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Oldies but goodies at the Grammys

The New Neo Posted on by

Did you watch the Grammys last night? I did. I happened to tune in after this old guy’s performance was over, but it apparently brought down the house:

Mick Jagger is 67 years old. I would have pegged him for one to burn out a lot earlier than most, but instead he’s still a lean mean machine, thin as a greyhound and just as energetic.

More energetic, I’d say, than when he was a good deal younger. I guess he’s had a lot more satisfaction since then:

I hear tell there was another even older guy there. He’s gonna be seventy in a couple of months, and he’s nowhere near as—ummm—spry as Jagger. But he used to have this to say about aging:

[NOTE: I did catch Barbra Steisand’s performance. She’s not a favorite of mine to begin with, but now she sounds as though she’s lost her voice. I can’t find a photo yet, but her gargantuan dress gave her a certain purple mountain majesty.]

[ADDENDUM: I originally had a YouTube video of Jagger at the Grammys up here. But in the time between my copying the embed code and actually posting the post, YouTube had taken all those videos down for copyright violations.

I love and adore and am practically addicted to YouTube, but it does drive me nuts sometimes.]

Comments

Oldies but goodies at the Grammys — 34 Comments

  1. Well, Old Fogy and stick-in-the mud that I am, I deliberately did not watch this show–didn’t see Jagger, didn’t even see pod person Lady Gaga pop out of her Gaga-sized Egg that was carried in by her entourage on a palanquin a la an Egyptian Queen. So, I guess I missed the likely “pelvic thrusts” too.

    I really find that, increasingly, such “entertainment” on TV–be it drama or music–is tasteless, no-talent, meritless trash, and, in the case of reality TV, TV series, and drama, often vile to boot; a how to course in stupidity and degeneracy.

    Tune in tomorrow and I will tell you how I really feel.

  3. Neo:

    I’m not a huge fan of Streisand either…for a number of reasons. But, in spite of that, this is one of my favorite songs…starts out quietly telling a story about what happened in just a moment, and at the end, she really belts it out.

    “He Touched Me”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YLchRssyNI

    (This is only about the last 1/2 of the song…you really have to hear the whole thing to get the full benefit of it. It’s available on iTunes, of course.)

  4. Wolla Dalbo, it’s been that way for a long time now, which is why I don’t watch TV at all. I can’t stand award shows in particular, and everything has so many commercials it spoils anything worth watching (if you can find such a thing on there) and I patently refuse to pay extra for cable (i.e. more of the same crap) – never had it, never will have it.

    I can’t watch the Mick Jagger video because I’m outside the U.S., but that’s probably a blessing since that Satisfaction song was always pretty banal. The best thing about it is Charlie Watts looking bored out of his skull wishing he was playing with some real musicians. I like the Bob Dylan though.

    Maybe I’ll come back too and tell you how I really feel. 😉

  5. It’s hard for me to dismiss the notion that these geriatric “rockers” singing their old hits about revolution and frustrated youth (all neatly ripped from American blues) without a trace of irony is the ultimate example of Boomer hypocrisy, navel-gazing, and simple lack of imagination. If you had told a teenager in 1964 that they’d be listening to Mr. Jagger gyrate through “Satisfaction” almost fifty years later, no doubt they’d have died of laughter. Yet here we are.

    The indulgence comes from boomers somehow thinking the nostalgic rules — the thrill of watching oldsters (whether Jolson, Sinatra, or Dylan) warble through the old goodies — would never apply to their eternally-youthful selves. In one sense, I’m glad they finally acknowledged this little slice of reality; but in another, I wish these old farts would just die off already. Their “music” just isn’t good enough to keep re-hashing.

  6. Wolla Dalbo, here’s another old fogie (becoming older and fogier all the time) who feels much as you do. And I also avoid awards shows like the plague! To me they are the epitomy of self-centered self-congratulatory self-promoting egomaniacal celebrities on display. Not much more. So I generally boycott them all.

    That being said, due to a dearth of anything on TV last night, and because I usually have TV on while I am working on projects, for some sound, I flipped on for a few moments (basically to confirm what I already know!) and caught Bob Dylan — and that was really sad. I grew up in 60’s so knew him and his music but was too young for it to become part of most memorable years. He will soon be 70, and the performance included a back-up of what seemed like all the guitarists and banjo players from all acts performing at Grammys. The musicians music was loud – very – and I think on purpose. Dylan has no voice left. It was raspy to begin with, and he was known for his poetic lyrics, but he could sing in his unique way. He “talked” his song, and I think the music volume was designed to mask the fact that he can no longer sing. But, then, I think he was invited to appear more for sentimental reasons than for entertainment.

    As for Barbara Streisand, I used to love her music and regarded her as one of the most gifted singers I had ever heard. She may well be. HOWEVER, her Left Wing poitics, and more, her need to impose them on her audiences, and the use of her celebrity to foist her unsolicited opinions on the public have been a huge turnoff. Her chiding open letters, her big mouth — all amplified by a concurring liberal MSM – completely changed my regard for her. I have my political opinions and everyone is free to have their own, as is she. Problem is, Streisand cannot abide any disagreement and has become an intolerant partisan who has replaced the entertainer. This has completely changed my perception of her.

  7. I don’t watch TV either, so I didn’t hear about Bob Dylan’s appearance until after the fact. Rats.

    While I understand that Dylan played one of his old songs at the Grammys, in his concerts he is anything but a nostalgia act. His last four albums or so are among the best of his career. I’ve said many times that I’d love to see a show consisting entirely of post-2000 songs. They’re that good.

