On Fri, 26 Mar 1999, Carl Abraham Zimring wrote:
> Dunno that the "if a song is a great song it should still work
> on just a bare acoustic guitar" rule is a universal one, though I agree
> with it much of the time. Aside from LL Cool J's amazing acoustic
> rendition of "Mama Said Knock You Out", there aren't a whole lot of
> hiphop songs that would sound good on acoustic guitar.
Well, and I did mean to make a distinction between "a great song" and "a
great record." A lot of great records are made with what are otherwise
weak songs or songs not at all. Probably a lot of hip-hop would fall into
that category because the medium isnt based around songs so much as a kind
of aural graffiti art. Still, it works a lot of times you wouldnt expect.
For example, I have a CD single of the Fugees' "Vocab," which consists of
about six versions of the song, one of which is acoustic; that's the best
version, I think. I can also imagine getting away with bluesy versions of
"Fight the Power" or "The Message," to name a couple off the top of my
head.
Will Miner
Denver, CO
