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Re: The Black Crowes
In a message dated 8/4/00 4:01:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Owner-Over-The-Rhine at actwin_com writes:
<<
Aha, there it is...One person's "preserving a tradition" is another
person's "derivitive". Isn't preserving a tradition why they make
recordings, so we can enjoy the old stuff and not keep doing it over and
over? Isn't the real artist the one that does something original,
something that comes from within and owes nothing to anyone - or any
tradition? Sorry, I've been reading Ayn Rand...this topic is kind of at
the front of my brain right now. (Besides, I really don't like blues.)
Just an unwelcome thought...
>>
Kelvin, you do make a good point. I am not saying that the Black Crowes are
original. But I disagree with the statement that the real artist is one whose
work owes nothing to anyone or any tradition. Many times great art comes
about by preserving a tradition, but doing so in a manner that makes it
unique. For example, the world that J.R.R. Tolkien created in his Lord of the
Rings trilogy wasn't entirely original. He took characters such as wizards,
elves, & dwarfs and made their world seem so real that the reader is not so
concerned with the originality of the story, but rather the way in which
Tolkien took characters of myth and made them seem real. I feel that Over the
Rhine does that same thing. They create beautiful music that is timeless,
because they seem to have a good appreciation of what came before them. Just
check out the reccomended listenings on their website. I do not think for a
minute that the Black Crowes are good examples of true artists, and I don't
think they claim to be either.
That doesn't make them second class musicians, just less original. I think
that we too often try to be so original that we forget to look at what has
come before us. Every artist owes his/her work to something...something
inspired them. "Nothing under the sun is truly new" ( forgive my ignorance of
the exact Bibilical passage).
Also, as fans of music in the 21st century, we should ask ourselves, "where
would music be today if not for the blues?" They have had a tremedous
influence on popular music. I hope you enjoyed my ranting...
Brittney
P.S. Thanks for responding though Kelvin, I really like these discussions...
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