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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2010 20:55:50 GMT
Rather than starting a new thread for each dead musician, perhaps we could use this area as a memorial for all musical deaths. If so, I would like to say goodbye to Captain Beefheart here. He never sold many records. His biggest hit album, Lick My Decals Off Baby, reached number 20 in the UK in 1970. But in a recording career that lasted from the 1960s until 1982, he succeeded in redefining the parameters of rock music.
His sound shifted over the years, from relatively straightforward blues rock to doomed attempts to court a mainstream audience; but at its height, it reached hitherto-unimaginable heights of avant garde experimentation.
Beefheart's most celebrated album, Trout Mask Replica of 1969, offered a world in which rock music appeared to have spun entirely off its axis.
The singer's earthy holler grounded it in the blues tradition, but the lyrics were wild and surreal. And the music seemed to be from another planet, far beyond even the most acid-fried psychedelic band could muster.
Standard time signatures were disregarded. Instruments – which extended beyond the standard guitar, bass and drums were set up to incorporate bass clarinet and musette – clashed to the point that it frequently sounded like everyone in the Magic Band was playing an entirely different song to everyone else.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2010 2:35:09 GMT
I was a fan of Captain Beefheart at one time,and had several friends who were rabid fans. I saw him perform in San Francisco sometime in the late 1970's and it was quite an event,not so much for the music being performed,but,for the whole spectacle of the concert it self. There were more Captain Beefheart wannabees with tophats and capes on in the audience,that it was almost laughable. It was a classic only in Haight Asbury kind of experience. I had kind of outgrown that whole thing by then so,it was more spectator sport for me than anything else. I do have fond memories of listening to him in some potato barns,very stoned,with friends of mine earlier on,say 1970-71ish. Thanks for the memories Kerouac.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2010 2:48:57 GMT
I've actually been giving Trout Mask Replica a fresh listening the past month, not having listened to Bloodshot Rollin' Red aka Willie the Pimp since being a teenager. Dada Art Blues or something like that, almost uncharacterizable. It still makes me grin.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2010 11:04:14 GMT
P.S. good idea about putting RIP's in one thread.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 22, 2010 16:53:36 GMT
He packed up music and became a painter. I insured a number of his works for some while. He changed his name to Don Van Vliet.
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Dec 22, 2010 18:19:16 GMT
Trout Mask Replica has gotten a few plays on the cd player the last few days to celebrate the passing of the Captain. What a genius. His paintings were fantastic too.
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Post by livaco on Dec 29, 2010 17:16:41 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2011 17:00:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2011 19:03:33 GMT
Actually, the other day a major former pop star died in Europe. Bobby Farrell from Aruba (Netherlands Antilles) died in Moscow where he was doing concerts.
The group Boney M was one of the top European groups from Germany in the 1970's. They sold 150 million records.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2011 19:12:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2011 20:15:27 GMT
John Barry won 5 Oscars, none of them for the James Bond theme: two for Born Free, and one each for The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves.
Something tells me that the upcoming Oscar show is being furiously rewritten to include a major homage to him.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2011 20:30:41 GMT
If anybody else is wondering (as I was) how one wins two musical Oscars for the same movie, the answer is actually quite simple: best score and best song.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 7, 2011 13:05:07 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 19, 2011 2:00:39 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 19, 2011 2:09:24 GMT
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Post by foreverman on Mar 19, 2011 9:15:34 GMT
I was indeed saddened to read of the death of Gary Moore last month, I have most of his records. He was one of the best blues guitarists to come out of the UK......
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Post by livaco on May 28, 2011 11:42:52 GMT
RIP Gil Scott-Heron
Classic GSH..
His latest, after a break of many years..
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2011 7:20:50 GMT
Thanks for the notification, Livaco. I didn't know until I saw your post.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 6, 2011 6:31:03 GMT
To quote the wonderful Mr. 9thWardJukebox:"Another part of New Orleans has died." Benny Spellman December 11, 1931 – June 3, 2011
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2011 18:51:56 GMT
Goodbye, Amy Winehouse. 27 seems like a premature age at which to die to me, but Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin found it appropriate. Welcome to Club 27.
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Post by auntieannie on Jul 23, 2011 20:55:38 GMT
sad but not unexpected, unfortunately.Hopefully she's found peace.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 24, 2011 0:48:05 GMT
She was monumentally self-destructive, but what a voice. I am sad.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2011 12:02:58 GMT
Very sad. It always is when someone dies so young. She was not only a 'singer', as so many are nowadays, but also a very talented songwriter. Her songs were full of thoughts and words that you'd think came from someone much older, full of insight.
Something that most of club 27 have in common perhaps? Maybe it's best to live your life as an airhead and not think too deeply about this world, in order to be happy....
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Post by bjd on Jul 24, 2011 16:39:05 GMT
Or maybe it's also better not to become addicted to drugs and alcohol. It seems a shame that some people who have a talent for music destroy themselves rather than making the most of what they have.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2011 17:26:38 GMT
In an ideal world, yeah sure that would be the best thing. I think if they could somehow become 'unaddicted' using a magic wand they would. Usually troubled people are the most talented. This seems to apply to creative people like musicians especially.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2011 18:19:22 GMT
Indeed, the most creative people throughout history have often been the most self destructive.
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Post by bjd on Jul 25, 2011 9:05:20 GMT
I don't know about "throughout history" but I think it's more complicated than creative person= self-destruction, for contemporary musicians in particular. They become celebrities when they are still quite young and undergo huge pressure from managers, fans, the music industry, etc. And they can't cope so they turn to drugs or alcohol. Even worse I suppose for manufactured teenybopper "stars" like Britney Spears, who didn't even have any talent to start with.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 25, 2011 16:23:59 GMT
I was a fan of Amy Winehouse, but like everyone else, didn't see her pulling out of the downward spiral.
My take is exactly like Bjd's. I read Marianne Faithful's autobiography, and one of the main things that hit me was how all of those (then) kids were living out the teen/very young adult fantasy of ditching the parents & doing exactly as they pleased. Couple that with the massive adulation they received plus all that Bjd lists, and you have a recipe for arrested development & self-destructive behavior.
And really, if you watch Britney Spears' early videos, she was lively, cute, and enthusiastic, with certainly sufficient talent that could have been channeled into something good and satisfying to herself.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2011 18:13:57 GMT
I'm sure Britney Spears has her own particular kind of talent. What that may be is in the eye (and ear) of the beholder. She certainly has enough talent to make millions buy her C.D.s. As far as I know she doesn't write her own songs, nor are her songs in any way made to make you think, other than of the obvious.
I've read Marianne Faithful's autobiography, a really good read, very candid. Many musical artists come from average or poor backgrounds, they have a 'need' to succeed, be rich, be famous, and once they do, they can't always handle it. Some are luckier than others and have a good solid support system that works for them, others may have that same support system and still go haywire. A bit like the average, every day person wouldn't you say? And yet others have no support system, but still hold it together. It all depends on the person and their copying skills.
Having said that, I stand by what I said, many (note: not all) - creative people carry demons, and it comes out in their music, as it did with Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin and others that died young. I agree with Kerouac, looking back in history there are many (painters, actors, musicians and others), who died young, due to their own demons and the destruction that caused.
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Post by lola on Jul 26, 2011 0:44:21 GMT
So sad to hear. She was a great singer and had a lot of style.
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