Stewart -- Are you a Joyce Hatto fan? She was an undistinguished British piainst who died last year, who was suddenly discovered. A slew of recordings that seemed to establish her as a true talent. Guess what - it was a hoax. It unraveled when someone put in a Hatto CD in his computer, and iTunes indicated it was a different artist. The two discs were compared -- and they were identical. Her husband admitted that he committed the fraud so that his wife's life could end on a high note. This is post about the fraud -- I couldn't find a link to the wire story on the admission: http://www.stephenpollard.net/003148.html Mike Bennett Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com Find out about Chicago shows: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/ >From: "Stewart Mason" >Reply-To: audities@smoe.org >To: >Subject: Re: What IS influence, anyway? >Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:02:12 -0500 > > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Sam Smith" >>So I guess I wonder - there being a good number of musicians here, and >>plenty more informed listeners - is there a standard that says if I can't >>hear it, it's not really an influence? Or can influences be more or less >>invisible to the listener of the finished product? > >I think so, or at least so buried that you don't recognize them until the >artist says they're there. I'm sure I've used this example here before, >but I once read an interview with Brian Eno where he said that when he was >in school, he was addicted to his parents' Ray Conniff albums, particularly >the wordless vocal choruses. I wouldn't have made that connection on my >own (fan though I am of Conniff myself), but remembering that quote in the >context of hearing, say, "Taking Tiger Mountain" or "On Some Faraway >Beach," I just think, "Well, yes, of course." > >What bugs me is when I can hear nothing BUT the artist's influences, >especially when it seems like an artist is influenced solely by a certain >set of stylistically similar bands. I don't mind when you can baldly hear >an artist's influences IF he's combining several different styles into one >whole (the High Llamas' blend of Brian Wilson, Steely Dan, Antonio Carlos >Jobim, Ennio Morricone and Mouse On Mars, for example), but when you can >listen to an album and hear that the songwriter's influences stretch all >the way from the Beatles to Badfinger, with a short detour into ELO, I'm >just not interested. > >S > _________________________________________________________________ With tax season right around the corner, make sure to follow these few simple tips. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/PreparationTips/PreparationTips.aspx?icid=HMFebtagline