DUKES FANS
Musicians, artists, writers and historical/political figures have
always been important to me. That makes sense-I am a musician myself, I
am moved and inspired by all types of art and writing, and I have been
both a teacher of history and politics and somewhat involved in them
throughout my life. Those things have always mattered to me, and they
are a part of my deepest memories. I can tell you about seeing Howlin'
Wolf ride a golf cart onstage at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Fest
or seeing Ornette Coleman playing in his loft on Prince Street in New
York City or how and why E.D. Nixon and Jo Ann Robinson are the unsung
heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and a lot more. So when one of the
artists, musicians, writers or historical figures I admire dies, it
saddens me. But it also makes me freshly aware of them all over again,
and I am able to relive some of what they did and what they meat to me.
It happens every now and then; I have come to look at it is one of the
benefits of being older. I get a chance to reflect one earlier times and
revisit and relive things that were important to me. Most often these
people are not widely known; a select niche of fans or admirers are
aware of them, but the general population is not. Every now and then,
though, we go through a rare time period where a number of widely known
important and somewhat connected folks die in a short period of time.
And the whole world takes notice. In 2013, for example we lost writer
Chinua Achebe, activist and politician Nelson Mandela, and writer
Oscar Hijuelos. We also lost great musicians such as George Jones,
Richie Havens and Lou Reed. And that same thing has happened in this
first quarter of 2016. Three unique and distinct musical greats have
perished, and the world took note.
David Bowie, Merle Haggard and Prince were all iconic and unique
musicians and performers. They each had long and varied careers; careers
which took several different turns, crossed over into film, and had
ups and downs. They were each talented songwriters whose repertoire
mixed an array of genres and feels together with their own quirky takes
on lyric writing, and they each touched me in myriad ways. Bowie, born
David Jones, grew up captured by the sounds and styles of Elvis and
Chuck Berry. Blues was his first love, but later he got into dancing,
folk, mime, psychedelia, science fiction and the idea of music as
presentation. And he drew all of those together into his musical
personas. He went from androgyny to glam to studied cool and more as
each album told stories about space travel, paranoia, fantastic
characters and more. He then went on to revolutionize the rock stage
show with his Ziggy Stardust presentations and then dove into hard rock,
soul and even disco. And in each genre he found something new and
unique to emphasize whether it was unique double guitar lines, strong
and unusual rhythms, or clever uses of studio effects. Ziggy Stardust
was the first of his albums that captured me, and I was taken by the
way he combined so many musical styles into a given song. I was also
taken by the cleverness and creativity of his storytelling lyrics. The
work he did in the late 70's and 80's has influenced rock and will for
years to come. From musical style to stage presence to style to artwork
to persona, his influence is everywhere.
Merle Haggard first came into my consciousness with his "Okie from
Muskogee" which criticized Vietnam War protestors. As I was one of the
protestors, that song did not go over so well with me. I was just
getting into old time country at that time, though, and as I explored
that genre I kept coming across these hard edged story songs and ballads
featuring "make you cry" pedal steel guitar, stinging guitar fills and
direct heartfelt vocals that were so different from what was coming out
of Nashville at the time. A lot of those songs were by that Okie from
Muskogie guy-Merle Haggard. I loved the Bakersfield sound that he and
Lefty Frizzell helped develop and the earlier Texas swing style of Bob
Willis that he also played. I loved the way he was singing straight
direct songs with simple but clever lyrics, great arrangements and
strong simple harmonies. He became a favorite, and I am glad that my
ears got wide enough to take in more styes of music.
Like Bowie and Haggard, Prince was unique and totally himself. He
played 20 some instruments and had a solid grasp of a multitude of
styles and genres: rock, soul funk, pop, and more. I first heard his
1980 album Dirty Mind, and I was impressed with the way he meshed soul,
new wave, hard core funk and straight out pop. His music captured me
from the start. I was not totally comfortable with the lyrics, and not
because the were sexual.; I tend to like the more subtle double entendre
of blues a bit more. But the music had me dancing, and that was
something Prince never failed to do. He could make silly songs
danceable, and when he combined his amazing layering of tones and
rhythms with great lyrics as on "Kiss, the result was unbelievable. He
produced an astounding number of great singles and albums: Little Red
Corvette, Raspberry Beret, 1999, When Doves Cry, Let's Go Crazy, and of
course, Purple Rain. He also appeared with numerous artists in
collaborations and even gave songs to Sinead O'Connor, Kenny Rogers
(!!!), Sheena Easton, Paula Abdul and more. An iconic artist who changed
his name, recorded hundreds of songs that have yet to be released,
formed and re-formed bands, appeared in several guises and was one of
the most private public people, his influence was widespread and his
death touched everyone. And while Niagara Falls being lit purple was
really for Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday, it was fitting that it
happened when Prince died. It's as if the universe had a sly wink, and
Prince would have loved that. And so would Merle and David.
To hear some of my favorites by each artist:
No comments:
Post a Comment