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Post by daddybrave on Oct 7, 2009 16:10:19 GMT -5
Dear Rick,
You have tamed some of rock music's legendary curmudgeons into giving once in a lifetime performances. You've managed to capture their essence without fussing over them too much. You seem to bring out what is essential by disappearing, by refusing to tart whoever it is up in any way. And that includes The Dixie Chicks.
We know you love Malibu and riding your bike around with that midget from the Chili Peppers. We know you must employ some old buddy to clip your beard and write down everything you say. But could we entreat you to take a pilgrimage North?
There is a curmudgeon in Minnesota who has perfected the art of solitarity. Which isn't a word and he would appreciate that. He doesn't want his music to sound like anyone else made it but him.
If you can sit in a room with Neil Diamond and convince him to strum that ol' 6 string for ol' times sake, imagine what you could do with a guy who plays bass, drums, piano, trumpet, accordion, spoons if Laurie says its OK, and guitar?
Now, it would probably wind up sounding just the same with you on board.
But Rolling Stone would have to put the two of you on the cover and it is about f*#king time.
Just think about it.
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Post by Placemat on Oct 7, 2009 18:39:56 GMT -5
imagine what you could do with a guy who plays bass, drums, piano, trumpet, accordion, spoons if Laurie says its OK, and guitar? Drums might be a reach.  |
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Post by brianlux on Oct 7, 2009 20:38:03 GMT -5
Damn, daddbrave, that's a fine idea and one hell of a letter!
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Post by scoOter on Oct 7, 2009 21:14:31 GMT -5
aces all around!
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Post by thepogo on Oct 8, 2009 21:47:31 GMT -5
Absolutely brilliant!!! Now how do we get your letter to Rubin?
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Post by A Regular on Oct 9, 2009 17:08:58 GMT -5
God, don't you dare. This would only succeed in making PW popular with the opinion-makers...and about as likely as an Albini collaboration.
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Post by brianlux on Oct 9, 2009 17:38:34 GMT -5
No worries, A Regular, most of us ignore what the opinion-makers say anyway.
Besides, in Neil Diamond's case wasn't it the other way around? Seems to me Rubin took a very popular pop star with great song writing skills and got him to make some very fine records that weren't nearly as popular as his other well know stuff.
Also, PW doesn't even seem to currently be hugely popluar even with his own fan base (please correct me on this if I'm wrong!) so maybe a little of the right kind of exposure wouldn't hurt- and I don't mean showing up on the cover of People or Us or even Rolling Stone but maybe once again on something like The Big Takeover.
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Post by A Regular on Oct 10, 2009 8:09:21 GMT -5
No worries, A Regular, most of us ignore what the opinion-makers say anyway. Also, PW doesn't even seem to currently be hugely popluar even with his own fan base (please correct me on this if I'm wrong!) I disagree with the first point; that's why we love to spout our opinions on something like this. And I'm not sure if PW cares about his popularity, even with his base. Sounds like he is just trying to please himself and to hell with the rest of it. As long as he can financially afford this it seems he will be happy and some of us won't. Nothing since Open Season seems to indicate a "work for money" mentality. |
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Post by ClamsCasino on Oct 10, 2009 12:01:29 GMT -5
I think it would be awesome if Paul found mainstream popularity at this stage in his career. That'd be a pretty sweet bit of irony considering everything that's led up to this point.
