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Who Is Your Musical Hero?


Mark L

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This guy.


StevieWonder2_640.JPG

 

Got it in one, E.

 

Besides Stevie, I think my biggest influences were George Gershwin for blending classical and 'modern' music together and making it approachable, Frank Sinatra for vocal elegance, Brian Wilson for the beauty and symmetry of harmony, Camille Saint-Saens and Aram Khachaturian for the wonders of classical, The Beatles for the evolution of pop to cerebral, Vince Guaraldi for an introduction to jazz, Count Basie for the love of Big Band, and The Carter Family for deep-south roots music.

 

Oh, and the Oneders, of course.

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Well, besides The Beatles, who made start listening to music and Ringo, who made me want to hit things with wooden objects I would say Neil Young. I like a lot of his songs I wouldn't say I'm a big fan. It's more about how he succeded in the music business on his own terms. When the record company told him what his music should sound like he said "Screw you" and released the music he wanted to. It might have cost him financially in terms of sales, but you've got to admire his willingness to stick up to his principles.

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Could never be just one...music is a wave of sound, language, love and pain that I've been riding since before I was born...how could anyone have a hero after hearing so much music? Artists and producers: engineer's and songwriter/composers have all influenced and contributed amazing things to the state of music, but it's always been about a collective effort, a collective accomplishment...so many millions of people have made music what it is, to single out individuals for glory or further fame is folly to me...too many geniuses to even remember let alone give honorable mention too...and let us not forget all the millions more engineers, designers and programmers who labor to produce and perfect the machines that make all this music possible...

 

 

Nicely stated...we've clashed, but we are in tune on this post.

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So many musicians are an inspiration, especially the major innovators and those who are in a classification by themselves (such as Harry Partch or the Residents). But my biggest heroes are the musical innovators who also used their music to spread a needed message about society and politics, even if it put their careers at risk : John Lennon, Bob Marley, Peter Gabriel, Paul Kantner, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa......I greatly respect these artists because they had a sense of the responsibility to use their popularity to reach people with something substantial.*

 

Then there are those artists who ran their careers the way I want to; long careers filled with trying new things and working with a wide variety of other artists: Miles Davis, Eno, James Brown, Ellington, Bill Laswell..

 

*I also have plenty of respect for others who spoke out as musicians even if their music isn't among my top favorites: Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bono, Jackson Browne, Neal Young.........

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Paul Simon. I really respect the amazing career he's had and I think he's among the best writers and performers living today. It's nice that some of his best work came relatively later in his life. There's so much music out there emotionally directed at teenagers that it's really special when someone making music about adult issues can continue to speak with the energy and passion of a young person. I also really respect him for writing about the human experience in a language that's both universal and personal.

 

"Graceland" is a masterpiece. I would put it at the pinnacle of popular music of the later 20th century.

 

I'm a big fan of Philip Glass. I like how strong and unique his writing is, and I also like his sense of melody and tonality.

 

Both of those guys are New York guys too, and I find it a lot easier to identify with East Coast artists than Californians. California culture is really different than where I grew up and I'm not a big fan of it. I like plenty of West Coast artists but not in a hero worship kind of way. The attitudes are too weird for me.

 

I can't call someone like Stravinsky a personal hero because of how different his circumstances were. I can't really relate. That doesn't mean I don't love to listen to him.

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Miles Davis. Bob Dylan. J. S. Bach. Andy Partridge. Arturo Toscanini.

 

 

 

Miles Davis

 

He took the soul and off the cuff nature of the blues and the studied articulation of the classical composer and combined them with a cool persona. Not just an image, but a musical persona. That hybrid of sensibility is huge to me.

 

 

Bob Dylan

 

He turned anger and cynicism into an art form. Beat poets were there first but they didn't have that troubadour guitar either. The deep, studied yet instinctual turn of a phrase to mean something greater. Punk poet rock star synergy.

 

 

J. S. Bach

 

God is in a snow flake and the music of J. S Bach

 

 

Andy Partridge

 

Take Dylan, Miles, Lennon/Mac, Winston Churchill's dove brother, Carl Sagan... and put them in Captain Beefheart's blender.

 

 

Arturo Toscanini

 

Symphonies are like big beefy steam engine trains with bad brakes. Awesome in their power yet... not so nimble. Except under the totally subservient to the composer's baton of "The Maestro". You haven't really heard Ludwig Van or an Rossini overture until you've heard those poor, beaten till barely breathing, NBC Radio Orchestra musicians, being prodded by the likes of this monarchical, Machiavellian taskmaster and music lover.

