Dad bands

[Vito Corleone]

never been remotely stoned in my life but I find the weaving of the keys and rhythm guitar parts in Riders on the Storm to be amazing stuff.

 

 

Maybe the amazing parts come after where I've either switched the radio station or fallen asleep.

[Vito Corleone]

That is interesting ,,, i grew up in that era and the doors never really registered with me as hard core stoner music. I looked at it as more pop even though the lead singer fried out early. the doors didnt really have that acid edge that I hear in some of the other died too young from drugs bands and acid rock bands. The 60s brought the drug culture ,, but the 70s is where it became pretty main stream across the country. It started out in CA ,, it took a few years to really work its way across the country.

 

 

Us 70s kids laughed at bands like the Doors as drugged-out-60s-hippie bands.

[KeysBear]

 

To each his own. All I've ever really gotten out of the Doors was a drugged-out-hippie vibe. Interesting you call it his "cabaret style". It always just sounded like carousel music to me. The best place to listen to the solo on "Light My Fire" would be to be really, really stoned while riding a horse on a carousel at the county fair. Like one of those tripped-out middle sections in a 70s B-movie.

 

One of the greatest lessons I have learned in life is when I am faced with people with opinions different to my own I don't assume the superiority of my own opinion and I look for a learning opportunity. You can't judge a band or an artist based on a few songs you've heard on the radio that may have turned you off or exceeded your attention span. I can copy almost note for note Billy Joel, or Elton, or Billy Powell, even the ripping M-3 organ in Boston tunes pretty much just by ear but I have to stop and think to pull off a decent Manzarek.

[Vito Corleone]

You can't judge a band or an artist based on a few songs you've heard on the radio that may have turned you off or exceeded your attention span.

 

 

You'd be GREATLY mistaken if you think that is my entire exposure to the Doors over the last 40+ years since I've first heard a Doors record or in the 35 years I've been performing music.

[KeysBear]

 

You'd be GREATLY mistaken if you think that is my entire exposure to the Doors over the last 40+ years since I've first heard a Doors record or in the 35 years I've been performing music.

 

I'm using my own experience as a guide. I avoided The Doors with a similar attitude as yours until I put on the headphones and really listened deeply. If you've really gone through the collection and think it's as unworthy as you say then that is your opinion and we simply don't agree.

[tlbonehead]

Us 70s kids laughed at bands like the Doors as drugged-out-60s-hippie bands.

you 70s kids may have. But many 70s kids didn't.

[wheresgrant3]

Us 70s kids laughed at bands like the Doors as drugged-out-60s-hippie bands.

 

I was pretty afraid of the Doors until the Oliver Stone movie came out. Seriously. My entire childhood. Growing up I just didn't get 'it' and most kids I knew that were into them were older and spent their youth toking bong hits from Habitrail kits. There was something very spooky about the band and and the music... and keep in mind, I grew up listening to Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden... and I thought The Doors were spooky. That's because for Maiden, Priest, Sabbath... the rites of sacrifice was all an act. With Morrison, he was really 'out there'. He was the real deal.

 

Seriously, it wasn't until the Stone biopic, an affinity for Vietnam movies like Apocolaypse, The Deer Hunter and more expousre to pyschedelic period that I finally began to appreciate The Doors. Great band for the era and believe that Morrison would have done some crazy things musically had he lived beyond 27. But I'm still not a 'Doors' fan in terms of their music. A few songs I appreciate, but mostly they don't connect. But I appreciate their space in the 60's chapter.

[Vito Corleone]

you 70s kids may have. But many 70s kids didn't.

 

 

Maybe in the midwest. I didn't have a single friend or a friend of a friend who listened to the Doors in the 70s. At best they were maybe a band that somebody's older brother listened to. The started to become hipper again in the 80s. When was their Greatest Hits LP released? 80/81? They started to come back again a bit again after that.

