The Last Bass Outpost

Quote from: Dave W on April 20, 2024, 03:22:16 PM
Where's #3? 

I don't know enough about Muse or the Allmans, but agree on the rest.

Off the top of my head, Violent Femmes self-titled debut is far above any since.

I posted that around 3 in the morning and counting correctly was a little beyond me at that time.  Plus, a lot of fatigue going on.  I remember thinking of not numbering at all.  Ultimately, I did but not very well. 

I think a lot of Americans don't know much about Muse.  I got interested in them in late 2004 while watching the "Hysteria" video on TV.  But I remember asking about their CDs in a store.  The clerk had never heard of them and asked me if that was some kind of 80s band.  Muse's reputation, though, some deserved and some undeserved has been tarnished a lot through the years.  Letting their music be used for those vampire movies was one of the worst things.  It shifted a lot of their audience to teenage girls--at least for a while. 

I never closely observed what was going on with the Cher situation.  Cher can sometimes get on my nerves, but I thought that Sonny and Cher TV show was actually entertaining.  In the case of Gregg and Cher together, it struck me that the public was just being cruel.  I never listened to the Gregg and Cher music enough to have an opinion.  When she was young, I thought Cher looked quite pretty.  I liked her in "Mermaids."

After looking over my own list again, something began to dawn on me.  A lot of what I've put down are bands that had songs my cover bands had done through the years.  Maybe I'm drawn to not only music I can listen to, but also music I feel comfortable in playing live.  Certainly, that could explain to some degree the preference for songs from early albums, like specifically the Stones, ZZ Top, Grand Funk Railroad, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  Bands I was in did a lot of songs from early albums of those bands.  Not ZZ Top, but that could have been easily done.  However, for various reasons ZZ Top never made it to any set list.

We did the Beatles, too, but I have to admit there was one band across town who did the Beatles even better.  Personally, I never felt very comfortable doing Beatles songs.  We never played the Allman Brothers, though, and neither did anybody else.  If you tried, you might get (justifiably) kicked off the stage.  Especially considering the Allman Brothers themselves played here twice.  There was a regional cover band, though, who absolutely mastered Vanilla Fudge.  I was in awe of them.  After being out of the area about a decade, my old drummer told me that regional cover band got a recording contract.  But things didn't work out for them.

I've been thinking about this point since I saw an Allman Brothers documentary today.  I mentioned this on another thread.  This is just subjective and reflects how I personally feel about the issue.  Also, I might preface this by naming two bands important to me that actually seemed to get better in time.  That would be the Beatles and Golden Earring. 

But this is my personal list of bands I've listened to a lot and I like their early albums the most.  This is in no particular order. 

1.  The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  I've mentioned this before several times, but I actually once had to leave a forum just because I liked Hendrix's early albums and the majority of people did not.  Specifically, that would be Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love.  You would not believe how heated this issue can become with Hendrix fans.

2.  Muse started a little slow; that is true.  But quickly they came out with some outstanding albums.  They reached a peak with Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations. their third and fourth albums. Their last two albums especially are so bad, I hardly even know what to say. 
Creatively, they now seem to be a band disintegrating, IMO. 

4. ZZ Top.  In the early years, I considered ZZ Top to be pretty interesting.  I guess the 80s might have killed them.  But the 80s killed a number of bands, including the next band on the list. 

5.  The Allman Brothers.  I've discussed some of this already on the other thread. I loved their first few albums.  But by the late 70s and especially early 80s their music had turned into a wasteland for a while.  As the years progressed, they regained their composure, more or less.  I've got most of their CDs.  But I'll always like their early albums the best. 

6.  Grand Funk Railroad.  I know a lot of people probably disagree.  But by the time of We're An American Band I probably couldn't even call myself a fan anymore.  And what about the album several albums later?  Born To Die.  Can't a band think of a better album cover than to put themselves in caskets on the cover?  That's just outright macabre.  It might have been better if more songs could have been like track 3 "Sally."  That was written about Mark Farner's involvement with the actress Sally Kellerman.  From what I've read, I think they must have had some wild times.

7.  Rolling Stones.  My attitude toward the Stones is just based on my own peculiar taste.  I realize that.  Objectively, I know this can't even be proven.  But I began to lose interest in the Stones after Let It Bleed.  For a while there, they were definitely one of my favorite bands.  But their earliest albums had really gotten through to me in a special way which could never be equaled.

