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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | The world's greatest rock'n'roll band (was: Stones to tour ...) |
| Date | Fri, 13 May 2005 10:01:02 -0500 |
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Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 11:13:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Hersh Forman <hiforman@yahoo.com>
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: Re: Stones to tour ...
Message-ID: <20050512181352.73360.qmail@web53004.mail.yahoo.com>
Greg and Rob: I was making a (obviously weak) attempt at humour.
You are both reading too much into my snide comment.
I wasn't really reading anything into it, Hersh. I was just saying that your
query as to whether or not I liked the Stones' songs reminded me of that old
*CREEM* article. I knew that you were kidding to at least some degree, which
is why I called Neil Peart "deadly serious" in comparison to you.
All that I'm saying is that I have no interest in seeing the Stones at this
point in their career doing a stadium show of the same old songs. To me,
I'd be bored outta my skull. Hence my "yawn" comment.
The Stones might be "the greatest rock 'n roll band of all time" for you.
Again, I hearken back to classic-era *CREEM*, whose madcap genius Rick
Johnson once referred in print to the Stones as "the world's greatest
rod'n'reel band". Dunno if Mick and Keef and Charlie watch much Babe
Winkelman, but I've been using that *CREEM* line to describe them ever
since.
I've noticed that I have a lot of Audities company in terms of my feelings
vis-a-vis the Stones: I love their '60s and early '70s work, feel that they
dropped off steeply from *Goat's Head Soup* onward (the only post-*Exile*
album I'd give an 'A' grade is *Some Girls*, and nothing else gets above a
'C+' in my book), and acknowledge their vast legacy and their considerable
weight in the rock pantheon.
But my personal feeling about their self-proclaimed "world's greatest
rock'n'roll band" title is this: The band that truly owns that claim changes
every night. Somewhere in the world at any given moment a band is playing
its collective ass off, is feeling the vibe, and is having an absolutely
transcendent night onstage. They have the joint rockin', goin' round and
round. It could be a bar band in a dive in Mankato where the old Hamm's Beer
sign out front is blinking unsteadily, or a rising young outfit doing a
university gig in Leeds, or a veteran band on tour in a mid-sized club in
Vancouver or Sydney or Louisville. Or it might be a band in Calcutta or
Tokyo or Athens. It might even be a band in a stadium or arena every now and
then, although that's a lot less likely nowadays than when the Who was
working the big-shed circuit. But somewhere on this planet a band is peaking
onstage and deserves the title "the world's greatest rock'n'roll band". But
they don't own the title; they only borrow it. Tomorrow night some other
band in some other town will earn the title. And the fact that these bands
will never know what they've achieved doesn't matter in the slightest.
Every time I set foot in a club I hope that I'll catch lightning in a bottle
and will witness the world's greatest rock'n'roll band. Don't know if I've
ever done so, although I can name a few times I think I came close. But you
never really know about this sort of thing, and I'm OK with that. What I
*do* know is that if I never go out to see live music, I'll never even have
the chance to see the world's greatest rock'n'roll band.
(The catchphrase attached to the Clash, "The only band that matters", is to
me even more egomaniacal and incorrect than the one employed by the Stones.
And I loved the Clash, too.)
Not for me, not by a long shot. No sense in arguing personal taste,
because, well, it's personal!
You might go see them and love it. More power to you.
Hah. Drop at least a benjamin for a Soldier Field seat 100 yards away from
the stage? After all the noise I made on Audities in the recent
McCartney-tour thread about my near-ideological refusal to see any stadium
shows and pay massive ticket prices, no matter who it was?
Not bloody likely. If the Stones were to do what they've often done in the
past when visiting Chicago, which is to play unannounced club shows, I'd
certainly go check them out. Otherwise, Mick and the boys aren't getting a
nickel of my money on this upcoming swing-thru.
Gregory Sager
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