Musicians you thought were going to be great...

Remember Neil Young's first 2 lp's (after that) sounded that way.
Listen to "Mr Soul", it sounds like "Cinimon Girl". Remember, this is 67/68?, most of their stuff should stand the test of time pretty well. They were the start of the thing we call California country rock? (Eagles, Poco, etc) Give 'em a couple more chances, and think back to when I was in the 8th grade. I guess what I'm trying to say is go back before you heard "The Doors". That's what ruined you/us, after that everything jumped up a notch.
There was a huge gap between 66-68 and 69/71. (and I'm not talking about the 3 months I was grounded) Production was improved dramatically. Of course, "Retrospective" is all the Buffalo Springfield you need.

Let us know if you have a change heart, maybe my memory is tainted by the lead in all those dropped pencils.

 

The Doobie Brothers, till MM took them down.
ZZ Top, till they grew long beards.
Mariah Carey, till I turned up the TV volume.

 

Buffalo Springfield

CM,

In the pre-Woodstock days of 66/77 when the first two BS albums were released I was almost exclusively listening to English (and Australian of course) music, so this may not be quite accurate, but I believe BS's fame is somewhat retrospective in that it was achieved after the CSNY Woodstock appearance and the CSN and Deja Vu albums and Neil Young's early solo material.

I don't know if those 2 albums (apart from For What Its Worth) were well known or even well regarded at the time of their release, but maybe someone else can answer that.

So, following the huge success of Woodstock and then the whole hippy thing and then the CSN(Y) albums and solo albums etc it was inevitable that music fans would look back to what came before and eventually it becomes the "legendary" BS, when in fact they may not have been so legendary at the time.

My view of BS is that firstly, they took almost 2 albums to recognise who their one truly inspired and melodically gifted songwriter was (Neil Young) and secondly whilst Stills was a very gifted guitarist and a soulful singer, apart from a few notable exceptions, his songwriting was largely unmelodic and sterile. And of course Stills was the majority contributor to the first album and wrote over a third of the second album.

I remember it was cool in the early seventies as a budding young guitarist to really be into Stills and his guitar playing really blew me away at the time, remembering that it was quite unusual to hear so much acoustic lead guitar (as on songs like Suite Judy Blue Eyes). So Stills managed to acquire quite a reputation which in retrospect and evidenced by his dramatic decline may not have been warranted.

When BS disbanded and Stills lost Young he found himself another melodicist in Graham Nash who whilst far far less talented than Young, could write a neat melody. Crosby of course could never be accused of writing a "song". I think Crosby created moods more than writing songs as such. It's interesting to analyse the first CSN album. I think it really gets through primarily on the novelty of the combination of acoustic and electric guitar sounds and of course the vocals particularly the 3 part harmonies, rather than the songwriting.

Sorry if I'm all over the place here!

So in a way I think that BS are overrated and their legend has been magnified with the passage of time. That's not to say I don't like them. In fact I like them very much! I haven't heard the outtakes on the box, but I do wonder whether there is sufficient material (released and unreleased) to warrant a box set.

So CM I know exactly what you mean. It could well be a case of "you had to be there at the time"

 

Well, BC DID have a long career. They were still out there through 2000, and before last December, the possibility remained open they might reunite. Won't happen now.

Anyway, my point is that the band lasted on a continuous basis for almost 20 years. Obviously they never remotely approached the popularity of U2 after 1983, but they continued to plug away...

 

Re: Buffalo Springfield

 

Dave,
If you can't get into Pet Sounds. Try taking this approach. Listen to "God Only Know" first, it has to be one of "The" most beautiful songs ever! Then move onto "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B". You will see the beauty of that album. Maybe you'll see it as the "Masterpiece" it really is.

 

Big Country, as was already mentioned. Tears for Fears, is another good one.

And how about, Crowded House and Tracy Chapman for never having fully realized their potential? Guns N' Roses is a borderline case, sorta’.

 

MM...DESTROYED the Doobies!

 

MM destroyed one hell of a lot more bands than just the Doobies! Video killed the radio star!

 

Re: Re: Buffalo Springfield

 

Thanks for the responses in this thread re: Buffalo Springfield. I sincerely appreciate them. (Peter - special thanks for your lengthy thoughts).

 

The Stone Roses-There debut album still makes every all time great album list in the uk and many in the states yet for me, with the exception of Fools Gold and I Wan To To Be Adored which are great songs, I still can't see what makes this album so great.When their followup came 6 years later I bought and it sounded great at first- very bluesy but then lost all appeal for me.

 

Oh, surely Crowded House fully realized their potential, and then some. They certainly fully developed everything that Split Enz showed in embryonic form. Three of the finest pop records of the late eighties. If you mean they should have recorded a few more albums and stayed together a bit longer - no argument there. One of the great Aussie bands.

Regards,
Metralla

 

Yes I agree, although I think, like a certain other well known group, Crowded House picked the perfect time to quit.

You might get some argument from the Kiwis though about CH being Aussie!!

 

Has no one mentioned Peter Frampton? Comes Alive was absolutely huge, only to be followed by I'm In You and Sgt Peppers. Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck...

 

My bad. The Finns of course are from New Zealand, but made it big in Australia and were adopted. We do that with winners - e.g. The Bee Gees.

Regards,
Metralla

 

Just noticed your avatar. Ewww, the Spanish Amal. I had a Sherpa T for a litlte while...with mikuni.

 

I had an argument with a guy from the US I met on a beach in Queensland Australia about 20 years ago who was adamant that ELO were American!

Even after I convinced him they were English born he said "well they record in the US now (?) so we regard them as American"!!

The Bee Gees are certainly a special case. They got their musical grounding as children in Australia and achieved a good deal of local popularity here but of course they only achieved international superstardom once they returned to England.

I don't think it's correct that Australia adopted the Bee Gees once they became "winners". We loved them long before that!

 

Okay then, we'll give you Icehouse...great southern land...

 

pigmode, I'll give you "Icehouse" by Flowers.

Their first album - the group led by Iva Davies. They changed the name of the group to Icehouse for the next record. Mate, if you like Icehouse you should try to find this record. It's awesome!

Peter, I was being silly. I was in Brisbane for much of my teenage years and of course, we loved The Bee Gees.

Regards,
Metralla