Re: single most influential, cont.
I'm sort of surprised by Joe's reference to Willie and Waylon as examples of singers with deficient voices. Townes I'll buy, but to my ears, both Waylon and Willie have great instruments. Curiously, though, of the three only Townes can deliver a song or a phrase right to the center of me and move me. Maybe because I have to look past the limitations to the raw emotion behind the song while the others can suspend me somewhere closer to the surface? I've been spending a lot of time lately with my Tom Waits collection, anticipating "Mule Variations" release this week. Talk about limited tools put to best use! Would Tom with the same writing talent be as captivating if he had a voice like Sinatra, or is it the curious charm of his gruff vocals that make him so special? Joe says: In fact, in my experience producing and engineering, the most interesting performers are not the ones with the best pipes. They are usually the ones with an odd voice that they were forced to deal with in order to be effective. I would cite Townes, Willie, and Waylon as three artists I have recorded who developed strategies for working around whatever deficiencies they may have had, and in the process became very interesting to the ear, much moreso than a so-called "good" singer. Most "good" singers end up doing commercials or being backup chorus singers because they are not very interesting to listen to.
Re: Alejandro Beaver in Cinci
who would never call Alejandro overrated in a million years...I'm seeing him four blocks from my house on Tuesday, in fact... if he gets to the Southgate House early he will also be seeing Beaver Nelson, opening for Alejandro. He's playing in Oxford OH at the Buzz Coffeehouse on 4/30, too... Pretty good entertainment at Southgate this Sunday too, with Iris Dement. Stacey Earle opens. I'm on my way to Columbus in just a few minutes to catch Tom Russell and Andy Hardin too. If I can even manage 2 out of 3 of these shows it'll be a good week!
Re: Single Most Influential
All this talk of Bing Crosby has piqued my interest. Other than some pretty corny movies, I can't say I've ever really given him a chance. So today I wandered over to the easy listening section of the local CD store to browse and see what I could find. Not much. Lots of Armstrong, tons of Sinatra, but only a couple of lonely Crosby disks. He may have been influential, but he must not seel much these days. Can someone repost or send me the Bing recommendations that were posted a couple days ago?
Re: Mandy B
If the Garthman had made an album like The Key, you bet your ass it would be on the radio! Second thing, I'm not convinced by Don and Jon's example of Vince Gill's "The Key." It's one record, and I think we need some more examples. There's other factors that may have contributed to its lack of success (incidentally, a "lack of success" that very many performers in and out of Nashville envy greatly). But basically, until you've provided some more examples, you're vulnerable to the "exception that proves the rule" argument. -- Terry Smith, a normal music fan
Re: criminally underappreciated albums of the '90s
Time for the f*lkie to chime in with some nominations in this category. First, a second to a couple of great underappreciated albums already mentioned by others: Slaid Cleaves, No Angel Knows (my favorite 97 release!) Syd Straw, War and Peace And some others that didn't get their due: Mickey Newbury, Nights When I Am Sane (1994) Jack Williams, Highway From Back Home (1994) Lori Carson, Where It Goes (1995) Kris McKay, Things That Show (1996) Chris Buhalis, Kenai Dreams (1998) and those are just the ones that I thought were somewhat P2 friendly. The list is a lot longer in the acoustic/folk genre where so many outstanding artists just don't find an audience.
List troubles
Looking for some good P2 advice here... I use the same account to post to P2 (and everything else) from both home and work. It's a dial up connection from the office and a ADSL link from home. I sent probably 4-5 separate posts to the list today and none of them appeared, which is typical if I post from the office. This one's coming from home where I usually have better luck, but far less time. I have suspected Yates of having some f*lkie kill file for me, but every now and then I can sneak one through, so maybe not. Anyone know where those posts go when they don't hit the list? Anyone else have similar troubles? Thanks folks... OBT: Mandy! Wow!
Who the hell... indeed!
Terry Smith queried: (now, who the hell is Pete Krebs?) I'm here to tell you that I have no idea who Pete Krebs is either, but since Terry asked, I'm sure we'll all have more information in just a few hours. It's the best thing about P2 (since I posted my worst thing about P2 a week or so ago) that these new names keep coming up with strong recommendations to vouch for them. In a year's time, I'll probably buy 10-12 albums totally unheard just based on information I get from P2. No, they're not all going to make my top 10 list, but on the whole you guys are a music resource without equal! Keep listening! Keep posting!
Re: David Olney
Carl Z said: While prepping for tonight's broadcast, I'm listening to some new releases. From what little I've heard of it, David Olney's Through a Glass Darkly is looking like a contender for next year's best-of list. This record blends excellent Townes Van Zandt-styled songs (including one TVZ cover) with subtle arrangements incorporating strings, electric guitar, piano, oboe, and other disparate instruments. It's a marvelous album. I just picked this up last week and have to agree. This one's going to be in my top 10 unless this year is just a blockbuster. This is the first time Olney produced himself, and the result is his best studio album ever. I read somewhere that Emmylou was going to record and release Olney's "1917" on her next album. She could absolutely nail that song. Anyone have info on when she's due to release something new?
Re: David Olney/Townes Van Zandt
Has anyone noticed how much Olney sounds like Townes on a lot of his new album? Or am I the only one who hears it? Some of us have to wait until release date to even try to hear it. I know that Townes was a big influence of Olney's and that Van Zandt thought highly of Olney's songwriting too, so it would not surprise me at all to hear some similarities. I think the general release date on the new Olney is later this month.
