AlexdeParis said:

HEY, I ain't Banana Puddin', she better eat somebody else.

Timmy84 said:

y'all are cold-blooded

funkpill said:

LOL! I mean, ok, yeah, I dig her music and her vocals were some of the finest I've ever heard but let's be real, there's singers who are more gifted or play as much an impact as she had. Like musically Aretha became a superstar with her, her sisters (and the Sweet Inspirations) and the accompanying bands she recorded songs with riffing off the sound of Martha and the Vandellas. If you compare "Motoring" to her version of "Chain of Fools", they're VERY similar.

I'm not sure whether he qualifies for legendary status amongst such music aficionados on this forum but my choice is Robbie Williams.

Personally I can't stand the bloke's music. Part of it comes from the over saturation of having to play 'Angels' and 'She's the one' as a first dance or end of the night song for too many years. The other part of it comes from the fact the guy has a super-inflated ego and doesn't have a knack for staying out of exchanges with people in the press - especially the whole pointless Liam Gallagher episode!

I will admit the guy has something about him but I personally think he spends too much time following the footsteps of others rather than finding his own way in the music world. The popular 'Swing when you're winning' album for me was just one in a long line of current day artists trying to reach for the heights of the Rat Pack era and I didn't find his renditions that inspiring. Even that pathetic 'Rude Box' was a blatant rip-off of Sly & Robbie's 'Boops' - a bad one at that!

His last two albums have been very lacklustre even for his standards - I won't dwell too much on 'Rudebox!' I never thought I would ever say this but I prefer listening to Take That's latest material anyday!

Timmy84 said:

Martha was great, but she was no Aretha. That voice is (OK, was) solid gold.

AlexdeParis said:

I meant in terms of musical sound. Vocally Aretha would kick Martha's butt, I agree. Aretha used to have that un-f*ck-wit-able voice but smoking (and food?) destroyed it. I heard her trying to sing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year and it seemed like her neck got in the way of her trying to reach a certain note. I'm actually serious. I mean there's hints she can still hit it but then she'll get all raspy that all you get is her bellowing "HEEEEE-EEEEY" just to be like "can't we get this over with?"
[Edited 7/7/07 20:18pm]

as has been mentioned; these legends are so non-existent for me

Bob Dylan (i believe ppl when they say he's a legend, great songwriter etc., i'll just never know personally. i don't have and don't plan to get any of his stuff)

Beatles (same as above; heard certain snippets of songs by virtue of just being alive, but not moved to cop anything)

Elvis (see the famous Public Enemy line from Fight the Power; also, he's the original THIEF. soon to be copied by New Kids, Eminem, Britney, etc. )

datdude said:

I can see why people love Bob. Sure he wasn't a great singer (even he would say that) but his lyrics touch a generation too. He was like Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Bob Marley when it came to putting a point across. But I'm like you, I don't plan on getting anything from him.

I actually see the Beatles' significance but if you ask me what's my favorite songs from them, only "Come Together", "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" come out. IMO, they butchered "Twist & Shout" because John tried emulating Ron Isley a little too much.

With Elvis, I actually don't know what to think of him musically. Because every time I try to think about it, something about his personal life gets in the way. Wasn't he like music's first tabloid figure?

oh oh!!!

you're about to start som'n

funkpill said:

LOL, I thought Harley started it when she went "FUCK ELVIS". Speaking of, where's WildStyle, the MJ/Elvis fan? She'd be up here defending Mr. Presley like a mofo! I swore she posted here on a lot of Elvis posts. But this thread is not about Elvis, lol. Or Aretha... sorry y'all.
[Edited 7/7/07 20:21pm]
[Edited 7/7/07 20:23pm]

datdude said:

You might already have some and just don't know it. Off the top of my head, I can think of Jimi's cover of "All Along the Watchtower," Stevie's cover of "Blowin' in the Wind," and the O'Jays' cover of "Emotionally Yours."


I can't imagine. Such a versatile group -- there's a Beatles song out there you'd love. My favorite is "Don't Let Me Down." Marvin, Stevie, and EW&F did some great Fab Five covers ("Yesterday," "We Can Work It Out," and "Got to Get You Into My Life").

AlexdeParis said:

Speaking of, I was amazed when I heard his version.

Jimi was unapologetically a Bob Dylan fan. He said the reason for his curly 'Fro was because of Bob (lots of brothers back then didn't dig that look until after he died, when I saw MJ in a curly Afro in the '70s I was ). Jimi also did his own version of "Like a Rolling Stone". I like Bob's "Mr. Jones", the one that played during the play/bio of Huey Newton's life story.

