Rich Cohen
Senior Member
Our assessment of the individual Beatles members is colored by our overall impression of the group. Individually, they can't be ranked the best of all time.
Was John the ultimate musical visionary of our times?
- Thread starter Guildedagain
- Start date
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I said visionary, nothing to do with virtuosity or ability to write a good song.
His stuff was so profound - Imagine - that it got him killed not long after he wrote it.
Personally, I very much dig his message.
Evermore now.
His stuff was so profound - Imagine - that it got him killed not long after he wrote it.
Personally, I very much dig his message.
Evermore now.
Rich Cohen
Senior Member
Yes, I get your point.
You can't have this conversation and not include Bob Dylan. There are many greats, but perhaps none greater than him, at least in my opinion.
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,785
- Reaction score
- 8,914
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
You are ascribing a motivation to Chapman that appears to contradict Chapman's own statements.
Charlie Bernstein
Senior Member
Ultimate musical visionary? I'm pretty sure it was Wild Man Fischer.
wileypickett
Enlightened Member
I'm a fan!
wileypickett
Enlightened Member
Responses seem to be more about who people like rather than who was "most visionary."
If we're limiitng the list to who was most popular, the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, Brian Wilson, James Brown, Barry Gordy (if you consider him the architect of Motown) and others -- however you feel about them -- were revolutionary in that they altered the paradigm of the culture of their time; they forged a path that changed the trajectory of music (and style, sense of identity, sometimes even politics) in countries throughout the globe, not just English speaking ones. (You could add Sam Philips and the Chess Brothers to that list.)
We draw from the list of artists we grew up with of course, but every generation has its visionaries. Louis Armstrong was certainly one; Bing Crosby another; Elvis.
I don't know much about rap or hip-hop, but the artists who kick-started that particular genre have had a phenomenal effect on the culture and young people of their time.
When I think of visionaries, however, I'm as likely to think of classical composers (Ives, Stravinsky), jazz (Holiday, Parker, Coltrane, Miles, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler), blues (Muddy Waters), rock n roll (Chuck Berry), avant-garde (Stockhausen, Messiaen, Varese, Cage), experimental rock (Beefheart, Can, Faust, Neu!, AMM) -- none of whom were popular the way Bing Crosby or the Beatles were popular -- but were every bit as inventive and revolutionary (if not more so) in their ideas, than their Top 10 brothers and sisters.
They pushed the enveolpe of what was considered acceptable. Often they created the envelope.
If we're limiitng the list to who was most popular, the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, Brian Wilson, James Brown, Barry Gordy (if you consider him the architect of Motown) and others -- however you feel about them -- were revolutionary in that they altered the paradigm of the culture of their time; they forged a path that changed the trajectory of music (and style, sense of identity, sometimes even politics) in countries throughout the globe, not just English speaking ones. (You could add Sam Philips and the Chess Brothers to that list.)
We draw from the list of artists we grew up with of course, but every generation has its visionaries. Louis Armstrong was certainly one; Bing Crosby another; Elvis.
I don't know much about rap or hip-hop, but the artists who kick-started that particular genre have had a phenomenal effect on the culture and young people of their time.
When I think of visionaries, however, I'm as likely to think of classical composers (Ives, Stravinsky), jazz (Holiday, Parker, Coltrane, Miles, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler), blues (Muddy Waters), rock n roll (Chuck Berry), avant-garde (Stockhausen, Messiaen, Varese, Cage), experimental rock (Beefheart, Can, Faust, Neu!, AMM) -- none of whom were popular the way Bing Crosby or the Beatles were popular -- but were every bit as inventive and revolutionary (if not more so) in their ideas, than their Top 10 brothers and sisters.
They pushed the enveolpe of what was considered acceptable. Often they created the envelope.
Charlie Bernstein
Senior Member
Merry-go! Merry-go! Merry-go-round!
Charlie Bernstein
Senior Member
You have clearly not paid close-enough attention to Wild Man Fischer!