A Mash-Up Blog for The New Year

Who doesn't like a good mash-up, right? I've got a lot of thoughts going on, so I thought I'd just let them spew and see what happens. Happy New Year to all, by the way! Here's hoping for a great year, filled with great music.

Bio-pics/Music Docs
I'm an addict when it comes to any film that relates to music. The Last Waltz is by far my favorite. How can it get better than Martin Scorcese directing a concert film featuring The Band, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, The Staples, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, and many other greats of the last half century!! It can't. It just can't. But when it comes right down to it, I pretty much watch them all. There's a great one on the grunge era called Hype! that speaks a little more to my generation. Loved Walk the Line. Woodstock and Monterrey Pop also do a great job capturing the raw energy of the '60s. Man, oh man, just watch Otis Redding during Monterrey Pop. It'll change your life.

I know 2009 is going to feature a new, in-depth doc about The Doors. The Doors are a tricky band to pin down. There is so much myth surrounding this band and of course, its dead frontman, Jim Morrison. A charismatic rock star who passes before his/her prime is sure to be labelled a "legend" and with this label comes a certain amount of perfunctory myth making. Add to that a slightly sensationalized bio-pic directed by Oliver Stone and you have a whole stew of truth mixed with Lizard King lore. I'll be interested to see how this turns out. I've always liked The Doors music and have always found myself drifting away for awhile, but always coming back, which is not something I can say about all of my musical obsessions (still haven't come back to Tesla or Lynyrd Skynyrd!). There's something about The Doors that is captivating beyond words. It's dark, sinister, and prophetic music that arose out of The Summer of Love. "Our love becomes a funeral pyre"---what???? That's some crazy metaphor-ing right there! And don't get me started with "The End". Listen to the live version on their box set that was released around '97 or '98. It'll change your life.

What happened to The Singer-Songwriter?
I'm thinking about this because I just watched a tribute/doc/concert film of Leonard Cohen called, "I'm Your Man". Leonard Cohen is probably number two or number three when it comes to greatest songwriters of all-time--definitely when it comes to living songwriters. The guy is a poet in the truest sense of the word (sorry Morrison, Leonard Cohen probably has more cred than you ever did in the poet dept.). In fact he was already a published writer well before he released his first album. His songs are well-crafted masterpieces. He sometimes takes months at a time to write one song and mulls over each line and word carefully. Does anyone do that anymore?

Half of what you hear in popular music today isn't even written by the person who is singing it. Country music is still by far the most popular radio format in the nation, but is notorious for performers who sing someone else's music and not their own written material. Not too undermine the talents of professional Nashville songwriters, but it's kind of disappointing when you think you're hearing someone's inner thoughts and emotions being sung directly to you and then you find out it's just an interpretation. One example I can think of is Tim McGraw singing a song called "Live Like You Were Dying" or something like that. The song was released shortly after his father passed away and you initially think, "Wow, this is a nice, heart-felt tribute to his dad". But the song wasn't written by him! I suppose he probably channeled some of his emotions into his interpretation, but man, I felt a little cheated (not like someone who loses their dad to cancer I'm sure, but still, in my small insignificant way, I felt cheated). And yes, it does take talent to interpret someone else's work, but there's something about hearing the physical voice meet up with the literary voice.

In terms of singer-songwriter's of this generation, you kind of have to think of people who are still alive, but were more relevant in past generations: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the aforementioned Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney (although he hasn't written anything nearly as powerful since he wrote with John Lennon), Carole King, and Joni Mitchell. I suppose if you're looking for more recent master songwriters you could include Tupac, Bono, and Kurt Cobain. Tupac and Kurt are dead and Bono and the U2 crew wrote their best work in the '80s and early '90s. I guess if you're talking about relevant singer-songwriters in this moment, you could look to Conor Oberst, but I'm struggling to think of more. Some of the hip-hop guys are pretty good, like Kanye and Common, but I feel like their latest works were a bit weak. I just don't know. I guess everything is cyclical, so in a year or two, we'll probably get a rash of wanna-be Dylan's and then wish they would go away. Maybe it's a lost art.

Inauguration Festivities
Seventeen days remain until Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. It'll be a glorious day for several reasons: an end to the Bush Dictatorship, the historic swearing in of the first black man to become president, and it'll be my birthday. Maybe that last one doesn't hold quite as much historic weight, but hey, it'll be glorious nonetheless. It'll also be interesting to see who will be performing at the ceremonies. Springsteen and Obama were pretty tight on the campaign trail, so it wouldn't surprise me if The Boss made an appearance. Then you have the traditional liberal voices like Eddie Vedder and Neil Young, but I'm guessing neither will be there. Will the hip-hop community be represented? Obama once cited Jay-Z. And there's the Chicago hip-hop-sters like Kanye, Common, and Rhymefest. Will any of them be invited?

My prediction is that Jay-Z will be there on his best behavior, maybe with Beyonce, but maybe not. I think Springsteen will definitely be there and Dylan will be invited, but won't show. My hope, and I think this isn't that much of a long-shot either, is that Mavis Staples will be there as well. First off, Mavis is a Chicagoan and Barack has to keep it real with the Chicago folk. Secondly, being part of The Staples Singers, she represents a link to The Civil Rights Movement. Third, she's just an amazing person/performer. I'm hoping she'll make the guest list. Buddy Guy would be a nice Chicago addition as well.

Upcoming Podcast
Well, I'm editing together podcast number one of The Hidden Chord. I'm still shooting for a January release date and I'm quite excited about it. It will include some great commentary and discussion from Phillip Groves, Joao Morlett, and myself. It will also include an interview and music from an energetic and exciting up-and-coming band called The Shackeltons. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a more energetic live show than theirs, nor am I sure if I've met more down to earth guys than these guys. Also I'll be playing a couple of tracks from other bands who are out there grinding it out, trying to make it in today's scene. It should be fun!