tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5567440262296372023..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Why Are We Here?Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-90309799147851068032017-01-16T03:48:13.320-08:002017-01-16T03:48:13.320-08:00Karen Carpenter, yes. One of my favorites. So pure...Karen Carpenter, yes. One of my favorites. So pure and clean tone. She sings slightly behind the beat like a jazz horn player. Sinatra set the standard for phrasing the same way. debasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546940741042023260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54074649924240540062017-01-15T08:57:56.874-08:002017-01-15T08:57:56.874-08:00It can come out in unexpected ways. For example, ...It can come out in unexpected ways. For example, I find that Karen Carpenter and Brian Wilson (in his prime) have an achingly soulful quality, even though they are by no means soul singers, and would sound foolish if they tried to be. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2152052492416010462017-01-15T08:53:43.832-08:002017-01-15T08:53:43.832-08:00I'm thinking of how Paul McCartney may have ha...I'm thinking of how Paul McCartney may have had the better voice but John Lennon much deeper expressiveness. "Soul" is a mysterious quantity.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44308461992372193252017-01-15T08:50:52.551-08:002017-01-15T08:50:52.551-08:00Concur -- to me she sounded even "girlish,&qu...Concur -- to me she sounded even "girlish," which served her well in some contexts but prevented a certain depth of expression in others. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42619277364395021372017-01-14T23:29:47.283-08:002017-01-14T23:29:47.283-08:00I work with a singer, late twenties who has that w...I work with a singer, late twenties who has that wail in her voice. It does the same thing to me. I know what you mean about Ella, too show bizzy, though her voice never seemed to age. She always sounded like a young woman. debasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546940741042023260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50341323890017462952017-01-13T09:11:49.576-08:002017-01-13T09:11:49.576-08:00Another favorite, this one by Aretha. That wail at...Another favorite, this one by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJS6aF5FqrE" rel="nofollow">Aretha</a>. That wail at 3:42 always gives me a chill.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15964935705756085272017-01-13T09:06:31.479-08:002017-01-13T09:06:31.479-08:00I've always thought this performance should wi...I've always thought <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pDBuPK0_DU" rel="nofollow">this performance</a> should win some kind of prize for "emotional believability." Etta James has a lot of those too, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zYWVHIS1i4" rel="nofollow">this one</a>. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48305155285184671092017-01-13T08:41:23.829-08:002017-01-13T08:41:23.829-08:00I love Dinah Washington, and appreciate Johnny Har...I love Dinah Washington, and appreciate Johnny Hartman. But Ella has always left me a bit cold. No soul. I don't see her as capable of getting inside a lyric in the manner of Sinatra. I can certainly enjoy certain performances for their musicality, but it seems to me that she lacks a certain emotional depth. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79320962839362994482017-01-12T23:26:47.845-08:002017-01-12T23:26:47.845-08:00Johnny Hartman, Dinah Washington, Ella; you youngs...Johnny Hartman, Dinah Washington, Ella; you youngsters!debasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546940741042023260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32225139687193481572017-01-12T08:21:32.751-08:002017-01-12T08:21:32.751-08:00That's a bingo. He would actually study the l...That's a bingo. He would actually study the lyrics beforehand and try to get into the meaning, so as to sing them from the inside. He often sounds as if he's speaking the words off the top of his head, or thinking out loud, as an actor might. In a way, he's as much method actor as singer.<br /><br />Also, very early on he learned to imitate a wind instrument, which is what gives his voice such a sheer musical quality. He really worked hard at breath control. Also on diction. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17548315652830252952017-01-12T00:09:15.916-08:002017-01-12T00:09:15.916-08:00He does make it sound like conversation. My theory...He does make it sound like conversation. My theory, which is mine, is that it's because he actually pays attention to the linguistic aspect of what he's singing. I have often had the impression that for a lot of people, lyrics are just a bunch of sounds strung together, with little inherent meaning from one phrase (or sometimes even word) to the next. <br /><br />Not to say that they never know what they're saying, just that there's a mental translational issue - I think for lots of brains, if something is being sung it just isn't processed and expressed in the same way language usually is; instead, it comes from a different, more mathematical part of the brain. Thus lots of people can even sing something in a foreign language without having a clue what it means. The focus is on specific sounds, rhythm, intonation, and <i>musical</i> phrasing, but the linguistic element gets left out. Too much for most people to process at once.