Elvis...or Michael?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

I want singers to write the stuff they sing. If somebody else writes it, and I don't know it, I feel cheated and lied to.

I don't hold hard and fast to this myself. For example, Neil Young writes some great songs, but his voice makes my skin crawl.

There are a lot of great songwriters out there who cannot perform well. I would hate to miss their songwriting skills just because I can't stand their performance.

Conversely, there are performers who I greatly enjoy who don't write all of their own material. Led Zeppelin, one of the great (IMO) hard rock bands did a LOT of cover material from old blues musicians of the 40's 50's and 60's.

[mousepod]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Led Zeppelin, one of the great (IMO) hard rock bands did a LOT of cover material from old blues musicians of the 40's 50's and 60's.

And they eventually even admitted it!

[flippyshark]

Yeah, lots of exceptions. And Zepplin's first album is especially heavy with borrowings, but that doesn't prevent it being completely amazing. On the other hand, Tom Waits would never, ever have made it if he was just singing covers. At best, he would have been a curio like Mrs. Miller. But a Tom Waits song, however brilliant, loses something when it's sung by Scarlett Johansen. Waits sounds like he's lived his boozy, hardscrabble poetry, Scarlett sounds like a schoolgirl with a crush.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

YOn the other hand, Tom Waits would never, ever have made it if he was just singing covers. At best, he would have been a curio like Mrs. Miller. But a Tom Waits song, however brilliant, loses something when it's sung by Scarlett Johansen. Waits sounds like he's lived his boozy, hardscrabble poetry, Scarlett sounds like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Oh, there are certainly a LOT of examples of good songs gone bad when in the wrong hands. I was just making the argument that not all songwriters should sing and not all singers should write their own material.

And while I certainly don't listen to the current crop of bubblegum synthetic pop performers, this is hardly a new phenomenon. Promoters having been making stars of no-talent people who looked good on stage for a very long time. There just happens to be more tools available to make people sound better.

[innerSpaceman]

Alex, it's just that I'm going to hold in higher regard artists who create their own work, instead of "simply" performing it.

George Lucas gets higher marks for writing Star Wars and directing it than, say, Steven Spielberg gets for directing Raiders of the Lost Ark, but not having anything to do with its creation.

I dig me some Sinatra and don't blame him for not writing the great songs he brought to life, but I admire more the work of John Lennon who created his own stuff from scratch.

DiNiro would not be a better actor in a piece he wrote himself, but I would admire him more as a creative talent were that the case.

[alphabassettgrrl]

It's true that not all songwriters can perform their music (Leonad Cohen comes to mind), I'm with ISM in holding singer/songwriters in higher regard. I guess there's some mental split going on there; I like the writing but hate covers. Mostly.

Consistancy has never been my strong point, though, so the two points live in my head in relative harmony.

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

It's true that not all songwriters can perform their music (Leonad Cohen comes to mind)

I deg to biffer

[Not Afraid]

Leonard Cohen does a wonderful job of performing his music! He's fantastic in concert!

[€uroMeinke]

Leonard Cohen's voice has definitely improved with age - his early records just don't have the depth and gravity he's seemed to have acquired over time.