Monday, July 26, 2010

Well-Learned Politesse: Mick Jagger Turns 67











Like many a singer, you hear a few seconds of him and you know the distinctive voice of Mick Jagger, which is strangely comforting in a way. The is true of blues singers in general. Another thing about singers: male vocalists tend to benefit from accompanying instruments. Some female vocalists, however, seem to project their voices into another realm entirely, so much so that the existing musical backdrop seems lame by comparison, or inadequate. I'm thinking of examples like Édith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin and k.d. lang. Not always, but often. True or not?  What do you think?













Man, even CDs are part of the historical record now. This copy of "Exile on Main St" was one of the first I got post-vinyl, in the 1980s. You can tell it's from the early days of CDs because it reads 2-RECORD SET ON 1 COMPACT DISC.












For those active during the transition period from records and cassettes, remember how CDs were first packaged? It was as if the public was considered too dumb to otherwise be coaxed into buying CDs. They were so much smaller than record albums, yet more expensive.

In any case, happy birthday Mick Jagger!   Top: 2010 release of "Exile on Main St" with bonus disc.

9 comments:

JR's Thumbprints said...

I'm trying to keep up with technology, but the whole music industry isn't a top priority. What I mean by that is: Instead of buying the same songs over again, I converted my cassette tapes over to MP3 files. What's a little white noise anyway?

nunya said...

Ok, now I feel old. One of the first CD's my boyfriend got when we got our brand spankin new cd player (it was a stereo component and played ONE cd at a time) was Earl Klugh's Soda Fountain Shuffle and we marveled at how much better it sounded. Now I marvel at how good the picture on my iPod is. lol

nunya said...

ps, I liked Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which I watched on Netflix after reading your post :)

Erik Donald France said...

Hey thanks for the comments!

The thing I remember about CD packaging: big, twice or more as big as an actual CD. The PR folks eventually decided to sell them as shrink-wrapped CDs for "ecological concerns."

Earl Klugh ;-> Another one I heard tonight was Delbert McClinton . . .

nunya said...

My friend's relative produced a video (errp, there's the age again, I mean DVD) of Delbert McClinton.

jodi said...

Erik, And I thought I was old! Not a huge Mick fan, but like some of the old Stones stuff.

Charles Gramlich said...

My favorite female singers are folks like Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and, especially, Stevie Nicks.

Sidney said...

At least Mick is older than me.

Erik Donald France said...

Hey thanks all for the added comments! That's cool on Delbert M: saw him play his NC circuit back in the 80s. Very good performances in small clubs.

Charles -- I like those three as well; their voices are better matched with the music. Joan Jett is the badass of the bunch.