Quote:
Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer
I don't think Stevie has to retire; I just wish she'd evolve. Her insistence on the same set, same movements, same attire, etc. reduces her to a caricature.
I mean, Tony Bennett was recording and performing into his 90s. His pairing with Gaga introduced him to a new generation in an age-appropriate way. Same thing with Loretta Lynn. She recorded Van Lear Rose with Jack White in her 70s and resurrected her career.
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I like how you put that.
I also wish that she realized that what lives on are the recordings. Live performances evaporate and only live in the memories of those who were there. Looking good onstage and dancing around is nice, and enjoyable to experience, but the only things that live after you are gone (or after you can no longer sing/perform) are the recordings. That's how future generations who weren't alive at the time can know about you and why people were such fans of yours.... and she was either so messed up on drugs for so many of the concerts that got recorded, and/or her voice so shot that there are some really awful performances documented. Then you add to that that she basically stopped recording any new music of her own after 2003.... there's no as you say evolution, no growth, no continuing arc to her career where we get to see how her storytelling continued to evolve over time from her 20s to her 70s. It's more like as a songwriter she fell off a cliff and disappeared in 2003 because she's had nothing new to say. I don't know that future generations (after she's long gone) will listen to her stuff and still think she's a "legend"