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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "josh chasin" <jchasin@nyc.rr.com> |
| Subject | Re: Bob Z vs Sgt P - the grudge match |
| Date | Tue, 2 Sep 2003 16:37:55 -0400 |
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The real question, of course, is:
Who would win: Dylan and the Beatles-- or Ditka?
No contest.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Seaman, Dave" <seamand@upmc.edu>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 12:41 PM
Subject: Bob Z vs Sgt P - the grudge match
> I said:
>
> >> Well, I'd rather listen to Sgt Pepper than the first 7 Dylan albums.
> >> Butthat's just me...
>
> Then Bill said:
> >>Well let's see we are putting Sgt. Pepper alone against Dylan's first,
> Freewheelin, The Times They Are A Changin, Another Side Of, Bring It All
> Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. I agree that isn't
a
> contest; Dylan wins hands down. OK I am one of those who rates Sgt.
Pepper
> at the bottom of the Beatles Albums but please compare the songs on those
> Dylan Albums with the ones on Pepper (overall except for a few great ones,
> not the best songs the Beatles ever wrote) and I think you'd have to agree
> that this one is really no contest with Dylan way out in front and only a
> few of the Sgt. Pepper songs reaching the heights of the best Dylan songs
> on those LPs.
>
>
> Now I say:
> I agree with you that there are GREAT Dylan songs on these albums; also, I
> put several (maybe even most?) of the Beatle's albums above Sgt Pepper.
> Nonetheless, I still listen to Sgt Pepper more than any Dylan. My
statement
> is that I like to LISTEN to Sgt Pepper more than Dylan - I said nothing
> about comparing the value of Sgt Pepper to Dylan.
>
> I very much respect Dylan's work, but I can only take him in small doses -
> like, in the middle of a mix tape or on the radio. I guess it's mostly
his
> voice, and partially his chord progressions (and maybe a little bit the
> playing and production?.. er... well, I do think the playing and
production
> is pretty good, just not terribly interesting). Dylan was a fabulous
> songwriter but I'd rather hear the Byrds do Dylan than Dylan do Dylan.
And
> please don't peg me as one of those who prefer ear candy to a solid meal
of
> good songwriting -- I'm one of the first to say that good songwriting is
the
> most important thing. The songs have to be there, and if they're not,
great
> production can't save the day. It's just that there is a point where
song
> presentation, particularly vocals, has to be at a certain level of quality
> for me to want to listen to it in any volume, and I guess Dylan hits me
> below that point.
>
> Same with Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Tom Waits -- great, great songwriters,
but
> I like them best a few songs at a time rather than 40 minutes at a time.
Of
> course, I can listen to Springsteen, Davies, and Petty in large doses -
> maybe my threshold falls somewhere between Bruce and Bob D?
>
> As for Sgt Pepper, I think there are some great songs on the album, some
> good songs, and some mediocre songs. I can't think of any off the top of
my
> head that I think are truly horrendous songs. But the whole elpee is
> sonically interesting to me, and even though much of it is not great
> Beatlesongs, it's still the Beatles, ferchrissakes! Put John and Paul and
> the boys in a studio w George Martin for a few weeks, and I could probably
> listen to them sing the phone book. Apart from their usually excellent
> songwriting, I just love how they sounded together. Who doesn't?
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