... that there were so many making great music? Think about it, (just to name a few) Yes, Genesis, The Who , The Doors, the Stones, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Zappa the list goes on & on. The shear amount of talent that came out of that era is amazing!


I don't want to sound like i'm stuck in the "classic rock" era, 'cause i'm not. I get tired of hearing the same classic rock tunes day after day at work. And i really enjoy hearing new music as often as i can also.

Back then, these bands seemed to have the combination of talent & popularity of the masses which is so rare these days.




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We were born to go as far as we can fly; Turn electric dreams into reality... -Hawkwind-

Spacehead:
One must be careful...there are several things that the perspective of time gives to history. Two are: a forgiveness of sins, and a narrowing of scope.

Forgiveness of sins
I saw Jefferson Airplane, Cream, and an assortment of other such bands of the 60's in concert during that time. Such performances were almost invariably awful - a combination of technical problems, drugs, and the fact that live music failed to hide a host of musicianship ills. Crosby, Stills and Nash, even if they were sober (Nash usually was, the other two invariably weren't), were almost always desperately out of tune. The vabulous recordings from that era are equal parts genius, dumb luck, and good studio production.

Narrowing of scope
Music stations that thrive on the reprising ad nauseum of 60's music play probably about 2 or 3% of the bands and material that was getting air play then. There was a lot of trash. The older an era gets, the more the bad stuff gets relegated to the dustbin, and so the "golden era" seems a lot more golden than it really was.

As hard as it is for me to acknowledge, the era in which we currently reside may, indeed, take on a "golden" tinge from the distance of 40 years or so - though, frankly, I doubt it, and I'm quite glad I won't be around to witness it if I'm wrong . . .

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"The problem with the world is that the ignorant are cock-sure, whereas the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

I think the key to the success was musicianship. There were very few "shortcuts" in terms of technology. There were archaic arpeggiators, but not much else in terms of "auto" anything. If you wanted to play something difficult .... you had to actually LEARN to play it. What a concept!
Todays players use lots of auto help to get the sound, and most new music is impossible to perform live. That's not really a bad thing, in itself, but the lack of chops is certainly more evident with todays generation of players.
It's a shame too - these guys are missing out on a lot of fun.

I suspect that there is still a lot of "good" music being made today, however subjective that "good" may be. I also believe that there are still people who have the desire to learn their instruments including a few with the musical abilities of the Frank Zappa's, Chopins, Mozarts, or whichever era you choose.

I also think that everything is so canned now, that many good musicians may never be heard, at least through the mediums that we've become accustomed to using. Don't our choices become limited when a small few major record companies control the ocverwhelming majority of what we are allowed to hear ? On top of that a very small amount of huge corporations control virtually all of the commercial radio stations in nearly every major market in the US ( Clear Channel - 1170 stations and counting )

Old School: I LOVED listening to CSN music in their heyday, but it nearly broke my heart to see or hear them live, because every time I did they sounded awful.


AJ

Of course there will always be great players from every era of history. My comment is that there are not as many, because there is no need to HAVE to learn to play to create a marketable product. I'm all for progress, and invention but I am also very sad that many music majors in todays class of college students probably counldn't play the "Popeye" theme or the "Jetsons" music .... just to name a few. These pieces had tons of articulated 16th notes at break-neck speed, and I just don't think the current class of cats are up to the task.
(Sure, there are SOME)
I'm not a "When I was young..." kind of person. I love the way technology has aided my business, and I adore getting new toys, but I put in my time on the basics for ages before I had any auto-anythings.
There is lots of music being written and performed today that I really enjoy, so it's not a case of nostalgia. If I had to pick an era to get "stuck in" - It would be really difficult for me to do. I'm somewhere in between the dixieland/big band swing era and the funk/jazz/blues of the 70's. Mostly, I am motivated by horns. I think there is no substitute for a blaring horn section in ANY style of music. Each note played in real time, by real musicians, on real instruments. It's a thrill to watch, and a joy to listen to. I was a Woodwind major at Temple in the 70's - any other converted horn guys playing keys now? I still drag the clarinet and the flute to gigs once in a while, but I sold all my saxes for keyboard gear over the years. (snif....snif)
I miss my Mark VI, but I've lost the "edge" in my lip - so it would just depress me to play it and sound like a string band player.
(Don't start yelling ! I played in string bands too! All I mean is that it's COLD, and you're marching around, some guys are drinking and it's NOT the most musical of experiences!!! An there's all that Banjo strummin' too ... out of tune and all yukky))

Thanks A LOT Uncle Dave. Now I can't get that &^%$#@! Jetsons theme out of my head. Oh well, guess maybe if I PLAY the melody a few times on the keys and make a synth sound up for the stupid little whoosh of the spaceship... maybe I'll get sick of it and it'll go away.