[lsits]

Wow, can't believe I made it all the way to this point. Here's my two cents. I tend to agree with David. I graduated High School in 1973. My favorite music is from around this time and shortly thereafter: Led Zeppelin, Queen, Kansas, Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad. There was a lot of music I didn't care for: disco, punk, new (at that time) country, oldies. I was familiar with The Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones, but while I liked their songs, they didn't have the place next to my heart that the other groups had. The one exception was The Who. I absolutely loved (and still do) Tommy and Who's Next.

 

I'd like to think that my musical tastes have expanded as I've gotten older. I now appreciate the genius of Chuck Berry and Big Joe Turner from the 50's and I think the Foo Fighters are an awesome band. Dick Dale is cool, too. All in all, though, I tend to stick with my comfort zone when it comes to listening to music. If I'm learning a new song, I'll listen to anything and everything. Good thing I'm not called on to learn any disco.

[TIMKEYS]

I was pretty afraid of the Doors until the Oliver Stone movie came out. Seriously. My entire childhood. Growing up I just didn't get 'it' and most kids I knew that were into them were older and spent their youth toking bong hits from Habitrail kits. There was something very spooky about the band and and the music... and keep in mind, I grew up listening to Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden... and I thought The Doors were spooky. That's because for Maiden, Priest, Sabbath... the rites of sacrifice was all an act. With Morrison, he was really 'out there'. He was the real deal. Seriously, it wasn't until the Stone biopic, an affinity for Vietnam movies like Apocolaypse, The Deer Hunter and more expousre to pyschedelic period that I finally began to appreciate The Doors. Great band for the era and believe that Morrison would have done some crazy things musically had he lived beyond 27. But I'm still not a 'Doors' fan in terms of their music. A few songs I appreciate, but mostly they don't connect. But I appreciate their space in the 60's chapter.

Interesting ,,, so what you learned not to be freaking out by the doors and the hippies and that whole 60s thing by watching movies. How do you think you would have felt if you had to live that era in real time , draft card in hand wondering what was going to be your fate. Hell that stuff was easy ,, the cold war and the cuban missle crisis was way worse than the rock scene of the 60s. Duck and cover ,,,,baby. maybe the doors freaked you out because it wasnt as scripted and the metal scene and was less make believe.

[Vito Corleone]

I'm using my own experience as a guide. I avoided The Doors with a similar attitude as yours until I put on the headphones and really listened deeply. If you've really gone through the collection and think it's as unworthy as you say then that is your opinion and we simply don't agree.

 

 

"unworthy" is a big word. "Overrated" might be more accurate.

 

Like Grant said, I appreciate their space in the 60s chapter, and they had some classic records to be sure, but largely they were the right band for the right time. How well would they have survived into the 70s had Morrison lived? Personally, I don't think they had the chops. But they were the perfect band for that highly-charged-drugged out Vietnam driven late 60s period.

 

From a strictly musical standpoint, the songwriting isn't that strong. Most (if any) don't work outside the context of The Doors. Densmore and Kreiger weren't great players. Manzerek? Like you said, there was something unique about what he did that probably ONLY he could do. Those kind of players are interesting for their uniqueness, but I'd have a hard time calling him a great keyboardist in the classic sense.

 

And Morrison? Well. He was Morrison. Good and bad. A legend, to be sure, but as much (if not more) for the bad than the good. And, of course, it always helps to die young and leave a good-looking corpse in this business. But he WAS the Doors. No Morrison and those guys are left doing "Other Voices".

