Members nat whilk II Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 The appreciation thread on Nilsson got me thinking that I'd hoist up this flag: who do you consider a brilliant, gifted musician that was an underachiever? And maybe a guess as to why, with so much talent, they just didn't have much output? My list includes:Nilsson, of course. I have no idea why was/is IMHO an underachiever. Emmitt Rhodes. What a songwriter. Seems to be one of the guys that just gets burned out early on the music business. Thomas Dolby. Forget "Science". It's a good tune, but his brilliance is more evident on all those other tracks that didn't make 80s radio or MTV. He discusses why he stopped touring on his website - the simple bad economics of trying to tour when the record company is not supporting you. Ok, I can understand that. But throw us something now and then, TD, you are really too good to just drop out of the scene altogether. Rocky Erickson. LSD - too much of it. And schizophrenia. John Sebastian. He was a genius for about 4 years with the Lovin' Spoonful, then had a flash of visibility from Woodstock and the related album, but except for the blip of "Welcome Back", he most turned to just working the college/folk/coffeehouse circuit in the northeast. He tells a great story about lack of record company support: around '74, when the warm fuzzies of the hippie era were starting to fade, and his career was clearly starting to languish. He says, "Warner Bros. was not that interested in me at this point. It wasn't as if they were saying, "John, hurry up and go into the studio and use up more of our money". In fact, I've often told this story about the time I went to the record company, and walked in to the front office where the secretary was sitting, and behind her, there was a huge picture of Alice Cooper, a big poster about six feet by three and a half or four feet, and it was really at that point that I was kind of reminded that this might be a really hard time to be John Sebastian." nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Well, referencing a recent thread of my own starting, what do you think about Robbie Roberston in this light? So, so very great for a relatively short spell. Roberston, then, would be more like the J.D.Salingerof rock. His genius is well nigh indispitable, which invests his silence with a sense of intention: there must be a damn good reason he wasn't out there being Robbie Roberstson all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 But, now John Sebastian is hawking "150 greatest hits of the folk era" for Time/Life records on the late night infomercials... I will say that folky/acoustic stuff is NOT the thing to get into if you want to be rich and famous and sell a godzillion records. What it is, however, is timeless. There will always be an audience for it, unlike, say, 80s synth-pop bands, or hair-metal bands. It will never really go out of fashion, because it was never really in-fashion to begin with... And, since it can be just as believable whether sung by a drop dead handsome teenager, or an old coot like me, the "star appeal" thing goes out the window, and basically, it's just up to the talent of the performer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 23, 2006 Moderators Share Posted February 23, 2006 Edgar Winter. I loved his stuff. EntranceWhite TrashWhite Trash Road WorkThey Only Come Out At NightShock Treatment then... Whenever I'd see him live he was amazing in one respect. Musicianship. His taste, however, seemed to slip. He lost that insight into what was cool. Not trendy cool, but Hendrix, Miles, Waits cool. Just gone... ??? I don't know why. Not to say that his output mentioned above is the output of an underachiever but it just sort of... stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 How about Jimi Hendrix as an underachiever? Died way too young, and left soooo much on the table. You too, Charlie Parker. Did somebody say drug addiction is bad? I thought so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Laura Nyro Roger Nichols The Walker Brothers Timi Yuro Ketty Lester The Association Brenda & The Tabulations Dee Dee Warwick Smith Scritti Politti ABC Bill Nelson ....all of these deserved more kudos than they got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 23, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Originally posted by Magpel Well, referencing a recent thread of my own starting, what do you think about Robbie Roberston in this light? So, so very great for a relatively short spell. Roberston, then, would be more like the J.D.Salingerof rock. His genius is well nigh indispitable, which invests his silence with a sense of intention: there must be a damn good reason he wasn't out there being Robbie Roberstson all the time. Yeah, another great talent for a spell. Maybe what goes on a lot of time is simply chemistry - ie, someone with a streak of genius finds the right band at the right time and streaks into the sky like a shooting star. Then, under the all-too-familiar pressures of success, the band breaks up and the "streak of genius" guy/girl never finds the chemistry again quite like the glory days. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Originally posted by nat whilk II Yeah, another great talent for a spell. Maybe what goes on a lot of time is simply chemistry - ie, someone with a streak of genius finds the right band at the right time and streaks into the sky like a shooting star. Then, under the all-too-familiar pressures of success, the band breaks up and the "streak of genius" guy/girl never finds the chemistry again quite like the glory days.nat whilk ii No, that's wrong on Robbie Robertson. His output may have slowed, but the music he has made since the end of the Band is brilliant stuff. Perhaps an unwillingness to compromise slows down the completion rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 23, 2006 Moderators Share Posted February 23, 2006 Originally posted by Billster No, that's wrong on Robbie Robertson. His output may have slowed, but the music he has made since the end of the Band is brilliant stuff. Perhaps an unwillingness to compromise slows down the completion rate. I agree. I love his solo stuff... amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 23, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Ok, maybe it's time I looked up ol' Robbie on Amazon... I did buy the self-titled release that starts with Fallen Angel - it's very good, but over time it doesn't seem as unique and vibe-ful as the Band material, at least to me. But I'm not very familiar with the other 2-3 releases since then...I'll check'em out. