Full Moon Edition August 2023
High Art
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had absolutely nothing on Alfred E. Neuman when it came to gathering the tribe of suspect characters. Maybe it was just because this lineup in support of the What Me Worry Band was more contemporary, the deeds of the bad guys (and gals) fresher in our mind. Maybe it was because he cast them in basic black and white like the lives they led.
All this came to mind when I remembered that blazing moment in time when peace and love became the mantra and the counterculture in America briefly became the dominant popular culture. What an startling era it was and what absolutely amazing music was made.
Think of that window when classic rock music was created, when Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, and Paul Butterfield flooded 1966 with brilliant albums the likes of which were previously unknown, and when in May of 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s detonated its aural bombshell, and when the Summer of Love settled on the consciousness of the country, and a few months later freeform radio at WNEW and KMPX brought those sounds to us respectfully and fully formed in stereophonic sound on FM radio. What a staggering statement of freedom it was when rock music became high art.
His Part
When the Doors first appeared on the national scene, what they brought to the stage was distinctly different from what most of the music scene was settled into. That long ago era of peace and love, the psychedelic sounds of San Francisco, grew out of the folk music ethic of authenticity and anti-materialism. The Doors though were L.A. and Jim Morrison was definitely show biz. He gave us something unique for the time.
This picture of the band was in 1966 when nobody knew them and Linda McCartney said she saw “something” there worth the shot. It wasn’t long before the Village Voice ran a picture of Jim bare-chested beneath a black leather jacket, his handsome face ringed by long, curly hair, and asked: Is this the new rock’s first sex symbol?
In that sense, he was the Elvis of the late Sixties, a brilliant, troubled talent whose persona exceeded his music for that brief narrative arc he shaped as a star. He captured the bad-boy pose perfectly and made it work for him in a big way.
People today still revere the image he created more than the music he made, and much of that music was not insignificant by any means. But it paled next to the sheer presence he brought to the stage. Where do you go from there? It left him little room for growth and made his early exit sad but unsurprising.
Her Part
The Wall Street Journal the other day ran a piece headed “It’s Taylor Swift’s Economy and We’re Living In It.” Her Eras tour of America is single-handedly reinvigorating the hospitality industry in cities across the country that suffered the Pandemic and still are trying to recover. Ms. Swift is getting it done for them. Hotels are filling up, stores are selling merchandise, restaurants are packed, and of course, count your blessings if you scored a ticket to her show. Swifties are everywhere, cash in hand.
Tay-Tay is a phenomenon of the first order, a smart, talented, savvy, and – oh yeah – beautiful artist who is deeply tapped into the vein of romantic angst, especially among young women and girls. Her songs resonate with them in a way that places her at the very top of the pantheon of singer-songwriters who just happen to be hellaciously good performers, as well. There is simply no stopping Taylor Swift.
This particular era is one that is tightly controlled and manipulated by the big media corporations. It takes someone of extraordinary ability to have her way and control her artistic process, particularly at the summit of the entertainment industry. She is one such person among the very few.
She backed down Apple a few years ago in a struggle over royalties for artists, a promethean accomplishment that. She shamed Ticket Master for bungling ticket sales. When her original songbook was sold out from under her, she set out to recreate Taylor’s version. Four of her albums are currently in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. She is a force who somehow has transcended the stranglehold industry has on the work of performing artists. And through it all she exudes good vibes. What’s not to like? A lot of people do.