[78-L] Well EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEEE!!!

[Julian Vein]

Cary Ginell wrote:
Actually, they have. There have been several posters who have made 
blanket statements about the inherent inferiority of country music and 
blues based on infantile and ignorant generalizations that I, for one, 
take extreme offense to. You can have a personal opinion about music or 
an artist, but don't expand your judgments, whether they are justified 
or not, into a statement of fact.

Cary Ginell
=================
When I don't like an artist or a genre I ask myself why? I did this with 
the early Basie Deccas. I played them through and found that they 
weren't the classics some make them out to be, consisting mainly of 
lucklustre solos and ensemble work, Yes, I know there are probably 
reasons for this (broadcasts from the same period reveal a totally 
different story).

I don't like Bennie Moten (apart from some of the early "raggy" sides), 
mainly because of the poor quality of the soloists. I'm not alone in this.

I don't like Ella Fitzgerald because I consider her a "general purpose" 
singer--she doesn't offer anything more than a competent "studio singer" 
performance, and nearly everything she does sounds the same. That 
doesn't mean that I don't think she has an attractive voice (she does, 
except for those LOW notes, the same problem afflicting Sarah Vaughan. 
Moral--don't bite off more than you can chew!). It's just that she 
doesn't use it imaginatively. I have never come across anyone 
championing her Savoy Eight recordings like they do with Billie or 
Mildred or Connie.

Country Music. I'm not hostile--I have some in my collection, but I do 
find much of it repetitive, not just from track to track, but within an 
individual performance. And a little nasal whine goes a long way!

Blues. I have some, but I prefer the piano and female variety. With male 
blues singers I'm thinking: "Please give the singing a break and let us 
have a couple of choruses of guitar!"

And I haven't mentioned Jimmy Rushing and Frank Sinatra!

      Julian Vein