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gonkulator Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Syd Barrett, drugs and mental problems. Rossini, if I remember correctly, had some early brilliance, then rested on his laurels for years and years. I think many groups qualify, where the sum of the parts was better than the individuals: The Beatles, Supertramp, The Police, Cream, ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Originally posted by Tedster I will say that folky/acoustic stuff is NOT the thing to get into if you want to be rich and famous and sell a godzillion records. What it is, however, is timeless. There will always be an audience for it, unlike, say, 80s synth-pop bands, or hair-metal bands. It will never really go out of fashion, because it was never really in-fashion to begin with... And, since it can be just as believable whether sung by a drop dead handsome teenager, or an old coot like me, the "star appeal" thing goes out the window, and basically, it's just up to the talent of the performer. I wish I'd said that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 23, 2006 Moderators Share Posted February 23, 2006 Don Mclean. Vincent and American Pie are just awesome pieces of work. I have never heard anything from him that stands in the same league as those 2 songs. Oh yeah... and Terrance Trent D'Arby. Wishing Well and then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nursers Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Aimee Mann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted February 23, 2006 Members Share Posted February 23, 2006 Duster Bennett was, to me, a guy that died too young with too much still to do. (Car Accident) "I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 23, 2006 Moderators Share Posted February 23, 2006 Eric Carmen - Rasberries Please Go All the WayAll by Myself Two good melodramatic, over the top, pop tunes that really had a certain "thing". I never liked any of his other stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BLAblablah Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 Hank Garland Amazing guitarist, especially for his era...but a tragic story. Hopefully, the movie about his life... "Crazy", will be out later this year. It's exeutive producers are Steve Vai and Ray Scherr (Mr. Guitar Center). Hank lived just a few miles from me & was sometimes a featured guest at local guitar shows. Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 I see many people mentioned in this thread who have done GREAT stuff. I guess that covers the brilliant part, but underachievers ? I never knew any underachievers who did so much great stuff. Robbie Robertson worked his ass off for years. Aimee Mann has as well. These are people who have dug deep within themselves over and over. Hardly underachievers. Eric Carmen - Rasberries: Please Go All the Way Reminds me of one of my closet favorite songs.You're Just Too Good to be True by Frankie Valle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkZ Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 That first Robbie Robertson solo album, produced by Daniel Lanois, is a gem. Agreed about Aimee Mann, nursers. Husband Michael Penn is another. "No Myth" was a nicely crafted hit. Julia Fordham. "Porcelain" is such a great album. She should be have been big. Jeff Buckley. If he had lived, would he have another "Grace" in him? Japan, one of the '80s more interesting groups. Highly influential bassist Mick Karn and singer David Sylvain underachieved in solo careers. Was (Not Was). OK, maybe not "brilliant" but a ton of fun and well produced. I still like "Spy in the House of Love" enough to forgive "Walk The Dinosaur". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 24, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 Originally posted by jackcheez I see many people mentioned in this thread who have done GREAT stuff. I guess that covers the brilliant part, but underachievers ? I never knew any underachievers who did so much great stuff. Robbie Robertson worked his ass off for years. Aimee Mann has as well. These are people who have dug deep within themselves over and over. Hardly underachievers. I agree. I suppose I started the thread thinking about people who either seemed to fall short of their promise either due to personal issues or to bad breaks/treatment from the music industry. There is no end of underappreciated, undercompensated, hard workers in the music business. I don't call those people underachievers - it would be a very unfair tag. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 24, 2006 Moderators Share Posted February 24, 2006 And a lot of people who we think haven't done anything just moved into less public areas. Case in point... I once saw a solo performer in the 70's open for John Sebastian. His name was David Pomeranz. You may have heard his song "It's In Everyone One of Us". When I first saw this thread, I thought of him. He absolutely killed me at that show years ago, I bought his "LP". Just great. Then I never heard anything from him again with the exception of them using the above mentioned tune in the movie BIG. He disappeared. But he didn't. I Googled him up and low and behold he's doing Broadway shows and wrote many pop hits for others in the 80's. Frickin' Broadway! That's not underachieving. Who knew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 Originally posted by Magpel Well, referencing a recent thread of my own starting, what do you think about Robbie Roberston in this light? So, so very great for a relatively short spell. Roberston, then, would be more like the J.D.Salingerof rock. His genius is well nigh indispitable, which invests his silence with a sense of intention: there must be a damn good reason he wasn't out there being Robbie Roberstson all the time. Whoa... a relatively short spell? A relatively short spell? Mid-60s through the mid-late70's with the Band is hardly a short spell. And, while he's not prolific as a solo, he's put out interesting, well-respected albums that haven't mindlessly traded on his past, like so many of his contemporaries. I dunno about that one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 along the lines of Lee's Pomeranz example, Robertson also supervised the soundtracks and did incidental music for a number of movies for Scorsese and others. http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0005371/ A lot of "underacheivers" have probably done better on their publishing than on their recording. Even artists like Joni Mitchell have indicated a willingness to walk away from recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 24, 2006 Members Share Posted February 24, 2006 Originally posted by MarkZ Jeff Buckley. If he had lived, would he have another "Grace" in him? I think he would have put out something better than "Grace" had he continued. I don't think the guy had come near peaking creatively yet. Anyway, good choice for this thread!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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