AlexdeParis said:


I can't imagine. Such a versatile group -- there's a Beatles song out there you'd love. My favorite is "Don't Let Me Down." Marvin, Stevie, and EW&F did some great Fab Five covers ("Yesterday," "We Can Work It Out," and "Got to Get You Into My Life").[/quote]


I echo that - especially for Earth, Wind & Fire's cover of 'Got to get you into my life' - even had it as my alarm call and I still dig it! What a tune.

Aretha Franklin

I do like some of her hits, but vocally & otherwise...I much prefer some of her peers over her.

Example:

Patti >>>>> Aretha

IMO.

Scorpion said:

Dylan
the Dead

Stevie Wonder
Bob Dylan
Frank Sinatra
Little Richard
Elvis Costello
Joni Mitchell

Clapton

The man's got a lot of talent and I can appreciate that, but nothing I've heard of his work interests me enough to pick something up.

Timmy84 said:

I ain't starting shiiiit no more, kinfolk

The last time I said that Elvis was an "avant grade thief", I had a whole nation after me with rocks and chains

I could give 2 bird shits about their feelings though, its still the undisputed truth "King Of Rock & Roll" my entire ass

Timmy84 said:

Lets not get too carried away, Timmy boy

The WORST thing Aunt ReRe could do to a somebody like me is making me go through that mess of a book of hers,,,,whew lawd the amount of the utter self-lying bullshit is incredible

datdude said:

Agreed, Johnnie Ray invented rock 'n' roll and Elvis stole it from him.

y'all are a bunch of contrarian noobs

I especially love all these people who diss artists they've probably never listened to an entire albums worth of. A lot of the artist beings listed aren't people you can really appreciate song by song, or without really listening to with an open mind. Sure many of these people are overrated, but EVERYBODY who's "great" is a little overrated by virtue of the excessive worship their fans give them. A lot of people just refuse to take the time or effort to get into something just because it doesn't immediately appeal to them and they resent it's overhypedness and will just dismiss it, and I know because I've done that a lot myself with music and other things.

As for the Elvis thing, yes I agree he's tremendously overrated, but he's not a thief, as we've been over many times. He sincerely loved and appreciated the music he played and where it came from and was very forthright and self-deprecating about his influences and his contributions. The idea that he "stole" black music is ironically much more racist and problematic than any alleged "theft" or cooptation of black music because it presumes that music should be racially segregated and that a white person can't authentically perform "black" music and vice versa, reinforcing marginlizations and stereotypes and simplifying the eclectic roots of Rock N Roll (and of most american music).
[Edited 7/8/07 3:03am]
[Edited 7/8/07 3:05am]

Harlepolis said:

Ok, maybe I am pushing it. But the Vandellas and Aretha's '60s Atlantic recordings are similar, don't you agree?

Timmy84 said:

Hell nah,,,I love you Timothy, but heeeyll to the naw

Ahemt, Jerry & Arif put their hands on something that Berry Gordy been trying to grasp on ALL his years when he was a Motown CEO(Stevie Wonder & Marvin Gaye were his answers to Atlantic Records, but he didn't have the REAL rival female soul singer; Gladys Knight could've been that but as you know their attention was shifted somewhere else). And the difference was, they weren't intrested in a "mainstream audience" whereas Berry was hungry to please them.

Harlepolis said:

You know what? You're right. I've just fallen for the Vandellas in recent years. Excuse my fandom for Ms. Reeves. But I'm still not gonna let Banana Puddin' (Ree-Ree) eat me.

And yes, Gladys was and is Aretha's REAL threat.

Timmy84 said:

Don't 4get Ms.Mavis

When they did that gospel duet years ago in Aretha's album, Ree went back to the studio and lowered Mavis' parts.

When somebody asked her why she did it her reply was "Nobody's gonna sing louder than me in my OWN ALBUM", now THATS the Aretha I know

Harlepolis said:

LMAO! Yeah, Aretha can be a frigging trip but Mavis still whoop her ass on "Oh Happy Day". She can't eff with Mavis on her best day and she certainly wasn't on her best day vocally on that version either. Plus Michael need to give Mavis residuals for stealing her "CHAMON'S". LOL

Timmy84 said:

You's a certified old fool

Harlepolis said:

You know I'm telling the truth.