How difficult for youngster to get the classics?

Smurph wrote: There are some old people who don't like the Beatles too. http://www.scaruffi.com/vol1/beatles.html

I've noticed as much about music criticism. The tendency is to romanticize the more popular groups and frame it that they redefined music by using their popularity to make adventurous music.

However, while I believe Ray Davies and Brian Wilson (musically, of course) were "better" songwriters in the traditional sense, the Beatles' music wasn't all about traditional songwriting. The way they constructed "A Day in the Life" was a lot more "modern" than Ray Davies' or Brian Wilson's sense of songwriting, where both "songs" (if you will) take on unexpected meaning when placed together. There's a kind of cryptology in the Beatles' music to which a parallel exists in modern poetry. The way associations create new meanings. Some of it was just druggy experimentation turned accidental brilliance, but there were also intentional things they did that created a unique character to their work. There were certainly other adventurous and compelling groups back in the 60s that don't deserve to be ignored like they are. But there's a reason why the Beatles' music is special.

Gerinski wrote: Well even I'm untypical for my age, born in 66 I should have been attracted to Disco, Punk, Reggae and New Age, or perhaps Hair Metal, but I never was. I have also always felt I was born 10 years too late, I was a spirit of the 60's-70's growing up in the 70's-80's. Except for a very small group of Prog-lover close friends, I never felt connected to my age mates regarding music, they made parties, exchanged albums etc and I was always the weirdo who liked who knows what. I had to be content when I got to hear some Supertramp, some Queen or Another Brick in the Wall. Actually my musical tastes are what defined my friendships, I became friends with my few close friends mainly because we all liked Prog, while most other guys in class had their notebooks covered with pics of AC/DC or the Sex Pistols, we had them covered with Floyd, Yes, ELP or Tull, and this brought us together. So I know what is liking music which is not really from your generation, but for current youngsters liking 70's music it must be x 10. Kudos to those who know what they really like and don't give a damn about what they are told to like.

Yep, my musical tastes didn't help with my popularity at school although I never really cared, I was proudly the strange music guy. I remember when I was 13 (not so long ago for you ) and I saw an ad on the newspaper about a Jean-Michel Jarre concert and I was so happy but I had no one to share the news with at school. It really wasn't difficult to convince my father to go when I got home though So I went to the concert and it was an enlightening experience for me at the time, not for the concert itself but mostly because I had the chance to speak with other persons who knew about music and I was introduced to Vangelis and Kraftwerk. I felt at home, I wasn't strange there
College was different though, I met many people interested in music and had great conversations about Prog, Classical music and Jazz.
Finally, I think this place makes it easier to be a youngster that likes 70's music.

^ hmmm ... for some reason I have never been able to connect to other "revelers" at prog concerts. Maybe I didn't try. Maybe I couldn't tune into the energy field. Maybe I don't like the concert format in general. 

^ birds of feather

Smurph wrote: There are some old people who don't like the Beatles too. http://www.scaruffi.com/vol1/beatles.html

I really liked reading that article. I went to read some of the other stuff this guy wrote. He is a really good critic.

aglasshouse wrote: I honestly think that this question is a bad one to ask on this site. Everyone who has children will say: "Man, my children listen the crap out of Eloy, ELP, Yes, and Genesis everyday."  Their world is progressive.

Yep, that's definitely why I grew up loving prog, because my dad was playing his vinyls all the time (and CDs later).  Later it was more than just prog, but it was basically my first musical experience.

I have loads of young people in classes that I teach who profess their love for old bands, especially The Beatles, but not exclusively them.  They almost invariably tell me that their parents listened to them all the time.

Nostalgia is powerful.

bhikkhu wrote: ^^I remember talking to a friend back in the '80s who managed bar bands. When I asked why most of them didn't cover Beatles tunes the response was because the chord changes were too hard.

Probably because they didn't know their diminished and augmented 7th's  There are a few musicians playing bars in my area who are very diverse and talented, but they have no interest in going any further than bars because they have a family life. That means that the other..much higher percentage of bar gigging musicians in my area are playing bars because they can. It's very sad and many of the guitar players haven't a clue on how to develop their styles of playing. As soon as you take a step forward into clubs, halls, and theaters..you begin to witness musicians that are more skilled. So bars , to an extent appeal to the shallow musician who knows but a few chords and would like to remain that way, so that he doesn't have to work very hard at showboating in front of all his friends from his workplace and maybe their wives who he would like to sleep with.

Bars are ridiculous. They set up an "open mic night" with a list of about 8 bands. One band will be performing Janis Joplin material with a fantastic female vocalist and it's just stunning, but the next act will be a total letdown. The next act might be an Arabic style blended with Frank Sinatra and then a comedian will have a spot, but it's all very cheap. "Open mic night" is a concept for the bar to make 3 times the amount of money they would normally cash in over the entire weekend.  Acts are usually in the common rule...not paid. I was shocked because a 3 piece band did a wonderful rendition of Jeff Beck's "Blue Wind", but realistically this kind of set up is like an audition in front of a crowd.


Edited by TODDLER - December 22 2014 at 10:37

Well to their defense Deep Purple was pretty boring in the 80's.

TODDLER wrote: bhikkhu wrote: ^^I remember talking to a friend back in the '80s who managed bar bands. When I asked why most of them didn't cover Beatles tunes the response was because the chord changes were too hard. Probably because they didn't know their diminished and augmented 7th's  There are a few musicians playing bars in my area who are very diverse and talented, but they have no interest in going any further than bars because they have a family life. That means that the other..much higher percentage of bar gigging musicians in my area are playing bars because they can. It's very sad and many of the guitar players haven't a clue on how to develop their styles of playing. As soon as you take a step forward into clubs, halls, and theaters..you begin to witness musicians that are more skilled. So bars , to an extent appeal to the shallow musician who knows but a few chords and would like to remain that way, so that he doesn't have to work very hard at showboating in front of all his friends from his workplace and maybe their wives who he would like to sleep with. Bars are ridiculous. They set up an "open mic night" with a list of about 8 bands. One band will be performing Janis Joplin material with a fantastic female vocalist and it's just stunning, but the next act will be a total letdown. The next act might be an Arabic style blended with Frank Sinatra and then a comedian will have a spot, but it's all very cheap. "Open mic night" is a concept for the bar to make 3 times the amount of money they would normally cash in over the entire weekend.  Acts are usually in the common rule...not paid. I was shocked because a 3 piece band did a wonderful rendition of Jeff Beck's "Blue Wind", but realistically this kind of set up is like an audition in front of a crowd.

The Beatles were once those shallow musicians, at least according to the legend in which they traveled to the other side of one of the towns they were playing in, because they heard there was a guy who knew how to play a D7 chord.

But yeah, they definitely progressed from that state.

Bars aren't so bad here, depending on which ones you go to. Especially because many of them don't have licenses for covers to be played in their venue, so they only hire bands that play originals, which, in turn, helps a lot of the artists who play originals gain exposure.


Edited by Polymorphia - December 22 2014 at 12:25

Doesn't take a lot of musicianship to work out how to play a D7. ;-)