ORIGINAL: wings7
Here is a quote and opinion of a very talented singer and musician:
http://a.msn.com/en-us/music/news/david ... ar-AAjtBAz
And Robert (warspite1), I thought of you when I saw this and this is no disrespect to you my friend...this forum would not be the same without you! [&o]
warspite1
Hi Patrick I don’t take you posting this as you meaning any disrespect towards me – firstly because I don’t think you are like that and, secondly, because I don’t see how it can.
What do I mean by the latter?
Well the article you posted is about a very successful musician from one musical genre, telling the world he thinks another very successful musician who represents another musical genre is, essentially, musically untalented and that he can neither sing, write nor play.
I don’t know Kanye West from a personal perspective and, with the exception of perhaps two songs which I happen to like, I could not tell you what he has done professionally. Indeed I do not know to what extent he ‘created’ either of the songs I am aware of (although know he based
stronger on a track by Daft Punk).
That said, as soon as I read the headline ‘David Crosby on….’ (and saw a picture of an ageing man next to the headline) my brain immediately linked David Crosby with something to do with Crosby, Stills and Nash – a group name I had heard of. And here is the interesting thing bearing in mind what I said about my very limited knowledge of Mr West.
I looked up David Crosby Hits on google and his top 10 came up. Do you know what? I don’t know a single one. I suspect it’s possible that I may recognise one or two if I heard them played, but I wouldn’t count on it. That casts no judgement on Crosby Stills and Nash or Mr Crosby’s musical ability in particular – they were clearly successful - it just says that theirs (as far as I know) is not my sort of music, and I don’t recall them being commercially successful in the UK.
So what does that tell me? Well it tells me that in this article someone I have vaguely heard of has insulted someone I have heard of a little bit more. Wow. I’ve had more important events in my life [:D].
In the post you said Mr Crosby is a very talented singer and musician and so clearly this article is important to you because a man whose music you like and respect is essentially affirming your view of another musician as being a talentless waste of space. That’s fine, that’s human, and that’s your opinion. But at the end of the day Mr Crosby is only stating his opinion (and to which he is entitled and certainly appears, from a music perspective, to have earned the right to).
But for all the things that you and I don’t like about Mr West, from what we know about him, can we deny there is a talent there? Okay it’s not a talent Mr Crosby appreciates, it’s not a talent you appreciate, and for 99% of the time it’s not a talent I appreciate – but he has sold a lot of records so Mr West certainly has something and it means something to a lot of people. Mr Crosby says that Mr West has no talent but not all musicians have the same level of ability - how many of his hit songs did Elvis Presley write? How many instruments did he play?
The final thing of course is that I sense a lot of antipathy towards Mr West generally comes from who he is, his erratic behaviour and the lifestyle he chooses to lead. I am not saying that this is part of Mr Crosby’s thinking – maybe he really just doesn’t like his music (that Mr West apparently can’t play anyway [;)]). But if there is something of this in what he said well perhaps he should get his own life in order. As I said, I didn’t – before this evening – know anything about Mr Crosby. One quick check on Wiki and what do I find? Drug user, jail time for drugs and weapons offenses, drink-driving, a hit and run and driving into someone’s garden – sounds like he’s lucky not to have killed someone.
Mmmm maybe on second thoughts these two gentlemen would actually like each other if they met – just don’t offer up background music [:D].
