What Has Happened To Music ??????

[Guildman]

Originally Posted by mickthemiller

I blame Pink Floyd, but I still love 'em. There's still lots of live music about here in the UK in pubs. Lots of great acoustic/folk/roots music just down the road from me here in Doncaster almost every week at the Ukrainian Club.

"Blame Pink Floyd" Are you just being "tongue in cheek" lol? I'm glad for the posting of this thread because a lot has been put into words that I could never express. There is still an abundance of good musicians and by numbers probably more. I think the fact that music was so open via radio that it raised the bar back in the day. None of this happened over night and the internet, ripping songs and having to search for certain genre has largely contributed. As far as mid stream, the young people are more about selfies then caring about if an artist wrote the song or plays the instrument.

[Napman41]

What happened ? Nothing that I can tell. There are 100’s of great bands and performers out there giving it their all every night of the week. One just needs to open their eyes and ears and leave their comfort zone to find good music-bands-performers. In the last few months I’ve seen the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tab Benoit, Richard Thompson, Ronnie Earl, Jason Isbell, Paul Winter, Dave Alvin, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, plus numerous others . Good music is out there you just need to go find it.
And for the record I’d say that Yes was the epitome of bombastic overwrought cerebral noodling that was endemic of the 70’s lame music scene.

[musicman1951]

I believe that Jessupe is exactly correct. The business model is now gone.

Some of it was probably luck: groups like Yes, The Beatles, Cream - how often do you run into ensembles with that kind of synergy? Not often. There were amazing players that happen to hit the time when blues found rock music: Clapton, Beck, Hendrix, Page. Their creativity had a lot of interesting places to go.

Aside from Rap (which is not a personal favorite) many of the groups I hear now don't seem to have taken the genre much further than it was 40 years ago. Compare the music of the late 60's - 70's to the music of the 40's and 50's. There were some incredibly creative changes taking place.

There are reasons the Classic Rock stations are popular with many of the younger generation.

There are still amazing players out there. The best concerts I've attended in the past few years both had Chris Thile: solo and with Goat Rodeo Session. But I don't generally see that kind of creativity with pop music.

[Guildman]

Originally Posted by Napman41

And for the record I’d say that Yes was the epitome of bombastic overwrought cerebral noodling that was endemic of the 70’s lame music scene.

Yep, Layla and all those lame Allman brothers songs of the early 70's, Marshall Tucker, Skynard, what a lame bunch. Prog music was just a different audience but a lot of us enjoyed both.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by BT55

....Back then and for years following bands came out and performed. They actually played their instruments, no autotune, dancers or backup singers - just good music. What happened to those days when musicians ruled ???

Other than autotune, I disagree with your whole premise, but Autotune is the singer's issue and has nothing to do with playing instruments.

You mention the 70's. Take a real look at music from the 50's 60's and 70's. There were "always" backup singers and dancers, too.

You may not like the style of current music (for example I greatly disliked the 90's and gangsta rap era) but that doesn't mean they aren't "real" musicians, really performing.

Last season we saw a dozen concerts. I am seeing more musicianship and talent than ever before.

[Long Jon]

I got here a bit late but I see that your views have already received the rebuttal I feel they deserved.

FWIW, I loved Steve Marriot, didn’t care for Frampton’s input.

Hated Yes and Sabs about equally.

Was present (but didn’t actually join in), when Chris Kristofferson got booed off stage at the Isle of Wight,
waiting for Hendrix to come on, way off his head, way out of tune.

Happy Daze !

[Napman41]

Originally Posted by Guildman

Yep, Layla and all those lame Allman brothers songs of the early 70's, Marshall Tucker, Skynard, what a lame bunch. Prog music was just a different audience but a lot of us enjoyed both.

Can you say Spinal Tap ?
Actually I’m a great fan of Duane and I’d offer that Derek and Dominoes were one of the highlights of the early 70’s. The first record is easily on of the best albums ever recorded.

[paulp1960]

Originally Posted by AgentKooper

Rather than repeat the obvious point that there are a ton of worthy bands out there making great music right now, with their own instruments and everything, I’ll just point out the irony that someone who booed Black Sabbath off the stage for more Humble Pie is wondering “What has happened to music?”.

Yes that made me laugh - fancy booing Black Sabbath off stage!

I'm sure that band contributed to my tinnitus today but they played a great gig when I saw them in the 70s.

[MHC]

No, no, no, no...

Don't you go waxing nostalgic and wishing for the 70s back. I endured them too and I think you've got some "selective recall" happening. Here are a few of the top musical acts of the 70s - the ones who made the big money:

• The Captain and Tennille
• Abba
• Jerry Jacks (Seasons in the Sun)
• Debby Boone (You Light up my Life)
• Tony Orlando and Dawn
• The Osmond Brothers
• Olivia Newton John
• The Bee Gees
• K.C. and the Sunshine Band

And don't forget that the 70s brought us Disco

And I'm pretty sure The Monkeys didn't play their own instruments.

In fact, one could make the argument that the best thing about music in the 70s were the musicians who were still hanging around from the 60s. Like all the Beatles and CSNY and Paul Simon and Dylan, and so on.

My point is that every Era has its pop-pap, and every era has some very fine musicians writing excellent music. In the 70s you had the energy to find the good stuff - well, with only a little a bit of energy you can find good stuff today... like... Neil Young and John Prine who are still playing. LOL Just kidding.

