Ry Cooder is heading for the Animal Farm with My Name Is Buddy.
The likely best pick in new album releases this week is My Name Is Buddy by Ry Cooder. The album has some kind of Animal Farm-sounding storyline told through original Cooder songs in dustbowl style. The Amazon reviewer describes Buddy the Cat thusly: "Buddy seems like a feline cross between Woody Guthrie and Joe Hill--a troubadour of union solidarity, interspecies brotherhood, and radical populism." For someone not known as a hitmaker, I note that Cooder's album rates as high as #12 currently at Amazon.…
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26 - Al Barger
Jaz makes a good move in defense of punk rock by invoking the sainted Ramones. They would be regarded as the original definition of "punk rock."
But the Ramones had actual SONGS. They use relatively simple musical and English vocabulary, but they wrote a pretty good number of memorable compositions. There's a real melody under "I Wanna Be Sedated."
Also, they were philosophically committed to simplicity of style, but they were more sophisticated and nuanced players than the careful facade of "punk" that they presented. There's a difference between minimalism and incompetence.
27 - jaz
original definition?
i dunno...i tend to think
Won't get fooled again is the "birth" in many ways
your mileage may vary
28 - Al Barger
Zing, the fact that you can posit an analogy or syllogism [classical snob: the who :: al barger: the stooges] does not mean that it has any validity whatsoever.
A classical music snob who doesn't even want to understand the appeal of rock music by even such great artists as the Who does not compare to a devoted connoisseur of the rock tradition who gets but does not buy the actual incompetence and artistic vacuity of such as the Stooges.
29 - Ghost of Jim Carruthers
Mr. Barger has is correct.
For example, I have to click the 'next' button when "Fell In Love With A Girl" comes around on that White Stripes cd because, man, what a load of simplistic crap that is.
30 - JC Mosquito
I agree - the guitar trashing was not what it was all about. Neither were Iggy's performances. I listened to those first three albums long before Metallic KO was even available. And since we never did get as lot of any acts (major or not) touring through here, it's always had to be about the music - heck, a picture of the artist on the album cover and a lyric sheet were gravy too. And the Stooges ignored the gravy & got to the meat & spuds as often as the Who did for my money. Sure, Iggy wrote lyrics that reflected his world vision and threw in occasional bits of his childhood experiences - just as Townsend would do in songs like "Pictures of Lily" - and who really wants to hear a song about how a guy got caught wanking by his parents (actually, that sounds more Ig than Towser)?
But to each his own. For me, the three and four chord simplicity of "The Real Me" and "Babs" coexixts with the five chord "Gimme Danger" or the two chord "1969." It's not that I'm indiscriminate - I like it all - I can even dislike it and like it at the same time.
31 - Al Barger
Jaz is further onto something by tying the Who to punk rock. They were patron saints to a lot of the punk rock movement, including particularly the Clash.
I'm not so sure about using "Won't Get Fooled Again" as the case in point, however. That's getting pretty far afield from the more narrowly focused idea of "punk rock." "My Generation" would be a more obvious example, or maybe "I Can See For Miles."
32 - jaz
"My Generation" is the cusp between "mod" and the kind of "punk" exhibited in the "New Wave" by the Talking Heads, Blondie and Elvis Costello
a different animal than Black Flag, Motorhead, Ramones...
who are themselves a different stripe of beast from Iggy/Stooges and their performance Art aesthetic
33 - zingzing
"A classical music snob who doesn't even want to understand the appeal of rock music by even such great artists as the Who does not compare to a devoted connoisseur of the rock tradition who gets but does not buy the actual incompetence and artistic vacuity of such as the Stooges."
ok, al. turn around what you just said. look at the syllogism, compare relative complexity stooges to who to classical, and tell me there isn't a connection. it's a very valid syllogism. you just said about the stooges what a classical fan would say about the who.
don't get me wrong, i love the who. but i also love pussy galore, who (sometimes) take the stooges simplicity and confrontational qualities and up them to ridiculous levels. their drums were made out of trash cans! their guitars were never tuned! every song (on certain albums) sound EXACTLY the same! the lyrics are incomprehensible! the song titles are uniformly offensive and trite! it's fucking marvelous!
you seem to have built a shell around yourself when it comes to punk rock. you're not going to properly appreciate it until you break that shell. it's just not going to happen. punk created a wide world of different sounds, most of which still reverbate today.
you're the one putting a "narrowly focused idea" on punk rock, when there's nothing further from the truth. the idea of punk was to stip rock to its core and build it back up refreshed and vital again. there are relatively few bands who were at the flash-point (i.e.--the stipping of rock to its basic elements) and even then, none could decide what that was. girl groups without phil spector? the stooges? rockabilly? was it simplicity, or anger? there wasn't one definition of what punk rock WAS. there was just an idea of what punk rock WAS NOT. no bloat. that's the idea.
from the velvets to the stooges, to mc5, the ramones, television, talking heads, sex pistols, clash, crass, pil, wire, minor threat, husker du, minutemen, pussy galore, napalm death... that's just 1987... to today's wolf eyes and excepter, punk rock has grown and changed, disappating at the same time it consistently pulses at its pure core, which, for all intents and purposes, is the stooges and what they created by "dumbing down" their sound. they fired some of the first and some of the best shots of this revolution (a few years too early).
have you heard wire's "pink flag?" there's minimalism in that, and simplicity, and their playing shows no more traditional "skill" than the stooges showed. yet, they were considered "art rock" by the other punks, even while those punks were putting 16-20 guitar tracks into each song (that's the sex pistols if you didn't know).
oi.
