A little ray of sunshine from Bob Dylan before he stops off at our Memorial Stadium in a couple of weeks:
Noting the music industry's complaints that illegal downloading means people are getting their music for free, he said, "Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway."
Today's reality check. What Paul McCartney thought his life might be like at 64:
The last time I said something mean about Barry Manilow, I was roundly thrashed by members of his international fan club, who will apparently let no slight stand. A woman in England wrote, "Children, calm down there is no need to throw your toys out of the pram just because people love the Manilow."
Yesterday, we talked about good music -- picking one song from every year you've been alive to come up with a playlist for your life. Today, let's talk about the worst songs ever. CNN.com got 5,800 responses to its request to name the worst song of all time and compiled a top-five list (actually, it would be the bottom five, wouldn't it?). I don't quibble with the awfulness of the songs on the list they came up with:
5. "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks
This is just an interesting post:
For her 36th birthday, a friend asked a favor: Name one great pop song for each year of her life. I added a rule of my own, not to choose more than one song by any one artist. If you're gong to make a mix tape, you've really got to mix it up. For my birthday, here are 37 of'em. We'll start in 1969 and work up to 2005.
I haven't heard all these guitarists, so I can't comment on the overall quality of this guy's choice for the 100 greatest rock guitarists, but it has some credibility with me because he got No. 1 right (and I wouldn't argue too much about the top 3). No one before or since Jimi Hendrix has gotten closer to pushing the guitar to its full potential; of all the rock stars who died too young, his, before he reached the limits of his talent, if he had any, was the greatest loss.
Happy 80th birthday to the Grand Ole Opry, an American institution with a bigger Indiana connection than you might realize. Still a lot of good country music out there, even if it has drifted too far from its hillbilly roots and become another part of the corporate music culture. The good news -- a lot of country stars are starting their own labels; maybe that will re-energize the music.
I thoroughly enjoyed the two-part Bob Dylan documentary on PBS Monday and Tuesday nights, although it seems odd that all the recent Dylanmania focuses on his first few years when he's had a career lasting more than 40 years. There's a reason for such '60s wallowing, as post-boomer critic David Greenberg points out in a Slate article:
Lots of interesting music comes to Fort Wayne that's below your radar if you just count on the newspapers, radio and TV to keep you informed. People show up and play, and the word, you know, just gets around. One of my favorite experiences was around 12 years or so ago when I heard, around, that Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was going to be at Columbia Street West on a Wednesday night. I don't know what the approved capacity of the place is, but it was exceeded by two or three times that night.
A piece on THE Great Lost Album. Like most pop criticism, it's overthought and overwrought, but it's right that the Beach Boys' importance and Brian Wislon's talent often get overlooked. And I defy anydody to find better driving-around music.
