Artists That Suffered From Van Gogh Syndrome

Some critics didn't like it, some did. Some were mixed. I think there are McCartney fans who fixate on one negative review (in Rolling Stone) because they like the narrative that "the critics hated the album, but history has proven them wrong." But that narrative isn't really correct.

 

Perfect!

 

It was certainly mixed with some appreciating the effort, some not so much. As I recall, "Wild Life" was greeted with less positive reviews. I think the difference is that no one hailed it as a masterpiece of music at the time. It's critical reappraisal is much more significant though.

 

Jobriath comes to mind. He was hyped like no other but never made it big for various reasons. Nowadays he's somewhat of a cult figure.

 

That's a really sad story. Manager/lover Jerry Brandt is, in large part, the culprit.

 

Gram Parsons is obviously familiar to most on this forum but way back before he died and became the godfather of country rock [ or 'that *****' according to Merle Haggard ] he was a virtual unknown to most music fans. I heard of him via reviews in Rolling Stone and was intrigued also by former Family and Blind Faith bass player's connection to the man . After he died or because of the way he died and was incinerated at the Joshua Tree memorial he has become a monument himself to the hip music lover but there is another story here and that is the fact that he is not well known in his birthplace of Winterhaven Florida.

I have lived in central Florida for the last two decades and was thrilled to find that I had ended up somewhere near to where one of my musical heroes had lived but I was to be very, very disappointed.
There are no plaques to his memory, just a single mention in the town website about him being a famous person from the town , no musician I have ever spoken to who was at least playing in the mid sixties has heard of him , my brother in law has been playing bass for various bands in central Florida since 1966 and has not only never heard of him but none of his former bandmates had either. My wife has worked in the citrus industry for many years and knows members of Parsons family [the Snively's] and they at least offer up a knowledge of his existence but nothing else besides.

About 12 years ago the FYE in Winterhaven was closing down so I dropped in and subsequently bought Gram Parsons 2 cd pack of his two Warner bros albums GP and Grievous Angel plus some outtakes ect .I passed my money over to the clerk at the counter and mentioned my excitement to the effect that the artist on the cd was born about half a mile away , the response was 'that is nice dude , cash or credit ?.

 

I've been aware of gram parsons for we'll over 20 year's now and love and own everything released... through gram I discovered the Byrds but more importantly I discovered miss emmylou harris!!gram parsons passed way too young but on my musical tastes he's been a textbook on quality music!!God bless him!!

 

Black Sabbath were commercially successful during their heyday, but a whipping boy for the critics: now they are far more respected as innovators in many ways, I think.

 

Moby Grape. Mismanaged (or ripped off you decide), mishandled by their label, critics feeling they were overhyped, it is an example of a recipe for disaster.

 

FWIW, Greil Marcus hailed side one of Wild Life as a masterpiece (in a March 1972 Creem review). Marcus absolutely loved the first side, saying it was "tough, imaginative, novel and rocking" and that it was "full of a new band's spirit and the elan that has made Paul one of the most important figures in the history of rock and roll." He described "Mumbo" as "the best thing he's done in years." However, Marcus hated side two, which he said was "soft, sweet... high voices, simpering melodies." He went on to say "The music is pedestrian and the tone offensive."

Despite that, he concludes by saying "This is a far better LP than Ram, and there's no point in ignoring it, any more than there's any point in taking John seriously just because he seems more in tune with what's cool." I enjoy that last statement, because it puts to lie today's popular fan notion that the critics of the 70s were all biased for John and against Paul.

 

I'm not sure how successful they were back in the day but maybe Terry Reid, Fred Neil, Nic Jones, Tim Buckley, Clifford T Ward and Bill Fay fit the thread.

 

While most of us on the forum know who they are, the general public would have no idea about any of them. I do think they get critical acclaim but so far no commercial success.

 

From my collection...maybe just in my eyes
Gene Clark
Guy Clark
Blaze Foley
Remains
The Triffids
Gobetweens

 

I would agree with your choices for the most part but, as is often the case, they still don't have any big commercial success. For the Van Gogh comparison to work they need that too.

 

OK, so whether The Monkees belong in this thread or not (They totally do) how about Michael Nesmith as a solo artist?

Similar to Gram Parsons (Another one I’d agree with) in some ways, musically.

Nez will always be a cult artist, but that’s cult’s gotten a bit bigger, and more acclaim now than he was back in the early ‘70s when he couldn’t fully shake that Monkees stigma. Now he’s drawing better crowds touring with his new First Natuonal Band than he did back then, an acclaimed live album this past year, a successful biography too, and a new two-man tour (Just Nez and a steel guitarist) this year. And more “Mike & Micky Show” tour dates too.

Add the recent Monkees successes, and it’s been a bit of Nesmith renaissance. Not major commercial success (Apart from that Monkees album a few years ago charting well), but more acclaim and he respect than he and his music got almost 50 years ago.

 

Papa Nez and Gram are good choices for this as most of their critical and commercial successes have come decades after their music was made and, in the case of Gram, after his death.

 

While he wasn’t totally ignored for all of his (lengthy) performing & recording career, the posthumous influence of John Fahey is very far beyond his limited commercial success during his lifetime.

Same with Karen Dalton - although like Fahey, she may have been her own worst enemy, career-wise. In 1970, I doubt anyone would foresee a day when her home recordings & demos were all issued. She was probably more well-known ten or twelve years ago than she is now, but she made some beautiful recordings.

 

Lamb (US)

Tim Buckley

MOby Grape

 

I think Mark Lanegan is woefully overlooked and will likely become more lionized in coming decades.
To me he's up there with Sinatra and Elvis. As good a songwriter as Leonard Cohen & Tom Waits.
As good or better singer ( more nuanced ) than Jim Morrison without Morrison's poetical self indulgence.

Also think Peter Case, Alejandro Escovedo & Chris Whitley are a few others who are somewhat overlooked
and deserve more attention for their talent and collected works.

 

There is some justice in the world!

 

Jim Morrison

 

I don’t think Jim Morrison was scorned, hated, disliked or critically attacked that I recall except for maybe “An American Prayer”.

 

I agree about the three you mention (Case, Escovedo, Whitley) but I think that Lanegan, while he hasn’t sold much, is critically pretty well regarded. Case was (and even sold albums) as part of The Plimsouls but I think that his solo career, while critically lauded, has flown below the radar which is too bad

 

Indeed, Nez had a Monkee on his back quite literally during the early part of his solo career and, while it changed gradually over time, I also think it hurt his solo career in terms of sales early on. Thank God he continued.

 

Robbie Basho? I only found out about him last week, but apparently there’s been a renewal of interest in his music in the past two decades, aided by reissues of his albums. Supposedly he was always the “other” primitivist guitarist back in his day behind John Fahey.