[TIMKEYS]

Wow, can't believe I made it all the way to this point. Here's my two cents. I tend to agree with David. I graduated High School in 1973. My favorite music is from around this time and shortly thereafter: Led Zeppelin, Queen, Kansas, Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad. There was a lot of music I didn't care for: disco, punk, new (at that time) country, oldies. I was familiar with The Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones, but while I liked their songs, they didn't have the place next to my heart that the other groups had. The one exception was The Who. I absolutely loved (and still do) Tommy and Who's Next. I'd like to think that my musical tastes have expanded as I've gotten older. I now appreciate the genius of Chuck Berry and Big Joe Turner from the 50's and I think the Foo Fighters are an awesome band. Dick Dale is cool, too. All in all, though, I tend to stick with my comfort zone when it comes to listening to music. If I'm learning a new song, I'll listen to anything and everything. Good thing I'm not called on to learn any disco.

 

 

I was in to the dead , the band, J giles, eagles and loggins and macina, alice cooper, slade , johnny winter,poco, flying burrito brothers, during those years. I got out of high school in 70. we were pretty much stoners by then lol I always did have a soft spot for great harmony vocals. carry over from my band years in HS>

[KeysBear]

 

draft card in hand wondering what was going to be your fate.

 

To which I and many like me owe a debt of gratitude to Gerald Ford who ended the draft. Of course that war was over by then but I still figured something would get hot in another area and I'd be marching off to a swamp somewhere for Uncle Sam.

[wheresgrant3]

Interesting ,,, so what you learned not to be freaking out by the doors and the hippies and that whole 60s thing by watching movies. How do you think you would have felt if you had to live that era in real time , draft card in hand wondering what was going to be your fate. Hell that stuff was easy ,, the cold war and the cuban missle crisis was way worse than the rock scene of the 60s. Duck and cover ,,,,baby. maybe the doors freaked you out because it wasnt as scripted and the metal scene and was less make believe.

 

 

I've grown to appreciate the late 60's to the point that if there was another decade I could've spent my 20's in I think it would be 64-70. Who knows Tim... maybe we could have been kindred spirits. LOL

 

Here's a funny aside... I grew up just 20 miles from the original Woodstock site, so there was alot of leftover 60's legacy growing up and being a musician. I really would get freaked out by older kids unabashedly dropping acid or smoking themselves into la la land while listening to the Doors. There was a whole decade of teenagers in my area that still decided to tune in and drop out long after the Festival ended. Alot of hippies came here and stayed. Some lived in communes... others in vans. 70's hippies weren't about peace... they were about bumming for cigerettes, pan handling and petty crime. It was probably like those Jazz men your mom warned you about. New Paltz College was notorious for it's 10 year program (students that never graduated, they just spent the 70's getting high). The drug culture was pretty heavy here growing up. It was a weird time... I wonder if it were any differen't elsewhere. So I had a deep rooted association with The Doors and drugs, deliquency and lack of personal hygene. LOL. You could say Stone was my therapist.

[TIMKEYS]

I've grown to appreciate the late 60's to the point that if there was another decade I could've spent my 20's in I think it would be 64-70. Who knows Tim... maybe we could have been kindred spirits. LOL Here's a funny aside... I grew up just 20 miles from the original Woodstock site, so there was alot of leftover 60's legacy growing up and being a musician. I really would get freaked out by older kids unabashedly dropping acid or smoking themselves into la la land while listening to the Doors. There was a whole decade of teenagers in my area that still decided to tune in and drop out long after the Festival ended. Alot of hippies came here and stayed. Some lived in communes... others in vans. 70's hippies weren't about peace... they were about bumming for cigerettes, pan handling and petty crime. It was probably like those Jazz men your mom warned you about. New Paltz College was notorious for it's 10 year program (students that never graduated, they just spent the 70's getting high). The drug culture was pretty heavy here growing up. It was a weird time... I wonder if it were any differen't elsewhere. So I had a deep rooted association with The Doors and drugs, deliquency and lack of personal hygene. LOL. You could say Stone was my therapist.

IT was a great time for playing in bands. we started with chuck berry and ventures and stuff and worked through kinks, yardbirds ,stones. animals , byrds ,etc, and finished up doing soul, blood sweat and tears and stuff like grass roots and association. In just 4 years we covered a ton of really classic rock and roll. Things really moved fast back then. Going from three chord rockers to covering jazz rock and soft 60s stuff with all that harmony was quite a trip. I ran with some pretty musically advanced teenagers. all band and choir geeks.