34 - The Ghost of Jim Carruthers
"The greatest rock 'n roll record ever made."
-Jack White on The Stooges album Funhouse.
35 - jaz
big Al sez - "That's getting pretty far afield from the more narrowly focused idea of "punk rock.""
well now, that could be because there is NO "narrow definition"
Elvis Costello playing "Radio, Radio" on SNL and getting banned for 10 years by NBC WAS a True Moment in real Punk
but so was the Moment of Anthrax and Public Enemy joining forces, reminding us to "Bring the Noise"
it's about the Ethic and Content...not simple musical styles
nuff said?
36 - Elvis
"A milestone in rock 'n' roll so overlooked it's despicable."
Refers to: The Stooges' Funhouse
Who said it?
Jack White
37 - jaz
oh SNAP!
game, set and match to "Elvis"
38 - Al Barger
First of all, "Elvis," damn you to heck for sticking my hero Jack White up my ass.
Jaz, hell yeah on Elvis' infamous performance of "Radio Radio." That was certainly one of the top all time glory moments any idea of "punk rock." Got hundreds of pictures of that performance, alphabetically sequenced such that they would make an outstanding slide show/screen saver if'n you wanted to save them.
However Jaz, there is a narrow definition of punk rock, or there wouldn't be any definition at all and the term would be utterly meaningless. The Dead Kennedys are punk rock, Billy Joel just ain't. It's a bit murky though, as there are perhaps a couple or three slightly different definitions or ideas.
There are numerous godfathers or precursors to punk rock, as commonly understood. The Velvet Underground, the Stooges, maybe early Jonathan Richman. As I've heard it explained, ground zero of "punk rock" is most commonly considered to be either the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, or the Clash. The glorious destruction spreads outward from there.
But of course, there's all the difference in the world between the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. They're fellow travelers, but very different not just in style, but in philosophy and emotional intent. It's so complicated.
39 - JC Mosquito
Regardless of definition, there's good punk rock and bad punk rock, just like prog rock, metal & whatever else styles you wanna throw in there. But there's lots & lots of everything, and sometimes you just miss it first time 'round -sometimes the second or third. The first time I heard the White Stripes, I just though "Ho humm, minimalist sloppy lo fi rock - been done before." It wasn't until about two years later that I realized it was BRILLIANT minimalist sloppy lo fi rock - with BRILLIANT songwriting. And that Meg & Jack could make a hell of a glorious noise. Nowadays, I have to listen to the White Stripes in small doses because I'd probably listen to nothing else ever again (Jeff Buckley's #1 in that category).
Really, Mr. B - you should run those Stooges albums once more - Funhouse and the remixed Raw Power. If nothing else, the Stooges knew how to make a glorious noise too.
40 - jaz
big Al sez - "It's so complicated."
Quoted for Truth
Al, the link i put above is to the actual clip of the entire performance on SNL, it's a flash player...small stream, even your antique connection should be able to handle it once it caches for a minute into your browser...same with the rest of the Performances i've put in this Thread
ain't much else i can say on the Topic. but since all yer Taste is in yer mouth...
heh
:::scampers away into the Night:::
Punk it up.
41 - Lincoln
"if your primary interest is in some ignorant moron trading verbal hostility with an audience,"
Then you've come to the right thread.
42 - zingzing
oooh, snap, part II.
al has some good music taste. he likes prince, and for that, he is a good man. i think he likes prince anyway. anybody who likes prince gets a pass in my book, questionable politics or no.
but he needs to listen to the stooges.
43 - JC Mosquito
I think it would be cool to BE Prince & live at his studio complex in ... Minnesota? or whereever? Does he still live there - well, he did years ago anyway. Just imagine - waking up in the middle of the night & phoning security at the reception desk - "Wake up the cook & have him make me a bacon sandwich & bring it to the studio in 15 minutes - and get me a bass player with a purple bass - I just got a great idea!"
44 - zingzing
i think i read somewhere that he's living in toronto now. but paisley park is in chanhassan, which is a suburb of minneapolis.
the best bass player prince ever had was prince himself. all prince needs is himself (and maybe that bacon sandwich).
45 - Al Barger
Brother Jaz, I've got a commercial DVD of the "Radio Radio" performance, from which I got the captures linked above. I highly recommend the 5 DVD set of SNL musical performances, which can be found as cheap as around $23. Among other things, this also has the famous Sinead O'Connor pope deal, which still gets me all tingly every time I watch it.