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Post by brianlux on Oct 10, 2009 13:31:39 GMT -5
No worries, A Regular, most of us ignore what the opinion-makers say anyway. Also, PW doesn't even seem to currently be hugely popular even with his own fan base (please correct me on this if I'm wrong!) I disagree with the first point; that's why we love to spout our opinions on something like this. And I'm not sure if PW cares about his popularity, even with his base. Sounds like he is just trying to please himself and to hell with the rest of it. As long as he can financially afford this it seems he will be happy and some of us won't. Nothing since Open Season seems to indicate a "work for money" mentality. I agree with your disagreement on my first point in-so-far as we love to give our opinions here. I had assumed by "opinion-makers" you meant the music critics who publish their opinions in mainstream music media. I wonder if it's that he doesn't care what ANYONE thinks of his music or if it's about wanting to follow his own muse. Yes, since most of us have to work for money (and most of us are working harder than ever to keep up these days) I do wonder how Westerberg manages to make a living these days. What's that line he says about "now that I have time on my hands"? Of course the answer to such questions are none of my business and of little consequence. I'm just glad he can afford to do it and I quess I like most of his home-made music because: a)I like his "mumbling", the melancholy, the personal touches and all of that, b) His music swims against the tide of modern commercial stamp-it-out, appeal to the lowest commom denominator music, and c) I like that whole independent, do-it-yourself concept- and I don't see that as being radical, just real. |
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Post by brianlux on Oct 10, 2009 14:18:03 GMT -5
One more thought on all of this- When I was a kid my best friends told me one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. He said, “I’m not crazy. It’s the rest of the world that’s crazy.” This wasn’t meant to dis anybody or be a put-down. It’s just the signature of an independent thinker. This might be how P.W. thinks. Neil Young said something similar in his aborted American Masters documentary. He said something along the line of, “There are times when I have to go with what I think is right, maybe even dropping projects and going off in a whole other direction. Some people might feel hurt but I have to go where the music (or muse) takes me and sometimes people get left behind.” If Westerberg continues to do what he thinks is right for his music he might lose some fans along the way. It could be argued that he should be more loyal to his fans desires (assuming they are the ones who provide his pay check) or it could be argued that it’s better to be true to one’s muse. Or it could be argued that he should be more like the guy who started a famous bookstore business who sold a lot of romance and mystery novels so he could have a great poetry section. However, had he been financially independent he might have run a store like the one I heard about in Boston that carries nothing but books of poetry.
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Post by A Regular on Oct 10, 2009 20:47:00 GMT -5
I disagree with the first point; that's why we love to spout our opinions on something like this. And I'm not sure if PW cares about his popularity, even with his base. Sounds like he is just trying to please himself and to hell with the rest of it. As long as he can financially afford this it seems he will be happy and some of us won't. Nothing since Open Season seems to indicate a "work for money" mentality. I agree with your disagreement on my first point in-so-far as we love to give our opinions here. I had assumed by "opinion-makers" you meant the music critics who publish their opinions in mainstream music media. That is what I meant and hoped to infer that people like to pop off around these types of forums (and amazon reviews, and blogs, etc) with opinions in some effort to emulate those types. We often tend to sound like a poor wo/man's robert christgua. If we are imitating those writers, well, isn't that some sort of flattery? I don't buy the idea that we ignore or discredit those critics when i see so much imitation. |
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Post by brianlux on Oct 10, 2009 22:39:18 GMT -5
I agree with your disagreement on my first point in-so-far as we love to give our opinions here. I had assumed by "opinion-makers" you meant the music critics who publish their opinions in mainstream music media. That is what I meant and hoped to infer that people like to pop off around these types of forums (and amazon reviews, and blogs, etc) with opinions in some effort to emulate those types. We often tend to sound like a poor wo/man's robert christgua. If we are imitating those writers, well, isn't that some sort of flattery? I don't buy the idea that we ignore or discredit those critics when i see so much imitation. Good point- and I do like Christgua's writing. "a poor wo/man's robert christgua"- quite flattering to us all actually. I shouldn't let my old school leaning towards the likes of Ralph Ellison and Nat Hentoff blur my vision. |
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Post by redredwine on Oct 12, 2009 23:24:53 GMT -5
I must say that Rubin has done some great work, but have you heard the latest Gossip album? The production does not do justice to Beth Ditto's voice, which he should have featured.
But an interesting question arises - since Rubin loves to have the artist he is working with do a cover of a song from a completely different genre - what song would he have Westerberg cover?