This really is just a partial list.  But there are the bands which come to mind now.  My own theory is that people tend to be more creative when they're younger.  Their best music may end up being their earliest music.  Plus, sometimes you can simply just start running out of good songs.  But I'm sure some people would be able to list many bands Whose best music came later on.  In fact, logically it seems that might be what would be expected to happen.  But for me personally with the bands that I really liked, it often seems that they kind of sputtered out--to put it bluntly.  Once again, the Beatles are the most striking exception to my point of bands having their best albums early.  In their case, they just got progressively better, except for Let It Be which did a great job of displaying just how human the Beatles could actually be.  "

Now that I've got this off my chest, I can focus on the Runaways.  Because I don't even have any of their music.  But today I got "The Runaways:  Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin 1976-1978."  5 CD box set. 

Great video.  Also nice to have Pete Brown's comments. 

Yes, it was Dickey's idea to do the dual stuff.  By coincidence an Allman Brothers documentary came on earlier in the day which flooded me with info.  It made me realize that at least some of what I posted even on this thread was based on my subjective view of it all.  If you look at it objectively, there may be a different way to put things. 

It got me to thinking how I tend to focus on the earliest albums of a band.  My perception of them is often based on that.  Often it seems to me a band's best albums are the early ones.  Of course there are many exceptions.  But for me personally, it turns out that way a lot.  Certainly for me I liked the early Allman Brothers the best.  And it wasn't just because Duane Allman was there.  It had more to do with the songs themselves.  Those were just killer songs to me.  The band itself ended pretty impressively with a virtuoso like Derek Trucks on guitar.  But it ended that way only after going through many ups and downs, mostly downs it seems.  Among many other things, for instance, who would have dreamed that Gregg Allman at one point would become a laughingstock due to his marriage with Cher.  I think everyone on earth regretted that that happened.  The documentary did a good job in presenting the ugliness of that. 

I just really did like Duane Allman's sound.  Plus, I did go through a formative period in which the people I was around were literally fanatical Duane Allman fans.  These were mostly people who knew even more about music than I did.  That had quite an impact.  Also, all the albums Duane was on were my favorites.  Of course I've got practically everything else they did after Duane, too. 

I definitely agree about Brad Whitford.  The only reason I know much about this is being around a friend who is an Aerosmith fan.  She prefers Joe Perry, but I don't. 

My recurring dreams are variations on the same theme.  I'm in a foreign country, not easily identifiable in the dream.  It's nearing dusk.  I'm lost.  Often the language spoken isn't English.  But sometimes it can be.  Each city I find myself in is very different from all the others.  I'm on foot and trying to find a hotel.  Everyone is a stranger. 

I'm pretty sure psychoanalysts would say fear of being a lost is fairly common with someone who is growing older.  But I think at least part of this may be drawn from real life experiences.  Being very lost in Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland.  In the case of Ireland, I was so lost there that if people hadn't been speaking English, I might still be there trying to find my way.  In Germany, I got lost almost immediately in the airport, although it really wasn't my fault.  Customs took a long time with me.  By the time I got out the group of strangers I was with had left me.  Getting lost in Rottenburg was almost fun, though.  It was December.  Although I wasn't around many people, the atmosphere was turning a little festive for Christmas which was approaching.  Nevertheless, I barely found my way that night.  And in the late 1980s, in Germany not many people spoke English.  But my German was beyond horrible.  One time, for instance, I was in a store with some Americans.  A German sales clerk came up to them and started politely speaking to them.  Finally, I said "she is trying to ask if she can help you!"  They were just standing there ignoring her like she didn't exist.  Actually, I was a little embarrassed.  Ignorance of a language doesn't mean you shouldn't even try.   

As much as I liked Golden Earring's whimsical view of the subject with "The Devil Made Me Do It," Chuck Berry already had them beat.  When it comes to dreams, though, I usually don't have much good to say.  Too dreary for me.  I envy other people who can speak about their dreams in a positive way. 

Quote from: uwe on April 18, 2024, 03:21:27 PM
Dickey never quite received the attention he deserved while in the Allman Brothers or after, IMO.

Huh  He basically hijacked the band after Duane's untimely death and kept it going while Gregg was sinking into his heroin and whatever-induced stupor.his

Rest in peace. Excellent guitarist in a band that had an embarrassment of riches as great guitarists go.I was under the assumption that his health had suffered under decades of substance abuse too.

It depends on your perspective.  The people I was around a lot, some of which even had some contact with the Allman Brothers before they got famous, tended to put Dickey in the shadows and elevated Duane.  I'm sure I have told this story before.  But I went to high school with an amazing guitarist who once got the chance to jam with Duane Allman.  His name was Edwin and he had long red hair.  He said after playing with Duane, he put down his guitar for two weeks, thinking there was no need to attempt trying to be a guitarist after that experience.  In all the years I've known him, that was the only time I ever saw true humility in Edwin.  Because the fact is he was a great guitarist.  Certainly the best local guitarist.  But trying to compare himself to Duane Allman was another matter. 

