Who the Fuck is Don Henley?
“Knock, knock, knockin’ on Heaven’s door, hey, hey, hey, hey yeah…”
Funny how we’ve actually grown more accustomed to that song with the idiosyncratic wailings of Axl Rose, than the token nasal drone of Mr. Dylan (in my eyes, one of the best songwriters of all time). But is there a generation of flunkies who’ve forgotten that genuine, unique songwriting once existed?
There was once a time when an “established” (keep that word close for reference… I’ll need you to dig it back up again) artist could honor a legend with a remake of one of their favorite songs. All the proper avenues were traveled and the legend was a part of this remake, allowing the new artist to adhere to the new song their own flavor of individuality, spiced with the sounds of their time. The new version was brought into the world as a grandchild of the old, with promises of acclaim to the original artist and a bright future with the newly landscaped design. Both artists were gratified, the original flattered, the other pleased to carry on such a tradition… How many of us consider Jimi Hendrix a hero? A guitar God, a legend in his own class, a gift to all music frozen in time? Yet Hendrix had a hero… And he proceeded to bear a remake that will forever be a rock and roll legend. Yet, poll people on the street and find out how many actually knew that All Along the Watchtower was written by Bob Dylan… Stevie Ray Vaughn? Enthralled with Jimi’s presence. Did he make himself famous with Jimi’s music? No, he made it out there first with his amazing talent, then dazzled us even more with his phenomenal take on Voodoo Child and Little Wing. And yet, these remakes never took away from the originals, and both versions continued on the charts in history. Was there any reason for the notorious Man in Black to produce an album full of covers? In fact, Johnny Cash was far from washed up. But unfortunately, there are millions of people who have proclaimed their love for Johnny merely due to Hurt. (On the amusing flipside, how many Cash fans of old had any fucking idea what NIN stood for?) I’m happy to say it only made me love two of my top favorite’s even more. Not to mention that Cash managed to pull off Soundgarden, U2, and Depeche Mode covers with undeniable skill and panache.
So what, then, did I come here to rant about today? Well, these covers were all great and did immense justice to creator and re-creator. So when in history did this consideration go out the fucking window? Who ultimately gave Joe Blow and his band of Moron’s the consent to rip apart a historical song and rape the moldings of a perfectly good tune? Is there that much imagination lacking in each new generation that we’ve resorted to reprocessing other people’s ingenuity? Even worse, (and not to berate country music, but…) the country artists who take a relatively new song and just add twang? Or the newer term, “music sampling”, for the not so musically inclined “gangstas” and punks who seem to have misplaced their own “beats”?
Ok, enough with the questions and patronizing, on to some terrible memory jogging.
The Atari’s. Heard of them? Perhaps you may have heard their slightly quicker version of The Boys of Summer, written and performed by Don Henley. Same song, same lyrics (oh wait, changed one lyric to read a different bumper sticker, as if this was their new trademark) recorded to a CD and mass produced to drive the music nation insane. Even sadder than the band revisiting this song with no new innovation was the complete lack of respect given to the original artist with the lead singer of The Atari’s wearing a shirt stating "Who The Fuck Is Don Henley?”. Great, so you just managed to get laid backstage at your limped through concert tour based on someone else’s song and you don’t even have the decency to thank him?
I Love Rock and Roll, originally recorded and released by The Arrows, was picked up by Joan Jett a few years later and inevitably propelled her into her stardom. Now, again, let’s do a little poll on how many thought this song was really Joan Jett’s…? Actually, in all reality, she epitomizes the exact annoyance I’m portraying here. She used someone else’s song to become famous. Worse yet, this song came back to haunt us a few years back when Britney Spears thought it would be great to cover “Pat Benatar’s” song in her movie. Wow. Who lets this brilliance slip through the cracks?
Don McLean’s revolutionary classic American Pie. A song involving pop culture, political perceptions, allusions to rock and roll legends, Christian elements, drug culture, and ultimately the tribute to the “day the music died” with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. A song so epic and well written there should never have been a cover recorded for the rest of time. Needless to say, another dumb blond decided it would be a great addition to another fucking useless movie and hence, Madonna butchered history.
Better yet, how many of us actually have a moment of nasty flashbacks in the first few bars of Under Pressure, once a classic Queen and David Bowie collaboration, turned ridiculous with Vanilla Ice’s dog and pony show. Also one of the first “samplings” that ultimately landed him in hot water since there was no actual permission granted for the use of the track. Unfortunatley it wasn’t caught and nixed before the original was ruined for us. Bootylicious, by Destiny’s Child uses a “interpolation” of the song Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks. Really just a fancy word that makes it easier to get around “sampling” legalities. It seems there is a new genre of music emerging know as “remixes”. Some artists would never admit that their ingenious song is really a version of a remix, but when they’re using previously written and recorded tracks to fill in their “new” song, what else can we call it but recycled?
I shall digress a moment here and relate back to a previous statement. Established artists who collaborate with other artists, or attempt to bring a new light to an old song from a personal idol. Musical culture can be enhanced and enlightened with some of these renowned covers. But is there a future for bands who jump from bar to bar playing AC/DC and Metallica covers note for note? Or crappy “one hit wonder” bands who make it on the radio by slaughtering a classic? I really wish that as a human race some of those more jaded individuals would embrace a little of music history and get to know Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Maybe if our generations could appreciate some of the building blocks to rock and roll, there may be some more respect and perhaps even more imaginative songwriters for our future.
And better yet we may be spared the agony of ever hearing William Shatner cover Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Wouldn’t Lennon agree?
