Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
This track makes me want to turn on the news like it's still 1970 and we're in a war. Wait, that's today. I reviewed a Rolling Stones track because somebody gave me a copy of 40 Licks. A good one for the collection whether you agree or not. There are some who say they ran the Beatles and Stones into the ground and don't listen to them anymore. That may be me because sometimes I find when one of either of the aforementioned's songs comes on the radio, I usually listen for a while and if the sprit moves me, sing along. But I more often than not, find myself changing the station 1/2 to 2/3 into the track.
So I wondered what is to be gained to re-listening to something you've heard an insane number of times? My high school English teacher told us that when she reads Shakespeare even after so many years, she still finds something new. So comparing the Rolling Stones to Shakespeare isn't exactly kosher. Without the benefit of history, such claims are bogus; but what if?
Their influence is there. The attitude is a necessary part of rock and roll. Could there be a Ramones or Strokes or Oasis without the Stones? A lot of credit probably should go to the Kinks for that actually, but the point is with the Rolling Stones success, they made it cool first. They cleared out a slippery slope, or did they roll a snowball down a hill? Whatever the cliché, they were key to the acceptance of the genre of Rock And Roll in its early stages.
Rappers always give props to Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata for making hip hop happen. In such a way, we should give some love to the rock masters of old. Once I worked a job where I had lots of time to talk about stuff with the people I worked around. I had a friend named Steve. He was about 15 years older than me but had a coolness about him. We talked a lot about music we liked and Steve had many great theories about how the Rolling Stones are great music for lovemaking, etc. (probably only applies to white people, but never mind that) Sometimes Steve and I used to joke that we liked the fine English poetry of Jagger and Richards.
So I wondered what is to be gained to re-listening to something you've heard an insane number of times? My high school English teacher told us that when she reads Shakespeare even after so many years, she still finds something new. So comparing the Rolling Stones to Shakespeare isn't exactly kosher. Without the benefit of history, such claims are bogus; but what if?
Their influence is there. The attitude is a necessary part of rock and roll. Could there be a Ramones or Strokes or Oasis without the Stones? A lot of credit probably should go to the Kinks for that actually, but the point is with the Rolling Stones success, they made it cool first. They cleared out a slippery slope, or did they roll a snowball down a hill? Whatever the cliché, they were key to the acceptance of the genre of Rock And Roll in its early stages.
Rappers always give props to Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata for making hip hop happen. In such a way, we should give some love to the rock masters of old. Once I worked a job where I had lots of time to talk about stuff with the people I worked around. I had a friend named Steve. He was about 15 years older than me but had a coolness about him. We talked a lot about music we liked and Steve had many great theories about how the Rolling Stones are great music for lovemaking, etc. (probably only applies to white people, but never mind that) Sometimes Steve and I used to joke that we liked the fine English poetry of Jagger and Richards.
posted by Troy at 10:12 PM
2 Comments:
Hmmm. I never listened to much Stones on purpose. Yes, they have the influence and perhaps they made commercial rock cool, but I think one of the early and sadly unknown forces in RNR is Link Wray. His music fuckin rocked hard and this guy was playing in the 1950s. You may know his song "Rumble" or "Ace of Spades" from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. "Commanche" is another rocker. The thing is he did some stuff that could be considered borderline surf and got relegated to obscurity.
As for hip-hop, Kraftwerk had a direct influence on Afrika Bambaata beats-wise. I can't say that 4 pasty white Germans invented rap but they invented cool ass analog beats: that's for sure!
Sure, dude. I know what you mean. Some of the lesser known acts are what really formed the foundation of rock. But certain groups put a face on it making it marketable and cementing it in the consciousness.
Now modern R&B is another story, after Trans Europe Express, very few soul and hip hop groups used many analog instruments. The influence of the four pasty Germans was massive. That is why I have to say KRS-One is straight trippin' when he says most modern popular music is nothing but a rip off the music of the African-American. Four white devils saved a genre that had started with Blue Note's later discography and started to stagnate in the age of disco. R&B was in a sad state in the late '70s. So yes, props to Kraftwerk. Most people don't own one of their albums but their influence is everywhere.
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