I kinda am stuck in that 70's funk / blues era though too a lot UD. I'm not that " when I was young " kinda guy either. It's just that I'm sure that I remember years ago I could turn on a radio on FM and actually find a station somewhere that played something different other than the top 40 top 100 or whatever. I know that when I mention this, one might think that I'm straying in a different direction than the topic, but actually I'm not. I was inspired to learn different techniques and styles BECAUSE of what I was able to hear as a kid.

Sometimes I'll give a listen to what's out there on things like Spinner Plus and other internet mediums. There is a lot of good music out there yet. It's just that you'll rarely EVER hear any of it from the force fed garbage radio stations here in the US. Every morning if I turn on the radio I can sample what radio wants our our vast culture to become by listening to the radio and programs like " Howard Stern " or some moronic morning zoo crew ( What major market here doesn't have at least one of those ? )


Heck, listen to a few commercial foreign stations online. Some sound just like ours, but then others, hmm I can still find some magical stuff.

This is what our current mediums force feed our kids. There is virtually NOTHING out there that I hear coming from our mass media that encourages creativity or individuality, so what motivates them to learn playing an instrument ? If we as parents, teachers, instructors, and generally people who are "carrying the ball" aren't capable or in some cases even willing to try to do it even if it's just by helping to open their minds to new or different experiences, then I suspect nothing will. The money driven media isn't going to do the job for us. A huge part of the challenge includes making it interesting and fresh enough to grab and sustain their interest.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-11-2002).]

Hey AJ,
Here in Philly, two of the hottest stations are from local colleges. U of P has a rock/alternative station(WXPN) and Temple has a jazz/classical station(WRTI).
These are on most of the time in my car, just so I don't get over-exposed to "hits". I like to listen to stuff that I don't play everyday. It helps clear my head.
There must be a progressive, radical station nearby that won't bore you to tears.

Hi Uncle Dave,
I'm a converted player. I still play on my sax every once in a while (crummy little soprano). The selmer mark 6 had to be the best sax ever created (wish I had one). Unfortunatly a sax cost way too much these days. Now I use a yamaha wx5 wind midi controller hooked up to a yamaha vl70m virtual acustic tone generator.

There is a lot of good music out there. It's just so hard to find. I make it a point to spend time at some of the mp3 sites just listening to whats going on out there.


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www.besonic.com/kaboombahchuck

I've had several wind controllers too, but I just love the feel of a wooden clarinet under my fingers. Plus, they all use the sax fingering, and I'm really a clarinetist first. Sax was just a way to play in the jazz band. I played Bari. (and LOVED it !)

How about a converted sax player. I wish I could play sax ala Dave Coz, David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Groover Washington style. I have a passion of playing sax since then but the sax cost too much. Playing keyboard for more than 20 years can I still learn to play sax?

Good sounds from 60's and 70's. I wish we can bring back those years. I always miss my early bands composed of 9 to 10 members doing covers of Chicago, BS&T, Tower Of Power, EW&F. I tried to do this again but it seems like it's hard to get a booking for 9 piece band in today's DJ and sequencer era. Do we ran out of good tunes like those from our old favorite band? Or what's happening now is the result of technological change, auto-help, click and drag, cut and paste culture.

Hey... some of todays group or solo musicians add some 60's and 70's delight. How did they do that? Did Sugar Ray ask Carlo Santana's brother to use that la, la la , la, on one of his song? Janet J. on Ventura Highway? I'm a Believer? I don't know who did that. Well...those are memories. So long guys, I have to go to the attic and find my Blue Magic and Uriah Heep album. I'm craving to hear them now once again. Good night guys. This board's been great since its creation.