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Simply the guy below VV at bottom in the links

Mr Rod Stewart whom has been going strong now for centuries and still hitting the top of the charts with his albums on both sides of the Atlantic

 

Also he was the 1st person to have a No1 Album on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time way back in 75' with "Atlantic Crossing"

 

This is a GUY whom has moved with the times and so unlike Phil Collins

for instance whom tried to copy Rods latest Album/s

but he Phil Collins failed big time to sell whereas Rod Stewart has sold

big time and has matured with age

 

he's nearing now 66yrs he still is at the top after all these yrs in the music business...He simply is an inspiration :)

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=related&hl=uk&v=U7oOeBDEgOU

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Simply the guy below VV at bottom in the links

Mr Rod Stewart whom has been going strong now for centuries and still hitting the top of the charts with his albums on both sides of the Atlantic


Also he was the 1st person to have a No1 Album on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time way back in 75' with "Atlantic Crossing"


This is a GUY whom has moved with the times and so unlike Phil Collins

for instance whom tried to copy Rods latest Album/s

but he Phil Collins failed big time to sell whereas Rod Stewart has sold

big time and has matured with age


he's nearing now 66yrs he still is at the top after all these yrs in the music business...He simply is an inspiration
:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&gl=US&hl=uk&v=8IoyGejafOc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=related&hl=uk&v=U7oOeBDEgOU

 

This Yank is in total agreement...I have always loved his 'just gargled with Carpet tacks' vocals...

He looks great too, all of his hair, slim as a reed!

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Ricky Nelson, then on the Ozzie and Harriet Show and a few years older than me, was probably my first musical influence. And he had great hair...better than Elvis's and about equal to Michael Landon's! Side Note: The first time I saw Michael Landon was when he was a teenager, in a movie called "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," at the long-defunct Capital Theater in Belleville, New Jersey, my origin.

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Ricky Nelson, then on the Ozzie and Harriet Show and a few years older than me, was probably my first musical influence. And he had great hair...better than Elvis's and about equal to Michael Landon's! Side Note: The first time I saw Michael Landon was when he was a teenager, in a movie called "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," at the long-defunct Capital Theater in Belleville, New Jersey, my origin.

 

Ricky Nelson later on on 'Rick',

Ozzie searched out lead guitarist James Burton to back him up...even hooked 'im up with a 'crib' at the Nelson Household so Rick and James could work together...

'Oz had his 'ducks in a row', He knew talent and wanted the best for Rick(y)

Ricks voice was melodic but his range was limited, but a talent for sure....

 

Remember those old Ozzie and Harriet shows when Ricky would come out and sing at a party at the end of an episode?

Why was he always looking up at the ceiling when he sang?:lol:

 

I have all his old 45', thanks to the my older brother, who had the 'ways and means' to purchase them at a discount when they were on the rack at the Acme Mkt. where he worked.

 

'My Buckets got a Hole in it'

, 'Hello Mary Lou' and my Anthem 'Travelin' Man':thu:

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Lots of great artists listed on this thread...

 

Igor Stravinsky

Brian May

Justin Beiber :love::love: (he, he)

Brubeck

Coltrane

 

and of course there's Jimmy Page (but that's a given)

 

HOWEVER,

 

I have found a new hero that is now my favorite artist of all-time. She was the diva that sang at MLK's historic event in 1963...

 

Mahalia Jackson

 

Check out this performance from her European tour in 1967 (at least listen to the cadenza right after the two minute mark)

 

 

In my humble opinion, she is the greatest diva of the twentieth century, period.

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Check out this performance from her European tour in 1967 (at least listen to the cadenza right after the two minute mark)




In my humble opinion, she is the greatest diva of the twentieth century, period.

 

 

And of course there's that stunning moment in the 1959 Douglas Sirk film, IMITATION OF LIFE. Man, if you can make it through THAT scene dry-eyed....

 

8eiI52WluF0

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I dunno if I'd consider Dean DeLeo a musical hero, big influence yes... without him I'd of probably not started guitar.

 

And without Trent Reznor I'd probably of not explored keyboards/electronic music. I'd say they're the 2 big names that got me into music.

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Trent Reznor was definitely a big influence...made a big impact on me when I was starting to play/record music with others. The Cure, Peter Gabriel, and The Cocteau Twins were big influences around that time as well.

 

Anyway, besides Brian Eno and his philosophies, not much else spring to mind overall.

 

But for just music....Djivan Gasparyan, an Armenian duduk player, is incredible. I don't know how I can describe for those of you who haven't heard him how timeless and emotional his music is. Truly incredible. You can find some examples from his album "I Will Not Be Sad In This World" on YouTube if you are interested in checking him out.

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Like many others have said, it's tough to pick just one or even a few, but one that has not been mentioned here yet is Tom Waits. This guy is an amazing songwriter and player. His music defies convention and his albums seem to me to be more soundscapes in his choices in instrumentaton and delivery. Tom definitely deserves a vote here.

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