"It seems to me that to organize on the basis of feeding people or righting social injustice and all that is very valuable. But to rally people around the idea of modernism, modernity, or something is simply silly. I mean, I don't know what kind of a cause that is, to be up to date. I think it ultimately leads to fashion and snobbery and I'm against it."
Jack Levine: January 3, 1915 – November 8, 2010
LEVEL BILLIONAIRES OUT OF EXISTENCE
Hey schmucko -- guess what inspired Paul McCartney "Lady Madonna" piano part. https://powerpop.blogspot.com/2022/02/ivories-well-tickled-occasional-series.html Apart from being a genius, Paul had better taste in jazz than you do. :-)
A bunch of white Brits doing an imitation of old fashioned New Orleans jazz from four decades before, yeah, I can see how you'd like another white Brit guy copying that more than the real thing as a living kind of music that changes and has individuality. I went through that here a number of years ago, showing how jazz did what rock didn't, develop and grow. Stevie Wonder has genius, Paul has or had talent. He chose generally better pop music to copy. He wasn't as much of a jerk as your god, Mick Jagger who, in one of the first interviews he gave proved he was an asshole from the start when he said, "I don't feel morally responsible for anyone". Him and Trump, same morals.
I post this only so I can post this from Slate magazine:
"Like many Motown artists, Stevie Wonder was a Beatles fan—of sorts. “Stevie loved the Beatles, mostly Lennon and McCartney for their writing,” Wonder’s childhood best friend John Glover says in Mark Ribowsky’s Stevie biography Signed, Sealed, and Delivered. “That was where he saw their genius, not their performing—in fact, he didn’t think they performed some of their songs as well as he could do it.” That’s a sentiment that requires a lot of chutzpah, but Wonder backed it up on 1970’s “We Can Work It Out,” a track that so thoroughly reimagines the Lennon–McCartney classic that it feels like an entirely new piece of music.
“Stevie communicates joy unlike any other artist I can think of,” said music writer Oliver Wang in the Slate Academy “Pop, Race, and the ‘60s.” And it’s joy that Wonder’s cover of “We Can Work It Out” conveys most clearly, unlike the Beatles’ beautiful but pensive original. The Beatles’ straightforward acoustic guitars and wheezing harmonium are replaced by Wonder with an infectious clavinet, a jubilant harmonica solo, and stabs of electric guitar. And where the Beatles’ version feels very much like a kind of suite showcasing the contrasting styles of their two chief songwriters—McCartney’s sunny optimism on the verses and chorus, John Lennon’s world-weariness on the bridge—Wonder’s cover is propulsive, cohesive, its energy never flagging even for a second.
As Jack Hamilton points out on that same Slate Academy podcast, Wonder recorded “We Can Work It Out” at about the same time in 1970 that he was negotiating with Motown’s Barry Gordy to take a stronger hand in his own career. The deal he eventually made allowed him to launch his “classic period,” and “We Can Work It Out” serves both as a sonic prelude to that period and a kind of explanation for how it ever could have happened. It’s a masterpiece of exuberant funk that expresses through rhythm, through lead vocal, and through those background “Yeah!”s (delivered by Stevie himself) a kind of relentless happiness at how effectively music can combat uncertainty. It’s been the ideal soundtrack for me through difficult times and will continue to be so forever. It’s perfect. Go listen to it right now. Life is, after all, very short."
"Of sorts." Hey, I noted Paul had talent, which borrows whereas genius steals. They copied the tradition that Stevie Wonder was a part of.
Hey schmucko -- guess what inspired Paul McCartney "Lady Madonna" piano part.
ReplyDeletehttps://powerpop.blogspot.com/2022/02/ivories-well-tickled-occasional-series.html
Apart from being a genius, Paul had better taste in jazz than you do. :-)
A bunch of white Brits doing an imitation of old fashioned New Orleans jazz from four decades before, yeah, I can see how you'd like another white Brit guy copying that more than the real thing as a living kind of music that changes and has individuality. I went through that here a number of years ago, showing how jazz did what rock didn't, develop and grow. Stevie Wonder has genius, Paul has or had talent. He chose generally better pop music to copy. He wasn't as much of a jerk as your god, Mick Jagger who, in one of the first interviews he gave proved he was an asshole from the start when he said, "I don't feel morally responsible for anyone". Him and Trump, same morals.
ReplyDelete"Stevie Wonder has genius, Paul has or had talent."
ReplyDeleteSays the ignoramus who doesn't know that Stevie covered Beatles songs.
I post this only so I can post this from Slate magazine:
ReplyDelete"Like many Motown artists, Stevie Wonder was a Beatles fan—of sorts. “Stevie loved the Beatles, mostly Lennon and McCartney for their writing,” Wonder’s childhood best friend John Glover says in Mark Ribowsky’s Stevie biography Signed, Sealed, and Delivered. “That was where he saw their genius, not their performing—in fact, he didn’t think they performed some of their songs as well as he could do it.” That’s a sentiment that requires a lot of chutzpah, but Wonder backed it up on 1970’s “We Can Work It Out,” a track that so thoroughly reimagines the Lennon–McCartney classic that it feels like an entirely new piece of music.
“Stevie communicates joy unlike any other artist I can think of,” said music writer Oliver Wang in the Slate Academy “Pop, Race, and the ‘60s.” And it’s joy that Wonder’s cover of “We Can Work It Out” conveys most clearly, unlike the Beatles’ beautiful but pensive original. The Beatles’ straightforward acoustic guitars and wheezing harmonium are replaced by Wonder with an infectious clavinet, a jubilant harmonica solo, and stabs of electric guitar. And where the Beatles’ version feels very much like a kind of suite showcasing the contrasting styles of their two chief songwriters—McCartney’s sunny optimism on the verses and chorus, John Lennon’s world-weariness on the bridge—Wonder’s cover is propulsive, cohesive, its energy never flagging even for a second.
As Jack Hamilton points out on that same Slate Academy podcast, Wonder recorded “We Can Work It Out” at about the same time in 1970 that he was negotiating with Motown’s Barry Gordy to take a stronger hand in his own career. The deal he eventually made allowed him to launch his “classic period,” and “We Can Work It Out” serves both as a sonic prelude to that period and a kind of explanation for how it ever could have happened. It’s a masterpiece of exuberant funk that expresses through rhythm, through lead vocal, and through those background “Yeah!”s (delivered by Stevie himself) a kind of relentless happiness at how effectively music can combat uncertainty. It’s been the ideal soundtrack for me through difficult times and will continue to be so forever. It’s perfect. Go listen to it right now. Life is, after all, very short."
"Of sorts." Hey, I noted Paul had talent, which borrows whereas genius steals. They copied the tradition that Stevie Wonder was a part of.