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--- In , DP <noetical1@y...> wrote:
> supertwang:
> I thought I'd chime in on this one: in many cases, as
> musicians age they tend to "evolve", but just remember:
>
> The Ramones
> The Tornadoes
> Neil Young and Crazy Horse
> Lightning Hopkins
> Link Wray
> Mike Watt
> and of course, our old pal, Dick Dale
If I may offer some friendly disagreement, The Ramones did evolve
over time, just not to the extent where they ended up sounding like
Rush or anything. "Questioningly" sounds like a completely different
band than the one that did "Chainsaw" and "Blitzkrieg Bop," and it's
only three albums later.
They started using short leads or the occasional clean or acoustic
guitar, and Dee Dee's lyrics got really personal as time progressed
("Born to Die in Berlin," "Poison Heart," etc.). Granted, the overall
sound/approach wasn't too different at the end, but I'd argue that
AC/DC has changed far less than the Ramones. (I'd say Motorhead as
well, but there's that handful of songs where Lemmy actually tries
singing, not to mention Steve Vai played on their newest album.)
I'd say Watt's evolved as well--his new album has some total stoner-
rock organ playing, and his current band is a three piece with organ
instead of guitar. Plus there's his side project Dos, which is just
two bassists.
Neil's put out some stuff that's far, far removed from his usual
sound (or sounds)--"Trans" is new wave with a ton of vocoders, and
there's also his rockabilly album ... I think he's been committed
more than anything else to making the music he wants to make,
regardless of whether it's country or rock or epic guitar jams or
even new wave or rockabilly.
> I think they are all great examples of older musicians who
> in many case struggled and fought tooth and nail to
> preserve their "raw" spirit and simple style well into
> their golden years. My conclusion? Musical lameness is not
> alway synonymous with "old age".
No argument here--even though Dick may hate the surf tag (or not,
I've lost track--does he still or did he ever actually forbid his
drummers from playing the surf beat?), I'd say without hesitiation
there's a definite committment present in their careers.
Pete Townshend, on the other hand ...
Cheers,
-Warren