Dickey never quite received the attention he deserved while in the Allman Brothers or after, IMO.  I don't know the details of his passing away.  This particular song was written by Billy Ray Reynolds.  The Dickey Betts' version was not all that well known.  I think the Waylon Jennings' version may have received more attention.  On the other hand, Waylon is known more for being a singer than Dickey, while Dickey, needless to say played by Duane Allman's side.  When it comes to guitar credentials, that's going pretty high. 

Once again, I have to say that I speak more as a commoner and definitely nothing else.  I grew up all around people who liked country music.  But even as a youth the only country artist I liked very much was Hank Williams.  This was all personal.  No one told me to do it.  But even when I was very young his music affected me.  It's kind of like to me Hank Williams is the Beatles of country music.  Then several years ago, I heard Amber Digby for the first time.  She is no Hank Williams, either.  But her music affects me on an emotional level in a similar way.  Amber and Hank are the real deal.  Many others are, too.  But those are the only two country singers I can actually say I'm a fan of.  As noted before, I'm mostly just a rock fan. 

I do this with a straight face when I mention existentialism.  But if you've read people like Kierkegaard and Sartre, this line of thinking can apply.  The real country singers are functioning in an authenticity.  They're very much real.  They sing from the heart.  But the bro-country and some of the other more modern artists are not authentic.  They're fake and definitely unappealing to me.  They are operating in what Sartre would call "bad faith."  I care nothing for their feeble attempts to try to pass themselves off as real country artists.  That's why I find the Maddie and Tae video making fun of them so amusing. 

Dave, that was quite a response.  You have summed it up perfectly.  Retarded goobers in the back of pickup trucks singing with fake Southern accents.  The Maddie and Tae video is something I had never seen before.  But I was literally laughing out loud immediately.  That one video may be the biggest F U to bro-country which has ever existed.  I thought the video I posted was funny, and it was; but the Maddie and Tae video was hilarious.  Just those facial expressions alone were priceless.  Sarcastic humor can sometimes be more effective than anything in making a point.  You just have to have the talent to pull it off and those girls did. 

I suspected someone would try to bring in metal, the purity of metal, and that sort of thing.  What I'm trying to say has absolutely nothing to do with that line of reasoning.  That's from the perspective of metal fans who think they have some kind of mission to preserve metal and they don't want it diluted.  I don't care about that.  I'm not a metal fan.  And when it gets down to it, I'm not really a country fan, either.  Just more of a casual country music listener.  But I don't have to have a deep country music knowledge to know that bro-country is outright rubbish.  I find it impossible to take it seriously. But to me this is like someone trying to compare lightweight pop/rock bands to real rock bands like Cream.  No one would be able to do a comparison like that.  And no one would be able to make a comparison between bro-country/fake country to real country.  It's literally a joke if you've been brought up listening to real country music all your life.

That's a good point, though, about the role country music (real country music) has played in the development of rock.  Bob Dylan had something to say in a speech somewhere.  I wrote it down I thought it was so important and here it is.

'The other half of rock 'n roll has got to be hillbilly.  And that's a derogatory term, but it ought not be.  That's a term that includes the Delmore Bros, Stanley Bros, Roscoe Holcomb, Gid Turner and the Skillet Lickers--groups like that.  Moonshine gone berserk.  Fast cars on dirt roads.  That's the kind of combination that makes up rock 'n roll, and it can't be cooked up in a science laboratory or studio."

I'm not really the guardian of anything.  Country music purists might be.  I'm not even a real country music fan.  What I object to is how phony and totally unpleasant bro-country is.  I just freaking don't like it.  Plus, even though there is no way I could explain this like Dave, I know beyond doubt that bro-country isn't even real country.  But I'm not trying to set myself up as an authority.  Justice Stewart said he knew porn when he saw it.  I can say I know country when I hear it.  I think sometimes people mistake my sincerity with something else.  That's unfortunate, but I can sometimes have a problem with being articulate.  It's much easier in person and face-to-face for me.  But in today's world that's often impossible. 

BTW, just a few minutes ago, it occurred to me where some of this had been discussed before.  It was on some topic about the Mona Lisa Twins who, of course, are from Austria.  I've listened to them several times since then.  Here is something I ran across a few days ago.  An interesting take on an old Lovin' Spoonful song with John Sebastian himself participating.