Tragically Unhip: Artists I have been listening to lately
Submitted by jgandcag on Tue, 09/10/2002 - 05:20
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- 1.O. V. Wright- One of the best unknown Soul Singers that populated the R and B charts in the Sixties and Seventies. A voice to rival Otis Redding and when soul legendary producer Willie Mitchell got him reined in his material was just a notch below Redding’s for power and grace. If this is your type of music and you know nothing about O. V. then track down his The Soul of O. V. Wright and you will not be disappointed.
- 2. The Beautiful South- I actually liked The Housemartins a little more than Beautiful South but I like the dichotomy of Heaton’s downtrodden lyrics and the catchy pop music driving those lyrics. They sometimes are too cheeky for their own good but in small doses they can be a lot of fun.
- 3. Tom Waits- one of the true originals still making music. I have been alternating between his latest Blood Money and his classic Rain Dogs. I always feel bad that I am not having a shot of whiskey and 2 packs of cigarettes when I listen to him. I don’t know if you can call him under appreciated or overlooked but he is certainly a treasure.
- 4. Susannah McCorkle - Ah what a voice who left us too early last year. I have been listening to a couple of her Cd’s where you can find just beautiful renditions of some of the greatest songs ever written. Well worth seeking out if you have never heard this wonderful singer.
- 5. The Tams - Surf music meets Soul and this often forgotten group out of Atlanta played some of the best up-tempo soul hits of the early to mid Sixties. Their biggest hit was What Kind of Fool (Do you think I am) but lots of nice songs on their greatest hits compilation.
- 6. Loudon Wainwright - Some only know him as Rufus’ dad or for his novelty song Dead Skunk in The Middle of The Road but this son of a rich Look magazine writer and editor has been telling his life story in all its ugliness and beauty for 30 years now. Much like life itself some is very good and some is horrendous but it usually is never dull.
- 7. Lauryn Hill – I admit I am becoming so unhip about today’s music I am beginning to become worried. I sometimes think the greatest example of my ever increasing age is my detachment from what is popular or even critically praised. But of course getting old you realize being hip is of very little importance and listening to music you like is far more important. I really like Hill. She is not as good as she thinks she is but her career should be a very interesting one to follow
- 8. Weezer – Another popular artist that I really like but that is probably because they sound like they should have been making records in the late 70’s or early Eighties. I have been listening to their latest Maladroit. I like it but it took me three or four listens to really get into it. It is growing on me.
- 9. Waylon Jennings –I had just found out he died earlier this year (I have been staying away from the Media this past year) so I had to pull out some of his classics for a listen. For those who only know him from Dukes Of Hazard fame you are short changing yourself. Along with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash he helped develop the outlaw country movement of the 70’s. And Country music owes him and them a heap of praise and recognition. If it wasn’t for the popularity of that movement the palp and schmaltz coming out of Nashville in the seventies would have killed country long before Garth Brooks and the latest flock of pretty boys took into pop music in big cowboy hats.
- 10. Richard and Linda Thompson – Specifically the classic Shoot Out The Lights. Easily one of the best albums of the eighties and along with Springsteen’s Tunnel Of Love one of the greatest popular artistic messages on the pitfalls and perils of modern adult love.
I will try to add to this list every once in a while.