Common misconceptions about artists or albums?

As an aspiring film critic and writer on cinema and pop culture, I debunk prevalent myths about film or entertainment in general. What are some in regards to music, whether it'd be about bands, artists, or specific albums?

For example, albums that've been thought of as failures when they were first released when they weren't. I have a few mild examples for this with Metallica's Load, Reload, and St. Anger. Due to the polarizing reactions to the former two albums and the negative impact that St. Anger had on Metallica's career, certain fans think that they were outright failures in terms of critical and fan reception. Load and Reload have been praised by many for their experimental and eclectic styles; several tracks have become fan favorites and concert staples. St. Anger initially received mixed reviews from critics and still averages a score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic.

 

The YouTube video essay The Unauthorized Truth About Oliver Stone's The Doors debunks many misconceptions held about Jim Morrison and the Doors in general, several of which were validated by Oliver Stone's 1991 Doors biopic.

 

There are so many misconceptions about the Beatles doing things before anyone else did. It’s astonishing. Despite what you may have heard or read the Fab Four were not the first to do any of the following:

Tape flanging: That prestigious honour goes to mixing engineer Larry Levine on Toni Fisher's 1959 top five hit "The Big Hurt." Many people confuse ADT (automatic double tracking, invented by Abbey Road engineer Ken Townsend) with tape flanging but they are two different processes with different sonic results. To further confuse things tape flanging was incorrectly called 'phasing' by studio personnel and artists back in its infancy. Phasing and flanging are definitely not the same thing.

Fuzz/distorted instrument on a record: Marty Robbins' bassist Grady Martin got there first quite serendipitously in late 1960 when he plugged into a faulty mixing channel during a recording session. Thank you Grady!

Backwards guitar on a recording: Pierre Schaeffer circa 1950, can't recall the exact piece.

Heavy Metal: Oh please. And no it wasn't The Who either. See Tony Iommi. Please!

A recording which could never be reproduced in a live performance: Halim El Dabh- "Expressions of Zaar" for wire recorder, 1944.

The concept of Pop Stardom: Rudy Vallee beat Bing Crosby there by several years. Hard for anyone today to imagine just how popular this guy was. The first "crooner."

The concept of Superstardom: Frank Sinatra beat Elvis by quite a few years. Utterly massive record/concert sales, successful films, his own weekly radio show, an insane amount of publicity and hundreds of thousands of adoring, screaming female fans all over the world, all this made Frank the very first superstar.

Groupies: Sinatra beats Elvis again. Old Blue Eyes was a chick magnet unlike any singer who preceded him.

The idea of a popular artist writing his/her own songs: I'm unsure who was truly first but just as an example Johnny Mercer beat the Beatles by over three decades.

I could go on…

 

These are all opinions, not misconceptions.

 

Wrong. There's a difference between disliking these three albums and the held belief by some that they failed critically. It's fact that they weren't failures despite their divisive reputations.

 

100% correct. Thank you for this.

 

That "only" dogs can hear the high-pitched noise at the end of "A Day In The Life". Some people can, and some people can't (it seems to be age-dependent), but it's not that high-pitched. I absolutely hate how this "fact" gets regurgitated on Buzzfeed lists and such.

Edit: to be precise, it's 15 KHz, which is well within the hearing range of children and still within the range of many adults.

 

Since the mid-2010s, there has been a misperception (by people who weren't old enough to remember the late '90s and beginning of the '00s) that Smash Mouth was a one-hit wonder, which they most certainly weren't. They weren't thought of a novelty act, either - just a pop rock band.

 

One kid in my elementary school used to wear all these Grateful Dead T-shirts with the skulls with snakes coming out of their mouth etc.
I always thought they would be some kind of death metal band, imagine my surprise when I heard "Uncle John's Band", like this is what they sound like?

 

Let's get a big one out of the way: the oft-quoted quote from Lennon, which was said by a British comedian, Jasper Carrott, about the drumming prowess of Ringo, within his own band. Actually, it may go back further than Mr. Carrott.


Dan

 

It appears that many articles in the blogosphere and public perception have caused certain acts to retroactively become one-hit wonders, ie. Gerry Rafferty, The Human League.

 

This!

 

That Stephen Stills wrote “For What It’s Worth” about the Kent State shootings - how could a song from 1966 possibly be about an event in 1970?

 

I thought it was generally understood to be about the Sunset Strip riots.

 

2 songs being mixed up here.
Ohio is the CSNY song about the Kent State shootings.
For What It’s Worth is about the riots on Sunset Strip.

 

You are correct, but my point is that “For What It’s Worth” seems to get confused with “Ohio”, leading to the misconception of it being about the Kent State Shootings.

 

There's an urban legend that Metallica's song Ronnie is about a real-life school shooting, but there is no evidence of this. There's speculation that it could be about Ronnie Van Zant, but it's just speculation.

 

By whom, though? I've never heard anyone claim "For What It's Worth" is about Kent State.

 

Far as anyone seems to know, Jasper Carrott can take credit or blame for that observation….which was not even made until John Lennon could not possibly have done.

Me, I think Mr Carrott peaked with “Funky Moped.”

 

In a radio interview in 2006, Stills apparently heard many people saying this. I can’t find a link to the original, though.

 

Check Art Neville’s “Cha Dooky Doo,” from 1958.

 

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I stand corrected. Thanks bRETT!

 

we loved “The Detectives” as kids!

 

Contemporary reviews of Oasis’s What’s The Story were less celebratory than history would have you believe . The opposite with their next LP

 

Nothing can prepare you for the crushing disappointment of hearing the Grateful Dead for the first time.