The Blues Ate Rock and Roll!
28th December 2017
Eric S. Raymond does music.
I’ve been diving into the history of rock music recently because,
quite by chance a few weeks ago, I glimpsed an answer to a couple of
odd little questions that had been occasionally been bothering me for
decades.The most obtrusive of these questions is: Why does nothing in today’s
rock music sound like the Beatles?It’s a pertinent question because the Beatles were so acclaimed as
musical innovators in their time and still so hugely popular. And yet,
nobody sounds like them. Since not long after the chords of the “Let
It Be” died away in 1969, every attempt to revive the Beatlesy sound
of bright vocal-centered ensemble pop has lacked any staying power
among rock fans. It gets tried every once in a while by a succession
of bands running from Badfinger to the Smithereens, and goes nowhere.
Why is this?Another, related question is: Why does so very little in today’s rock
music sound like Chuck Berry?
I just listened to James Gang’s YER ALBUM on YouTube and he’s absolutely right.
I also wasted a day pining for 1969. Sigh.
December 29th, 2017 at 15:49
Record companies have figured out that the largest group buying music is 12 year old girls. So we have tons of “boy bands”, androgynous singers, whiny lyrics, etc. Taylor Swift, as an example, churns out jr. high girl angst songs and wins awards (from the companies making $$) by the truck load.
When the Beatles first hit the USA, people who attended their concerts were amazed by the urine odor as screaming young girls literally peed themselves upon seeing John and Paul.
But we won’t see new versions of Jim Morrison (too male for the teenies), Janis Joplin (too strong), or Jimi Hendrix (too advanced).
December 30th, 2017 at 14:20
I wouldn’t be so sure about Jimi Hendrix. I’d put Eric Clapton in his class, and Mark Knopfler. And last I looked Joe Walsh was still around.
But you’re right in that I don’t see any younger folks coming up that carry that kind of weight. Of course, that might be that I don’t listen to current popular music if I can avoid it. But you don’t need good blues guitar for nigga rap music, so there it is.