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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2021 14:08:32 GMT
I'm amending Gav's thread because I think these two acts would make for a more interesting comparison, partly because both acts are sacred cows on here ( in a way The Beatles aren't).
So if you could only have one who would you choose?
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Jun 28, 2021 0:34:43 GMT
Do You Have Any Black Friends, Pt.II: Music
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jun 30, 2021 9:05:13 GMT
Hendrix means more to me, always has, and he has more colours in his palette and a greater variety in his music. As great as the Velvets are there is something monochrome about them and I've never been as enamoured by the first two albums as some are. Rhythmically they are not as interesting either, unsurprisingly given they had a drummer who couldn't really drum. It's like Hendrix has something cosmic about him whereas the Velvets were more earthbound.
Listen to something like this....
There is such a beautiful lightness of touch. It floats. It dances. Its got rhythm and groove in a way that the Velvets don't. Which isn't to say the Velvets couldn't generate a groove - something like I Can't Stand It creates something you can dance to - but it's one note in comparison, a bit indie disco groove rather than soul/funk groove.
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fange
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Post by fange on Jun 30, 2021 9:18:43 GMT
Wow, the VU are really out in front in the poll. I just went for Hendrix though, his music runs a little deeper for me.
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Jun 30, 2021 12:21:41 GMT
Jimi had a better '70s than Lou, though Lou put out a great Hendrixian feedback leaden album.
Sterling Morrison as a useless future professor has to be the model for Adam Clayton.
What does it say when Doug Yule is your best musician?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2021 12:43:54 GMT
Hendrix means more to me, always has, and he has more colours in his palette and a greater variety in his music. As great as the Velvets are there is something monochrome about them and I've never been as enamoured by the first two albums as some are. Rhythmically they are not as interesting either, unsurprisingly given they had a drummer who couldn't really drum. It's like Hendrix has something cosmic about him whereas the Velvets were more earthbound. Listen to something like this.... There is such a beautiful lightness of touch. It floats. It dances. Its got rhythm and groove in a way that the Velvets don't. Which isn't to say the Velvets couldn't generate a groove - something like I Can't Stand It creates something you can dance to - but it's one note in comparison, a bit indie disco groove rather than soul/funk groove. I pretty much agree with all of this, and yet I still voted for The Velvets. Why? I guess ultimately I prefer the songs they/ Reed write. The greater songwriting is the difference maker, but it is close. |
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Post by Crunchy Col on Jun 30, 2021 16:15:57 GMT
Hendrix means more to me, always has, and he has more colours in his palette and a greater variety in his music. As great as the Velvets are there is something monochrome about them and I've never been as enamoured by the first two albums as some are. Rhythmically they are not as interesting either, unsurprisingly given they had a drummer who couldn't really drum. It's like Hendrix has something cosmic about him whereas the Velvets were more earthbound. Hm.. The VU put out a more diverse output than you might think. There's a world of difference between the first two songs on the first album, for one thing. And then you've got 'Afterhours' as well as 'Sister Ray' as well as 'Sweet Jane'... Hendrix does seem more colourful, I get that. That's definitely what I see in my mind's eye - his cobalt blue satin jacket, multi-coloured scarves, purple velvet loons, he's smiling. And the VU are standing in the gloom, wearing shades and their clothes are all black. Their first two albums have that feel, too, I suppose - at least in parts. They weren't aiming to be colourful, that wasn't their thing. Most photos you see of them are black and white, now that I think about it. But Mo Tucker couldn't drum?!? she had absolutely perfect timing - she was famous for it. She wasn't flamboyant, she didn't paradiddle. The beauty is in the steadiness. That's why she was hired. It's a major feature of something like 'I'm Waiting For My Man' - she turned repetition into a virtue. I don't know that anyone had done anything like that in rock before. I get that it's not for you - you're either fully on board with something like 'Sister Ray' or you're bored by it. ANYWAY - it's one guitarist - probably the greatest of the rock era - versus the only band who could stand comparison with the Beatles. I won't repeat what I always say about them, other than to say there's so much magic in their output, and as G says, there are so many stunning songs. They always seemed to be reaching for something. 'Wait Until Tomorrow' is fun and groovy and I love it, but I think you could stick a pin in a VU tracklist and find something more interesting. |
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Jun 30, 2021 16:41:10 GMT
One band gave us a song about his ding dong, another
Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jun 30, 2021 16:57:23 GMT
