry/Jayhawks in the fact that they are uncompromising in
their pursuit of making great records. Will there be missteps in the
public eye? Yep? Will they lose and gain audiences? Yep? But isn't that
what it's all about?
The only unfortunate thing is that they feel that it's necessary to lash
out at the ND/alt.country label...as we are a valid, and I agree, pretty
open minded group of music enthusiasts that don't deserve to be slapped for
their interests.
The bottom line should be if you like what you here great, if you don't
great... But the artists should be judged by the songs... Good songs are
good songs period...
morgan "slightly defensive and somewhat biased fan of
Tweedy/Henry/Louris/Olson/L & V (not the ex Miss America)Williams/
Farrar/Earle/Townsend/Hiatt and countless others"
At 11:41 AM 3/17/99 -0500, you wrote:
>What's his beef? He did the Mermaid Ave music in a roosty vein (never
>have I heard a band try so hard to sound like the Basement Tapes, BTW),
>so it's not like a huge stretch for folks to expect him and WIlco to
>still produce ND related music, when his last project *was* so NDish.
>Now he has a big ELO pop music spectacular, which is fine, but for him
>to express bewilderment that folks are surprised and maybe not thrilled
>with such sudden musical changes is funny. It is a radical jump from one
>album to the next. People who like the Neil Young sound don't rush out
>and embrace his rockabilly big band techno albums either. People like
>consistancy. Not everyone is so embracing of the wide range of pop and
>rock stylings that a artist may feel like playing. Not everyone is so
>well rounded as some of the folks on p2. No big deal, just the way it
>is. Interesting to note Joe Henry is also going thru this stage.
>
>I don't care what he puts out, I don't think he's betraying anything by
>changing sounds, I just get tired of him and the "purists" whoever and
>where ever they are-talking about it.
>
>
>
>
>
