The Singer Songwriter: Pop Gallery eBooks, #7
By Marc Platt
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About this ebook
Of all the genres of popular music, defining the singer-songwriter is tough because they all crossover into each other. Taylor Swift is a very different type of singer-songwriter than Bruce Springsteen, yet they both fall into this category.
I’m sure you (like me) think of the CLASSIC singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. They are all covered in here, but so are some of the more obscure artists like Warren Zevon, Elliott Smith, Elliott Murphy and Nick Drake.
I have made sure to throw in “Quick Reviews” and “Context” for these artists as well as observations and “Anecdotes” to add a little flavor to their stories and music. There are iTunes links for every song (when possible) so you can sample and/or download if you feel inclined to do so.
I want to make it as easy as possible for every generation to become familiar with the unfamiliar and re-connect the fans already in the know.
Technology is a tricky thing to maneuver when it comes to music. Many records have been out of print for decades, but as you will see iTunes has done a great job keeping those songs alive. I mostly have vinyl, but I’m grateful that these songs are available digitally so YOU can be the judge yourself. You don’t have to take my word for it.
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Book preview
The Singer Songwriter - Marc Platt
The Singer-Songwriter
––––––––
Intro
Of all the genres of popular music, defining the singer-songwriter is tough because they all crossover into each other. Taylor Swift is a very different type of singer-songwriter than Bruce Springsteen, yet they both fall into this category.
I’m sure you (like me) think of the CLASSIC singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. They are all covered in here, but so are some of the more obscure artists like Warren Zevon, Elliott Smith, Elliott Murphy and Nick Drake.
I have made sure to throw in Quick Reviews
and Context
for these artists as well as observations and Anecdotes
to add a little flavor to their stories and music. There are iTunes links for every song (when possible) so you can sample and/or download if you feel inclined to do so.
I want to make it as easy as possible for every generation to become familiar with the unfamiliar and re-connect the fans already in the know.
Technology is a tricky thing to maneuver when it comes to music. Many records have been out of print for decades, but as you will see iTunes has done a great job keeping those songs alive. I mostly have vinyl, but I’m grateful that these songs are available digitally so YOU can be the judge yourself. You don’t have to take my word for it.
Marc Platt
Los Angeles, 2015
Bob Dylan started off life in Hibbing, Minnesota. He discovered music at an early age first loving rock and roll, but felt "...the songs weren't serious or didn't reflect life in a realistic way. I knew that when I got into folk music, it was more of a serious type of thing, he reflected in the liner notes for his ‘Biograph’ retrospective. He went on to say that in folk music
...the songs are filled with more despair, more sadness, more triumph, more faith in the supernatural, much deeper feelings."
Love him or hate him, Bob Dylan is and was the MOST-influential artist of his generation. He mimicked his heroes Woody Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He has been copied and mimicked by his legions of followers. John Lennon and George Harrison of The Beatles openly speak of his influence. Donovan was vilified in England as Dylan’s copycat.
The strange irony of critics accusing either Dylan OR his imitators plagiarizing styles is the fact that folk music is set up to be exactly that way. DEFINITION OF FOLK MUSIC: music that originates in traditional popular culture or that is written in such a style. Folk music is typically of unknown authorship and is transmitted orally from generation to generation.
America and England, for some strange reason seem to have a problem with that fact. In those days all the folk artists were covering the same songs live and on their records. The fact that Dylan could write and perform his own music and gather such a huge following, irked the folk establishment.
In 1963 Dylan released his seminal folk recording ‘Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.’ It had songs like "Blowin’ In The Wind and
Masters of War" on it and really infused the folkies in the country.
‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ is a major recording that changed the way folk and pop music approached lyric writing. The folk music medium allowed heady thinking and protest music. Pop music was not taken nearly as seriously.
What ‘Freewheelin’ did was fuse folk and pop music for the first time. Rockers like The Beatles, Byrds, Lovin’ Spoonful, The Animals and The Turtles all listened closely and it affected them in a big way. Without this album, it is possible Folk Rock may have looked very different. It was an album of its time, yet is still very listenable today.
This is a very important document in popular music history.
Think about the way it affected one