Hey Kids!
It's your old pal Fred Garvin. For those of you who I have been lucky enough to call my friends all these years, you'll know and accommodate all the conflicting personalities in here (my head) and just roll with it. For those of you who don't know me, I have been known to also go by several other nicknames throughout time: Myron Rubin, Rubin Vachaccio, Al Dente, Brer Anton, Monk #3. Those are only the non-offensive ones. The list goes on and on.
Anyway, the thing is that all of my various personalities love music - they each express their appreciation in different ways perhaps, but truly love music. The reason for this blog is for all like minded people to jump on board and discuss music with an open ear and open mind. Share stuff you may know that I don't, and vice versa.
Now I am no music critic, certainly. I am also no English major (duh!). I just love music; listening and talking intelligently about it with other people who have opinions that they can articulate better than: "Dude, that freaking sucks!" or "Dude, that is freaking good!" or "Dude, what do I care? I wasn't even born when that freaking stuff came out!"
Since my favorite record store (arcane term - tough! Deal with it!) Recycle Seedeez went out of business years ago, I have been going through a sort of withdrawal. I used to have great conversations about music - current & past - with the 3 main employees there: John, Ryan & Bill. I miss having people try to turn me on to so something new they have heard. I miss hearing what people really like and why!
That is what we are shooting for here, just a place to converse about music. My guess is there be a decided lean toward classic rock and pop, but I have been know to appreciate good jazz & country. I hope you enjoy the musings of my friends and I. I always have.
Fred Garvin
3 comments:
I'm hip, i'm hip. Count me in. Giggitty. Slap me back Jack with a heart attack. And alla dat.
I appreciate very much your "musings" on John Fogerty and the Kinks vis-a-vis comebacks. It's good to see that artists are healthy, inspired, and financially secure. That's the part I like. The other part that you are mostly talking about is mass popularity- fame and record sales and concert receipts. This is an aspect that is covered by the popular media and celebrated by the masses. At the same time, it is what allows broader access to their art (and to Cretans like me). The money, the drugs and fast life so often accompanying the mass popularity is a destroyer of so many artists, especially rock stars- it's a modern cliché. So comebacks are interesting because the groups or individuals are all the wiser, having gone through the gauntlet of mass success before. It takes a very special person to pull this off.
It seems to me that musicians who have this second life tend to write more songs about life's lessons, and sometimes a greater measure of gratitude takes up a bigger part of their attitude. In "Centerfield" (1985) you see John Fogerty celebrating baseball for what it is, and also for what it represents: the promise of a brand new start and springtime, the comradeship of the sport, that life has its downs, but the time is now to "just hit the ball and touch 'em all". In Ray Davies's case, there is a predominant change in tone from comical-and optimistic to world-weary and despairing in his take of modern life, as seen in juxtaposing the happy "Life Goes On" (1977) to the paranoia of "Destroyer" (1981); the get-over-it and get-with-it attitude of "Live Life" (1978) to the hopelessness of "Do It Again" (1984). You could pivot back to the optimism-gratitude thing in Brian Wilson's "Do It Again" (1968), written a couple years after the Beach Boy's big wave of mass popularity. The song's initially reflective-turned-to exhorting lyric is alternately swept along by a rich and multitextural do-ron-ron chorus, can't but inspire and engladden.
I have more to say about what is so interesting about comeback, but, alas- there will be other times. Thanks so much for this opportunity to say a few things. This is page might prove to be a place for many musings to be read and written.
Raul Molino
Thanks for your nice words and thoughtful commentary. It is gratifying to know that people can still talk civilly and intelligently regarding things for which they feel passion. My friends & I look forward to your future comments. Fred Garvin
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