Cab Calloway should have been inducted as an Early Influence anytime during the first five years of the Hall's existence so he would have been able to accept the award (Calloway passed away at 86 in 1994). If the Hall ever does induct him, he won't be able to attend the ceremony, sadly.

The Mills Brothers likewise should be in the Hall as Early Influences. Even more than The Ink Spots, The Mills Brothers pioneered the kind of vocal harmony that can be found in groups from The Drifters to Harold Melvin & The Blues to The Temptations and beyond. I can't fathom why a folk sissy like Woody Guthrie, whose reputation rests entirely on one very overplayed and stale ditty, is in while two more deserving acts like Calloway and the Mills Bros. aren't.

Posted by Zach on Sunday, 05/12/2013 @ 23:02pm

m8 do u even Dust Bowl Ballads?

Posted by GFW on Monday, 05/13/2013 @ 15:07pm

Dust Bowl Ballads is a collection of some of the most coma-inducing "songs" ever recorded. Nasally whining and amateurish guitar playing were the order of the day on this dreck.

Woody Guthrie revealed himself to be quite the rube when he pathetically admitted "Anyone who uses more than two chords is just showing off."

Translation: I'm too ignorant to learn how to better my craft and create good music, so I'll just stick to proselytizing and elementary school-level musicianship (or lack thereof).

Then again, folk does not require musical excellence. One must look to jazz, blues, country-western, and other, most respectable genres for that. To use an analogy, folk is to music what Pabst Blue Ribbon is to alcoholic beverages: cheap, disposable, and bad. Jazz is more equivalent to the finest-tasting champagne, and as such ages much better.

Music should always be about the music, namely the instruments. Lyrics are not mandatory for creating good music, but should always strive to be clever, funny, touching, or mournful (among other emotions). And lyrics must never, under any circumstances, delve into political issues. People can watch/read/listen to the news if they want to learn about topical issues. Documentaries, photographs, and articles can tell us more about historical figures/events than any 2-3 minute folk ditty ever could.

Head over to Cab Calloway's page if you want to read my analysis on why he deserves to be inducted as an Early Influence. His importance cannot be overstated.

Posted by Zach on Tuesday, 05/14/2013 @ 00:03am

Then again, folk does not require musical excellence. One must look to jazz, blues, country-western, and other, most respectable genres for that. To use an analogy, folk is to music what Pabst Blue Ribbon is to alcoholic beverages: cheap, disposable, and bad. Jazz is more equivalent to the finest-tasting champagne, and as such ages much better.

Music should always be about the music, namely the instruments. Lyrics are not mandatory for creating good music, but should always strive to be clever, funny, touching, or mournful (among other emotions). And lyrics must never, under any circumstances, delve into political issues. People can watch/read/listen to the news if they want to learn about topical issues. Documentaries, photographs, and articles can tell us more about historical figures/events than any 2-3 minute folk ditty ever could.

Posted by Zach on Tuesday, 05.14.13 @ 00:03am
--------------------------------------------------
Question: who the heck put You in charge of deciding what really constituted "correct" lyrics? Normally I do not try to answer posts that are like this, because they scream "I'm desperate for attention, can I get a rise out of anyone on this". This time, I'm willing to do so, if only because the post sounds like you are quoting from a text book.

I'm not the biggest fan of political lyrics, but a sentence like "And lyrics must never, under any circumstances, delve into political issues", sound like they are being delivered by a school marm w/a ruler in her hand, & a finger wagging at the classroom. I cannot shake this image

If this was meant to be a joke or something, give me a signal - Please! :)

oh, btw - how do you feel abut traditional American folk songs from the 1800's?

Posted by Cheesecrop on Tuesday, 05/14/2013 @ 16:49pm

I don't necessarily believe that there is such a thing as a proper set of lyrics, but if a songwriter has a gripe about the state of the world, maybe he or she should come up with a legitimate solution and implement it, rather than using his or her music as a backdrop for their so-called "messages." It's one thing for a song to raise awareness of an issue, but to try to proselytize people into accepting your message as a universal standard that should not be questioned, that's completely uncalled for.

Edgar Allan Poe best summarized the purpose of art (even though he was specifically referring to poetry):

"It has been assumed, tacitly and avowedly, directly and indirectly, that the ultimate object of all poetry is truth. Every poem, it is said, should inculcate a morals and by this moral is the poetical merit of the work to be adjudged... but the simple fact is that would we permit ourselves to look into our own souls we should immediately there discover that under the sun there neither exists, nor can exist, any work more thoroughly dignified, more supremely noble, than this very poem, this poem per se, this poem which is a poem and nothing more, this poem written solely for the poem's sake."

Or, as MGM used to remind us: Ars gratia artis.

Regarding 1800s American folk songs, I do enjoy Stephen Foster's work, especially when it is sung by Al Jolson. I've got some Jolson recordings of Foster tunes in my library, including My Old Kentucky Home and Camptown Races.

Posted by Zach on Tuesday, 05/14/2013 @ 18:15pm

"It's one thing for a song to raise awareness of an issue, but to try to proselytize people into accepting your message as a universal standard that should not be questioned, that's completely uncalled for."

Zach, and just what have you been doing here for the last year +

It's not even funny, it's depressing.

Posted by Arrow Man on Wednesday, 05/15/2013 @ 01:56am

You obviously haven't read all my posts here if you think that's my MO. Also, I don't ever recall stating that my opinions were carved in granite. I don't pretend to be an expert. I'm just a very knowledgeable music fan. I would rather leave the expert label to individuals like Will Friedwald.

The only agenda I promote here is an awareness of and respect for the pioneers of rock n roll, as well as pre-1960s music in general.

Nice try, but as always it's a failed attempt to one-up me. You may now be excused.

Zach (Currently enjoying Charlie Parker, who KOs just about all the sacred cows held in high esteem by Rolling Stone).

Posted by Zach on Wednesday, 05/15/2013 @ 04:46am

"Then again, folk does not require musical excellence."

coughJoanna Newsomcough

Posted by GFW on Wednesday, 05/15/2013 @ 14:57pm

Cheesecrop, you know how I feel bout our young stormtrooper Zach. If there were more songs that praised the overclass (IMO), der Zach would be A-OK with 'political' themes.

Posted by Paul in KY on Wednesday, 05/15/2013 @ 21:29pm

Oh, let me tell you about a dunce named Paul,
He very much loved assumptions, they were his game
But when he got caught red-handed, he had no choice but to take the blame.

Now Kentucky has given us some great individuals
Bill Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali,
But Paul is not among them, no siree!

Posted by Zach on Wednesday, 05/15/2013 @ 22:57pm