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| From | Sam Smith <sam@lullabypit.com> |
| Subject | Re: GP |
| Date | Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:34:52 -0600 |
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Steve Alter wrote:
Great question! Ironically, the first three that come to mind were profiled 100 years ago at the start of their careers as "angry young men" in Trouser Press, if memory serves correctly:
1.Elvis Costello
2.GP
3.John Hiatt
I think I'm as big an Ian Hunter fan as you're likely to find, and RANT is indeed a great record, so in terms of longevity and quality, he's certainly there. But the thing that sets EC and GP apart for me is the consistency of quality output over a long throw of time. (If we were talking longevity and quality of voice, you'd have to put Van Morrison on the list, but I think he stopped making really meaningful music before the millenium.)
Elvis gets a slight leg up on Graham for me due to the diversity of his musical journey -- seriously, how many of you bought THIS YEAR'S MODEL 30 years ago and would have pegged him for that -- but I'd say Parker's never put out a really lousy record with the exception of the contracutally obligated PARKERILLA. (Yes the production of the first post-Rumour albums blows, but listen to the songs.) And I'm sure we haven't heard their last great records, either.
As the discussion has unfolded on one of the places I xposted my blog,
some other names have bubbled up in what I guess I'll call the "What if
they hadn't died too soon" category. I can credit Zevon with masterpieces
27 years apart, and while he probably had a couple clunker moments in the
middle of things, how many more brilliant records did he have in him? And
what about George Harrison?
--
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Sam Smith, PhD
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