Pribek

Something must be off kilter up in the stratosphere where cultural icons reside.

Two music legends, Bob Dylan and Tony Bennett, were quoted as saying some unusual things today.

First Bob:

“I don’t know anybody who’s made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really,”

Noting the music industry’s complaints that illegal downloading means people are getting their music for free, he said, “Well, why not? It ain’t worth nothing anyway.”

“You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them,” he added. “There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like … static.”

“Even these songs probably sounded 10 times better in the studio when we recorded ‘em. CDs are small. There’s no stature to it.”

I’m not buying it Bob. Musicians use more analog technology than anybody I know of.

Just because you are recording digitally doesn’t mean you can’t use a fifty year old tube mic. If his record doesn’t sound like it did in the studio, that sounds like an engineering issue. Bob has been recording for over forty years, seems like he’d have a handle on that.

Great records sound great because they are interesting, not because of technology.

I have not heard the new Dylan record but everybody I’ve talked to who has seems to like it.

Now check out what Tony Bennett said,

“I have travelled around the world to Asia and Europe. They show you what they have contributed to the world. The British show you theatre, the Italians show you music and art, the French show you cooking and painting, and the Germans show you science. “The only thing that the United States, which is still a young country, has contributed culturally to the world is jazz – elongated improvisation. It’s tragic.”

It is a load of crap Tony. There are excellent cultural contributions from America in every field you mentioned, plus Jazz. Jazz should be enough by itself, if that is all that America ever contributed the world is better off. And what about Bob Dylan, Tony?