[TIMKEYS]

To which I and many like me owe a debt of gratitude to Gerald Ford who ended the draft. Of course that war was over by then but I still figured something would get hot in another area and I'd be marching off to a swamp somewhere for Uncle Sam.

 

 

I remember setting around the tube with a bunch of guys as they were drawing the numbers. They pulled that first number and one of our friends there got number one. Oh {censored}. They drafted till about 107 that year ,, i ended up with 147 ,, only lotto i ever won.

[SeniorBlues]

You missed the point. Those people questioning Wonder and the Beatles were happy to put artists OLDER than Gershwin and Porter that they were familiar with on the same pedestal as Gershwin and Porter as well. They had no connection the Beatles or Wonder so they didn't put them on the same pedestal. They didn't believe, at the time, that those artists would transcend their eras. Get back to me in 20 years and we'll see who is up on that pedestal and who isn't.

 

 

I didn't miss the point at all. I knew at the time that Wonder and the Beatles would transcend their era. I'm asking you, and anyone else who keeps up with current music, to anticipate if anyone will have that same kind of musical weight.

[SeniorBlues]

The Doors. I covered some of their stuff in the late sixties when it was released. Straight arrow band with a singer that had a low voice perfectly suited to their songs. One of his best songs was "Soul Kitchen."

 

I love to give guitar players grief about being obsessed with tone, but I confess I had trouble getting past the cheesy transistor keyboard (although I was playing one at the time out of necessity.) I was much more interested in Booker-T and saved up to finally get a Hammond in '69.

 

The Beatles. Tim is right about their popularity when they first came over. There's never been anything like it. Also, their sales figures and number of songs on the all time charts are an objective measurement of their musical output. I liked them as a quintet, actually. No surprise there.

[flemtone]

Well this thread has really diverted from the OP initial post. My comments: First the OP initial post was disparaging. He mocked and ridiculed not only their age by calling them a DAD BAND and what they were playing, but also had to gratuitously mention how they looked personally and how they dressed and did not mention their talent. So for him to come back in later posts with the "Where did I say they........" response to his obvious attacks is complete bull. All he had to say was why don't older bands play current music? Of course there's a pretty obvious and logical reason why and actually clearly dumb to even have to ask. Certainly not worth creating a thread over so he had to just make a bunch of disparaging remarks for no apparent reason other than to share his personal dislikes with all here. So in his shallow little world acts and artists from the 50's, 60's and 70's that are still touring and playing exactly what they played in their heyday to appreciative crowds should be playing more current stuff. And of course it is also relevant in his little mind to note also that these guys now have grey hair, thinning hair and in some cases no hair. All very relevant you know but of course he wasn't being disparaging. Here's why pal: It's because they are a COVER BAND and cover bands cover certain types of music. Yes some want to be the great everymen who cover 50 years of music but most are specific to one or two or possibly three decades. So you happened to see a cover band covering a specific period/era. WOW. What a revelation! But great genius that you are you use that simple event to somehow ignore the OBVIOUS and show and share your profound ignorance by stating why doesn't a 60's act play current music. I work and live in a region where acts performing music from the 50's through 70's are plentiful, talented, consistently booked and decently paid. I know there are plenty of other regions throughout this country where that is also true. So other than to take cheap shots at older players still out there gigging your thread had no other purpose. So your false attempts to hide the obvious are really laughable.

 

 

Oh, SNAP!

 

 

...and +100 :phil: :phil: :phil:

[jwlussow]

Wow. and +1000. As a 50+ year old doing basically the same songs for 34 years I couldn't agree more. VinylMan hit it on the head. Kind of like going to an American English show (high end Beatles tribute band in the Chicago area) and complaining that they weren't doing any CeLo Greene. We are what we are. Would it make sense for a bunch of 50 year old guys to do 50's, 60's, 70's and Hip Hop.