Hendrix means more to me, always has, and he has more colours in his palette and a greater variety in his music. As great as the Velvets are there is something monochrome about them and I've never been as enamoured by the first two albums as some are. Rhythmically they are not as interesting either, unsurprisingly given they had a drummer who couldn't really drum. It's like Hendrix has something cosmic about him whereas the Velvets were more earthbound. Hm.. The VU put out a more diverse output than you might think. There's a world of difference between the first two songs on the first album, for one thing. And then you've got 'Afterhours' as well as 'Sister Ray' as well as 'Sweet Jane'... Hendrix does seem more colourful, I get that. That's definitely what I see in my mind's eye - his cobalt blue satin jacket, multi-coloured scarves, purple velvet loons, he's smiling. And the VU are standing in the gloom, wearing shades and their clothes are all black. Their first two albums have that feel, too, I suppose - at least in parts. They weren't aiming to be colourful, that wasn't their thing. Most photos you see of them are black and white, now that I think about it. But Mo Tucker couldn't drum?!? she had absolutely perfect timing - she was famous for it. She wasn't flamboyant, she didn't paradiddle. The beauty is in the steadiness. That's why she was hired. It's a major feature of something like 'I'm Waiting For My Man' - she turned repetition into a virtue. I don't know that anyone had done anything like that in rock before. I get that it's not for you - you're either fully on board with something like 'Sister Ray' or you're bored by it. ANYWAY - it's one guitarist - probably the greatest of the rock era - versus the only band who could stand comparison with the Beatles. I won't repeat what I always say about them, other than to say there's so much magic in their output, and as G says, there are so many stunning songs. They always seemed to be reaching for something. 'Wait Until Tomorrow' is fun and groovy and I love it, but I think you could stick a pin in a VU tracklist and find something more interesting. The debut seems very deliberately black and white to stand out from the flower power crowd and musical productions of the period. I mean it's a long way from Good Vibrations and Strawberry Fields and I like colour and flash in my music.....crimson, red and emerald green. It's a NY tenement basement flat rather than a San Franciscan park in July and I'd rather be under a tree you know. I'm not gonna get too critical of the VU here mind. It's like putting Monica Vitti up against Catherine Deneuve. I'll take both. But....I think you can break the first three VU albums into roughly three songs....the softer ballad stuff (Sunday Morning, Mirror, a lot of three), the repetitive, droney rock stuff (Man, White Light) and then the weirder experimental stuff (Sister Ray, Black Angel). Loaded has a different drummer and some great songs but without Cale and the weirdness is more like a 70s rock AM record. Something is gained and lost. I've never been fussed by Sister Ray. I find it rather boring but when they let rip on, say, the live version of What Goes On and just bang the fucking thing into submission it sounds like the greatest rock n roll noise in the world. White Light/White Heat (the title track) understood that less is more, at least on record. 1983 or Voodoo Chile are epics I submit too and I go on the trip you know. I don't always with the Velvets. Larry Mullen has fantastic time! And he can do a fill! Being able to keep really good time is a prerequisite but she's not a drummer, drummer is she? She's just Bobby Gillespie with talent (or I guess that should be he's Mo Tucker WITHOUT talent and worse hair). I get that's what they wanted and it works but it also limits the band. Part of the reason why Loaded is a lot of fun is because they have a drummer who liberates them from that straitjacket. Rock N Roll flies along in a way it never could with wee Mo banging away. One thing I would say is the first two Experience albums - both released in 67 of course - and the singles/B-sides (Hey Joe, 51st, Wind Cries, Purple Haze, Laughing Sam) are more exciting to me than the first couple of VU albums. More of a Big Bang, more out there, more rock music from Venus rather than rock music from central park after dark. And you know me John...I like it cosmic me old chum! |
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Post by Crunchy Col on Jun 30, 2021 16:59:40 GMT
 aye |
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Post by Crunchy Col on Jun 30, 2021 17:03:13 GMT
Actually, those early Hendrix A- and B-sides really ARE stunning. Yes.
You're still under-selling the Velvets, they're not sulky proto-indie noiseniks, they cast their net much much wider. I should really have just posted 'Pale Blue Eyes', saying 'bet Jimi wish he'd managed THAT' - but it's too late now. We die with our words.
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Jun 30, 2021 17:14:33 GMT
Pale blue Eyes?
How about Lou coming up with a Castles Made of Sand or Little Wing?
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Post by bungo the mungo on Jun 30, 2021 17:23:44 GMT
One band gave us a song about his ding dong, another Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner do you actually listen to that for fun, gav? |
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Jun 30, 2021 17:41:37 GMT
One band gave us a song about his ding dong, another Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner do you actually listen to that for fun, gav? lightweight if you were a neighbor, you'd enjoy it, too |
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toomanyhatz
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Post by toomanyhatz on Jun 30, 2021 17:49:36 GMT
I voted Velvets, but it was tough.
So quick vote - what's the bigger canard perpetrated by detractors? Mo can't drum? Or Jimi can't sing?
Both are probably true in some technical sense. Jimi talks his way through a lot, and doesn't have a huge range. Mo couldn't cut it in a jazz ensemble or classical orchestra. But they're both extremely expressive, and use their limited skills to suit the music. About as well as anyone ever has, in fact.
I'll take Mo (at least in the context of the Velvets) over a hundred Ginger Bakers. And I'll take Jimi (at least in the context of his own songs) over a hundred Carusos.
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