Funny how we’ve actually grown more accustomed to that song with the idiosyncratic wailings of Axl Rose, than the token nasal drone of Mr. Dylan (in my eyes, one of the best songwriters of all time). But is there a generation of flunkies who’ve forgotten that genuine, unique songwriting once existed?
There was once a time when an “established” (keep that word close for reference… I’ll need you to dig it back up again) artist could honor a legend with a remake of one of their favorite songs. All the proper avenues were traveled and the legend was a part of this remake, allowing the new artist to adhere to the new song their own flavor of individuality, spiced with the sounds of their time. The new version was brought into the world as a grandchild of the old, with promises of acclaim to the original artist and a bright future with the newly landscaped design. Both artists were gratified, the original flattered, the other pleased to carry on such a tradition… How many of us consider Jimi Hendrix a hero? A guitar God, a legend in his own class, a gift to all music frozen in time? Yet Hendrix had a hero… And he proceeded to bear a remake that will forever be a rock and roll legend. Yet, poll people on the street and find out how many actually knew that All Along the Watchtower was written by Bob Dylan… Stevie Ray Vaughn? Enthralled with Jimi’s presence. Did he make himself famous with Jimi’s music? No, he made it out there first with his amazing talent, then dazzled us even more with his phenomenal take on Voodoo Child and Little Wing. And yet, these remakes never took away from the originals, and both versions continued on the charts in history. Was there any reason for the notorious Man in Black to produce an album full of covers? In fact, Johnny Cash was far from washed up. But unfortunately, there are millions of people who have proclaimed their love for Johnny merely due to Hurt. (On the amusing flipside, how many Cash fans of old had any fucking idea what NIN stood for?) I’m happy to say it only made me love two of my top favorite’s even more. Not to mention that Cash managed to pull off Soundgarden, U2, and Depeche Mode covers with undeniable skill and panache.
So what, then, did I come here to rant about today? Well, these covers were all great and did immense justice to creator and re-creator. So when in history did this consideration go out the fucking window? Who ultimately gave Joe Blow and his band of Moron’s the consent to rip apart a historical song and rape the moldings of a perfectly good tune? Is there that much imagination lacking in each new generation that we’ve resorted to reprocessing other people’s ingenuity? Even worse, (and not to berate country music, but…) the country artists who take a relatively new song and just add twang? Or the newer term, “music sampling”, for the not so musically inclined “gangstas” and punks who seem to have misplaced their own “beats”?
Ok, enough with the questions and patronizing, on to some terrible memory jogging.
The Atari’s. Heard of them? Perhaps you may have heard their slightly quicker version of The Boys of Summer, written and performed by Don Henley. Same song, same lyrics (oh wait, changed one lyric to read a different bumper sticker, as if this was their new trademark) recorded to a CD and mass produced to drive the music nation insane. Even sadder than the band revisiting this song with no new innovation was the complete lack of respect given to the original artist with the lead singer of The Atari’s wearing a shirt stating "Who The Fuck Is Don Henley?”. Great, so you just managed to get laid backstage at your limped through concert tour based on someone else’s song and you don’t even have the decency to thank him?
I Love Rock and Roll, originally recorded and released by The Arrows, was picked up by Joan Jett a few years later and inevitably propelled her into her stardom. Now, again, let’s do a little poll on how many thought this song was really Joan Jett’s…? Actually, in all reality, she epitomizes the exact annoyance I’m portraying here. She used someone else’s song to become famous. Worse yet, this song came back to haunt us a few years back when Britney Spears thought it would be great to cover “Pat Benatar’s” song in her movie. Wow. Who lets this brilliance slip through the cracks?
Don McLean’s revolutionary classic American Pie. A song involving pop culture, political perceptions, allusions to rock and roll legends, Christian elements, drug culture, and ultimately the tribute to the “day the music died” with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. A song so epic and well written there should never have been a cover recorded for the rest of time. Needless to say, another dumb blond decided it would be a great addition to another fucking useless movie and hence, Madonna butchered history.
Better yet, how many of us actually have a moment of nasty flashbacks in the first few bars of Under Pressure, once a classic Queen and David Bowie collaboration, turned ridiculous with Vanilla Ice’s dog and pony show. Also one of the first “samplings” that ultimately landed him in hot water since there was no actual permission granted for the use of the track. Unfortunatley it wasn’t caught and nixed before the original was ruined for us. Bootylicious, by Destiny’s Child uses a “interpolation” of the song Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks. Really just a fancy word that makes it easier to get around “sampling” legalities. It seems there is a new genre of music emerging know as “remixes”. Some artists would never admit that their ingenious song is really a version of a remix, but when they’re using previously written and recorded tracks to fill in their “new” song, what else can we call it but recycled?
I shall digress a moment here and relate back to a previous statement. Established artists who collaborate with other artists, or attempt to bring a new light to an old song from a personal idol. Musical culture can be enhanced and enlightened with some of these renowned covers. But is there a future for bands who jump from bar to bar playing AC/DC and Metallica covers note for note? Or crappy “one hit wonder” bands who make it on the radio by slaughtering a classic? I really wish that as a human race some of those more jaded individuals would embrace a little of music history and get to know Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Maybe if our generations could appreciate some of the building blocks to rock and roll, there may be some more respect and perhaps even more imaginative songwriters for our future.
And better yet we may be spared the agony of ever hearing William Shatner cover Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Wouldn’t Lennon agree?
posted by Earth Bound Misfit at 6:41 PM
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