Judging by some stuff he's written in recent years, like "Animal Kingdom," I would take it that Prince is a vegetarian - so I'll have his bacon sandwich.
Now, if you come up with an endorsement where PRINCE says that the Stooges are great, THAT would impress me. He made a couple of the best songs of 2006, most recently.
Super Bowl MVP Prince is as good at almost every damned instrument as almost anyone he could hire to come in. More importantly, his multi-instrumental talents make it easy for him to work on impulse or on the fly. If he comes up with an especially gloriously freaky idea at 3 am, he can just pick up an instrument and go with it.
But he still does well to keep other musicians playing on his records, cause he's adding more human creativity. Another keyboardist might not play BETTER than Prince, but they'll be DIFFERENT, which adds new flavors to the stew and gives Prince new things to play off of himself.
46 - zingzing
if prince is a vegetarian, that must be a recent development. although, i could be wrong, as the reference to "squirrel meat?" may have been a joke.
but i don't know about your assertion that prince is better with different players. espescially not on keyboards. no one quite gets that squeel. a majority of prince's very best albums have been solo or near-solo affairs (dirty mind, 1999, sign), although i must say that some of his band albums (black album(?), p.r., parade... and the best of the best, lovesexy) have been right up there.
okay... having thought about it, and wondering whether the black album is a band album... i don't really know... and how much of parade is really the revolution... i don't know... it's all convoluted.
it depends. lovesexy and sign are his best. after that, black album, parade, dirty mind... he's quite capable either way. I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE! ugh. prince.
47 - JC Mosquito
Count me in for Black Album & Sign as numbers 1 and 2 either way.
Prince as Super Bowl MVP? Fer shure! Too bad they couldn't give him a trophy.
Prince endorses the Stooges..... you got me there. I dunno - at the Superbowl, just before his Purple Rain solo, he let out a big SQUELCH of guitar shreck - it sounded like the Stooges for a moment, anyways.
48 - Michael J. West
That this argument even went on to Comment #47 and involved so many "Oh, yeah? Well so-and-so said such-and-such!" and "But this thing ties in historically and aesthetically with that thing, and that's why it's better than you say!"...is absurd. Everybody's got different ears, there is no form of art or entertainment more subjective than music, and how could it possibly be such a big deal that somebody doesn't share your assessment of a band. So he won't buy the Stooges, and there'll be one more copy in the stores for somebody who DOES like them to buy. Big fucking deal.
But Al, editorializing aside, I was dropping a line to let you know that I ripped some Arcade Fire mp3's just for you, and for some reason my email ain't lettin' em through. My mighty heart is breaking.
49 - zingzing
fuck off, mike. you could say that about just about anything. you've been drinking.
p-thub. we come here to argue. so we argue.
50 - zingzing
ahem, mike, you're the one still arguing about cutting your kid's dick.
the stooges are far more important to a man's well-being. i think you know that. we are just trying to protect al from aids and smegma. so there.
51 - zingzing
oh yeah--new arcade fire is wonderful, eh? big old fuckin downer wonder! woo-ha!
52 - Michael J. West
Oh, I know all of that, Zingzing. And I agree, of course. In fact I readily admit that I didn't mean a word I said in the first paragraph of comment 48. (Come on - me? Of all people, disrupting a musical argument? ME?)
I was just bored and nobody'd said anything in 5 days so I figured I'd stir the pot...Oh, God! I'm a fraud! A fraud! A lying, conniving, two-faced, hypocritical, incredibly great-hair-having fraud! (breaks down)
53 - zingzing
i love your hair, michael. sometimes, it gets me so hot that i have to get off. i have a recurring fantasy about lobbing jeez into your hair in the middle of the night. it is so loaded with protein (this is in my fanstasy, you see,) that when you awaken, your hair is even more perfect than normal, and you struggle in vain til your dying day to relive that day of hair beyond-perfection.
muah, dear.
54 - Al Barger
Zing [re: comment 53]- Are such fantasies inspired by listening to your beloved Stooges? And should I consider them an argument in FAVOR of the Stooges?
Perhaps it comes from the Stooges being so musically vacuous and boring that one's mind wanders like this.
55 - zingzing
nah, al. it's an old joke between mike and me. it's older than my love of the stooges.
nice try sucking me back into it. i will fall for it: you suck at liking music! hahahah. oh. ahem. you really seem to think that the stooges' songs all sound like "no fun" or something. in fact... other than a couple stretches on fun house, most every stooges song is strikingly different. they were quite the diverse group, but for some reason... you don't know that.
56 - JC Mosquito
Oh, we're still here... apparently the bar is stil open at teh Stoogefest. I dunno... I figger if Mr. Al hasn't changed his mind yet, I'm willing to leave him alone for a bit (don't want him to have to watch another DC type thread stretch out for the next year).
What about Iggy himself? He made some pretty decent solo albums after the Stooges - The Idiot, Zombie Birdhouse & New Values I thought were all pretty decent & different from each other as well.
57 - Al Barger
Oh yes JC, the bar is still open. Like the Hotel California, we never close.