leschirons Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Saw a great programme on TV last night documenting the emergence of "easy listening" music in the late 60's and 70's and although I was undoubtedly always a rocker musically, I still liked quite a few of these songs, especially the Burt Baccarach and Jim Webb stuff. Funny thing is, despite acknowledging the talents of all the great rock acts of the day like Cream, The Who, Zep and early Lizzie etc I can really take it or leave it these days yet all those great "easy listening" numbers have not lost their appeal as quality songs that are still valid, moreso than the rock stuff from the same period that has not really stood the test of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Well, this is easy listening for me... http://youtu.be/VR90gQ-SIaY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I wasn't around in the 60's and 70's unfortunately but I love those guys for the simple reason that they could write a song. I think the 'Easy Listening' label does a lot of writers a disservice because it cheapens their talent considerably. I mean, imagine writing Wichita Lineman. What an incredible song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) I think you're on to something. Composers like Burt Bacharach are very good at what they do. One might not like the style and one might puke at the conformistic, non-provocative elements of the easy listening genre, but some musicians have put quite some quality into the genre. Personally, I still prefer the raw imperfections of a Thin Lizzy track, but that's just my preference. Then again, I own zero Thin Lizzy tracks, but do own some Easy Listening, Maybe I've been deaf always, and not merely only recently! BTW, for a great modern take on easy listening, Swedish pop band Komeda made a fantastic album called "What Makes It Go?" in the mid nineties. Not music for the Millions, that - - more like Music for the Few. Here's a track: http://youtu.be/zI6GW4RSzrU Edited April 28, 2014 by BassTractor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1398707364' post='2436811'] Well, this is easy listening for me... [media]http://youtu.be/VR90gQ-SIaY[/media] [/quote] And a great song it is too. Was playing this in bands up until 3 years ago. It's just that probably due to my age, none of that does it for me anymore. Maybe I'm just appreciating the songwriting abilities of the older middle of the road composers more these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I was listening to Dionne Warwick (singing lots of Bacharch - an album I liberated from my parents collection) when I was also listening to 80s post punk, new wave and indie material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 [quote name='risingson' timestamp='1398707519' post='2436813'] I wasn't around in the 60's and 70's unfortunately but I love those guys for the simple reason that they could write a song. I think the 'Easy Listening' label does a lot of writers a disservice because it cheapens their talent considerably. I mean, imagine writing Wichita Lineman. What an incredible song. [/quote] Spot on, and when you hear that song, it still sounds as good as when I first heard it (despite being of an era) Put that next to Sunshine of your love or Communication breakdown and I seem to find the latter two boring and hard work although I was raving over them at the time. Just part of getting old maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexbasscat Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 The quality of melodic composition in the easy listening genre is often nothing short of first class IMO Walk on by.... what a song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 [quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1398709205' post='2436839'] The quality of melodic composition in the easy listening genre is often nothing short of first class IMO Walk on by.... what a song [/quote] I agree. I just recently learned "Anyone who had a heart" Raindrops are falling on my head and "This guys in love with you" for an acoustic / vocal duo gig. All these songs are just so perfectly written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 [quote name='risingson' timestamp='1398707519' post='2436813'] I wasn't around in the 60's and 70's unfortunately but I love those guys for the simple reason that they could write a song. I think the 'Easy Listening' label does a lot of writers a disservice because it cheapens their talent considerably. I mean, imagine writing Wichita Lineman. What an incredible song. [/quote] Definitely agree. The 'easy listening' label has taken on connotations which do some of these great songwriters a disservice. I love Burt Bacharach. 'Alfie' is a particular fave of mine. It's like a whole musical rolled up into one song. And Jimmy Webb has written so many marvelous songs, I can forgive hin for 'MacArthur Park', lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 [quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1398708455' post='2436830'] Spot on, and when you hear that song, it still sounds as good as when I first heard it (despite being of an era) Put that next to Sunshine of your love or Communication breakdown and I seem to find the latter two boring and hard work although I was raving over them at the time. Just part of getting old maybe? [/quote] You have to then remind yourself though that early Zeppelin led onto stuff like this later on though, which in itself is amazing [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4v-_p5dU34&feature=kp"]https://www.youtube....dU34&feature=kp[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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