Johnny Too Bad by the Slickers?
Orange Blossom Special by Johnny Cash?
Out Of Step by Minor Threat?
Personally, I'd like to hear him cover Shake Some Action by the Flamin' Groovies.
Just sayin'...
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Numskll
First Class Scout
Posts: 173
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Post by Numskll on Oct 13, 2009 9:07:17 GMT -5
But an interesting question arises - since Rubin loves to have the artist he is working with do a cover of a song from a completely different genre - what song would he have Westerberg cover? "Push It" by Salt n Pepa? *ducks behind couch* |
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Post by A Regular on Oct 13, 2009 18:09:23 GMT -5
I must say that Rubin has done some great work, but have you heard the latest Gossip album? The production does not do justice to Beth Ditto's voice, which he should have featured. But an interesting question arises - since Rubin loves to have the artist he is working with do a cover of a song from a completely different genre - what song would he have Westerberg cover? Johnny Too Bad by the Slickers? Orange Blossom Special by Johnny Cash? Out Of Step by Minor Threat? Personally, I'd like to hear him cover Shake Some Action by the Flamin' Groovies. Just sayin'... Hard to find a genre PW hasn't played around with' He's done Long Black Veil (also done by Cash), thrashed like minor threat (I think they must be a punk band with that name). I would like to hear him do a political folk tune, one that he thinks speaks some truth. Would be interesting. |
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Post by brianlux on Oct 13, 2009 18:56:38 GMT -5
I must say that Rubin has done some great work, but have you heard the latest Gossip album? The production does not do justice to Beth Ditto's voice, which he should have featured. But an interesting question arises - since Rubin loves to have the artist he is working with do a cover of a song from a completely different genre - what song would he have Westerberg cover? Johnny Too Bad by the Slickers? Orange Blossom Special by Johnny Cash? Out Of Step by Minor Threat? Personally, I'd like to hear him cover Shake Some Action by the Flamin' Groovies. Just sayin'... Hard to find a genre PW hasn't played around with' He's done Long Black Veil (also done by Cash), thrashed like minor threat (I think they must be a punk band with that name). I would like to hear him do a political folk tune, one that he thinks speaks some truth. Would be interesting. Does "We May Be The Ones" count? Maybe his version of "If I had a hammer"? We're you thinking something more overtly political? Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger tunes? Hey, how about something by Phil Ochs! |
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Post by redredwine on Oct 17, 2009 8:51:06 GMT -5
Hard to find a genre PW hasn't played around with' He's done Long Black Veil (also done by Cash), thrashed like minor threat (I think they must be a punk band with that name). I would like to hear him do a political folk tune, one that he thinks speaks some truth. Would be interesting. Does "We May Be The Ones" count? Maybe his version of "If I had a hammer"? We're you thinking something more overtly political? Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger tunes? Hey, how about something by Phil Ochs! I could hear Paul doing a cover of Little Boxes. Does anyone know what color Paul's house is painted? Is it a Blue one or a Yellow one? Is it made of ticky tacky? Wonder if he drinks his Martini Dry? |
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tims
First Class Scout
I'm becoming the sappy parent I used to make fun of.
Posts: 290
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Post by tims on Oct 19, 2009 21:57:13 GMT -5
If we're doing Ochs, how about 'Love Me, I'm a Liberal' now that it's obvious that there is no Hope?
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Post by brianlux on Oct 20, 2009 0:15:14 GMT -5
If we're doing Ochs, how about 'Love Me, I'm a Liberal' now that it's obvious that there is no Hope? Right about now we could use P.W. doing a song like that- either to help get things back on track so to speak or at least inject a little off-hand humor. (Also, I keep thinking about Vaclav Havel's hope mantra- "Hope is doing what makes sense no matter how things turn out".) Definitely though, I wouldn't want P.W. going so far as to do Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction". Talk about shattering hope (though at the time that was a powerful song). |
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