[cjsm]

I was 10 years old in 1971. I know probably 90-95% of those songs. My personal favorites are the R&B tunes on the list: Al Green, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Cornelius Bros & Sister Rose... What is interesting is how much dreck there is on that list though. A lot of Osmonds, "Put Your Hand In The Hand", "Chick A Boom" and bubblegum crap like that. And Andy Williams and Perry Como were still cranking out hits with schmaltzy dreck like "Love Story" and "It's Impossible". "Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro??? Helen {censored}ing Reddy doing that horrible song from "Jesus Christ Superstar"?? Gag with me a shovel.

Well, your taste in music explains to me why you don't like the Doors. Your taste is the complete opposite of mine. I never cared for Soul music that much, although I like some of it, and respect it. I just prefer Rock and Blues.

Most of my friends had the same attitude towards Soul music as you have towards the Doors, and all of them would have much rather listened to the Doors than any Soul group.

But I do agree with you most of the other stuff you listed is dreck.

[TrickyBoy]

Every generation has their rock stars.. but I have never seen anything that generated as much buzz as the beatles in rock music. For sure not my favorite group. Its prolly one of those things you had to be there to appreciate.

 

 

OK I wasn't there, but Michael Jackson in the early 80's was pretty freakin intense in terms of buzz. By some reports, Thriller sold over 100 million records worldwide. Just sayin...

[TrickyBoy]

This whole thread boils down to this:

 

Every asshole has an opinion (me included ). And everyone takes the era that HE/SHE likes and calls that the "golden era".

 

Whatever. I've come to a weird conclusion for a guitarist. I really dislike 70's rock and roll. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top riff driven rock and roll genre does NOTHING for me. I hear a band playing it, I leave. End of story. Does that mean it was bad music? Not at all. I just don't like it at all. As an aside I personally like the Doors quite a bit and think they are one of the really good bands from that era. To each his own.

 

Lots of people don't like or appreciate the music of today. Lots of people do. Personally I do. Again, that's my opinion. But for someone to say that one era is definitively better than another... Get off your high horse!

[cjsm]

I hate these arguments, because I'd rather listen to birds fart than the Beatles. Can't stand them, don't understand their popularity. I would say that Lady Gaga makes much better music. But hey, that's my opinion. Yours is different. Neither is right. Listen to the first Beatles album. Complete bubblegum pop. Just saying.

 

 

Well, the Beatles progressed a lot from their first album on following albums incredibly fast. I can understand people not liking some of their stuff, but to dismiss their vast catalog is a little strange. They had a lot of variety in their songs, and most people can find something they like. If you think songs like Ticket to Ride, And I Love Her, Daytripper, She's a Woman, She Said She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, I'm Looking Through You etc. etc. are complete rubbish, than I would have to say your musical tastes are bizzaar. You have a good band, but I personally think the Beatles are infinitely better.

[Vito Corleone]

I didn't miss the point at all. I knew at the time that Wonder and the Beatles would transcend their era. I'm asking you, and anyone else who keeps up with current music, to anticipate if anyone will have that same kind of musical weight.

 

 

Now isn't my era. That's the point. YOU knew Wonder and the Beatles would transcend because they were YOUR era. (Of course there were likely dozens of other artists who you thought would transcend as well who were a couple of hits and out.) And most older folks DIDN'T know those acts would transcend because it wasn't THEIR era.

 

You're asking the wrong guy. These aren't my artists. As far as who will transcend, I really don't know because since I don't "live" the music I really can't tell you who the young kids will take with them as they grow older. But I'd guess I'd look first at some of the writers/performers who have been around for a few years already: I would say it's probably a decent guess that John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Rob Thomas, Ben Gibbard, Jack White and some others along those lines will probably still be rockin' it 20-30 years from now.