<br /><br />Incidentally, I think that's why he drives perfect pitchers batty. He bends the notes and doesn't strictly follow the rules of intonation; rather, he follows the rules of conversation. juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28054068212625714232017-01-11T21:48:46.531-08:002017-01-11T21:48:46.531-08:00Or Flatt and Scruggs, if you prefer.Or Flatt and Scruggs, if you prefer.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41132293969859922262017-01-11T21:47:21.159-08:002017-01-11T21:47:21.159-08:00Oh, and you can't say enough about Nelson Ridd...Oh, and you can't say enough about Nelson Riddle's arrangements, which are their own form of magic, a perfect match for the Voice. Amazing how those two found each other, like the Beatles and George Martin.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47951404514106096182017-01-11T21:34:17.954-08:002017-01-11T21:34:17.954-08:00Since I was raised on rock & roll, I didn'...Since I was raised on rock & roll, I didn't truly discover Sinatra until the mid-1980s, when there was a reissue campaign of the Capitol material -- a string of magnificent concept albums from the '50s and early '60s. I dipped in to them and discovered to my shock that what he did was <i>magic</i>. There's no other word. Although he did work extremely hard at it. It took a lot of hard work to sound so effortless.<br /><br />Before that I had mostly heard only the 1960s crossover hits such as Strangers in the Night and Something Stupid, not at all representative of the majesty and glory. You will notice that there is something inimitable about his phrasing, how he just "breathes" the song over the arrangement, sometimes ahead of the beat, sometimes behind, like he's in conversation. I've tried to analyze it, but you can't. He's sui generis. Like Wayne Gretzky, the only argument is over who's second best. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-29008367122897012212017-01-11T21:13:26.883-08:002017-01-11T21:13:26.883-08:00Forgive me, for I indeed sinned in this. In my def...Forgive me, for I indeed sinned in this. In my defense, I grew up only a few miles from the studios where the Ozark Jubilee took place. <br /><br />I have some of the early stuff, a bit of the later, but mostly '50s and '60s, it appears. It is like an epiphany. mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71513435879037000412017-01-11T19:55:12.060-08:002017-01-11T19:55:12.060-08:00Well, it's a subject something I myself strugg...Well, it's a subject something I myself struggle with, so I feel the same way as you. But as usual, the early fathers, in an act of anticipatory plagiarism, stole my ideas. <br /><br />Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25547813811861306102017-01-11T19:48:18.800-08:002017-01-11T19:48:18.800-08:00But ultimately, if theosis is man's purpose, t...<i>But ultimately, if theosis is man's purpose, then anything interfering with it will be pathological. On the spiritual plane, this is sin, precisely. Sin can only be understood in the context of what man is for. Sin, you might say, is "spiritual illness."<br /><br />So, our ultimate purpose explains sin better than sin explains the need for a sacrificial atonement.</i><br /><br />Aha! Thanks. Got to give you my periodic ATTABOB!(FWIW) Great posts. I hope it's just that Dumdum Kroger effect wearing off, but the more I listen, the less I want to say something. John Lienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02302615225311776021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54011689440987828612017-01-11T17:25:51.972-08:002017-01-11T17:25:51.972-08:00That he could be classified with Lawrence Welk is ...That he could be classified with Lawrence Welk is a most grave heresy! I'm not sure which collection you have, but his prime work between 1951 and 1965 is certainly among the greatest music of the 20th century. It is inconceivable to me that his interpretations of the great American songbook could ever be surpassed. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00911613613759942690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21743797187512168582017-01-11T17:05:42.961-08:002017-01-11T17:05:42.961-08:00OT, for Christmas, someone, for some strange reaso...OT, for Christmas, someone, for some strange reason, gave me a four disc set of Sinatra. It's good. I really enjoy listening to Frank, whom I confess I always kind of classed with Lawrence Welk, which is wrong in every possible way. mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-14817124791969198342017-01-11T13:51:20.360-08:002017-01-11T13:51:20.360-08:00It has always been a pet peeve of mine that psycho...<i>It has always been a pet peeve of mine that psychology attempts to speak of pathology in the absence of purpose. In reality it cannot be done.</i><br /><br />Lack of purpose is always going to lead to bad things. Now we have a pathological society that tries to find its purpose in the temporal and transient, fads, whims, and fashions.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57726870295650446472017-01-11T13:42:46.180-08:002017-01-11T13:42:46.180-08:00Al Franken -- the new Larry King.Al Franken -- the new Larry King.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54838354583195768002017-01-11T10:49:14.948-08:002017-01-11T10:49:14.948-08:00So, our ultimate purpose explains sin better than ...<i>So, our ultimate purpose explains sin better than sin explains the need for a sacrificial atonement.</i><br /><br />Yes, just so.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.com