tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2877063244906611203.post6412860426363599222..comments2023-04-06T03:07:14.221-05:00Comments on The Parrot's Lamppost: Friends With (Creative) Benefits: Ira, David, Me, Rock and the Writing of Our TimeTony Altermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18136925406940818982noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2877063244906611203.post-49543320785725694402015-08-16T12:45:33.074-05:002015-08-16T12:45:33.074-05:00kul postkul postweb lolhttp://web-lol-slo.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2877063244906611203.post-75839821827280144462014-01-05T14:45:51.096-05:002014-01-05T14:45:51.096-05:00In addition, CSN more or less birthed one of the w...In addition, CSN more or less birthed one of the worst eras of music of the rock era:the soft-rock & pop, mellow,country rock,laid back shit.Ultra-smooth,ultra-slick,played by the best El Lay studio pros, whose playing was as good as it was superficial and soulless, Fool's Gold.And the tempos were always deliberately slow and lazy,mid-tempo at the fastest. Before long,AM & FM were ruled by the likes of James Taylor and/or Carly Simon,Paul Simon solo,Bread,America, Poco,The Eagles,Jackson Browne,Bonnie Raitt,Little Feat,Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,Loggins & Messina/Kenny Loggins,Bob Welch,Firefall, Seals & Croft, Linda Ronstadt,and many more. Many,many cities also had artists that were guilty of making this shit,but L.A. was the guiltiest of them all. <br />Lester Bangs was right in labling this shit "I-Rock" his fantasy of wanting to gouge James Taylor with a broken bottle of Ripple.<br />Don't tell me that any of this shit was better ,overall,representing the true spirit of Rock & Roll,than GFR, wahtever GFR's limitations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2877063244906611203.post-42503546989370847472014-01-05T00:07:21.272-05:002014-01-05T00:07:21.272-05:00I first read Ira's article on Grand Funk a yea...I first read Ira's article on Grand Funk a year ago,and after going over it ,I believe that if there was one band that "killed" R&R - until,in Ira's words,the beginnings of Punk and New Wave in New York in the mid-70s - it was not GFR. <br /><br />No,I would never go out of my way to say they are in the pantheon of R&R greats,or even that were extremely underrated.All I'm saying,is that I will take their most mediocre hard rockers over any of the "best" offerings of what I believe was the band that killed R&R in this time period: Crosby,Stills & Nash - with,or without,Neil Young. <br /><br />I'll take "Walk Like A Man","Heartbreaker","Foot Stompin' Music","Bad Time", "Are You Ready?",and a few others ,over "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes","Our House","A Song Before I Go","Marrakesh Express","Deja Vu","Woodstock","Guineviere", "Teach - brainwash - Your Children", et al, any day. <br /><br />I'll take GFR's high energy garage crudity, over CSN's softer/folky/slow-mid-tempo, ultra-professional-studio musician-perfectionism,and ultra-precise harmonies,of so many L.A. groups of that era; as well played as it was superficial,and soulless Fool's Gold. Flawless professionalism isn't always everything.<br /><br />GFR was always totally SINcere and ,mostly,unpretentious,while CSN always reeked of hippie personality INsincerity and pretensions ( Crosby,most infamously; the smugness,the smarminess, the egomania,to name but a few of his insufferable traits ),reeked of nasty,we're-way-smarter-and-hipper-than-you attitudes, the obnoxious political preachings,the delusions of grandeur of their greatness - in their lyrics, onstage,offstage,or in interviews.Group Megalomania! <br /><br />GFR were never anywhere near so full of themselves. Even in any of their rare political statements,GFR were never so obnoxious.And they were always far more likable than David,Graham and Steve will ever be.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com