I recently saw Julian Lage and in a few weeks I'm going to see Della Mae.

[Long Jon]

Originally Posted by MHC

And I'm pretty sure The Monkeys didn't play their own instruments.

.

No, nor did The Monkees !

[Bob Womack]

It's an interesting response to a genuine question. In today's culture the "new" is right and the old is "wrong" and anyone who prefers the old is bad. Interesting.

There's another angle to this discussion that might be more specific and might provide a more "meaty" subject to discuss: Back in the '70s I noticed a continuum between a couple of poles in the music industry. At one pole were musicians who played their music and the music was the center of their work. Onstage they basically came out and played their music and the crowd enjoyed that music and considered the music to be the point of the concert. At the other pole were performers who performed music but the music was a tool to support their performance. Their audiences came to witness an even and the music was part of it but pageantry, sets, dancing, effects, and/or costumes, were expected.

I describe this as a continuum because on one hand music was the whole point of the band and on the other, stage performance was the whole point and music was simply an element. In between the poles there were bands who crossed over into the other poles territory. I was fascinated by the continuum and tried to figure out where I wanted to fit. Once I noticed the continuum, I evaluated bands in terms of it.

What I noticed was that over time the performance aspect began to be more important than the music aspect of what is called the music industry. Was it motivated by the audience or was it simply what was offered by the record companies? I can't answer for you but I can give you an example:

In the 1990s I served as a recording engineer for a "star search" TV show put on by a record company. There were six candidate acts and one of them was going to earn a record contract. In the final round we were down to three: a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, a six-piece jazz-fusion band, and a boy-girl duo who sang to tracks. The singer-songwriter was excellent. He played well, sang his excellent original songs well, and was very camera-friendly. The duo were dressed in rad, up-to-the-second, sexy clothes, and the female knew how to shake her thing. Their songs were repetitive, simple, and splashy. The jazz band was absolutely stunning. Their music was complex but accessible, they were camera-friendly and engaging, but the music was the thing. They had the audience eating out of their hand.

At the end of the competition the crew and production people stood around and opined who they thought should win and all agreed the jazz band should win by a landslide and the singer-songwriter should come in second. The studio audience was polled and had the same opinion. The judges return with their verdict: the duo won. I asked the show's producer, a friend of mine and one of the judges, how that could happen? He said, "Bobby, the jazz band didn't have a chance. The record company wasn't going to pay to travel a six-piece and they wanted performers rather than musicians."

That was in the middle of the metamorphosis I watched in the industry. It has continued to swing towards the emphasis on performance over music. Just because there are still pub bands performing (in an admittedly shrinking and challenging bar band industry) and a few music centers such as Nashville and Austin where music-centric bands thrive doesn't mean there isn't a creep in the industry towards performance-based acts. I look at country music and see it. Despite some virtuosity, I see Americana as a genre mostly based upon stage performance with fairly simple retro music.

Does that offer a little more specific detail to discuss without bashing the OP?

Bob

[walruscaesar]

Musicians today are very talented but lack soul and feel. The Beatles, Sam Cooke, Carol King, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding, Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Still, Nash and Young, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Fred Astaire, BB King, Tina and Ike, Son House, Lightnin Hopkins, the Drifters, Swan Silvertones, Paul Simon, the Zombies and Janis Joplin are just a tiny portion of the tip of the iceberg of many many great musicians and singers of the past that can't be touched today by the bland uninspiring artist's and musician's who are technical wizards on their instruments but bore you immediately with their lack of heart, weak vocals and uninteresting songs. My opinion only but I stick by it, I've tried to listen to modern rock, pop, RnB, and soul but it lacks energy and power and sucks the soul out of me instead of inspiring me and raising the hair on my neck, so I'll stick to the old stuff.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

No, nor did The Monkees !

I'm pretty sure Davey Jones did his own tambourine parts. I tried for years to make it as a studio tambourine player and got nowhere.

[flaggerphil]

Originally Posted by BT55

In the early 70's I went to a concert. Third on the bill was Yes on their first trip to the US. They flattened the audience and were brought back for an encore. Second on the bill was Humble Pie. During I don't Need No Doctor Steve Mariot's guitar broke. Peter Frampton played a solo for about fifteen minutes while they fixed Mariott's guitar. They finished and yes, another encore. Top of the bill was Black Sabbath. We boo'd them offstage and Humble Pie came back and finished the show.

Back then and for years following bands came out and performed. They actually played their instruments, no autotune, dancers or backup singers - just good music. What happened to those days when musicians ruled ???

You sound just like my father did back in the '60s...he grew up on swing and big band music. Rock n Roll was just unpleasant noise to him.

There are concerts and bands everywhere for everyone's taste. My kids...in their 40s...go to concerts all the time. So do my grandkids who are in their 20s. And I just got back from a Rock n Roll cruise that had six acts from the '60s.

It's all good.

[Kyle76]

Concerts today, even by classic artists who helped create rock music, are just too choreographed. In the early days, an enthusiastic crowd could keep the encores coming almost indefinitely. There was spontaneity, or at least there seemed to be. Now, even the encores are choreographed, and you can bet that the show will end on time. “The show is over when the house lights come on,” I’ll say after the first song of an encore. That’s usually at the stroke of 11. Encores used to be a reward for enthusiastic audiences, now they’re just part of the set list.