    Needless to say, there are other fans who only want to hear the old songs played the way he originally recorded them. Those fans often express frustration at the number of unfamiliar songs in his repertoire and the way he keeps changing and rearranging the old songs, sometimes rendering them almost unrecognizable.

  10. I was a big fan of the Stones through the Exile on Main Street LP. Jagger can still rock n roll, but I always saw Keith Richards as the soul of the band.

  11. Cindy Simon:

    Concerning Streisand, that’s what I meant when I said “I’m not a huge fan of Streisand either…for a number of reasons.”

    I have to work hard to separate a performer’s politics from his or her work, or there’d be almost NO ONE to enjoy.

    You’re right, Streisand is one of the worst, politically.

    I guess I’m really getting to be an old fogy for SURE.

    I’ve lived through a lot of changes on the music scene. There was no rock and roll, etc. when I went to dances in H.S. I saw Elvis, live, in Houston when he was just getting started when I was in college. (Thought the women and girls in the audience were just being SILLY.) Didn’t understand the Beetles when they first appeared on the scene.

    But I grew to like all the different “new music” things until now. A LOT.

    I suppose every generation hits a point where they just don’t “get” the new music.

    I’m there now and this time I don’t see my opinion changing.

  15. ck:
    That’s nowhere near current. It was from a tribute concert in the early 90s–nearly 20 years ago(!)

    His current band lineup (copied from bobdylan.com):
    Charlie Sexton on lead guitar
    Tony Garnier on bass
    George Recile on drums
    Stu Kimball on rhythm guitar
    Donnie Herron on banjo, violin, electric mandolin, pedal steel and lap steel guitar

    They are an outstanding bunch of musicians. They have been woven into a tight unit indeed. Tony has been with him since the late 80s, and the other members have fluctuated a bit. Charlie was in the band for several years, then he left for awhile, and now he’s back.

  17. ck:
    Thanks for posting it anyway. I’d like to post something from one of his recent live concerts but I can’t find anything online other than audience recordings, which are generally horrible quality.

  18. Yep, Valjean, the same people who laughed at their parents in the 50’s and 60’s for listening to standards from Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and hits from Broadway musicals, are loving Jagger’s Satisfaction reruns.

    At least their parents enjoyed some musicality, vocal skill, and personal renditions of others’ recordings.

  19. rickl:
    And who would have bet on Keith Richards’ longevity 40 years ago?

    Just look at Keith Richards as the living embodiment of the old DuPont motto, “Better living through chemistry.”

  20. rickl,
    I’ve been a fan of Bob from the beginning. But I’ve liked his cover bands versions better than his own. Well except for Nashville Skyline and of course Highway 61 and Blonde on Blond, which the songs were so good that you have to love Bob’s voice. When your cover bands are The Byrds, The Band and the Dead. you’re are talking serious music. Here’s the Dead doing “Desolation Row”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ojXKbYFnus&feature=PlayList&p=74B398862497AE2C&index=0

  24. I saw a couple of the Dylan/Dead shows in 1987. At Giants Stadium, if I recall correctly, he sang Desolation Row with the Dead backing him. Also Chimes of Freedom.

    That was serious goosebump territory. I was a Dylan fan long before I ever heard of the Dead. But by that time I was also a confirmed Deadhead. I was a bit dismayed by the number of Dead fans who dissed Dylan. I was like, “Are you kidding? This is practically a dream concert for me.”

    In hindsight, I can see that the mid-80s were the low point of his live performances. He has improved greatly since then. For the last 20 years or so, he has been playing about 100 dates per year. He’s like the Energizer bunny. And he’s about to turn 70.

  25. Neo’s clip of Dylan is “My Back Pages” from “Another Side of Bob Dylan” (1964). In hindsight you can see his Christian period in his early works.

    I frequently go to

    http://www.azlyrics.com/d/dylan.html

    and just select songs at random and read the lyrics. I have read poetry for pleasure for about 55+ years (thank you Mrs. Cutcliffe). To my mind Dylan is the preeminent poet of the 20th century.

  26. “Charlie Watts looking bored out of his skull wishing he was playing with some real musicians.”

    There aren’t too many musicians more real than Keith Richards.

    It’s amusing to read all these posts knee-jerking about Jagger doing “Satisfaction” 40 years later when in fact he was performing as a tribute the late Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”. One reason the Stones have lasted this long is that they haven’t forgotten their origin as a blues/R&B band (well usually haven’t forgotten).

  27. ck, that clip of Keith et al doing “Dead Flowers” is just awesome. When was it recorded?

  28. These things can be summed up as, “I’m great. who are you?”
    I have never understood the fascination with Jagger or the Stones for that matter. Jagger couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket and the group is an anathema to music.
    Lady GAGA is nothing but a poor imitation of Madonna without the intellectual savvy and that is being conservative. It is no wonder that a number of shows purporting to be looking for the next great dancer, performer, et al have so many people try out and get hostile when they get passed over. They have seen and heard so many no talents make it big that they have every right to feel cheated.
    When one listens to a judge on one of these shows say something to the effect that a woman or whatever has not won in a while then one has to wonder if talent, skill, the ability to relate to the audience, et al matter.

  30. Susanamantha,

    Glad you saw the point, thanks. I’m aware every generation thinks “young people’s music” is an abomination, but this bunch seems to have pulled the neat trick of being simultaneously old (heck, ancient) and new. Quite a trick.

    As for the Grammys, I actually pity the likes of Lady Gaga; competing with 50-year loyalties can’t be easy.

  31. Air on the G string is a good example of some modernity, some historical notes.

    A few modern shows on tv I watch feature it in the sound track.

    Air

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