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Better to Fade Away than Burn Out?
| LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 22 2009 01:31 PM |
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[quote="Fman99":2bb3gohn] New question: What famous post-1950 pop musician who died young do you wish you would have been able to have seen mature and grow up, to see what else they had done?[/quote:2bb3gohn] From "Answer/Ask"... I thought this one was crying for further examination. Jackie Wilson's a fine answer. Along the same lines, Otis. Buddy Holly would have made a great elder statesman, probably tracing a Johnny Cash-minus-sturm-und-drang-like path, collaborating with the younguns. But Hendrix may be the one I wonder about the most. Does he descend into wanky prog as the 70s wax on? Does he deign to go punk at decades' end... or does he respond in some fiery salvo of technique that burns with the energy of a thousand New York Dolls? What the hell does he do with New Wave... or rap/hip-hop?
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| metirish Oct 22 2009 01:39 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Great questions , he might have had SRV gig with Bowie....maybe he makes Blues albums and guests with U2 introducing him to a new generation....
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| Edgy DC Oct 22 2009 01:49 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Bifocals and MTV Unplugged gold.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 22 2009 02:02 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Holly might have jumped the shark, you never know. Some of his "newest" pieces before he wrecked were orchestrated crooner-y songs like "Raining in My Heart." I could see that stuff, and his wife, and a move to NY, making him some $$ and settling into a mediocre stretch. Pretty sure if Hendrix didn't die when he did, he'd have died a few weeks after that.
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| Edgy DC Oct 22 2009 02:21 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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That was my second guess. If it wasn't the candlestick in the billards room, the lead pipe in the conservatory would have gotten him for sure.
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| Frayed Knot Oct 22 2009 02:34 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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My answer was Holly - I only didn't actually answer it because I couldn't think of a question to follow it up with. He was still so young and had done so much up to that point that he probably would have been more interesting to see age than most. Yeah he could have shark-jumped along the way just as much as anyone else, but the fact that he wasn't welded to one style of music may have just allowed him to morph into something else and that might have been cool too.
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| smg58 Oct 22 2009 02:36 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket":264pjiy2]Holly might have jumped the shark, you never know. Some of his "newest" pieces before he wrecked were orchestrated crooner-y songs like "Raining in My Heart." I could see that stuff, and his wife, and a move to NY, making him some $$ and settling into a mediocre stretch.[/quote:264pjiy2] He was hardly the last rock singer to employ an orchestra. Plus, from an artistic development standpoint, I can't think of too many better places to put Holly in the early 60's than Greenwich Village.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 22 2009 02:49 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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You guys are probably right, I was just raising the possibility. The real question is would Buddy Holly Jr. rock?
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| TransMonk Oct 22 2009 03:02 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1wm2o6k1]The real question is would Buddy Holly Jr. rock?[/quote:1wm2o6k1] If nothing else, he would probably do a great job opening Monday Night Football.
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| Fman99 Oct 22 2009 05:33 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Ritchie Valens, all of 17 years old, jumps out as someone who never got a chance to mature musically. But I'll admit that when I put the question out there I was thinking of Hendrix. The guy could've gone in 10 different directions. I like to think of him moving towards jazz, horns, and a total reinvention of his sound (get his box set, listen to "South Saturn Delta" and then argue the point).
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| soupcan Oct 22 2009 06:47 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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I also thought Hendrix when I saw the question.
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| LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 22 2009 07:01 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Not only could he have gone about 50 or 60 different ways within pop milieus we know, he could have done about 100 different things outside of pop/jazz/rock. Hell, I could see him as the leader of a benevolent cult, with about a million kids. Moving to England, off the map, and starting a conservatory. Walking the earth like Kane, but with a guitar and much better self-medication. But, yeah, there's a ton of potential in some of the others... the Bar-Kays ALL died with Otis in that plane, and they were all Valens-like in age; considering the directions a lot of the Stax guys went after starting out as session guys/songwriters (Isaac Hayes, say), they could have done some beautiful things. Also, Gram Parsons and Biggie Smalls (a better storyteller than Jay-Z, who developed into the undisputed best rapper alive).
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| SteveJRogers Oct 23 2009 10:11 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Don't tell me 40 is considered over the hill! Cause I would love to seen how John Lennon would have turned out over the course of the last nearly 30 years. Especially given the last couple of decades' kick for nostalgia and reunion tours, albums and whatnot. I'd also throw in country music icons Hank Williams and Patsy Cline into this conversation as well.
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| metirish Oct 23 2009 10:30 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Hopefully not as lame as Paul McCartney.
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| Centerfield Oct 23 2009 11:12 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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I forget whether it was Milli or Vanilli that died. I really would have loved to seen their work mature.
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| Swan Swan H Oct 23 2009 11:38 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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[quote="Centerfield":37aubrc6]I forget whether it was Milli or Vanilli that died. I really would have loved to seen their work mature.[/quote:37aubrc6] Hee! Leave a banana on your windowsill and go on a three-week cruise. That should be a fair approximation. I doubt he would have done anything groundbreaking had he not died young but I would love to still be able to see the 66 year-old Jim Croce play at Westbury or someplace like that, telling his stories and singing Operator and Roller Derby Queen.
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| metirish Oct 23 2009 11:40 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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Phil Lynott......
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| TransMonk Oct 23 2009 11:48 AM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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[quote="metirish":3f5jymos]Phil Lynott......[/quote:3f5jymos] Yes!
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| soupcan Oct 23 2009 06:24 PM Re: Better to Fade Away than Burn Out? |
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[quote="Swan Swan H"]..but I would love to still be able to see the 66 year-old Jim Croce play at Westbury or someplace like that, telling his stories and singing Operator and Roller Derby Queen. |